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Panamericana adventure
  • Meike Grothe
  • Herbert E

Panamericana adventure

A dream comes true!! Starting in Vancouver, our plan is to go South until we reach Tierra del Fuego - World's end. Our chosen way of transport: 2 fantastic travel bikes. Follow us on our adventurous trip with all the expected highs and lows 🚵‍♀️😀 Read more
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  • Panamericana adventure
    Shot of our warmshowers host - in a rush 😉
    Metepec centreHorses are still a standard means of transport hereUnfortunately, rubbish along the road is very common18000km on the road 💪

    8000

    December 17, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today, we have been 8000km on the road. Our route went through the centre of Metepec which is a pueblo magico as well. The houses are very colourful and have brickstone gates which looked pretty nice.
    We then tried to find a road to Cuernavaca with not too much traffic. Not that easy this close to Mexico City! We were successful at the beginning, but then got on a really busy road. No fun at all!! Luckily, we found some backroads again that led us to state highway 4. This one wasn't too bad. We had to climb up to 3200m - the highest we've been so far WITH luggage.
    On the downhill afterwards, we passed some lagunes (quite dirty though) and stopped for some bananas. We must have looked very hungry as the owner just gave me an additional 3 bananas for free. Rolling down into Cuernavaca was pretty fast as the roads were quite steep. But we arrived safely at Fleming's, our Danish host for the night who cooked some delicious pasta for us.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Pueblo magico Tepotzlan
    "local" access to the cuotaLunch stopGlimpse of PopocatepetlMain plaza in Izucar de Matamoros

    Popo

    December 18, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Not a fun day of cycling today, several highways, all with lots of traffic and strong headwinds for about 70km out of 110km. But except for the cycling part, the day was actually pretty cool. We passed Tepotzlan, a pueblo magico, which is located in a stunning mountain landscape. Then we met a German on the road. He had cycled from Ecuador to Chile and gave us some headsup on the roads in South America. After about 80km, we stopped for lunch in a tiny village and had the best tortas ever! The lady prepared them fresh in her kitchen and offered us a seat in her living room already decorated for Christmas. The lunchstop was perfectly timed because afterwards, there was a stretch on the road from where we could see Popocatepetl. It had been in clouds all day, bit at that particular part of the road, it had cleared up, so we could get some glimpses of the impressive volcano. Once we got to Izucar de Matamoros, we were pretty exhausted and only went for a short walk around the city centre. And as we are in Mexico, there were - OF COURSE - festivities running in the main plaza with traditional dances and music. A Wednesday in Mexico 😉Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Lots of different cactuses4Another parade

    Shaker route

    December 19, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    5am: we woke up by the sound of cocks crowing non-stop. As we wanted to be on the road early anyways, we got up shortly after. The landscape we passed today reminded us of Baja California, quite dry, hilly and lots of cactus again. Quite nice actually. The road wasn't nice at all though. It was in such a bad condition that we had to deflate the tyres a little. However, we got all shaken through on our heavy bikes with no suspension which was no fun and quite exhausting as well. We therefore decided to have only a half day of cycling, relax, do laundry and some bike maintenance in the afternoon.
    Our hotel was right next to the main plaza. As soon as it got dark, we heard music and went out again. No surprise, there was a parade again. A local school performed traditional dances in scary costumes. We also saw Santa and Micky Mouse - great fun to watch!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Mounttain views with Citlaltepetl in the far distance
    Crema de Mezcal - to be finished tonight 👍Concert on the Zocalo

