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Ruta Maya
  • John Archibald
  • CATHARINE ARCHIBALD

Ruta Maya

En 46-dags äventyr från John & CATHARINE Läs mer
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  • Resans start
    3 november 2023
    Ruta Maya

    Schiphol Airport

    3 november 2023, Nederländerna ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    We’ve got a 5hr wait for our connection to San Jose

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  • Ruta Maya

    Boarded

    3 november 2023, Nederländerna ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    Boarded - where’s the booze?!!

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  • Ruta Maya
    1

    San Jose to Venecia

    5 november 2023, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Riding today from San Jose to Venecia. An early start with breakfast at 6am and off riding about 7:30 after the group photo. Mostly good road surfaces and one big climb that took us over 2000m altitude. A good start to the trip and the first of 32 stages. Weather was good too with mostly good temps only getting hot as we descended towards Venecia.

    Catharine’s adendum. I found it very hot most of the day! Got to the hotel before the heavens opened with biblical rain ! Food has been very good - particularly given lunch is just roadside prepared by the TDA team (that’s the company we are travelling with)    Läs mer

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    Day 2 Venezia to La Fortuna (Costa Rica)

    6 november 2023, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    77km on mostly paved roads today so a relatively short day. However it is ridiculously hot and humid so we are soaking by mid morning. As we climb towards the lunch stop Catharine passes a local guy on his bike carrying his shopping bag of bananas on the handle bars. End up chatting for next 5km in broken Spanish. When we get to the lunch stop he asks if he can rest awhile with the group but it is a firm no from TDA - which in hindsight is fair enough - but it seemed harsh at the time, as he started to well up ! I gave him an apple I had and asked if he needed any food and water but he said no. I felt awful.
    Arrived at the hotel about 1pm but unfortunately the rooms weren’t yet ready. Hotel has a nice pool and there is the odd hummingbird on the flowers that surround the private patios.
    We head out to local Peruvian restaurant for an excellent steak and sweet potatoes fries and are in bed early again.
    Next day is rest day so we have time to change tyres to wider ones ready for the gravel section . We go into town and with the help of a Mexican tourist translating we manage to get the spare part needed for my bike. We have a good coffee and cake in a German type bakery (the last good coffee I had - I am writing this five days later !)
    In the evening we go out to same Peruvian restaurant with a bunch of the guys from the Tour.    Läs mer

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    Day 4 - Bijagua to La Cruz (Costa Rica)

    9 november 2023, Costa Rica

    Last full day in Costa Rica and a very challenging ride on bumpy, loose, rocky etc gravel. Once nearly off and once into the undergrowth for Catharine. Unfortunately the intensity of the gravel bashing has left Catharine’s arms feeling like “chin splints” every time there is any vibration through the handlebars - which is basically most of the time as the descents are steep with loose gravel plus very hard rocks you have to bounce over. Spectacular scenery but a very very long day. 74 miles and over 5,000 feet of climbing much of it on gravel. Even though we had left just after 7.30am (later than usual) we had to really push it to make it to the hotel before sunset at 5.30pm. A very hot, long day …Läs mer

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    2

    Day 6 - San Juan del Sur to Granada

    11 november 2023, Nicaragua ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    Day 6 - San Juan del Sur to Granada (Nicaragua)

