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Southward Bound
  • Holly and Karl

Southward Bound

A 264-day adventure by Holly Read more
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  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Cooking With Silvìa

    February 13, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Silvìa is quite the cook, and promised to show us how to make mole while we were in Oaxaca. In October each year she prepares the paste (or pasta in Spanish): she roasts various types of chilies (chihuacle, pasilla and more), onion, garlic, sesame seeds, almonds, and peanuts, then heads to a local mill to have cinnamon, sugar, chocolate, oregano and other spices milled together with the roasted ingredients, and finally fries everything in pig fat, stirring constantly to produce the final mole paste. We set to work making mole sauce on our second day with Silvìa. She started by boiling chicken pieces to make a chicken broth, then blended tomatoes (red and green ones, called miltomate) and boiled them before adding the mole paste and the chicken broth. Finally she prepared rice and we had a meal of mole over chicken with rice. Each part of the process was done carefully and well, very much unlike Holly's multi-tasking cooking, and the result was delicious! We chatted about the family and more about typical Oaxacan food over our tasty meal, then headed out to work off the meal by biking up the 7 km and 300 m of elevation to Monte Alban, a Zapotec archeological site. We took in the peaceful atmosphere and excellent views of the valley below at a site where archeologists think that child sacrifice rituals may have been routinely undertaken. The ride down was much more enjoyable than the grunt up and took us back to eating more delicious food with Erika and Silvìa, hurrah!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl
    3

    Trying to be Tourists

    February 14, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We still had a long list of things to see and do in and around Oaxaca, so opted to try one of the many bus tours offered in the area. We hit the road around 10 am and spent all day being driven around in a fully loaded van (a great way to spent Valentine's Day, right?). We got to see the Tule Tree (largest by mass in the world), learn all the steps to producing beautiful woven wool rugs with traditional Zapotec designs, sample multiple flavours of mezcal (the creamy ones similar to Bailey's are dangerously easy to drink), tour yet another archeological site at Mitla, and finally wander around the beautiful Hierve El Agua, where spring water bubbles up out of the rock, through multiple pools and eventually forms a petrified 'waterfall' of calcified rock.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Sad Goodbye

    February 15, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We were so lucky to be introduced to Erika and Silvìa by Juan Pablo and can't thank the three of them enough for their hospitality, as our experience in the city of Oaxaca wouldn't have been nearly as special without them. Juan Pablo and Erika were keen to practice their English, which made it fun to try and have extended Spanglish conversations, and Silvìa was amazingly patient in her kitchen as we crowded around asking her endless questions about how the local foods are prepared. Silvìa and Erika also made sure we were well fed during our stay with them - we may have gained a few pounds in the process! When it was time to hit the road again Erika played us a farewell tune on her recorder and we said a sad goodbye after 4 great days in Oaxaca City.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Welcome to the Jungle

    February 16, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We camped just past Miahuatlan on our first night out of Oaxaca, at the foot of a big climb. The next morning our hosts' dogs helped us get an early start, so we were done the first steep 13 kms of the climb before the heat of the day. We really enjoyed rolling through the pine forest and beautiful ridge top towns like San Jose del Pacifico, so the last bit of climbing to the 2750 m summit went fairly easily. We should know better by now, but we always hope big descents will be purely downhill - unfortunately for us, this massive descent to the ocean was made even bigger by 3 steep uphill sections. With the extra climbs we probably decended a total of 3000 m of steep narrow road that was really fun to ride, if a little hard on our brake pads. By the afternoon we had dropped into the jungle again, and were surrounded by banana trees and hot humid air. In one of the last towns before Pochutla we met Matt and Michele, and rode the last ~30 km with them. We were the first cycle tourists Matt and Michele had encountered on their ride that started in Mexico City. M&M are from Montana so the 4 of us spent the night wondering how people live in such a hot humid place and trading tips on how to cool off - Matt won by actually standing in the ice freezer in the OXXO conveniance store down the road from the Bomberos where we stayed.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    "Chillin" in Mazunte

