Belize and El Remate, Guatemala         We’re onto our third country in two weeks; which is pretty good for us! Never mind these countries are tiny compared to Mexico. It’s been really great experiencing some different cultures and again being amazed at how the change is immediate as soon as you cross over the border. Within minutes of arriving in Belize we were seeing English signs, people playing cricket, more wooden houses and the condition of the roads deteriorate. We spent all of five days in Belize and to be honest enjoyed not doing anything touristy in that time. However, there is much to see in Belize, even though it has only 300,000 inhabitants and is roughly the size of Massachusetts. Such as, coral islands and reefs, caves, ruins, waterfalls and reserves. Belize has a real mix of ethnicites with Creole, Mayan, Taiwanese, Mennonite, Garifuna and Spanish making up the bulk of the population. Belizean cuisine primarly consists of rice, beans, chicken, coconut based products and fried plantain (large, unsweet bananas not usually eaten raw). For us, Belize felt very much like an island due to the size, laid back culture and steamy climate. In Orange Walk we stayed with Couchsurfer host and Peace Core volunteer, Jacob who originally hails from the USA. He gave us a great introduction to Belizean culture and we enjoyed listening to his Creole accent he had mastered in his time living in Orange Walk. This is where we first tried Johnny cakes, which look similar to scones but are made with coconut milk and are eaten with meals in the same fashion as tortillas or bread. We also tried a cheap treat, choco-bananas; which are literally frozen bananas dipped in chocolate on a stick and are a favourite with the locals. Orange Walk has a pretty river; which is not only used for tours but the transportation of sugar cane (that grows abundantly in this area). In fact, cycling into Orange Walk we were passed by at least 20 full trucks of sugar cane off to the factory to be refined. This town is also where Roland had his hair ‘dreaded’ Belizean style. His hair was twisted and then wrapped in string. The idea is that after a few months his hair will naturally dread and then the string can be taken out. So we will see how that works out….. While camping on some farmland one night we witnessed a spectacular lightening show that lit up the whole sky. It was several hours later before we heard the thunder and the rain start. We were grateful to have a shed roof to sleep under. Our last two nights in Belize were with Ben (couch surfing) who is really friendly, really chill and really trusting. He left us the keys to his house and we appreciated some downtime to ourselves and volunteering with the Salvation Army (see our SA Journal Page). We were pleased to get the opportunity to meet Ben on the following night when he returned from a weekend away in Mexico. Crossing over in Guatemala, meant we were back into Spanish and cheaper eats. The area between the border and El Remate (our first nights accommodation that had views of lake El Peten) is known for highway robberies, however we had no trouble and encountered many warm and encouraging faces. Tikal ruins, Guatemala!               Tikal took the whole day to see, as it’s super duper big with some of the pyramids over 60 metres high. There are two rates to get into Tikal, a cheap rate for Guatemalans and a heavy marked up price for international visitors. There was no convincing the ticket operators that we were Guatemalan so we lumped it and paid full price. Also, there is a lot of restoration projects going on right now and was interesting to see the before and after pictures. It’s currently the largest Mayan Ruins, however we heard about another site that is currently being excavated and is only accessible by tramping in and out, called El Mirador. It covers an area of 23 sq kms. It would definitely be cool to check out as it’s quite the intrepid journey found between the Mexico and Guatemalan border….. another time I guess…. There were apparently monkeys there that like to poo on your head so we waited patiently for this to happen with no luck. We have still yet to see a monkey just hanging about in the wild ….. but we keep hearing them! Rio Dulce, Livingston & Chiquimula, Guatemala              After two days of cycling and staying in beautiful Finca Ixobel, we found ourselves in Rio Dulce with three more broken spokes. All original spokes are staying strong, but 4 of the 5 replacement spokes are not cutting the mustard. Amazingly we were able to find a bike shop and locate some spokes that fit our wheel. The previous towns had bike stores that doubled as half barber shop half bike mechanic, weird. An observation we have made is that the Guatemalan towns are way more intense, congested and bustling with activity. Fruit and vegetable stands tend to overhang into the streets causing traffic to be slow and messy. And the heat does not do any favours for anyone either. Our camping accommodation in Rio Dulce proved to be the perfect remedy, except camping was not an option at Finca Tijax (Lonely Planet had it wrong). It was a spectacular location set amongst jungle with lake side access. It even had a pool! Although a week late, this quickly became our 2nd wedding anniversary, and we were not in any great hurry to haul our bike back over the200 metre board walk suspension bridge entrance. The thing to do in Rio Dulce is to cruise the lake and river down to Livingston, so we did. On route we met up with other travelers from America and had some lovely conversation stories about past and future travels, volunteering and foreign aid. Livingston reminded us of Belize with its Garifuna culture, offers of Marijuana and unique store names i.e. Jake’s cool spot, the friendly store, Positive vibes F.M. The day finished with a surprising phone call from Belinda’s mom who managed to track us down during our evening dip in the pool. We got it wrong. Instead of a challenging 140 km day from Rio Dulce to Chiquimula, it turned into a ridiculous 185 km day coupled with the hottest weather we have experienced to date (47 C). Fortunately our couchsurfing host, Raul saved the day by giving us a ride to his place some 20km out, as the road began to deteriorate, light was fading fast and muscles were tiring. We had a tranquil evening with Raul, his family Monica, Andreas, Gabriel, Zoey the dog, neighbors and friends with a Bbq in the communal gazebo. We sincerely hope our conversation was not too boring, as we were feeling really exhausted. Our night with this family prepared us for the border crossing into Honduras the next day. Belinda wants…..