    John did the full route by bike. Catharine opted to take the van and start 30k down the road after the “El Chocolate” section of the route ended. This section is off-road and named such because it is brown clay and becomes like chocolate milk after rain. Given the massive thunderstorm the night before it didn’t bode well for easy riding and getting very muddy was a likely outcome ….. plus arms / hands still needed time to recover from previous gravel bashing. Actually the route turned out to be beautiful and not as challenging as expected- though still probably the right decision. As John bumped along his saddlebag popped open and his expensive rain jacket fell out, as did his chamois cream. He wasn’t aware until 2 girls on a motor bike caught him up and asked if it was his - very lucky as wouldn’t have been easy to replace out here - not that we have used them much as it’s too hot to put on when it rains. Usually the rain is just a welcome cooling effect when riding.
    Catharine rode with Dutch guy Dick after getting out the van. Riding was on a proper road but there was a reasonable amount of traffic on and off - from oxen pulling carts, people on horseback, peke pekes? And then massive trucks that barely give you any space. Once or twice I had to literally cycle into the undergrowth to get out of the way. No coincidence that the few local road cyclists we saw had an escort vehicle that stuck just behind them with flashing lights. Nicaragua definitely has much more poverty than Costa Rica. We passed so many shacks at the side of the road with barely a roof / walls and clearly no running water or power. There would maybe be a couple of chickens or a cow or horse or pig grazing next to the shack, sometimes tethered sometimes not. We passed people carrying huge loads of bananas and so many roadside stalls selling papaya, bananas and plantain. Definitely don’t feel quite as safe as in Costa Rica - just a little bit more edgy. We stopped for a drink at a small cafe about 20km in and John caught us up there just as we were about to leave. We met him again at lunch which TDA (the tour company) had set up in the outside area of a local restaurant that wasn’t doing much business - on the basis that we riders would buy drinks - which we did. We both had a bottle of a red coloured Fanta drink that tasted of irn bru - pure sugar but very welcome after sweating out so much. Lunch was the usual excellent spread of salads and beans and some strange local stringy cheese.
    We arrived in Granada early afternoon. Very reminiscent of Cartagena in Colombia - colourful gated houses in a Moroccan / Spanish style with internal gardens and courtyards. The hotel has a central courtyard with a pool in the middle and the Christmas decorations are already up. We have a super king firm oak bed and functioning air conditioning but the room smells of maybe wood stain? John chooses a restaurant for dinner based on the fact it offers steak. We end up inviting another 5 guys from the tour to join us and when we arrive we find it is pretty upmarket and fully booked but they let us have the private dining area that is set apart from restaurant. Food is very tasty but $6 (US) for a small bottle of fizzy water ! Lovely meal as we are told stories of people being asked to leave other TDA tours - eg the German guy who got annoyed with the way a fellow female tour member was paddling the raft on a rest day in Africa - and threw the women into the crocodile laden Zambeze river ….. she was hauled out and he was kicked off the tour !    Läs mer

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    Granada - rest day

    12 november 2023, Nicaragua ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Granada - rest day

    Catharine joins a 9am guru walking tour that is meant to last 2.5 hours but in fact lasts 3.5 hours so a large chunk of the rest day is gone. Very interesting tour content although the guy was very political and didn’t hold back ! He was explaining how Nicaragua got its name - 2 stories - one was that it was an indigenous way of saying that the immigrants from Mexico “travelled here and decided to stay” or it was similar to the name of an ancient ruler but the Spanish changed the ending to “agua” so it sounded more Spanish. Lake Nicaragua is just on the edge of Granada - over 100 miles long - and generates a cool breeze in Granada, which is the oldest city in the Americas.
    John had a wander round the city and the local market where he was pretty much the only tourist. Overall we saw very few tourists in the city.
    Catharine joined the evening tour to go see the molten stuff in the local Volcano Masaya (only place in world you can look down into crater and see the stuff) . We spent an hour in the minibus, got up there and there was a huge queue of cars. Turns out that the local administration had decided it was too unsafe to view due to cloud cover and risk of falling into the volcano, so we ended up coming back to hotel. We were told we would get $10 of our $30 trip cost refunded, but the hotel man was very difficult when I returned and basically accused me of having had the refund already, then begrudgingly gave me $10. I then discovered everyone else had received a $20 refund !(which the TDA guide then sorted for me).
    We had a meal at the Garden Cafe - nice spot with the typical internal courtyard garden with big plants and a water feature that kept the place cool. The ginger, mint and chia seed juice had quite some kick to it !    Läs mer

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    Day 7 - Granada to Bacao (Nicaragua)

