The last two days I was riding from Tapachula (Mexico) across the border and then East towards the capital of Guatemala. I took the coastal route to avoid the huge mountains in the central region of the country. As expected, the weather along the coastal route is very hot and humid. Yesterday it got up to 36C (96F) with high humidity! Yes, we have that also in July in Florida, so I’m somewhat used to it. But we don’t have mountains, and we don’t have super-stinky buses driving up those hills and leaving behind a black cloud of diesel smoke – probably not the healthiest part of my trip here!
One of the great things about Guatemala is the availability of fresh fruit everywhere you stop. Once I drank from and then ate a coconut which I had just watched being chopped up and opened minutes before. And plenty of bananas, mandarines, pineapples, you name it. Check out this photo at a roadside fruit stand!
Another great thing are the huge tropical trees you find here along the road. Some of those trees rival the Giants up North in California, maybe not in height, but they definitely reach massive proportions, stretching out 30-40m in every direction, like huge bowls with a massive trunk!
After 130km, some 1500m elevation gain and 7h on the bike I reached the town of Escuintla, my goal for the day. I looked for a restaurant to get some dinner and drink plenty of water. I even got Internet access during dinner, so I could check email. And they accommodated my bike inside the restaurant by moving a few tables aside, letting me lean my bike and trailer against the wall, and moving the tables back!
As I was one of the only guests at the restaurant, the owners talked to me and took an interest in my project. Then they asked where I would stay for the night. “At some hotel or campground, if possible – don’t know yet.” That got them thinking…
Just around the corner from the restaurant is a hotel whose manager is friends with the owner of the restaurant. So he sent me there. Bueno, I rolled around the block and got to the hotel. Unfortunately they are sold out and have no available rooms, I was told. Just as I am about to leave again the restaurant owner shows up on his motor scooter and talks to his friend, the hotel manager. He tells him about my journey and the special bike I’m riding. So after a few minutes one thing is clear: They will find a place for me to stay here! Who needs a room when you have a tent?
I end up camping in a corner of a safely locked and guarded parking area. Since the hotel has a swimming pool, I can use the poolside shower and facilities. El agua es fria! I am warned, but who wants warm water when you have been sweating the whole day and look forward to cooling off anyway!
This is actually the second night that I am camping at a hotel with swimming pool and enjoying the amenities at a greatly reduced rate! Welcome to Guatemala…
November 17th, 2009
After arriving yesterday and spending an evening in Tapachula near the Guatemala border I will try to get to San Marcos (across the border) today by bus and then take another bus tomorrow morning to the trailhead of the Tajumulco climb.
I have created a new SPOT tracking page (see Links section) which should reveal my whereabouts for the next two days. Will not bring my laptop or much of anything else. Bike will stay here in Tajumulco. Should be back by Sunday evening or Monday morning.
Quick Update: Back in Tapachula Sunday evening; reached Tajumulco summit on a clear day, very nice hike (3h up, 1.5h summit rest, 1.5h down), but adventurous 4.5h bus return trip down almost 3000m. Check the photos on the PicasaWeb gallery!
November 14th, 2009
After coming down from Pico Orizaba I returned by bus via Puebla to Oaxaca, where I stayed another evening and night. This was a great experience, with vibrant city streets, plazas, cafes and restaurants on a Friday night. One interesting aspect about Oaxaca was how men would greet each other: They first shake hands, then pull close into an embrace where the right shoulders touch and they slap each other on the back with the left hand, then they shake hands again. I observed this several dozen times at various restaurants. I also thought it was funny how in some streets the lanes are crossing to the other side (like an “X” shape) so that all of a sudden you drive on the left side of the road, and after a km or so they cross back. I don’t know why this is done, but it was highly confusing for me as a cyclist.
Leaving Oaxaca to the South the road soon climbs up into some mountainous territory, and it pretty much stays like that all the way to Tehuantepec some 250km later. Either uphill or downhill, hardly anything in between; this must be heaven for motorcycles, but it’s very hard for the heavy weight touring bicycle.
At least I still felt the acclimatization advantage from Orizaba, which was great, like on extra Oxygen boost with every deep breath. Over those two days I covered 3000m uphill and 4500m downhill – I was now gaining all the energy back which I had put in when riding up into the Mexico highlands after Mazatlan 🙂 And there were some really long downhills, up to 900m (3000ft) at a time, where I felt like a motorcycle, effortlessly cruising at 50-65km/h and hardly touching the brakes for 10-15 minutes at a time.