    Up and down and up again

    December 20, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Sisiphus feeling on the road: 53km of a rolling climb as a start. We only had to gain about 600m of elevation. But every time we got closer to the top, there was a downhill and we had to start climbing again... Even though the route was quite beautiful with many different types of cactus, mountain views (at one corner, we could see 3 volcanoes in the distance - Popocatepetl, Iztaccihuatl, and the highest mountain of Mexico, Citlaltepetl) and not too much traffic, we called it a day after 68km and more than 1200m of climbing in total. Instead of cycling, we got ourselves some treats on the local markets in Huajuapam de Leon: Mezcal, chocolate, fruits and good bread. And - of course - we checked out today's festivities on the principal plaza: a concert played by an orchestra. Herbert also had to fix his rear tyre - again some metal wire that had caused a flat.Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo de YanhuitlanHerbert in the market carrying our dinner and breakfast

    Same same but different

    December 21, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Same highway, same amazing mountain views, but unfortunately more traffic and strong headwinds all day today. We also had to climb a lot on a rolling road in bad condition. So when we arrived in Asuncion Nochixtlan after 95km and over 1600m elevation gain, we were both pretty exhausted.
    Nonetheless, we spend some time on the local market as we needed to buy food for dinner. It's actually great fun as we usually try out some local specialties we find during shopping. Usually, I talk to the vendors while Herbert has 2 tasks. One is to hand the vendors our own bags. In order to reduce the amount of plastic bags, we always reuse ours. However, the people here usually have some bags right next to them, so it's always a challenge to be quick enough handing ours to them before they already grab theirs. Herbert's second task is to carry the bags, so I have my hands free to check the quality of the fruits and vegetables. After many days of practice, we are now pretty good at market shopping I think.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Wooden toys on sale next to the highway
    Parade in OaxacaColourful housesQuiet dinner with our favourite beer hereLots of people in the ZocaloStreet art in Oaxaca

    Oaxaca

    December 22, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Today, we took the cuota to Oaxaca. It was a lot of rolling, but luckily more downhill than uphill. The only problem was the dirty shoulder we had to use. We were actually expecting at least one flat tyre again, but seems we were lucky. Along the highway, some Mexicans sold wooden toys, mainly trucks and cars. Interesting place to sell those kind of stuff we thought.
    Once we arrived in Oaxaca, we were a bit shocked in a way. There were soooo many people, Mexicans as well as tourists. Hard to believe it's the same city I went to language school 13 years ago.... It's still a stunning place with colourful colonial architecture. And of course, we bumped into a parade again. After some exploring amd shopping in the market, we enjoyed a quiet meal in our hostel. We went for another walk into the centre when it was dark. It looked nice with all the lights, but after a while we decided it was too busy for us. What a difference to all the little villages we came passed the last few days.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Valleys views
    Parade in Ejutla

    Changing plans

    December 23, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    After our experience in Oaxaca, we changed our plans. Originally, we were going to see some tourist attractions around Oaxaca. But after we saw how many tourists were in the city, we decided to skip it and just go on. I have seen the places 13 years ago and neither of us enjoys sightseeing with a crowd of 1000+ people. The second change is concerning the route. We were going to go North from Oaxaca through the Sierra Norte to head into the state of Veracruz. But we talked to some people and they strongly advised us to take the Southern route through Chiapas in order to get to Palenque. So we are now on our way South towards the Pacific again. Along the highway 175, there are also some cabins, so we should fine a nice mountain retreat for Christmas. Today started well with a nice and easy ride through a high valley. Unfortunately, I had eaten something bad, so we had to stop in Ejutla after only 61km, as I couldn't go on. After some rest in a nice and clean hotel, I feel better again, so tomorrow I should be back on the bike.Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Lunch stop: dry bread again
    Christmas beer on the sun deckChristmas dinner1Mountain cabin