    13 november 2023, Nicaragua ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    99km of riding today but virtually all on paved roads. We started following the shores of lake Nicaragua. There were houses initially and then there were shacks - barely walls and a roof with mud floors and no running water or electricity. Clothes hang from the wire fences to dry and there is usually a few hens, a pig etc. the people are mostly friendly and smile and wave. We pass through rice fields where the surrounding countryside is as flat as a pancake. Amongst all this poverty it is noticeable how many churches there are - just wooden constructions, sometimes with no roof. Jehovah Witnesses, Mormon, Pentecostal etc
    We stopped at a tiny cafe roadside after 40km and Catharine was allowed to go have a look in the fridge to find drink of choice so started serving the other riders from behind the bar. A bottle of coke is about 15 Cordobas - ie 30p.
    Lunchstop is an eclectic mix and very early at about 10.40am - an outside cafe that is taken over by TDA just below the most amazing looking peak. There are tinny sounding Christmas tunes playing on repeat like you get on a doorbell ring. The toilet is behind a curtain and you flush it using a bucket of water. We buy a massive bottle of red Fanta - total sugar and chemicals but it is now our drink of choice at the cafes as it’s cold and helps replenish the sugars with the profuse sweating.
    Some climbing in the second half of the day but we arrive about 1.30pm into Boaca which is a bustling town but probably the poorest conurbation that we have seen. Very dirty but has a surprisingly nice hotel given the surroundings - air conditioning works and room is bright, though no hot water and an interesting shower that is powerful but gets water everywhere. Manage to wash clothes in sink and then head out to explore. We pass a man with plenty of blood on his face, chest and hands, with a couple of police following behind. Assume he has been in a fight. John heads back to hotel and I buy the biggest avocado ever and some other fruits. Then head to supermarket which is just but really grimy. Some unwelcome attention from men which was never a thing in Costa Rica. I pass a women sleeping / passed out at the side of the road who I look back and see she hasn’t even got her bottom covered. Very sad.
    Dinner is in a restaurant which looks clean enough. Food is basic but the chicken is quite tasty - 2 enormous pieces which most of us cannot manage to finish. I share the large avocado with our table and it triples the veg content of the meal. We are in bed by 9.15pm    Läs mer

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    Day 10 - crossing border into Honduras

    16 november 2023, Nicaragua ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    A very early start to complete 100km to the Nicaraguan - Honduras border. 70km to lunch passed quickly with fantastic fast, sweeping descents with amazing views. Eating lunch at about 11am again! Then a long steep climb to the border - luckily the scenery was great - rainforest and beautiful flowers - to try and distract from neck / hand pain. Queue of trucks started from about 1km out and the roads became rutted and potholes with lots of dust and chaotic driving. First up we have to “log out” of Nicaragua. There is a queue if about 10 people but it is so incredibly slow. Every time the guy processes someone he goes off for about 10 minutes. We take the opportunity to change money with one of the money traders (see pictures) - apparently these black market traders keep the immigration centre functioning ! We are warned to insist on change as it’s a good way of the border officials making extra cash. After about an hour we are free to leave. John hands the leftover Nicaraguan money to a teenage girl who looks bemused as he tries to explain that he has no need for it. Then the usual double checks in no man’s land and up to the shack to get passports stamped and pay another fee to enter Honduras. Finally we are off. More chaotic traffic as trucks try and get by trucks waiting to cross the other way whilst negotiating the massive holes in the road. Catharine is hassled by a particularly aggressive dog.
    The roads are much worse in Honduras. And the driving is appalling. Several of us tell stories at dinner of being forced off the road - Catharine and John both separately forced off the road by one of the yellow school buses. The scenery is beautiful though and bizarrely there seems to be more wealth - we see a vet / pet store ! And adverts - and there are some more expensive cars around.
    The hotel Granada is in a bustling noisy town. The supermarket is clean and well stocked - and guarded by a guard with a shotgun - yet there are no pavements so you are dodging traffic / potholes / dirty puddles to walk the quarter mile to it. We are now down to 16 riders from the original 19 as Kate tests positive for COVID and is forced to isolate at the hotel and will not be allowed to ride tomorrow.    Läs mer

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    Day 11 - Danli to Valle de Angeles