    February 17, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We got up early to try and beat the heat, but by 9:30 am we were all suffering again (aka sweating like crazy), so we split up the short but hilly 20 km ride to Mazunte by taking several breaks at the beaches on the road past Puerto Angel. We eventually settled for a hotel in Mazunte after hearing stories of theft on the beach in this coastal touristy hotspot. The hotel wasn't anything fancy, but it was the best cold shower we had ever taken and the hammock on the balcony made it hard to leave as we ate our leftover food and drank the bottle of coconut mezcal we had carried over the hill from Oaxaca. We eventually made it down to the beach and enjoyed using our snorkels again to see the many colourful fish hiding just below the ocean's surface. We shared a pizza dinner with M&M and Luis and Brandy, another cycle tourist couple from the US, and swapped stories from the road, before returning to the comforts of the balcony. It was hard to leave our hammock haven, but Mazunte was a bit expensive and touristy for our tastes so we carried on the next day.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Hot Windy Day to Paradise

    February 18, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    A nice morning ride got us back to Pochutla where we had a tasty breakfast as we waited for the bike shop to open so Karl could get help replacing a brake lever that had crapped out. We set off again at 10:30 am and enjoyed a breeze that kept the temperature bearable as we rode over numerous small hills towards Huatulco where we decided we should go for a swim in the ocean. The ride through the up-and-coming (?) resort town of Huatulco was a bit weird, but the swim at Boca de Copalita was refreshing in the strong wind. Shortly after returning to the highway we rode over the beautiful Copalita River and into the town of Barra Copalita. Already overheating, we were drawn to the busy shores of the river and welcomed by Philipe to descansar (rest) under his palapa for the night. We followed the locals' lead and waded into the river with our cycling clothes on to cool off and rinse the sweat stains off at the same time. We even soaked our clothes before bed to stay cool through the night, what a treat!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    New Longest Day

    February 19, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ 🌬 33 °C

    We made a serious effort the next morning to beat the heat and woke up at 5:30 am, cooked breakfast in the dark and rode off into the sunrise at 6:40 am. We made good progress in the relatively cool morning hours so Holly started to think we could make it all the way to Salina Cruz in one day. Karl (who is proud of his ability to wear the same thing all day while backcountry skiing and not sweat) was really struggling with the 40 degree heat though, so we took numerous breaks in the shade and poured water on him whenever it was available. Even the cows we saw in the fields along the way looked like they were struggling to survive. By 2:30 pm we had 35 km to go so decided we had plenty of daylight to get to Salina Cruz. One more big hill and a long straight stretch with a nasty crosswind brought us to a tunnel into the port city. We particularly enjoyed this tunnel as it sheltered us from the wind and sun, and cut out a hill we thought we would have to climb over - too bad there weren't more tunnels on this road! Erika (who we had stayed with in Oaxaca City) had asker her sister Patty in Salina Cruz if she could host us, so we bought a few groceries and made our tired legs push us to Patty and Cesar's house in a suburb 10 km outside of the city built to house employees of the giant Pemex refinery in Salina Cruz. We were once again welcomed into their home with open arms, plied with cold drinks and delicious food, and asked numerous questions by their kids, Leonardo and Sofia, as they explored our interesting gear.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Family of Friends of Friends...

    February 20, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ 🌬 33 °C

    We earned a rest day with our 140 km ride to Salina Cruz, so spent Saturday with Patty and Cesar, Leonardo and Sophia, and Patty's father Jorge. It was a fun day of hanging out with the kids, practicing Spanish and English with Jorge, and sampling all the delicious regional food Patty served us. We continue to be amazed at the hospitaity we have received in Mexico - from family of friends of friends, or even just people we meet along the road. "Estan es su casa" (you are in your own house, i.e. make yourself at home) they say and make us feel super welcome and comfortable. Gracia Patty and Cesar!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Wild Wild Wind

    February 21, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ 🌬 33 °C

    We knew the 125 km ride to Zanatepec could be dangerously windy as a fellow cyclist wrote that he had been blown off the road and had to hitch a ride through this section. We still had to see for ourselves though, so we set off at 7:30 am, and worked into a headwind for a while before we started seeing warning signs for trucks, and wind turbines in the distance (never a good sign for cyclists). The road turned a bit, so the wind was now a crosswind, and the gusts definitely tested our bike rodeo skills as we attempted to keep our wild steeds with the "rubber side down". We stopped for a break at one point under an overpass and watched a tightly configured convoy of trucks go by - presumably to reduce the chance of being blown over. We made it to La Venta and pulled off the road for lunch. When we remounted after a good feed we were surprised to find the crosswind seemed to be shifting to a tailwind, and sure enough we were soon cruising at 30 - 40 km/h. Not knowing how long this luck would last we pedalled along and started to think we could make it all the way to Zanatepec in one day. The only thing left to complain about was the heat of the afternoon. Since we were moving at the same speed as the wind we had lost the "comfort" of air movement so our perspirators worked overtime for the rest of the ride.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Great Hospitality in Zanatepec