    Christmas in the mountains

    December 24, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Our Christmas started with a breakfast of dry bread - unfortunately the only bread we could get in town. At least it was filling, so we were ready to hit the road again. The first part of rolling and pretty exhausting. Plus, as a Christmas present, I got bit by one of the wild dogs - right in the ankle. (For some reason, dogs always go after me, never after Herbert) Luckily, the bite wasn't too deep, so it could be fixed with desinfection spray and plasters. What a start into the day...
    However, it could only get better. Our route continued with a continuous climb up into the mountains. The views were amazing and not much traffic either. We had a lunch stop with a view - unfortunately with that dry bread again. But afterwards, it was only a few kilometers left to our destination: San Jose del Pacifico. It's a cute mountain village with some tourists, but not too many. We really like it and started with a beer on the sun deck, followed by a great Christmas dinner, the sunset and a final beer and regional chocolate in our cabin. Not a bad Christmas after all... Merry Christmas everyone!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Leaving our mountain retreat
    Beach in Huatulco 😥

    Vamos a la playa turistica

    December 25, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    As we spent Christmas Eve in the mountains, we wanted to be at the coast on Christmas Day. The route was one of the best we've cycled so far. We passed tiny mountain villages, enjoyed stunning views and curvy downhills. So we stopped quite often to take photos. We also had some steep climbs in between, so in the end, it took us longer than expected to get to the coast. Instead of going to a smaller village further along the coast, we decided to stay in Huatulco. Kind of a bad choice, as it's full of tourists at this time of the year and available hotel rooms are scarce and totally overpriced. It took us quite long to find an adequate room. Also, when we checked out the beach, we didn't feel like swimming anymore because of the crowds. So we just bought some food, cooked dinner and called it a night.
    At our hotel, we met Ivan, a Brazilian cyclists who had cycled from Canada to Mexico so far. He gave us some advice about biking in Central America which will for sure be quite useful in the future.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    1Sunrise in Huatulco
    Nice river bars100km of elevation - back on go as the bike computer has only 5 digitsView of Salina Cruz bay

    100km of climbing

    December 26, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We got up really early as we had a long and tough day ahead of us. This enabled us to watch the sunrise as the Huatulco sign - totally planned (NOT)... The route was tough from the beginning and started with lots of steep rolling. We passed some nice and clean looking rivers. Although they looked tempting for a swim, we didn't have time for a longer stop unfortunately. At some stage, we completed the first 100.000m of climbing on our trip - so 100km vertical. We had originally calculated with about 250.000m for the whole trip. Pretty sure we'll have to climb more than that 😯 we also realized that our bike computer is no made for this kind of tour. It is limited to 5 digits, so jumped back to 0 after 99.999m...
    The road kept rolling for the rest of the day until we got to Salina Cruz. 30km before our destination, headwinds came on top. We also had to fill up water twice during the day, as it was so hot. So when we finally reached a small hotel after 148km and 1697m elevation gain, we were totally tired. A quick tour to the market where we bought as much food as we could carry to fill up calories - and back to the hotel for dinner. Time to sleep now!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Relaxing at the beach restaurant
    Sunset over the local beachWaiting for our bus

    Rest day

    December 27, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After 2 pretty exhausting days, we had a rest day in Salina Cruz. Plans worked out perfectly, as we got bus tickets for a night bus to Villahermosa. By taking the bus, we can save some days getting to the Belizean boarder and avoid the disgusting head winds that always blow from the North through the "canal like" geography at this part of Mexico.
    We used the morning to sleep in, eat a lot of food, and buy a mosquito net which we can use for camping in the hot Central American countries. In the afternoon, we went to a local beach at Salinas de Márquez. The beach was pretty cool, very long, very few people and only locals. We were wondering why they didn't make it a tourist place with big hotels, until a guy at the restaurant told us that currents are too dangerous to swim and it's only save near the rocks (which was only like a 50m stretch). So we went for a final swim in the Pacific for a while, relaxed at the restaurant and got ourselves some seafood treats.
    We then spent the evening at the bus station, waiting to board our night bus. I didn't want to believe that they would take the bicycles without problems, but when it was finally time to get onto the bus, they just called a couple of people to help watching and discussing the issue - and then just put the bikes and all our luggage into the bottom of the bus. Mexican "not-bureaucracy"...    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Loading the bikes after the overnight bus trip
    Lunch stop with a visitor9000km!The lagune of Catazaja