    17 november 2023, Honduras ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The first full days riding in Honduras. It is stunningly beautiful. We started out on a major road in town which was extremely busy at 7am. Noisy and polluted with large trucks, mopeds, tuk-tuks, the odd horse and cart and lots of old bikes. Then we got onto a major highway - thankfully there was a hard shoulder that we could ride on. The surrounding countryside was beautiful - very lush and green and looked like quite a lot of ancient pine trees.
    We passed over a big river and looked down to see a large truck in the river and next to it there were guys standing in water up to waist digging sand from the riverbed and putting it into the back of the truck. On the other side of the bridge there was a school bus in the river with a driver giving it a wash.
    We stopped at a small roadside vendor and there were 3 really sweet kids that Catharine spoke to in Spanish - Jennifer, Angel and Maria.
    Lunch was delicious as usual with lots of lovely salads and we emptied the stock of soft cold drinks from the fridge of the cafe the TDA group had set up at.
    After lunch we set off and John almost immediately had a puncture so he returned to lunch stop to fix it and Catharine started the 15km climb with Hubert. It was phenomenally hard and hot and John caught us half way up. The long steep climb took us to our rest day in Valle de Angeles in the Tigre National Park.    Läs mer

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    Rest day in Honduras

    18 november 2023, Honduras ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    A well earned rest day. Breakfast at 7 is a very late breakfast but unfortunately it’s the usual fare of scrambled eggs, beans and rice, cheese and fried plantain - which we have had our fill of. And the coffee is the usual also. We have high hopes of a good coffee in town - apparently Honduras is the 6th largest exporter of coffee in the world. After catching up on admin / emails / banking / Beth’s flat purchase and cleaning bikes and changing to thicker tyres ready for the next few days that will be gravel, we head into town. First coffee shop is disappointing so we ask a local and get directed to another which has colourful hammock seats (see picture). We ask for an americano with cold milk on side and end up with an espresso and a massive cup of frothy hot milk ! But also an amazing cheesecake. Then a bit of shopping - Honduras cap for John to add to his collection and other small bits and pieces. Lunch is a bit disappointing- tacos but the beef mince doesn’t look well enough cooked so we leave that. Catharine buys a bottle of water for a young girl who is selling biscuits and says she is thirsty, only to watch the wee girl then take the bottle outside and hand it over to an older women who pockets it - perhaps to resell ?
    John reads in the hammock outside in the afternoon - it’s a really lovely temperature - while Catharine uses the 3 basin washing system for the water bottles - washing up liquid and brush, water to rinse then diluted bleach. Catharine gets a virtual yellow card from TDA staff member for talking to Kate (in mask) from a distance of about 6 metres - a bit extreme.
    The proper TDA van arrived - only 2 weeks late - it was held up in a blockade in Panama so the vans we had been using were vans they had to hire in Costa Rica at the last minute.
    Dinner out at a restaurant that is made up of multiple restaurants all vying for your order - so Catharine had pizza from one place and John and the 5 other guys ordered from various other restaurants but we all sat at same table - the billing is complex but it works ! Bed just after 9pm ready for 5.10am start tomorrow.    Läs mer

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    Day 12 - Valle de Angeles to Zambrano

    19 november 2023, Honduras ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Back to a 5.15am wake up but we had both slept well. We all had a little sticky note on our bike, which said “Hills are tough, but so are you” which was a taste of what was to come for the day with nearly 7000 feet of climbing, a lot of which was off-road. Started the day with a road climb and then a 15km sweeping road descent which had stunning views as the mist rose around the valley. We had been told that we should ride in a group today although it was a bit vague why - rural area / risk of robbery etc. Dick had been looking at the Dutch government advice and noted that we were crossing the area where there was an advisory for essential travel only, so we set off in groups. Long sections of unpaved road which varied from hard packed rutted mud to loose gravel on hard packed mud - and some sort of road made of broken paving stones / rocks which made for a very bumpy ride. The day started beautiful and blue and a lovely temperature, and that lasted until lunch. Lunch as usual, was delicious - we ate lots of it even though it was only 11 o’clock when we stopped. After lunch came the steep gravel climbing in intense heat, which was pretty tough going. However, the little villages and rural areas that we passed through, were wonderful. Quite a lot of dogs running after the bikes today and one managed to get a bite, but only of John’s shoe. A welcome stop at a tiny shop that sold ice cream and we probably doubled their takings for the day when most of the riders stopped. 30 kilometres of the day was not so good as it was riding alongside the equivalent of a motorway in the UK. We were basically on the hard shoulder and it was noisy and dirty and grimy and the last 10km was uphill and pretty unpleasant. However, Honduras does has very little infrastructure and so it was a means to an end to get to our rather quirky guesthouse, which I am guessing is a Christian retreat given the content of the rooms. Our room is huge with 2 large wooden beds which are pretty firm and lots of religious art on the walls. We also have a large balcony with some quirky wooden furniture that’s overlooking rainforest which is very pleasant. However, because it was such a long hard ride today we won’t be able to make use for very long.Läs mer