    February 22, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We had written Warmshowers host Rodrigo in Zanatepec, but had told him to expect us two days from our departure from Salina Cruz, as we thought it would take a while to ride through the wind. After our super fast tailwind assisted ride we weren't sure if he'd be able to host us a day early, and we hadn't had service to call ahead and let him know we were coming early, so we just rode to his house and hoped for the best. Luckily Rodrigo and his family are super hosts and welcomed us into their home just as they arrived back from a trip to the city. Another Canadian cyclst, Justin, also arrived that day having ridden from Salina Cruz as well. Rodrigo's comfortable home and welcoming spirit made us decide to stay an extra day, which we spent eating delicious food that Rodrigo's wife Lupita prepared for us, learning about their family, and about the mango, avacado, banana and yaca trees that grow in their yard. We also went to the school where Rodrigo teaches English and had a little interview with his class so they could practice their English. 3 more cyclists showed up that day and they too were given a spot to call their own in Rodrigo's expansive yard. Us cycle tourists owe a great debt to generous people like Rodrigo, Lupita and the rest of his family who live with a constant stream of tired, dirty cyclists coming through their house to enjoy a bit of comfort along the road.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Riding into Chiapas

    February 23, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    Feeling recharged we left the next morning with 2 new friends: Justin from Canada and Julian from Columbia. We bought a few delicious mangos in Tapanatepec and headed back into the hills, excited to be heading towards cooler climes. It was a beautiful climb out of the valley of mango farms on the 190 Libre - we even passed a large tempting lake soon after the summit, but didn't need to swim as badly as we had in previous days so we opted to ride on. Once again a tailwind picked up in the afternoon and we sped along over rolling hills to Cintalapa where we decided to try staying with the Proteccion Civil as they had a nice open hangar just outside of town. We checked out some roadside restaurants, but everything was closed at 6 pm (meal times are different in Mexico, and we keep forgetting that it's hard to find a meal in small towns around our Canadian dinner time), so we ended up coming back to the hangar and cooking a simple dinner with an audience before going to bed in the first cool evening we have experienced since our return to the coast.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Cañon del Sumidero

    February 24, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Tuxtla Gutierrez seemed like an interesting city with a lot going on, but since we arrived early in the afternoon, we opted instead to spend our time on a tour of the Cañon del Sumidero. We were glad we spent the money for this tour as it was an amazing experience to cruise down the river between canyon walls up to 1000 m high, and see crocs, birds, and crazy limestone formations on the way to the first hydro dam we have seen in Mexico. Just being on a water body again was refreshing, as was changing to a more effortless mode of transportation for a few short hours!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Into the Clouds

    February 25, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We had heard about the huge climb to San Cristobal de Las Casas, so positioned ourselves at the base of the climb in Chiapa de Corozo, and set off up the 190 Libre the next morning. After about 20 km of climbing we passed a turnoff to Villahermosa, and from then on there was very little traffic on the road as we climbed through tiny mountain villages where maize is grown on steep rocky slopes. We got the impression that many of the locals, dressed in traditional clothing, had never been outside of their own small towns. We also saw large plantations of granadilla fruit for the first time and enjoyed trying the sweet gelatinous fruit at one of our breaks on the climb. We enjoyed the cool cloudy morning, but as we climbed ever higher we ended up riding into the clouds, which limited views and the length of any breaks due to the chill in the air. When we finally descended from the 2440 m summit to a small sunny town we celebrated by eating a second lunch and then climbed a final 200 m hill before descending into the valley of San Cristobal de Las Casas. All told we climbed almost 2000 m in about 70 km - another record for the trip.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    San Cristobal de Las Casas

    February 26, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We were told by many people that the city of San Cristobal was not to be missed; a city full of cobblestone streets, remarkable churches and architecture, and local indigenous people dressed in colourful clothing at the markets and in the squares. We saw all of these things in San Cristobal, but found it to be a bit too touristy for us, with people constantly calling to you on the street or at restaurants trying to sell fruit, breads or artesanias (local arts and crafts). We were, however, lucky to be hosted by Warmshowers host Oscar, along with our Canadian cyclist friend Justin and another cyclist from Alaska, Birch. Once we arrived at Oscar's house, which he recently built but was planning to sell so he could head off travelling, we were engrossed in an animated conversation about travels and life in Mexico in general. We combined our various groceries and Oscar, also a trained chef, prepared a delicious pasta dinner paired with wine and more fun adventure chatter. While we explored the city and caught up on internety things the next day, Birch was on the lookout for a bike box, or at least the materials to make one. When we got back in the evening he was working away to turn a cereal display box - vivid green with some kind of female cereal superhero - into a bike box for his bus ride to Tulum and flight home. We enjoyed tacos with Oscar and Birch at Oscar's favourite taco stand, then headed to bed early to prepare for more climbing (and some downhill!) the next day.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Caves and More Climbing