Belinda 84 Roland 136 Things seen on the side of the road; half of a hand gun, bags of drinking water 500cc                   Interesting points: · Although the Yucatán Peninsula has been pretty much as flat as a pancake, surprisingly it’s been tough cycling due to wind, humidity and the intense sun. Also, because on the flat terrain we need to be pedaling continuously meaning we don’t get mini rests and we’ve found our bums getting much sorer. Being on a tandem also means we can’t stand up so much so it’s been interesting. · Welcome to the world of cenotes. Yucatán is famed for these wee treasures; with over 1000 of them scattered about the place. They are an underground sinkhole that holds water; often with limestone stalactites hanging from the ceiling. It’s quite the treat bathing in the cool water in the shade after cycling in the severe heat. Also, near Akumal on the Caribbean coast is the world’s largest underwater cavern system called Dos Ojos. Roland remembers seeing this on some discovery program and was keen to check it out (albeit expensive). He got to do some snorkeling in three cenotes that were connected and seemed “quite mysterious and magical”. We checked out another cenote together near Valladolid called Cenote Dzitnup and because we arrived at opening we were the only ones there which was awesome. · In Akumal we stayed with a Couch Surfer host (Lucy) who originally hails from the USA but has been living here for 15 years. She is quite the inspiration, single-handedly running a ranch with 23 dogs she has rescued, owns a homemade ice cream store and restaurant. Take it from us, the food and particularly the ice cream is heavenly. To find out more about the Akumal Animal Rescue Fund click here. It was so refreshing to see happy, confident and well cared-for dogs in a country where this is not so common. We found it so difficult to leave as we only stayed one night but we don’t want to get to the five month marker in Mexico! · It was lovely coming across Laguna Bacalar only 40kms from Chetumal (our final destination in Mexico). It is a crystal clear freshwater lake with shimmering colours and white sand bottom. A perfect retreat to break up our day of cycling under a palapa, surrounded by other Mexican families enjoying the Santa Semana holiday season. Even though we did get a flat tire, which the bored marine guards watched the repair very intently. · On entering Chetumal we had a dousing of refreshing liquid sunshine but also surprising after so many days of blue sky. Chetumal is a perfect sized city and actually the Capital of Quintana Roo although Cancun is where all the money is. It is not very touristy and yet just like Campeche, it has a beautiful waterfront boulevard that is well utilized by the locals. This morning we got up at the crack of dawn after a sticky sleep to get a view of the city and our first glimpse of Belize from an old unused factory. Here we are staying with first time Couch Surfing host, Alvin who as grown up in this town. We had a driving tour of the town at night and then shared a delicious meal of tacos and papas (mashed potatoes smothered in all sorts of yummy goodness) at Chiles which is one of Alvin’s favourite eats. Continuing on our ruin buzz we visited three more sites: Chichén Itzá, Cobá, Tulum on our way to the Caribbean Sea. Chichén Itzá      After a full day of sweating (aka cycling) we rolled up to these ruins to discover it had closed six minutes prior. This pretty much sucks when you’re on a bike and cheap; not wanting to stay overnight and pay for accommodation. However, we soon discovered there was an alternative and expensive way of seeing the ruins after hours. It is required to go in with a guide but the bonus is that you have the place to yourself which is usually covered in photo- snapping tourists. So we made a decision, that I would go in and share my finds with the rest of the team afterwards. We managed to get a group together, with a Canadian sister duo (who were a pleasure to chat with and share in the experience). The highlight for me was learning about the ancient ball game called ‘Gran Juego de Pelota’ where there are two teams with seven players in a court. There were two small vertical hoops where if a player scored meant their team won. It was forbidden to use hands and the ball was most commonly passed with the head, shoulder, hip or knee. It was a pretty serious game as the losing team players were often sacrificed by decapitation. There was a communal platform where their skulls were displayed. On a less gruesome note, Elton John performed here just a few days before we arrived. Cobá      Cobá has the tallest pyramid in the Yucatán and one is still allowed to climb the precarious structure if one chooses. The view from the top emphasized the flat terrain as you could forever into the distance, along with some nice lakes too. The ruins are scattered over a large area and ironically you can hire bicycles to cover these distances. We opted to walk! This was probably the nicest part of these ruins; walking along shaded trails from the tree canopy above as the structures didn’t really have much “wow” factor after seeing other grander ruins. Tulum         The draw card of Tulum was definitely the setting. Once again the ruins weren’t particularly distinctive apart the wall that surrounds the compound. It was pretty toasty walking around this site and the turquoise water of the Caribbean called to us…. Incessantly. We obliged (along with the rest of the bus loads of tourists) and took a refreshing dip. Two iguanas were chilling out near to our spot on the beach, with one being particularly interested in our lunch. Roland, in all his wisdom hand fed the iguana some banana; however it decided Roland’s finger was on offer too. Roland was not impressed! Sad and yet exciting…. This is our last day in Mexico as tomorrow we cycle to the border of Belize which is only 10kms away. Looking back to when we first cycled into Tijuana, we would have never expected to stay this long or see and experience so many different and amazing things and meet such special people. And who would of thought, we do actually know some Spanish now too. We hope our ride through Central America continues to blow our minds……… Crib Score Roland 135 Belinda 78 (I got skunked twice in a row!) Tick Count Roland 0 Belinda 3 (one on my bum, stomach and wrist) A new addition… We are excited to (in the near future) introduce a new member to our family. All we can give away right now is his name is “Nutty” but he is still getting acquainted with Atony, Big Bird and his chores.                                  