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    Day 13 - Zambrano to Márcala

    20 november 2023, Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Another tough day of climbing. We started on a highway for the first climb and descent of the day but the views were amazing. Then we moved to gravel through stunning Honduras countryside. Colourful houses with washing hanging on fences, big coffee and banana plantations everywhere. We came to a large river which was too deep for the TDA lunch van to cross so it turned back to take another route. We assembled ready to do the crossing with our bikes - it was to be hip height water. Luckily a local came over and advised that if we walked quite a bit up stream it was only knee deep- so that’s what we did. A bit rocky underfoot but not too much of a current so it was fine. Then back on the dusty track through rural Honduras. We were covered in a disgusting mix of sweat, sun screen, bug spray, and dust by lunch.
    As we climbed after lunch we passed one of the impromptu rubbish tips towards the top - there was a fire burning and a lady sweeping through rubbish into a more organised heap. There were 4 young children playing in a cardboard box amongst the rubbish - very sad.
    At dinner we heard we were now down another rider - Sarah had decided to go home for a number of personal reasons. So that’s 3 of the original 8 ladies that have now left the tour. But at least Kate is allowed back tomorrow after completing her COVID isolation.    Läs mer

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    Day 14 - Marcala to Gracias

    21 november 2023, Honduras ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Catharine decides to take the van to the lunch spot as this eliminates 30 km of uphill climbing and she would like to have a short day and arrive earlier at the hotel. John has a puncture first thing which he quickly fixes before setting off. Lunch is at a beautiful spot in the shade of a large canopy. Catharine rides with Kate who has just been released from isolation after a Covid infection so wants to take it easy. We have been warned that the roads are paved and full of potholes but it is surprising just how bad they are. There are massive craters, sometimes covering most of the road, which we somehow need to try and avoid which can be difficult if you are descending fast and the holes are hidden in patchy shadow - or there is a vehicle coming towards you on your side of the road that is also trying to avoid massive potholes! We pass through some bustling and vibrantly coloured villages. On arrival at Gracias, the town where we are staying, the street is packed with tuk-tuk taxis trying to get through the remaining open streets as the main thoroughfare is blocked by a huge fruit and veg market. We choose to get off our bikes and just walk through the market, rather than take a diversion with the traffic. We get plenty of stares as this is not a tourist town - not that we have really seen any tourists in Honduras! The hotel is a hidden gem. It has central courtyard with a swimming pool and lots of plants. Our room is on the upper floor and we have a moroccan style balcony arrangement outside overlooking the pool. We venture out to look at the fruit and veg market and go to a mini store where the lady is incredibly helpful in finding all our shopping for us. Needless to say they don’t take credit cardLäs mer

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    Day 15 - Gracias to Copan Ruinas

    22 november 2023, Honduras ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Only John and Andrew decide to do the whole route today - they are the only 2 of the group to have ridden every km and not taken the van at any point. Catharine intends to take the van to mile 80km so she can see Autumn Statement and react if there is a change to ISA rules, but there is no change so she gets dropped off 30km in and starts riding. It’s 25km to lunch riding alone but everyone is friendly - though the guys fixing the road are making provocative gestures it seems to be good natured. Arrived at lunch stop at about 10am and managed to get the first decent coffee in ages from the petrol station. John arrives shortly after - his tummy is feeling a bit dodgy.
    Whilst at lunch we see a truck go by with 2 cows in the back and then the calf is in the passenger seat at the front ! Unfortunately we don’t manage to get a picture.
    Then a reporter turns up and says he has been sent by the local mayor who saw us passing through the local town. He interviews Carolina (our Brazilian TDA tour guide) while Sally and Catharine stand grinning either side the entire time as he films us for the local news channel! John is later stopped when he is on the bike as apparently the mayor wants him to come back to the town and be shown round and have a coffee with the mayor! John manages to use his pigeon Spanish to explain he needs to keep riding so he doesn’t have enough time to stop.
    We had been dreading the gravel section after lunch as we had been told it was worse than the worse gravel day in Nicaragua. However it turns out to be an amazing route through a rural but very hilly area. The scenery starts with pines and then becomes more jungle and rainforest. There are coffee plantations, horses carrying firewood, an old lady who walks barefooted on the gravel and various kids we interact with as we ride - as well as the usual dogs that run at the bikes barking vociferously. It threatens rain on and off but it never comes to anything and the temperature is really very pleasant. We manage to ride virtually the whole route only getting off on one rocky 21% uphill section and two treacherous bits of descent (one the road disappeared over the edge at the corner).
    Sadly once on the paved roads (interspersed with sections that were completely unmade!) we saw 2 dogs (separate locations) that had obviously recently been killed by cars as the vultures were just starting on them.
    The hotel is very nice and we are given cocktails by the pool before we head into town for a steak. The streets are cobbled stone and very quaint. We take all the leftover meat and feed it to the stray dogs on the way home.    Läs mer