    February 27, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We left San Cristobal and headed out of town via the Grutas del Mamut. More than just caves, this little ecotourism site had nice picnic areas along a gurgling creek, a short viewpoint hike, and of course a series of caves with interesting stalactite, stalagmite and column rock formations. We were glad to have made the detour, which also allowed us to pass through interesting small villages as we worked our way back to the main highway. We knew we had a lot of downhill to our destination of Ocosingo at 800 m in elevation, but we also had a lot of uphill (details you somehow manage to gloss over when looking at elevation profiles!), and many many topes (speed bumps) as we passed through each village or town along the road. This made the going slow, and as the afternoon stretched on cloudy conditions made it feel like night was almost upon us. We were relieved when we finally arrived in Ocosingo just before 6 pm and were able to stay with the Proteccion Civil, inside no less, while rain started to fall outside. We are lucky that these service personnel are so generous to bike tourers - what a treat to have a safe, dry place to spend the night, with drinking water, showers and power freely available.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Beautiful Chiapas

    February 28, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    With an early start and sunnier conditions, the ride from Ocosingo to Agua Azul was a treat, featuring stunning greenery, beautiful views as we wound our way through the hills, and some more downhill to enjoy. In Paraiso we saw a tandem bike parked by a tiendita, and met Claude and Liliane from France who have been touring around the Yucatan, Tabasco and Chiapas. We ate lunch with them, swapping bike stories and info from the road, before we headed onward to Agua Azul for a swim.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Cascadas de Agua Azul

    February 28, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Sometimes we feel like we should avoid major attractions that see lots of visitors, but the cascades and pools of Agua Azul were worth braving the crowds for. This truly was one of the most beautiful places we've been in Mexico and it was a real treat to swim in the refreshingly cold pools. We lounged around for over an hour before returning up the steep 4 km hill to the main road and continuing towards Palenque. A few kilometres further we got an amazing view of the blue river flowing through a lush green valley.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Pyramids in the Jungle

    February 29, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After a short morning ride to Palenque, we set up our tent in the El Panchan campground surrounded by hippies and rode our bikes through the park to the sprawling archeological site. Exploring Mayan ruins in a jungle setting with howler monkeys roaring in the surrounding trees made for an enjoyable afternoon, although all the steps of the pyramids and temples sure gave our bike accustomed quads a different kind of work out!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Reroute to Guatemala

    March 1, 2016 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The next morning we spent nearly 2 hours over breakfast in Palenque trying to decide which way to go: east to Chetumal and south through northern Belize, or into Guatemala and through southern Belize. In the end we opted to skip the potentially long boring ride to Chetumal and take the short cut into Guatemala we had recently heard about. This meant we only really got riding at 1 pm, so by the time we had retraced our steps 10 km to an awesome fruit stand we were ready for some serious hydration. We would have bought a smaller watermelon if it was an option, but figured we could use some extra water. We started down Hwy 307 with bellies full of watermelon and bags full of other delicious fruit, and made good time on the relatively flat road until Karl's rear tire blew off the rim, literally. The only explanation seems to be that he over-inflated it the night before and then the 40 degree heat when we stopped at a gas station made the tube expand even more. Luckily there were no injuries and the tire seems to be staying put despite some damage to the bead. After asking around a bit as evening was falling we were let into the reception hall next to a church in a tiny town about 65 km down the 307 and we were happy to call that home for the night.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl
    2

    Not Your Average Border Crossing...

    March 2, 2016 in Guatemala

    With a bit of help from slow moving trucks (Karl!), we made our way to Frontera Corozal the next day, and paid 100 pesos for a boat ride across the river to Tecnica, Guatemala. It was a surprisingly easy crossing given everything we had read about exit fee's/bribes - although we wouldn't officially be in Guatemala until we biked 15 km from tiny Tecnica to Bethel where the Guatemalan customs office was located.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Welcome to Guatemala!