In keeping with our detour tendencies, we decided to adjust our original plans of going from San Cristobal to Guatemala and instead check out some more Mayan ruins, flat stretches of road and some really hot and humid weather. Mission Completed. In an attempt to avoid the hottest part of the day (between 12-4), we find ourselves getting up at five and hitting the road by six. But all things considered, its always hot, just some parts of the day are smoking hot i.e. 40 degrees celius hot. As we set off for the town Osocingo and the neighboring Tonina ruins, everything was going according to plan and we were making pretty good time, except for the thousand billion trillion (topes) speed bumps which always seemed to plant themselves on our descents. This was only enhanced by a few kids that have devised a clever way of making traffic stop and increase their chances of a quick sell of fruit, water and pop. By attaching a rope with small flags to a tree on one side of the road and then pulling the rope from the other side, they definitely command our attention as we come barrelling around a corner. Once in Osocingo, we quickly found some accommodations, navigated our bike into our room and set off to the Tonina ruins. These ruins were really nice, no vendors to avoid, very few people and beautiful grounds. This was a very relaxing and scenic way of finishing a full morning of cycling. Well except a certain someone losing our hotel key. It is worth noting that this imposing temple complex brought mighty Palenque to it´s knees and Palenque was our next destination. Tonina Ruins       In similar fashion to the day before we managed to get to Palenque in the early afternoon, found our couch surfing host Uala inside the Nation Palenque Park and have a restful evening visiting the impressive ruins, weaving through the thousands of tourists and saying ¨no thank you¨ to the many vendors. The ancient Maya city of Palenque with it´s exquisite architecture in a superb jungle setting, is one of the marvels of Mexico. About 1400 to 6000 people visit here daily. In exchange for three hours labor, we were able to spend a night in the jungle, share a terrific lunch together and have an unexpected guest in the evening. The next we talked ourselves into the museum which was free but only with a valid entry ticket, ours was for the previous day. While strolling through the many displays, we spotted an unusual bag, something that might attach itself to handlebars. You guessed it more cyclists. After walking through the museo de sitio together and having a great old time chatting away, we realized we hadn´t seen or read a thing and had to go through a second time. We hope to meet up with Pete and Dylan further down the road as they are bypassing the Yucatan. Palenque Ruins             Our next destination was the relaxed city of Campeche, with manicured parks, clean cobbled stone streets, newly painted buildings in bright pastels hues and white and an exquisite broad malecon (waterfront boulevard) perfect for catching the sunset before it dips into the ocean. Next on the list was Uxmal, pronounced ooosh-mal. Fascinating, well preserved structures made of pink – hued limestone cover the wide area. Adding to its appeal are the many Iguanas making themselves right at home in the millions of crooks and crannies. It was well worth the 30km detour in the scorching hot. Uxmal Ruins       After Uxmal we made a bee line to Merida to meet our host family. Yapur found us through reading the CNN Mexico online article about us and invited us into his home. It turns out that he is a professional racing cyclist and has won many competitions in Mexico and Central America. It was a honour to met him let alone stay with him and his family. His wife (lisa) and two children, April and Manuel were very easy going and a pleasure to get to know as well. Manuel even gave up his own bed for us which was a huge gesture and his room had air conditioning with was amazing in the 40 degree and very humid climate. It was very interesting for us learning more about racing and is in stark contrast to what we are doing. Yapur's bike is like a porsche and ours is like a motorhome! Yapur and Lisa generously gave us some new bike shorts as they were horrified of the condition of our current ones that are in a sorry state. Yapur was able to refer us to an excellent bike mechanic as one of our rear wheel spokes broke and we didn't have the tool to remove the cassette. They did a fantastic job and even gave Big Bird a scrub behind the ears and a new tape job on Belinda's handlebars. We spend the better part of a day in Celestun, a nearby beach town that is known for it's flamingo viewing opportunities. We jumped on a boat and got to see these rosy birds and was surprised to see how long and flexible their necks are. The tour also went through some mangroves and we got to have a dunk in water with some fish too. We ended up staying four nights in Merida and it was hard to leave such good company, however Yapur made our exit a little easier by cycling out of this relatively large city with us. THANK YOU! Crib Score Roland 128 Belinda 77 Things we've seen on the side of the road + Body building competition on the beach + Police on Segways patrolling the Campeche waferfront + Burning (could see flames) milk truck + Monkeys and Iguanas + Baby bag with ID so handed in to officials + A cowboy hat that Roland gave to a guy on a bike taxi (these are abundant here in the Yucatán) + Small fires burning rubbish and vegetation (everywhere!) + Bus stop after bus stop after bus stop (which is awesome for us in this intensive heat and sun) + Trucks selling gas around suburban streets get attention by dragging a chain and metal rings under the truck. Firstly, we would like to thank the FOUR people that entered into our wee competition. They were all great names and it was difficult to decide on a winner so into the pot they went. A special congratulations to Shelley who had the winning name 'ATONY' which means ´surprisingly small animal or fairy'! Once again, thanks to Tessa (my niece in Aussie) for generously gifting one of her 'My Little Ponies' from her own collection.                                        The ride to the coast from Miahuatlan was beautiful and even had a heavy dousing of rain and hail for one hour before the sun shone once more. We rose up into pine forests and then descended into humid jungle-like foliage before dipping our toes in the water at Puerto Angel. Then it was a short ride around a couple of bays to Mazunte which is totally all hippied-out! We stayed at El Neem Agama Yoga Center which we found through Couchsurfing. You can stay for two nights free and participate in one yoga class if you so choose. We really enjoyed sleeping under the stars in the mosquito nets as it was very toasty there day and night. Thanks to Geoff and Hector for making us feel welcome. It was wonderful to have a dunk in the old ocean and let our super white feet (really bad cycling tan going on right now) see daylight. We checked out the Tortuga (turtle) Research Center which was established in 1994 after fishing for turtles was banned (which was really big in this area). It was great just to mooch about for a day wandering the streets of the small town, strolling along the beach at sunrise, finding a car all decked out in New Zealand goodness (we didn’t meet the owners who seem to be on a surfing safari from my homeland) and with the highlight being watching the sun set from a rocky outcrop at the east end of the beach. Now all of this sounds pretty perfect, however all the while these lovely experiences are happening, I found myself still feeling nauseous, bloated and unable to eat much else aside a few crackers. Fortunately though, we met a girl at the retreat center that was a herbalist and she gave me some foul tasting herbal tea (Chaparro Amargo) that clears out parasites and the next day I felt hungry for the first time in a week and have been good