    9000

    December 28, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    When we got of the bus, we weren't as tired as you may expect after a trip on the night bus. The seats were quite comfy, we had lots of space and the bus didn't stop at every single corner like it usually happens with the local buses. So apart from the bumpy roads, we could sleep relatively well. Our bikes also made it in one piece, so we could load them again right after the bus station (as there were too many people inside).
    The landscape in Villahermosa was totally different again compared to what we left the night before. First, everything was foggy and looked pretty mystical which we only had in the mountains before. But looking at the map, it's not so much a surprise as Villahermosa is surrounded by water with rivers, lakes and lagunes. The fog cleared fast though and we saw a flat, green land, no more mountains for a while. So apart from the headwinds and a lot of noise from the heavy traffic, cycling was easy and we passed the 9000km mark - yeah 💪
    Originally, we were going to go to Palenque to see the Mayan ruins in the jungle. But when checking the hotel options, we couldn't find a single decent hotel for a reasonable price. So instead, we decided to skip all tourist attractions until the end of the holiday period (which should be around 6th of January) and stop in unknown villages instead. There's just way too many tourists to enjoy the places. So today, we ended up in Catazaja, a tiny village with friendly locals, directly at a beautiful lagune with a nice, affordable hotel 😊    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    1
    Monkey bridge crossing the roadLunch stop at a tire workshop220.5-Star deluxe room

    Detour

    December 29, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We started early again to beat the heat. It's the best time for cycling, as we are still fresh, there's less traffic on the road and beautiful light - like when we cycled through the fog again this morning. Our plan for the day was to leave the highway after about 40km, but when we saw the dirt road we were going to take (that looked paved on Google maps) and the military checkpoint (looking for drug and human trafficking), we decided to stay on the relatively smoothly paved highway. However, after 125km, we still decided to take a detour and explore a bit more of this area of Mexico instead of just following one main road. It ended up not being the smartest idea: 30km of straight headwinds, similar landscape (green and flat), and a dead town where we found a cheap, but pretty run-down hotel. Luckily, we still found a fruteria to buy some vegetables for a pasta salad we ate in our hotel room.
    In the end, we crossed 3 states today: left in Chiapas (monkey land with monkey bridges - unfortunately, we didn't see any monkeys though), a short stretch in Tabasco and sleeping in Campeche. Hope the road gets more interesting tomorrow, so the detour was worth it!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Cow eating plastic for breakfastDinner with a view

    Biking in the green

    December 30, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Yesterday's detour was well worth it! Today, it allowed us to cycle over 60km on a smaller road with very few traffic which we really enjoyed. Again, it was all foggy in the morning, the temperature was nice, photo light was great, we listened and watched the birds. Awesome start into the day!
    In the afternoon, we had to go back on the highway. The first 10km were pretty loud and busy, but luckily, most of the traffic went North towards Campeche whereas we headed East towards Chetumal. We continued until we reached Centenario which is located next to a lagune and found a nice hotel. It even had a table and chairs with lagune view, so we could cook our dinner right there.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Tortas for lunchMayan ruins of XpujilCuriosities of the dayNew Years Eve beer

    Year closing

    December 31, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    For the last cycling day of 2019, we chose a semi-exhausting route: just above 100km and an elevation gain of about 730m. Our day started with an unpleasant surprise: some ants had found our tortillas, so breakfast was only half-eatable. Therefore, we decided to have a second breakfast along the road. Good choice, the tortas were very yummy and the thick fog had cleared up a little afterwards.
    We followed a "Ruta archeologica" and passed several Maya ruins. We decided to stop at the ones in Xpujil and explore a bit. Quite impressive what they built hundreds of years ago in the middle of the jungle!
    We also explored the village of Xpujil and noticed a couple of funny things: Someone obviously planned to party hard tonight and not be able to work tomorrow. Plus, a car with a sticker of the German eagle - interesting!

