Into Guatemala

What a great first day in Guatemala!

I must admit to feeling a bit of trepidation last night and this morning. The Guatemalan borders are renowned for being burocratic and the necessity for bribes. Also in recent years there have been a high number of armed robberies on some of the roads around the popular tourist areas. So although this is one of the countries I'd been really looking forward to on this trip my excitement had been tempered slightly. This day has allayed that.

I got a reasonably early start to the border and in no time at all I was done with the formalities and on my way cycling down Guatemalan Highway 2. This was the quickest and easiest crossing I've had and if the 20 pesos I did pay for the privilege of my 90 day visa was a bribe it's the best one ever as that's less than one pound and significantly less than the 20 dollars for the US or Mexico. The most difficult thing was convincing the emigration officers that I didn't need them to give me free water and drinks :)

The people here have continued the open curiosity and friendliness I'd come to expect in Mexico Almost everyone I pass on the road gives me a wave or a word of welcome and when I stop there's always someone to ask where I'm going, where I've come from and so on. Tomorrow I turn inland and head into the mountains to Quetzaltenango and then spend the next few days heading through the highlands on my way to Antigua.

Border Time

It feels a world ago that I crossed the US border into Mexico at Tijuana and the time has come for my next border transit - into Guatemala. I'm sitting in an internet cafe no more than 200 meters from the border so if all goes well I'll make a speedy crossing in the morning and be on my way into the Guatemalan mountains. I don't mean this to sound negative towards Mexico, but I'm happy to be moving on. Mexico has been an amazing experience, but it's been a very long one, acounting for not far off half of the total trip distance, so I feel ready to move on to the next place.

My last two weeks in Mexico have been the best I've spent here. To get to Oaxaca I had a few days of hellish cycling. Temperatures were into the 40s, there was a strong headwind and the terrain was my least favourite - big hills and valleys. Don't mistake me, I don't mind going uphill and quite enjoy a big climb (I've got some monsters coming in the next few days), but it's really sapping both physically and mentally when you spend all day climbing 100m to 200m hills, one after another after another after another with no flat ground to recover on and the knowledge that at the speed your going you'll not make it to where you need to be before dark without really thrashing yourself. To put it into perspective, the highest building in the UK, the Canary Wharf Tower is 235m from top to bottom. So its like climbing slowly up that, then getting the lift down only to start climbing again and doing that for a whole day. On the nice hills you'd only have to climb half of it. And at the end of it all you're still at the same altitude so don't have any big fun downhill to get excited about. But, anyway, it was worth it because I spent a few great days in Oaxaca and as you'll see from some of the pictures it's a really pretty city with lots of colonial architecture and a really nice laid back feel to it.

So fresh from four days of rest and having lightened my bike by 8kg by shipping home my camping gear and a few other things that hadn't seen enough use to justify being carried I came across the best road I've ridden in Mexico, and some of the best scenery, which has brought me to the border. I was planning to write more and might add to this in the next few days, but it's getting late and I'm hungry so I'm off to find what treats this town has to offer (unfortunately I suspect the answer is few).

Rolling With the Mexican Punches

When I was planning this trip I did so with a pretty high expectation that at some point along the way I'd have some of my stuff stolen and, unfortunately, a week ago I was proved right.

What I hope is that I've now got a tick in the 'have something stolen' box and it's not big enough to fit two ticks. Basically, I lost a bit of cash and some of my electronics. The biggest ache it's caused is I've lost all my photo's south of the US border including the Baja ones. That's a real pain because there's little chance that I'm going to cycle across a desert again to take any more!

My phone was also taken, so if anyone tried to get in touch with me over the last week and didn't got a response don't worry, there's a chance that it's not because you're on the blacklist ;) I've got a mexican number, which is the only one I'll have now for the rest of the trip. The number is +52 7531 206595. Also, I've lost most peoples numbers until I get back to the UK so please send me your number if you can.

I'm still cruising down the Mexican coast and for the last week have been passing through some really undeveloped and beautiful coast. Think big pacific breakers rolling onto white sand beaches backed by coconut palms and the imposing bulk of the Sierra Madre mountain range. To change it up I was in manic Acapulco for the last couple of days and I'm on my way to Oaxaca which is a much older, something of a cultural centre and known throughout Mexico for the quality of its food. I'm also looking forward to Oaxaca as it's inland, in the mountains so I'm hoping will give me a break from the heat and humidity and a different type of scenery.

I've also now managed to upload some Mexico photo's from my new camera. Happy days...