since. YAY! Cycling and not eating is not a good combination as it turns out! After leaving Mazunte we found the coastal road (Highway 200) doesn’t really hug the coast and to go to the beach you need to turn off and cycle about 10 km’s. So we took some dips in rivers we crossed to cool down along the way. Also, it turns out the Oaxaca coastal road is not that scenic. There’s a lot more rubbish than other roads we’ve cycled on and it’s lined with very dry-looking barren trees. However, from time to time we did get a glimpse of the water from a distance and that’s always nice. So it’s the Isthmus of Tehuantepec for all those that just watched our latest video. The day after we took that clip the wind got way stronger in a gusty kind of way. Roland did an amazing job steering the bike however we found a portion of the day too dangerous to cycle and got a ride for 40 km’s just past Juchitan (where all the wind turbines are spinning furiously around). We weren’t so concerned with falling off our bike but rather being swept in front of a truck as we did swing into the middle of the road a few times but was lucky as no vehicles were behind us. It’s not our favourite thing in the world to hitch a ride but we like to think we have sensible heads some of the time. In between camping for a few nights under a bridge, behind an abandoned shack and in a cabin used during the day for loggers and the such like; we stayed with two other couch surfers. One was with lovely Nizbeth and her family in Juchitan (we were their first couchsurfing visitors which was cool) and then for three nights in Tuxtla Gutierrez (the modern Capital of Chiapas). After doing a 150 km cycle day we were greeted by Claudio and Angel in Tuxtla and promptly booked into the Camino Real Hotel which was totally unexpected and very generous. There was another couchsurfer already staying with Claudio and he felt bad that we would be using our mattresses on the ground. No amount of trying to assure Claudio that we were accustomed to sleeping on our mattresses and that we were simply appreciative of a place to stay worked. We were ushered to the hotel where we slept soundly in a king-sized bed and had extra long showers. The next day after a lazy morning we took in the Canyon El Sumidero in Chiapa de Corzo via boat. It was really pretty and the temperature was perfect with the breeze and shade of the towering canyon above us. We saw crocodiles and heaps of vultures but missed out on the spider monkeys that apparently hang out there too. That night we shared a meal out with Claudio and Angel and the other couchsurfer (Maddy, who just finished a cycling trip in the US). I even ate some seafood (go me!), watched Mexico versus Iceland (Roland represented Iceland), had a bit of a dance, and drunk one too many ‘Micho Sabores’. Eek! We arrived in San Cristobal de las Casas after climbing from 430m to 2100m. We stayed with our friend, Alejandro who we met back up in the Copper Canyon around Christmas time. It was so great to see him again. We got the house to ourselves for two nights as Alejandro is a doctor and volunteers in rural villages offering advice, education and treatment at no cost, which we think was pretty amazing. We really liked San Cristobal and even though there were a few more tourists around, it had a really good vibe, felt safe and there were lots of interesting things going on. For example, Alejandro lives across the road from a small plaza and every night we stayed there was live music and yummy food stalls and a buzz about the place. Our favourite thing to do in San Cristobal was strolling around the pretty streets, plazas and markets at night, lit with thousands of lights and fulled with entertainment and a good opportunity to people watch. We went to a local village called Chamula. They are an independent Tzotzil group and follow some unique religious practices, to the point where Chamulans practicing other kinds of Christianity (not Chamulan Catholicism) are expulsed from their villages. Unfortunately, when we where there we were totally bombarded with vendors (including children) pushing for a sale or to be given a gift. It makes for a tricky situation and generally makes you feel pretty stink saying 'no gracias' constantly. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the church but there were many locals chanting and praying with many lit candles and even sacrificed chickens at the alter. We also went to the graveyard that has black crosses for old people, white for the young and blue for others that have died. Off to Osocingo in the morning to see Tonina, some Mayan ruins and then onto the grand Palenque! What did we find on the side of the road?
Roland 120 Belinda 71 05/03/10 - 16/03/10: Taxco to Oaxaca City 03/10/2010
                                 Things found on the road side: * Fernando López who drove around the world in 1998 with a car with no steering wheel. He is now in the Guinness book of records for it. He made the car himself and now the car lives in a museum in Argentina which is where he is from. However, he now lives in Taxco which is where we meet him outside a super market. (Sorry the photo is really bad). * An umbrella that had seen better days! Anything (at the point the photo was taken) was awesome to shade us from the intensely hot sun. * A straw hat that Roland suits to a T. * A donkey carrying a wheel barrow. They are handy and strong wee creatures. We see many on the road side now. Nibbling at grass or being worked. * A taxi sign * A packet of needles * A freaky looking soft toy that couldn't stay on our bike cause you had to turn your head every time you looked at it. Record breaking activity (For Cycling with Sally): * Drinking 16.5 liters between us in one day. Since leaving Mexico City it has steadily been getting hotter and hotter. Like up to 35 degrees Celsius. It's taking some getting used to! Our circumnavigation of Mexico City continued as we headed to Taxco, a boom and bustling silver mining town that clings to a steep hillside with narrow cobblestone streets that twist between well worn buildings. Now the ride from Metepec was made all that much more exciting by the two police car escort for 40km. We believe they had admirable intentions and just wanted to ensure our safety, but they may have been really bored as well. Thanks to Jose Luis (Warm Showers) we not only enjoyed the many sights and sounds of Taxco, but we also managed to adventure off to an outstanding secret waterfall area with crystal clear water, lush vegetation, green butterflies (unable to capture on camera), curious caves and not another person in sight. Just what the doctor ordered. Jose Luis is busy preparing for an around the world cycle himself and it was exciting to share some stories, advice we have gained and our many mishaps with our attentive audience member. We had a splendid time in Taxco navigating through the gauntlet of vendors, being overwhelmed by the massive amount of silver jewelry and feasting on beautiful fresh fruit in the mornings. Many thanks to Jose Luis and best wishes with your future