    March 2, 2016 in Guatemala

    We changed our remaining Mexican pesos to Guatemalan quetzals on the shore of the river and had to pack our bikes up a daunting set of stairs to gain access to the town of Tecnica, so were sweating profusely within 20 minutes of entering Guatemala. We bought a few vegetables at a sparsely stocked vegetable stand and found our way out of town onto a small gravel road. We quickly started to wonder if we should have paid for the longer boat ride up river to the town of Bethel as this "road" was the roughest, steepest track we had ridden so far on the trip. We had to push our bikes a few times in the 2 hours it took to travel 15 km to the official customs office where we got our passports stamped. We rode on 5 km further down a slightly better gravel road to the town of Betania, where we were welcomed with open arms at a church, and spent the night socializing with the friendly locals. After so long in Mexico we were a little worried about how our life on the road would change when we crossed into a new country, but the border crossing was easy and we found the people as generous, if not more so, than in Mexico on our first day in Guatemala.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Pavement Never Felt So Good

    March 3, 2016 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    With 50 km of gravel road left to ride, we set out early the next morning trying to ignore the aches from the previous day's jarring ride. The road improved a bit, but that just meant we rattled over smaller bumps at higher speed as we rode through a scenic countryside of small cattle ranches. Our trusty steeds made it back to their native habitat of asphalt roads with only one flat tire and dust coated chains. We celebrated with some delicious ice cream in Las Cruces and pushed on to La Libertad for a comfortable night at the volunteer fire fighters station. The next morning we bought our first true Guatemalan meal at a roadside stand and watched as they cooked it up on their oil barrel stove - it was delicious!Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Flores and ...Rain?!

    March 4, 2016 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    The shortest route to Flores turned out to be a dirt road - 10 km shorter than the alternative, which seemed like reason enough to go that way to Holly - so we got to ride another bumpy road, much to Karl's delight. This, however, allowed Karl to finally stop and take a picture of a 2 dimensional dog - a sight we saw multiple times each day as we rode through Mexico. We passed through San Benito and Santa Elena and crossed the bridge to the cute tourist haven island of Flores. We rode most of the one way streets backwards and then when we finally got going in the right direction found the waterfront drive to be flooded, but none of this seemed to matter on the laid back island. We enjoyed a lazy lunch and even swam in the lake as the heat increased, but after we bought a few groceries and prepared to leave town the skies darkened and we had to pull out our rain gear for the first time since November in central California. The rest of the afternoon ride east towards Belize was a wet one, and the narrow highway felt a bit more dangerous with the addition of rain, which had become so unfamiliar to us.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Belize or Bust

    March 5, 2016 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We were able to find shelter at some opportune moments during the rainy afternoon, when sprinkles turned into outright downpours. Well placed roofs can be a real blessing for cyclists! We were relieved when we rolled into Macache after yet another downpour to be provided shelter for the night by the first folks we asked. We wondered if there was a church or school nearby that they knew of, and Luis and Juan Jose offered the tiny storeroom of their maize selling business. The small room just fit our tent (sans fly of course, with the tent serving as a bug net only) with some space to cook, but after our drenching ride it was a real treat. In the morning we suited back up in our wet gear and headed out in what was initially a gray but dry morning. With one refueling stop for bread, bananas and french fries, and some more rain, we made it to the border, ready to leave Guatemala for a brief adventure on the Carribean coast in Belize. It was a bit of a shock to leave the Latin culture that we had been immersed in for the last few months and be speaking English again, and a change to enter more multicultural Belize with Creole, Garifuna, Maya, Mennonite and Chinese also part of the cultural landscape. We cycled through Benque and found a nice spot along the river to eat lunch where we could watch a hand-cranked ferry taking vehicles across the river to the archaeological ruins of Xunantunich.Read more

  • Holly and KarlSouthward BoundHolly and Karl

    Well Watered Belize

    March 6, 2016 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    The lush greenery that we enjoyed as we rode across Belize to the Caribean coast was the reward for getting rained on from time to time. We enjoyed the quaintness of San Ignacio, but the capital city of Belmopan was the most underwhelming city we have experienced on this trip, as we searched without luck for some sort of downtown, or even people about - granted, we did ride 'through' on the Sunday morning of a long weekend, but still... From there we rode the Hummingbird Highway to the coast, a hilly route through small towns in beautiful jungle valleys where the main crop is oranges. We were passed by a dozen or more heavily laden orange trucks on their way to processing plants near Dangriga. Sadly, the heavy truck traffic meant the road was in terrible shape as we neared the end of our 100 km day, so we arrived in Dangriga in serious need of a vacation.Read more

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