    We bought some fruits and vegetables for dinner (as every day) and got ourselves a couple of beers for the special occasion, before going to our cabaña to cook and reflect on 2019.
    We had a very busy first 8 months of the year, all preparing for our trip. Since the start, it has been 115 days now, 107 out of those we cycled at least some kms. We spent over 500 hours on the bikes, passed the 9000km and 100000m of elevation gain. Thanks to everyone who supported us in whatever way (also following our blog) to achieving this! We are looking forward to 2020 and excited about what's next to come!

    It's 10:30pm here, way past our bedtime. We are pretty tired and will sleep in some minutes, no staying up til midnight.

    Happy New Year everyone! May it be exciting and full of lovely happy moments!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Funny pics of the day

    Lagoon of the 7 colours

    January 1, 2020 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    The Mexicans love their parties and fireworks, so we couldn't sleep too much during the night. However, we still got up early which was awesome as the roads were totally quiet. We only saw the occasional still drunk or hungover person along the road.
    The humidity in the area was so high that our clothes didn't dry. So we wore same shirt today (like an old couple 😂).
    The road was rolling and we had strong headwinds once the fog had dissolved. But we still got to Bacalar early afternoon. Bacalar is located at a beautiful lagoon. It's touristy and totally overpriced, but not too bad as other places along the Caribbean coast. And the village is still nice and the water perfect! We enjoyed the swimming as well as the locals playing music and relaxing on the boardwalk. There's also great streetart all over the place which you can admire just by strolling around.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Malecon at Chetumal
    Swimming in CalderitasShrimp ceviche and coconut water for lunchIlluminations at night timeLocal specialty: marquesitas (similar to a crepe with cheese)1Extended version of yesterday's funny street sign

    Arriving at the carribean sea

    January 2, 2020 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Our (probably) last day in Mexico has come. Tomorrow, after exactly 2 months, we are going to cross the border to Belice. We decided to have a short day, so we can enjoy some time at the Carribean sea and give our butts a little rest after 6 days in a row of >100km. Plus, this way we'll be fresh when crossing the border, as you never know through what kind of hassle you have to go.
    It was a good decision as we had really strong headwinds again on the way. Not a surprise, as we went towards the sea on a flat terrain. When we arrived in Chetumal, we were pleasantly surprised by the standard of our AirBnB - after that overpriced place at Bacalar lagune. We packed our swimmers and cycled North along the coast to Calderitas, a little village. We really liked it there - no tourists, a cute beach (though a little rocky) and great restaurants where we got ourselves a treat for lunch.
    Afterwards, we checked out a few bike shops in town to see if they had some pedals for me. Unfortunately not what we were looking for. However, the shop owners were really nice, gave us advice on Belice and Guatemala. One even invited us for a coffee, so we kept on chatting about our trip, the bikes and Mexican street food. This actually made us hungry. So instead of cooking, we tried some marquesitas on the road and had sandwiches (we also found a great bakery). It was also interesting to observe the nightlife at the Malecon: many people, street food, lights everywhere... A good ending for this country where we cycled about 5000km!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Hello Belice!!
    Graffiti and typical house in BeliceHerbert found his place 😉Our sleeping spot for the night