travels. In keeping with our snakes and ladders route of Mexico, we headed north once more and really battled the heat before arriving in Cuernavaca. Once in Cuernavaca we instantly felt at home, with our SERVAS host family Alfredo, Lilia, Liliana and Alfedro Jr. and wished we could have stayed longer. Apparently Cuernavaca has more swimming pools that any other city in Mexico and you will have to take our word for it, nothing beats the heat better then a good swim or soak. Besides taking in a few of the cities attractions, gobbling up McDonalds ice cream cones, volunteering (see our Salvation Army Journal page), taking the dog for a walk and trying desperately to fix and figure out why our stove wasn´t working, the most memorable experience was eating together and speaking both Spanish and English. Something you don´t see every day: In the Cuernavaca Plaza, which is a large modern mall, they have a swimming pool with three large balls that children can play in. Sort of like a giant hamster ball for people. You can spend hours watching these kids trying to stand upright and bounce into their friends in this treadmill like conditions. From Cuernavaca things really started to heat up and we found ourselves not bothering to purchase the 1.5 liter bottles of water anymore, particularly when 25 litres are required and are much better value. We initially allowed four days to get to Oaxaca, but with the heat and lack of confidence with mile markers, we had our doubts. Especially when in a span of ten km we were treated to four different signs with four different distances for the nearby town of Cuautla. (23 km, 13km, 18km, 21km). Eventually with some very early starts, a few long breaks in shaded, breezy plazas and a few gruelling climbs we managed to arrive in Oaxaca City early and immediately took refuge from the heat in a nearby internet cafe. It was just our luck that Friday (13-March) was ¨give water to stranger’s day¨ and we were treated to some refreshing coconut agua with passion fruit. To the delight of everyone around us, after several hours of sweating and smelling, we finally left our shaded haven in search of our SERVAS hosts David and Kathy. They live in a remarkable three storey house which they have designed and had a hand in building. Kathy´s exceptional artist ability is express throughout the place with art pieces from around the world, unique hand crafted-painted furniture, brilliant tile work and design and many plants that give you a sense of coolness and homeliness. (Belinda´s mom would be in love). Well after about three and half months of travelling in Mexico, those sneaky, creepy, yucky crummy, tummy bugs finally caught up with us and we were just so HUGELY appreciative to be with Kathy and David. Having travelled throughout the world and spending a lot of time in Guatemala they unfortunately knew what it was like being sick and abroad. They were just amazing, as we were able to ride it out for the next few days in the comforts of a cool house and breezy hammock. We had only planned to stay a couple of nights with them, as they were expecting other guests who were travelling from N.Y. to B.A with their two year old son. Feeling sick, embarrassed, awkward and drained we were in the process of making a reservation at a nearby hostel, when the downstairs neighbor graciously invited us to stay with him and his family. At this point, the emotions of this unexpected suggestion was far too much for us to contain and we found ourselves fighting back the tears. By the third day of feeling nil, and we actually managed to summons up enough strength to meet fellow cycling tourists Scott, Karen and Martin (who we have met previously in Alaska and Creel respectively) and take in a couple of attractions. Oaxaca is a relaxed but stimulating city with arguably the best handcrafts shopping in Mexico. We headed first to the Zocalo (main plaza) and then rambled through several markets, cathedrals, plazas with street performers and finished with traditional Oaxaca Folk dancing at the Casa de las Artesanias de Oaxaca. (No good photos though!). It was great catching up with our cycling friends as we shared adventures and future itineraries through the rest of Mexico and Central America. Additionally, it was terrific to get to know the downstairs neighbors, John and Nora and their two kids Roan and Isla who are originally from Vancouver as well. John has just completed his second book called ¨The Tiger¨ which is to be released in August of this year. Having chatted about the book, learning about his interests and listening to him speak; I think it´s going to be a captivating read with many layers. We know that this beautiful city has much more to offer than what we experienced, but in these unfortunate circumstances, we met some pretty extraordinary people that really helped us out when we needed it most. Our only regret was not meeting up with our friend Abraham, who was so excited for us to finally arrive and the prospect of show us his charming home town. We then cycled for only one day to Miahuatlán and ended up staying two nights as we were still not feeling 100% and knew the road ahead was going to be tough getting to the coast. We stayed with Michael through Warm Showers and his friends, Juan, Marina and Carmen. We weren't allowed to lift a finger our entire stay and was able to rest, eat wonderful home-cooked meals and enjoy these lovely people's company. We also really liked hearing about Michael's cycling stories through Turkey. It's always good to be in the company of other cycling tourists. Cribbage Score: Roland 110 Belinda 69                                                      Hope you have a nice big cup of coffee for this latest update because she is a woozy. After prying ourselves from all the comforts and conveniences of Morlia we set our course to Ciudad Hidalgo, Angangueo and the monarch butterfly sanctuary, Valle de Bravo and Metepec. As we blasted ourselves into the unknown, we had no idea how physically and emotionally charged the next few days were going to be. Traveling through the remains of Angangueo, a town that was recently ravaged by heavy rains and floods was incredibly disturbing. We couldn`t even bring ourselves to photograph the destruction to buildings, roads, homes and families (22 people died). We were further saddened and troubled to learn that logging in the surrounding area has amplified the force of these flash floods. In many areas of our ascent, complete sections of road had completely vanished and we were forced to navigate through what looked like a dried up river bed. The Mexican military had a huge presence, giving rations of food and water, leading reconstruction projects, directing and re-directing traffic and providing security. At one point they even stopped us, took down our names and advised us not to continue on our planned route. Unfortunately this was after a 2500m (3hr) climb and we had no intentions of turning around, especially since the worst was behind us. After a wait, a flash of our passports and where we had traveled from they wished