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    Day 16 - Crossing border into Guatem

    24 november 2023, Guatemala ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today is a short ride of only 50km but still quite a bit of climbing but all in paved roads - apart from the usual odd aberrations. The border into Guatemala is at the top of a climb about 11km in and we start passing parked Lorries about 1km before the actual border. This is a far more efficient set up where the exit from Honduras is at one side of the room and the entry to Guatemala is on the other - rather than the no man’s land at the other border crossings. And we didn’t have to pay anything !
    Once into Guatemala we immediately exchange dollars for local currency - the Quetzel.
    There isn’t a massive change from Honduras to Guatemala in the way we saw on other border crossings - the scenery remains similar and the roads are surprisingly good for a border area.
    Lunch stop is at 45km and Justin is being treated by Helen, the TDA medic. A large lorry was coming towards him on a narrow bridge. He hit gravel and went down. Result is extensive gravel burns and stitches in the elbow which Helen puts in. We arrive at hotel about 11 and sit by the pool until rooms are ready. Very relaxed setting with lots of greenery around 2 pools and there are few guests other than our tour - no other gringos though    Läs mer

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    Day 17 - Chiquimula to Jalapa

    25 november 2023, Guatemala ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    A very hilly day with 7,400 feet of ascent over 50 miles. Started the day climbing through pine forests which became rainforest / jungle higher up as we looked across the valley to the volcanoes rising out of the mist. Air temperature was thankfully cool due to the altitude. There is a lot of rubbish all along the verge and no rideable hard shoulder for when traffic does get heavy.
    We stopped at a petrol station and while Catharine is standing outside the petrol station guarding the bikes while john is in the loo, a convoy of military vehicles pulls up and a load of soldiers jump out with rifles and establish a perimeter with rifles at the ready ! Rather concerning until Catharine manages to speak to the man in charge and he tells me it was routine and nothing to worry about 😥
    John goes into the shop to get a coke and there are about half a dozen heavily armed military, the store guard with a shotgun - and John !
    Back on the road and we come across Sally who has hit the kerb and nosedived into the undergrowth. John fixes her bike while the medic deals with her cuts and grazes.
    As we head through a little town we spot a great looking coffee shop and bakery. We have the most fantastic cortado with a hard but tasty biscuit. Catharine chats to the girls who are in their early twenties and they ask for photos, want to connect on Facebook and then hug us all when we leave !
    There are some very steep climbs that go on and on - 15% gradients - and it is hot and the sweat / sunscreen stings the eyes.
    Hotel is in a large-ish town which we have a walk around before dinner.    Läs mer

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    Day 18 - Jalopa to San Juan de Pinula

    26 november 2023, Guatemala ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Beautiful rural Guatemala but 95% gravel and so much climbing (7,700 feet over 52 miles) made for a very hard days ride. Initially it was sandy track through little villages with subsistence farming. Several times we were passed by people on horseback plus the local bus was going up and down disturbing sand from the dirt road and picking up people for church. There was lots of music in the hills coming from these various churches - it is noticeable that the poorer the area, the more small churches there are. Lots of people were clearly in their Sunday best going to church, with lots of pretty dresses for the girls.
    When we got to the top of the first climb we stopped for a coffee in a local shop - we asked whether she got many tourists - no she said - about 5 in her time there ! We were over 2.500 metres so it was quite chilly and first time putting a warm jacket on for what was an amazing sweeping descent with views at every turn. We were starving by lunch at 1pm - we had been riding since 7am. The afternoon was hard - steep gradients and rocky hard packed dirt. Every bit of our bodies aches from the pummelling descents.
    We have a log cabin as our hotel room for the night. There is a log fire that John lights (and a camp fire outside) and our external balcony has a hammock.    Läs mer