    Next stop: Belize

    January 3, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    New day, new country. We left Chetumal, our last stop in Mexico, and headed for Belice, our 4th country on the trip. Border crossing was easy, none of the scams you read about in other travel blogs happened to us.
    On the other side of the border, we noticed some differences straight away: one was that people talked English (the second official language here next to Spanish). Secondly, the roads were narrow with no shoulder and cars drove much faster - luckily, there's a lot less traffic here compared to Mexico.
    We went on to Corozal, the first village behind the border where we were going to stay for the night with Elden and his family. Elden is part of a network that supports bicycle tourists in Central America and had invited us to stay at his place. Of course, we didn't say no to this offer as it gave us the opportunity to meet locals and our butts another short day for resting.
    As we arrived pretty early in Corozal, we had some time to explore. First, we went to the House of Culture where we met some Americans who now live in town permanently and did some volunteering work. Then we had to exchange some money as we had some pesos left. As the Scotiabank didn't do money exchange, we had to go to a corner shop. I was expecting a huge scam, but actually got more Belizean Dollars than the official market exchange rate. So didn't complain 😉
    Next, we went to the Central Plaza where we could get free wifi to communicate with Elden. As he had to work til 4pm, we had some more time to look around, so we had a beer at one of the bars and went for a swim in the sea.
    The biggest difference to Mexico is the people. In Mexico, people were very friendly, but overall a little reserved. In Belice, people are totally outgoing and touchy - after half a day in town it felt like we knew everyone and had talked to pretty much everyone as well.
    At 4, we picked up Elden at his work at a restaurant where he got us a couple of coconuts including all the coconut meat for takeaway before leaving for his house which was another 2km or so along the road.
    Elden and his family are members of the 7th Day Adventist Church and celebrate the Sabbath as their rest day. It was Friday night, the start of the Sabbath, and they invited us to participate in the ritual of singing chorals and praying which was interesting for us to observe. While they were in church afterwards, we cooked dinner and set up our mattresses and mosquito net in the spare house/room that was available for us. Definitely a day to remember!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Elden & the family
    Advertising GodThe sugarcane man as a symbol for the regionThe one and only highwayMaking friends with Mikel and the 3 puppiesOur campspot for the night

    The one and only highway

    January 4, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    This morning, we left Elden and his family early in order to cycle as much as possible before the midday heat. There is basically just one paved road that leads from the Mexican border South to Belize City. We wanted to take a side road to Orange Walk Town, but as 3 cars stopped to tell us to better take the highway as the road is too bad, we decided to turn around and take the highway. Luckily, there's not much traffic on the highway in Belice, we even had stretches where we didn't see any cars, only cows.
    We stopped in Orange Walk Town for lunch. At this point, it was about 40 degrees Celsius even though it was cloudy - not sure how we should survive even further South.
    The road was flat all day, sometimes totally straight for several km, mostly sugarcane left and right of the road, so overall kind of boring. We had planned to stop at a bar which also offered camping facilities. It was even advertised on Airbnb. But when we got there, the bar was closed, the gates locked and nobody on the property. So we had to go on. As we passed a school after some 110km, we decided to give it a try and asked if we could sleep there. It wasn't - but one of the teachers who was around asked the caretaking lady who lived across the road. And they let us camp on their property and use their showers. They even brought us a table and some chairs as well as oranges and bananas and came out for a chat. What a lovely family!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Bus stop with free WiFi
    Local kid showing us his bike tricksJungle walkSwim in the Belice River

    A cloudy day

    January 5, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Last night, some people told us that cold weather was coming and it will be chilly in the tent. For us, this actually meant that the tent did not turn into a greenhouse and we could sleep well, and today, it was great cycling weather with 25°C.
    As we didn't know yet, where to sleep the night, we looked for free WiFi in the next village. In Belize, you usually get a connection near some schools and usually the central square. In Burrell Boom, however, the central square was a basketball court where the locals were playing their Sunday morning game. We got some signal close to a bus stop yet (see photo).
    Sunday is also a big day for group cycling. And as there is basically only one paved road in Belice, we met many cyclists, sometimes several times as they were going back and forth on the road. So I guess we now know every road cyclist in Belice.
    Now that we are further South in the country, most of the locals seem of a Carribean background with dark skins and the related temper. Even kids greet is with "Hello my friend, how'r u doin'" and we get involved in conversations every time we stop.
    Once we got to Belmopan, the capital of Belice, we decided to stop at Guanacaste National Park to go for a short walk in the jungle and swim in the Belice River - really nice!
    Afterwards, we had to find a place to sleep which took us at least 3 loops around the city. Hotels were either fully booked (or just closed because it's Sunday - you couldn't tell from the signs) or ridiculously expensive (as it's a government town...), so we ended up in a motel. Generally, it's pretty dead here, as houses are very spread out and there's no town square or real city centre at all. Good we are only staying for the night.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Entrance to the St. Herman's Cave
    Lunch stoppPelicans spotting for fishGrey carribean sea