us well and safe travels. High up in the mountains past Angangueo is where the monarch butterflies stay for respite from the Canadian winter. It was quite a sight being surrounded by millions of butterflies fluttering around in the warm afternoon sunshine, although sadly many died in the recent storms. At the entrance of the santuary is a make-shift community trying to make ends-meat by tourists visiting the butterflies. We were generously offered a place to stay with one of the families that lived there. They lived in a simple wooden cabin, with a fireplace and mattresses on the floor. It gets to below freezing overnight. It was a difficult and amazing experience for us. One on-going struggle we are continuously exposed to, which is related to the intimate and unique type of travel only offering by bicycle touring, is having the opportunity to meander through the villages, parts outside the city, places that are less (touristy) and that reflect a certain authenticity of how people live and how things actually are. Many times these sights, smells and insights are extremely difficult to come to terms with. We have also had the privilege to be invited and welcomed to into many many homes from a huge range of backgrounds. As guests, we are extremely appreciative of the hospitality and kindness offered by hosts. I guess cycling and camping along the side of the road (roughing it) gives you a certain perspective about life, how little you need to sustain yourself and how the simple pleasures of a roof, place to wash, a bed, warmth and companionship are true treasures and treats. Relating this and how people genuinely want to be apart of our cycling experience in some form or another, it`s very emotional and endearing. Having fathers in tears after you leave them and only meeting them for the better part of a day. Knowing that we will never see many of the people you come in contact with again- as they may not have the resources to travel, computers to email or even a telephone. Knowing that you have encountered something very special and memorable. This segment has also highlighted that working at a marriage is never-ending. Just when we think we are the 'perfect' married couple we hit a pot hole that we dip into and have to love each other out of it again. At times, when we get to a point of emotional saturation, all caring and considerate conversation goes out the window and then requires much reflection and talking an incident over afterwards. Sometimes, during our high moments, we think we're immune to hurting each other but in reality we need to be conscious in our relationship and renew our commitment to one another daily. Big Bird (our tandem bike) is a lot like a marriage. Two individuals with unique thoughts and feelings, moving along on one bike in unison in the same direction. The point is, we are very different people and yet we love each other dearly, even through times when we wish we could saw the bike in half and do it our 'own' way (sorry Big Bird!). However, only moments later we are wanting to weld the bike back together as there's no one else we would rather be doing this trip with. Just keeping it real for all our readers as this ride is a challenge in all aspects of life: it's physical, emotion, mental, and spiritual. Cycling to Valle de Bravo we found ourselves being accompanied by the Bernal family. Jesus and Tere stopped us for a chat and invited us back to their home (closeby) for lunch. We shared our pasta from our camp pot and they made fresh tortillas with chicken. They were so warm and proud and we felt very priviledged to be invited in. After lunch, the family of six piled into their truck and they followed us 50 kms to Valle. This was a first for us and very memorable. We offered Juan Jesus (Jesus's teenage son) to jump on the back of the bike and I rode in the car. It was quite an experience for Juan and strange for me following behind the bike. It was a tearful farewell upon arriving in Valle and although we only spend an afternoon with them, it has imprinted a firm memory in the minds of all involved. In Valle de Bravo we stayed with Couchsurfing host, Dilvar and his daughter Jordy. We really liked this beautiful town. Apparently many rich people from Mexico City visit and live there so the Police have a big presence to keep the town safe. It is situated right next to lake, which the views cycling into Valle was spectacular. While we were in Valle, Ellen (our host in San Miguel) and her friend Joanna came down and meet us. We had a meal together at sunset in El Michoacan Restaurante that overlooked the lake. It was so great to see them again and we are so appreciative of Ellen bringing down some mail to us aswell. We hope to see Ellen again at some point down the track; maybe Costa Rica or New Zealand. Before cycling to Metepec we stopped in at Jordy's school to speak to the kids there. It is a Wardolph school in a rural area and also has an organic, free range farm. We showed the kids pictures, told them a few stories and then showed them the bike. They were a great bunch of kids, interested in our trip, and fortunately understood our Spanglish. We participated in their tradition of having homemade bread and herbal tea for a snack (along with singing a song of thanks) and then we played a few games before leaving. We had a really fun time there. Thanks to Dilvar and Jordy for having us and also introducing us to some of your friends who have similiar interests to us. It was a pleasure. Immediately leaving the school we discovered our rear hub free wheel was not free, causing our chain to be loose when we weren't pedaling. We managed to get go up two 20 km climbs, however on the final decent only 20 km's from Metepec the chain got caught in the spokes which broke the chain, the cassette and several spokes. We managed to get a ride to our host's house (Celeste, who is a cousin of Carlos, the guy we met in Batopillas who actually lives in Mexico City) on a pick up truck but had to pay a hefty fee for his services. Big Bird is currently in Bike Hospital and being well looked after while we spend a few days in the Big Smoke. Carlos surprised us by arriving in Metepec, and we enjoyed getting to know Celeste and her family and friend, Gabi, eating yummy Pozole, having Mexican fare in a food hall, having water fights, reading books and general all round relaxing. Mexico City is massive. At night the city lights look like they go on forever. We are staying with Carlos, his Mum and sister (Esperanca and Perla) who are super duper lovely and have spoiled us with delicious meals. Our focus here has been volunteering (see the Salvation Army Journal page) however we have managed to take is some of the many sights here. We took the bus ride up to Teotihuacàn pyramids, checked out many of the huge malls, used the Metro/subway system that has heaps of art and interesting displays to view, went to the skate park with Carlos and checked out his tricks, cruized around town in Carlos's funky silver V-dub, and walked down the main downtown street (Reforma) that has grand old buildings