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    Day 19 - San Juan Pinola to Antigua

    27 november 2023, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We have to circumvent Guatemala City as best we can today within the confines of the roads available. Unfortunately that means 2 unavoidable stretches on highways - basically poor motorways. The first one is not great but manageable. The second is truly awful - it would have been safer cycling on the hard shoulder of the M1. The supposed hard shoulder varied in size and quality, disappearing in many places so we were forced onto the highway with lorry after lorry steaming along. There were tortilla stands and other sellers at intervals on the hard shoulder that you had to navigate round and you had to watch for cars pulling off in front of you to grab their morning snack - or cars and Lorries just parked in the hard shoulder. There were exits and entrances and petrol stations to add to the hazards - all the time with the thunderous and polluted roar of the vehicles. Then there was a patch of muddy water that Catharine passed just as a large lorry went through - soaking her in stale algae. Worse was to come when there was some sort of sewage leak across about 100 metres of road. We tried to time it to avoid being in the soak zone but again Catharine got soaked in sewage - it was effectively like a bucket of sewage down the left side of the body - and it stank. After that it was too risky to drink from the water bottles so it was another 20km - including a hot steep climb before we could get to lunch stop and wash stuff as best as possible using water from the TDA containers (no running water).
    Before getting to the second motorway there is a beautiful sweeping descent with amazing views down to Lake Amatitlan and views of Volcano Acatenango. We get stopped at roadworks and they say it will be 3 hours before the road opens - but then say we can go through on bikes - BUT the tarmac is still wet and we get off as soon as we can but not before there is a fine layer of tarmac stuck to our wheels which then makes for very slow sticky cycling for many miles.
    The descent into Antigua is very steep - I guess it is surrounded by volcanoes ! Then we reach Antigua and the ancient cobbles are unbelievably hard and uncomfortable to ride on. Eventually we get to our hotel (Hotel Candelabria) which is an oasis of calm behind wooden doors with a central courtyard and soothing fountain.    Läs mer

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    Antigua rest day

    28 november 2023, Guatemala ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Rest day in Antigua which is the original capital of Guatemala - but being surrounded by active volcanoes it kept getting destroyed so they moved the capital to Guatemala City. Antigua is a really interesting place - cobbled streets, colourful buildings and some amazing architecture. The women and girls wear brightly coloured traditional dress similar to Peru.
    We head out for coffee and sit in a lovely internal courtyard and the cake and cortado is delicious. We wander round the city most of the morning and have lunch at a lovely Italian style restaurant that looks like it is from another era.
    We had hoped to walk up and see view of volcanoes but changing tyres ready for paved section takes a lot longer than expected - Kenny the bike mechanic takes 7 attempts using a compression pump to get the tyres to bed in!
    Dinner was back at the Italian place - 2 starters, 2 mains, 1 dessert, 3 glasses of wine, a mojito and service charge was £55. Half of the bill for previous night. We again sleep with our balcony doors open to get a cool breeze    Läs mer

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  • Ruta Maya
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    Day 20 - Antigua to Panajachel