    Belicean scenic route

    January 6, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    What a great day of cycling today! From Belmopan, we turned South in order to get to the Carribean again. The landscape changed to hills/mountains and jungle - really cool and scenic! After about 20km, we already had our first stop at Blue Hole National Park. For 8 Belize Dollars (4€), we could see a cave and visit the Blue Hole, a cenote in the middle of the jungle. And we were the only people there!
    Our next stop was a lunch stop in one of the villages along the road. The people were very friendly and wanted to know all about our trip.
    We were going to stop at a waterfall on the way, but as it there was an entrance fee again, we decided to continue and rather have more time at the beach later. As we finally had some nice tailwinds, rolling into Hopkins, our stop for the night, was quite easy. The town is very nice and relaxed. Quite some guest houses, but not packed with tourists. So a great place to stay!    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Hitchbiking at the back of John Taylor's truck
    Spanish LookoutManually driven ferry110.000km beerRaul's crew

    10001

    January 7, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The goal of today was to get to Benque, the last town before the border to Guatemala. As it's too far to cycle, we decided to hitch-bike. So we cycled about 22km to the turnoff to Dangriga and tried to hitch a ride. It took about an hour until John Taylor stopped and offered to give us a lift to Belmopan. As he was on a company drive, he wasn't theoretically allowed to take us, but he did it anyways - lucky us. So we put the bikes on the pickup truck and went in the back with the bikes as well. That's traveling in Belice ;) Within less than an hour, we were back in the city - a section that took us a whole day on the bikes. Taylor dropped us of along the highway and we cycled to Spanish Lookout, a farmers community with quite some people of German background. The Welcome sign was in German even. The landscape reminded us of Germany as well: huge farms, agriculture, cows, some hills, no more jungle.
    To continue West, we crossed the Belize River by a manually driven ferry. The next town we passed was San Ignacio. Lucky us: it was Tuesday and there was a farmers' market. So we felt like being in heaven: lots of fresh and cheap fruit and vegetables, something that was hard and expensive to get in Belize before. And opposite of the market: a French bakery. So we spent the rest of our Belicean currency on food.
    Also, Jamie came over to talk to us. He works as a beer promoter for the local brand Belikin and gave us 2 beers for free - sweet! As it was not allowed to drink alcohol in the park, we decided to just stop along the road - which we did. Back on the bikes, I realized that we had our beer right at our 10.000th kilometer - what a coincidence! We stopped to take a photo, but as we rolled downhill, unfortunately a little late, so the computer had just changed to 10.001...
    In Benque, Raul, our host for the night, picked us up at the entrance of the village. We could stay at his sister's house and had a really great time with them: dinner and lots of discussions about bike touring and Belicean and German traditions.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure

    Welcome to Guatemala

    January 8, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    This morning, we crossed the border to Guatemala, our 5th country on the trip. I was a little sad to already leave Belice, as there's so much more to see and do, but in the end we have to go on and I'm happy to have been to this still quite untouched country with its beautiful nature and people.
    Before we left, we had breakfast with Raul's family and our bread and vegetables from the market fed everyone. Then Raul showed us the backroads to the border and we said goodbye. The border crossing itself was really easy, you pay an exit fee of 40 Belize Dollars (20€), get your exit stamp, continue to the Guatemala immigration and get your entry stamp - no filling out a form, no interrogation or anything.
    In Guatemala, we were greeted by many many friendly and laughing people. Especially the kids waved at us enthusiastically when we passed by. We stopped at a little shop to get some groceries and chatted to the girls behind the counter. They laughed about us as we didn't know certain fruits and as we ate plain bread without drinking water or coffee. In the end, they gave us some of the fruits that we didn't know (which we tasted later and didn't like too much as they were really sour).
    We decided to take a detour and stop at Yaxha, Mayan pyramids some 11km off the highway a French cyclist had highly recommended. If we had known the road conditions beforehand, I guess we would have just passed it. Steep hills, up and down, rocks, slippery surface... However, luckily we hadn't, as the place was stunning and well worth the effort. Camping next to a lake (unfortunately no swimming because of crocodiles), fascinating Maya ruins in the middle of the jungle that we could climb for some amazing views, monkeys, parrots...
    The campsite consisted of covered platforms (they call them "bungalows") where we could put up our mosquito net - really convenient. Especially as it started to rain at about 7pm and didn't stop all night. (we had actually checked the weather forecast before and it predicted like 1mm - doesn't seem to be too reliable here)    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Incredibly bad dirt road
    Burgers for lunch

    Dirt road fun

    January 9, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    In the morning, it was still raining. We thought about staying another day and night in our "bungalow", but as the rain got less, we decided to leave. The rain had turned the bad dirt road into an incredibly muddy and slippery dirt road, so we had some fun getting back to the main road with our heavy bikes - NOT.
    Once back on the pavement, it was relatively easy up and down while passing some villages and lagunes until we got to El Remate. We got a cheap room for 2 nights as we want to see the famous Maya site of Tikal tomorrow.
    The rest of the day was dedicated to bike maintenance and cleaning from the mud, laundry, grocery shopping and exploring the town even if there's not much to see.    Read more

  • Panamericana adventure
    Mono and AnteaterRelaxing afternoon with some other traveller's at the lake

    Tikal

    January 10, 2020 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today, we explored the famous Maya ruins of Tikal. We had booked transport at 5:30am, the earliest collectivo possible, in order to have the most of the jungle life and avoid the heat.
    Here, we experienced alternative means of earning money at its best. From El Remate to the ruins, it's about 30km. The collectivo stops after 13km, the entrance to the National Park. Usually, the tourists have to get out of the bus and wait in line at the ticket office which opens at 6am. But what a coincidence - Samuel came to the bus and told us he had some spare tickets he could sell us, so we don't have to queue. We and the other 7 people in our van were already wondering how much more he wanted to charge us for speeding up the process, but the price was the official amount written on the ticket office as well. Weird... When he came back with the tickets, we saw they were not dated for today and names were (of course) not ours. We asked him about this and he informed us we don't have to worry as tickets are valid for a month and names don't matter. Our bus driver seemed to be alright with our deal, so all of us just paid. And Samuel was right - 10m further, a park officer checked the tickets very thoroughly (but no IDs), took some notes and let us pass. We continued to the entrance to the ruins where we got off and walked to another checkpoint. Here, they just took the tickets, didn't look at them and put them into a drawer. Interesting network for reselling foreign visitors' tickets...
    Anyways, we were in the park and had plenty of time to check out the temples and climb the pyramids. Very impressive in the middle of the jungle!! We also watched the animals, saw monkeys, parrots, toucans, ant-eaters and many other birds and really enjoyed the site with surprisingly few tourists.
    At 2pm, our bus took us back to El Remate where we went for a swim in the lagune like lake. We met David (Spain), Dorian (Australia), Jude and Whitney (both US) at the boardwalk and shared some beers and travel stories. When we were going to get more beers, Mito, a local, arrived on his kayak and offered to sell us his beers. Coincidence? No idea, but the beer was cold and the price was the same as in the supermarket. Maybe he forgot to add some money as he was already drunk 😉 Anyways, he joined us for a chat and let the local kids use his kayak. So we were a fun group altogether and only split after the beautiful sunset.    Read more

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