and statues (i.e. Angel of Independance) as well as modern artforms. A new free initiative the goverment has introduced is Ecobikes. There are stations all down Reforma where you can pick up a bike and use it and then drop it back off again. It looked pretty cool. We've also had the pleasure of meeting some of Carlos's good friends, who we meet for dinner and this afternoon plan to go to their school and get our booties wiggling doing Zumba. Then tonight we are excited to watch the soccer match between Mexico and NEW ZEALAND! ..... UPDATE: We lost the soccer game, however fortunately it was only a friendly game. Zumba really gives you a workout but is super fun. Roland and I had one final walk in downtown Mexico and found ourselves being interviewed by a lovely reporter from CNN Mexico. You can find the link on our home page. We stayed one more night with Celeste in Metepec where we picked up our bike and prepared to hit the road again towards Oaxaca City. What did we find on the side of the road: * 10 cartons of chocolate milk.....ummmmm chocolate..... quite a good find and very satisfying after spending all day going uphill. Lovin' the....... ...... way the suburban buses operate here. They are a little bigger than a van and you can get on anywhere (you don't have to be at an official bus stop). The bus driver stops to pick you up even if the bus is completely full. In this case, he leaves the doors open so people can stand in the doorways. If you get on the back of the bus (because it's full) you just pass your money forward (person to person) all the way up to the bus driver. Then your change is passed back down the bus from the front.                                              We have now made it past the 200 day mark since starting our journey in Alaska last July. All at the same time it feels like we’ve been on the road forever and yet only just started. We’ve jam-packed a lot into our last seven months of life and as Roland often says “we’ve fast forwarded our marriage by 30 years” spending 24 hours together through the thick and thin of our adventures. Although we’re back on the road again, we’ve had five days off in Guanajuato, Morelia and Patzcuaro. We are very much enjoying this area, but we also want to do some solid riding again and put some mileage under our belts. However, this is highly unlikely as just ahead of us is the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary and Mexico City – the largest city in the world! We really enjoyed the more modern and industrial town of Irapuato. It is not a typical tourist destination, however the town square was a mix of old and modern features, such as the pretty coloured fountain show. We stayed with Couchsurfer, Andres, who kindly gave us a tour and insights into the city in which you don't typically get as a tourist. Thanks so much for having us Andres and your mum too! At times we tried to get onto the toll roads ('cuotas') as there is not as much traffic, the roads are well groomed, generally flatter and there is a wider shoulder, but we were turned away twice and initially disappointed. However, by cycling on the free roads ('libre') we cycled through many small villages, giving us a fuller experience of Mexican life as they are rather different to the cities we stayed in. One night, we were having a break and playing cards next to a closed restaurant. After a while, the owner pulls up with his wife and strikes up a conversation with us. Turns out he lives much of the year in Chicago working while his wife runs the restaurant here in Mexico. After some time, he invited us to stay in their spare room which we were very happy and grateful to accept. The next morning we helped set up the restaurant for business and enjoyed watching Ramon's wife whip up fresh tortillas with ease. Summary of towns we stopped in: Guanajuato: We had the pleasure of staying with Kay (couchsurfing) in Guanajuato. It was a very colourful town that had tunnels for vehicles (initally constructed during the mining era) running under ground so not to fill the innercity with traffic. The mummy museum was weird as you literally got to see babies, men and women ´mummified´due to the temperatures and type of soil they were buried in. I bet ya these people never thought they'd wind up in a museum where people from all over the world come to see them! The highlight for us here was attending the local symphony orchestra with Kay. A little bit of Beethoven - I say, I say! Thanks Kay for having us on such short notice, we loved the view from your beautiful house. Morelia: We stayed in a hotel here for two nights, compliments of Couchsurfer host, Paulo. We couldn't believe our luck! It was right in the downtown area and so we could have lazy mornings sleeping in and watching nothing much on TV before strolling around the city in the warm afternoon sunshine, taking in various museums and resisting many sweet delights in the mercado dulce (sweet market). On return from our excursion to Patzcuaro (by bus) we stayed with Paulo one last night in his home and experienced intenstine, brain and eye meat tacos (a speciality) with him, his brother Gabriel and friends. They were a great bunch of guys and we hope to see some of them again when they visit New Zealand. Patzcuaro: We stayed with SERVAS hosts, Maria and Pablo (and their three beautiful dogs), in another pretty colonial town with all the central buildings painted white and reddish-brown. Even though it was grey and rainy we enjoyed visiting our first pyramid ruins in Txintzuntzan and Ihuatzio. Also, we viewed the oldest olive trees in Latin America in the courtyard of an old Spanish Monastery. Thank you to Maria and Pablo for having us in your Alaskan log cabin and spoiling us with delicious meals and interesting conversation. Bee and Ro loves: 'Panaderias' which are bakeries filled with all sorts of delicious Mexican pastries. The great thing about them is they are not overly sweet and are so cheap. We love how you just walk, grab a tray and tongs and you select what you want. Each pastry costs between 1 and 6 pesos (10-60 cents) and they are oh so good! Bee and Ro hates: 'topes' which are speed bumps. There are multitudes of them in Mexico as no one follows the speed limits but we are finding they are really cramp our coasting style! "Pinche topes!" 'NAME THAT PONY' COMPETITION 02/12/2010