    29 november 2023, Guatemala ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We started the day with the riders briefing at 6am on the roof terrace as the sun was rising and were treated to amazing views of the surrounding volcanoes.
    We were on the road before 7 and once off the cobbled roads of Antigua we started to climb. Then we got to the section described as hike-a-bike - it is a narrow road made of compacted clay / dirt which is really a series of pockmarks and water channels winding upwards through trees. It was just about rideable so long as you didn’t lose your nerve - except when we got to a bit in the deep shade which was wet and the slick tyres just slid so we needed to walk. The 6km on the Pan American highway was ok as there was a metre consistent hard shoulder without too many obstacles in.
    Then we climbed into a beautiful lush mountainous area with great views before lunch stop at 10.15 - Just before the river crossing. They use 25 avocados in the fresh guacamole that they make most days to feed about 18 people including staff. They have to dispose of the perishable food after every lunch but usually they are able to give to locals - or stray dogs!
    The river crossing isn’t that high but it is very smelly so shoes will need washed again 😩
    The temperature is lovely - hot but cool breeze as we climb. There are loads of fields with crops everywhere and a lot of workers still using hand tools.
    When we start the descent we get truly amazing views of Lake Atitalan. There are beautiful flowers and plants everywhere as well.
    We enter Panajachel and it is very pretty but clearly touristy. We are at the hotel by 1pm so time to sit by the pool and relax !    Läs mer

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  • Ruta Maya

    Panajachel - Rest day

    30 november 2023, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    A relaxed day not doing a lot! Hotel overlooks Lake Atitalan and we had a wonderful view of the sun as it set and as it rose.
    Catharine had a pension fund call and then did washing and John read by the pool. Lovely temperature.
    We returned to our favourite coffee shop for a cortado before wandering round the stalls. There are hundreds of them, mostly selling very similar stuff and there are barely any tourists so no idea how they make a living. ATM deducted money from my account but gave no cash - second time this trip 😠 though I have now had first one refunded.
    Lovely lunch with wine followed by the most amazing ice cream from the ice cream shop - 70% vegan dark chocolate plus some ginger ice cream - amazing !
    Also added a photo of the 2 for 1 mojitos we had last night at same restaurant we went to today for lunch !    Läs mer

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  • Ruta Maya

    Day 21 - Panajachel to Sanapulas

    1 december 2023, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We had our riders briefing at 5.45am in the hotel restaurant. The TDA tour leader said we he to be shuttled 4k in the Mafiosa van to avoid a section of the Pan American highway that had no hard shoulder. I joked about a dream I had the night before where my dad had said he wasn’t happy about my safety on the roads we were cycling on - so maybe this was it.
    We started with a 15k climb of about 3,500 feet but there were great views back towards the volcanoes and lakes.
    After the shuttle we had more climbing. We stopped at a viewpoint and there was a bus with basically one extended family on. They wanted pictures with us and so we stood there while about 10 local people took multiple picture of us - the tourist attraction.
    The area seemed poorer again and we stopped at a bakery in one of the towns and ordered coffee - and a couple of the bakery items. Coffee turned out to be instant (no milk available) but the biscuits were nice enough - 3 coffees and 3 bakery items for £2. While we were paying an older man came in and was hassling us for money. I gave him half my biscuit and John offered him the mug of coffee. The man drank it like his life depended on it and it slopped out as he had very few teeth. John then asked if he would like some food and bought him this enormous loaf/ cake thing and he disappeared off putting the remains of the biscuit in his pocket.
    We were then routed through a town that had a busy market and roadworks going on. We couldn’t go on the actual route and ended up going the wrong way downhill on a one way street . John was ahead and hadn’t realised and a car pulled out at some cross roads not looking at the direction we were coming from because they were crossing a one way street. I was 30 metres behind and shouted but it was too late. John tried to swerve away but the car still impacted and sent him sprawling. Amazingly he didn’t break anything and the bike was relatively unscathed. Bump to the head and a wrenched neck and back though. There were locals everywhere trying to help, asking if we needed a doctor etc and the young lad who had been driving the car looked terrified. John insisted he was ok to cycle so we checked the bike and left after a while. I offered to pay for the scrape to front of the lads car (it was pretty bashed up generally but there was a new bash I think) but he insisted no - he was just glad John was ok.
    We cycled onto lunch with John having some issues with the gears.
    The countryside changed in the afternoon - very dry and mountainous and then back to rainforest and mountainous.
    I had to leap down into a ditch at one point as some idiot lorry driver coming the opposite way decided to overtake coming straight at me and a pedestrian - who also had to jump in the ditch. So all in all a bit of a scary day in places.
    Hotel is basic but cool and clean and we enjoyed beer and ice lollies after we had washed the day away. We are at over 4000 feet tonight so it’s a nice temperature in the evening sun. Multiple power cuts in the evening !.    Läs mer

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