 That´s right folks, you have the opportunity come up with the winning name and be famous in the 'Cycling with Sally' world. What more encouragement do you need to enter your suggestion? Please post your comments on this blog entry. The entry deadline closes on the 20th February. On a completely unrelated note: Big Bird and the rest of the cycling team have had a breach in security. Unknown to us all (except Belinda), we have been travelling with a mysterious container of deodorant that has managed to hitch a ride for the past month. Big bird and Roland are still dealing with the betrayal.                                                      One minute we were just arriving in San Miguel and the weeks spanned out ahead of us. Yet, suddenly in the blink of an eye it is the day before we leave and we find ourselves preparing to spend some quality time with Big Bird again. He’s probably been feeling a little deprived as he’s had to weather a ‘freak’ week of heavy rain, wind, thunder, lightning and hail. Apparently, San Miguel (on average) gets less than 0.1 inch of rain in the month of January, however we saw inner city streams turn into overflowing rivers that any extreme white water rafter would be proud to ride down. In spite of the uncanny weather, we have had many clear blue days and by mid afternoon the cockles of our hearts are all warmed up and toasty. Readers will be pleased to learn though that Big Bird won’t be glum for long as we have adorned him with a new mascot that has come all the way from Australia. It was a birthday present from Tessa, one of my lovely nieces who selflessly gave up a My Little Pony’s from her own collection as we sadly lost Chelsea Lee (our first pony) up in Canada. We are still waiting to find out if this cute little pony has a name. If not, we may be open to suggestions…… In addition, we received four new tires from Schwalbe (Marathon XR) that they kindly donated to us through the help of Forza Motor Sport in Guadalajara. We are keen to try them out and looking forward to our tires lasting a tad longer and not getting so many punctures. San Miguel is a UNICCO World Heritage Site cause it’s pretty darn old and very picturesque. So much so that many people (mainly American and Canadians) have made their home here. The streets are lined with cobble stones and the houses painted in differing shades of reds and yellows. As with all Mexican towns, the centre has a beautiful plaza with a Cathedral towering above and that can be seen from all around the town. There is a great temporary Tuesday market here called Tiangis (does that word sound dirty to anyone else?) has bargain buys on almost anything you can think of i.e. even chicken’s feet if you’re in the mood! Also, there are heaps of social events going on almost every day. We attended a Chile Cook-off where we could try 35 different chile’s and vote for our favourite one. It also had cultural performances from young girls with excellent show-horse skills and blokes doing lasso tricks. We’ve also attended a couple of Art Gallery openings where in our travel clothes we sipped on glasses of wine, eat delicious nibbles and ooo’ed and ah’ed over sculptures and paintings. The library here is also very cool. It has a central courtyard, a café, entertainment and of course books! This was a great place to play crib and bump into people that we had met through Ellen and Spanish class. We also did a couple of day trips to the country where there are small villages. Pozos is an old mining ghost town that has funky art galleries and stores that sell pre-hispanic musical instrument and Antonilco is another UNICCO World Heritage site that has a Church there too which holds traditional retreats and processions. We attended a bull fight, with the stands full of both Mexicans and ‘Gringos’. I particularly had a hard time with it and found myself sitting behind a brick pillar and studying the fine brick-laying work intently. Roland was brave enough to watch and awkwardly took a few snaps, as it seemed inappropriate to be recording on camera the slow death of the bull. We were both a little naïve on arriving at the fight as we didn’t really think about how visually gruesome it would be. It was hard seeing spears sticking out of the bulls with blood streaming down their sides, knowing they have no chance of getting out of that rink alive. However, we did find the lead-up to the fight very entertaining with the flowers being prepared, the showmanship of the Matador and his assistants and even the vendors selling various knick-knacks in the stands. I guess we can say it was a cultural experience but for us that will be the first and last time attending a bull fight. Please note, these are our personal views on bull fighting and totally understand it is important to Mexican culture and it is not our intention of offending anyone that enjoys the experience. I have been finding myself particularly domesticated; enthusiastically washing dishes, making our bed, and showering (almost daily) and savouring every minute. Isn’t it strange that simple and often mundane tasks can be pleasurable when one doesn’t have a fixed abode? We have both been making the most of Ellen’s large kitchen and utensils, while our trusty old camping pot and two spoons take a rest. We made many meals, including last night when Roland cooked (his best yet) lasagna with spinach and ricotta cheese. All those who have tried my chocolate mousse will be pleased to know it tastes just as good in Mexico as it does in New Zealand. We’ve also been watching tons of movies, even some golden oldies like ‘Around the World in 80 days’ and ‘Gigi’ and doing a spot of Pilates from a 50 cent video we picked up at a garage sale we helped out at for the local rest home. Our minds have been thoroughly sharpened through playing several games of Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble and Balderdash with Ellen and her very knowledgeable friends. Our main focus since we’ve been here has been learning some basic Spanish. On advice, we attended Warren Hardy’s school that was perfectly orchestrated to give us a foundation level of language. After eight lessons and at least 24 hours of homework we’ve learnt functional Spanish where we can articulate what we want and need. We hope to study further (i.e. learning the Past Tense) maybe somewhere in Nicaragua? We were introduced to a terrific routine that one of our class mates (Brendan) devised and kindly invited us to partake. After class, we’d head to this great Huarache stand (huaraches are fried tortillas in an oval shape and topped with meat, vege’s, cheese and salsa and they are oh so good!) and chow down for 20 pesos (about $2NZ). Then we’d trek to a stall which sells wonder fresh ice-cream and all agree the world is a good place. Another highlight of our time here in San Miguel was meeting two fellow cyclists (Manu and Phil at http://www.radausflug.org ). They too had started in Alaska and are destined for Argentina. They hung about here for an extra few days due to the heavy rain which meant we could get to know them a bit. They are from Austria and plan to go up the Yucatan Peninsula, into Belize and then onto Guatemala, which is our route too! We hope to catch up to them and cycle through some of the Central American countries together which will be great. Ellen (our host who we found through SERVAS) has been incredibly generous with allowing two rough-looking cyclists stay for the whole duration of our stay. The combination of Ellen’s easy going personality, her broad social network, her spacious home, beautiful views from the roof and close proximity to downtown the perfect place to relax and stay entertained. Thank you so very much! Until next time folks…….. |  Roland and Belinda
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