Once in Tehuantepec the terrain levels out and the road is mostly flat. What a difference, you can just roll along with much less effort and actually ride near 20km/h average speeds again! That said, there was a new challenge: Wind! A very strong Northerly wind was blowing the last two days here. Since the route is initially East, this wind didn’t help much, it was straight from the left side. In gusts the wind was so strong that it actually blew me off the road into the grass several times! With traffic from behind I had to pay very close attention, especially on short stretches of the road which lacked a shoulder.
There seems to be strong wind frequently, as I rode past several wind farms in this area. One little town there is aptly called “La Ventosa”. At one time I felt a few drops of water on my skin; first I thought this might be from a passing car or truck, but then it started to full-on rain, despite clear blue sky up and around me! I thought this is weird, then looked upwind and noticed that several km to the North there was a large black cloud covering the mountain tops. Apparently the wind was so strong that it blew the rain falling out of this cloud all the way down into the valley – it literally rained sideways!
Once the road passes Zanatepec and Tapanatepec, it bends more towards the SE, so the N wind is more of a tailwind than from the side. So the last portions were actually quite pleasant, often with tailwind accelerating up to 35-40 km/h.
In 2 days I should reach Tapachula near the Guatemala border. From there it’s also fairly close to Tajumulco, the highest mountain in Guatemala and my 5th Panamerican Peak…
November 11th, 2009
Pico Orizaba (5640m) is the highest mountain in Mexico and the 3rd highest in North America (after Denali and Logan). I arrived in the area by bicycle about a week ago and started from Puebla with an acclimatization hike on a smaller mountain, the nearby volcano Malinche (4500m). Then I drove by bus to the little village of Tlachichuca where I stayed with the Canchola family who operate a climbing service (see www.summitorizaba.com) – very nice folks. Three days ago we drove up by 4 wheel drive to the Piedra Grande hut (4260m).
With me was a Swiss guy, who also wanted to climb Orizaba. At the hut we then got accompanied by two large teams from American outfitters with both American and Mexican guides as well as two smaller groups guided by Mexicans. So the hut was moderately full, which was both good (plenty of water, food, gas, etc. – plenty of people to meet and share stories) and bad (snoring at night).
The following day the weather was very bad, with cloud cover and freezing rain almost all the time. Some snow outside, very little visibility, not a day to go up a mountain. We all waited in the hut with little to do but to share mountain stories, eat and sleep. At least the wait time would help with acclimatization, which I felt I badly needed for altitudes above 5000m.
Then yesterday very early morning the hut got busy: Some teams started at 1am, others at 2am, the Swiss guy and I we started at 4am. Luckily there were only thin clouds through which we could already see the near full moon, and after a 1/2h or so it cleared up and we could see both the summit cone and down to the valley.
We got up to the glacier after 2h and the Swiss guy took off – he was in great shape and apparently an expert mountaineer, with little weight on his back, he practically ran up the mountain! I went somewhat slower, but still caught all the other teams which had left up to 3h earlier! It was somewhat cold, maybe -10C and a bit windy on the glacier, but nowhere near the extreme cold I had experienced on Logan and Denali. Also, around 6:30 the sun rose and created beautiful colors, long shadows, warmth and great views all around.
We had to be careful both on the approach to the Jamapa glacier due to an icy layer of frozen rain covering the rocks making them very slippery and then on the glacier due to the generally quite steep route (40-45 degrees). But there was a good snow cover and with crampons and ice-axe it was safe. Above 5000m I noticed how I slowed down due to lack of oxygen, but I didn’t have any headache, so apparently I had sufficiently acclimatized. I reached the crater rim around 8:30am and enjoyed great views into the crater and around into the valley.
After another 100m I reached the summit a little before 9am, with great visibility and good conditions on the top, little wind, not cold at all.
I lingered on the summit for a full hour. Most of the other teams made the summit as well. The descent was uneventful and didn’t take much more than 2 hours. At noon I was back at the hut (8hr round-trip; 5hr ascent, 1hr summit, 2hr descent) and an hour later our driver showed up and took us back down. After the 2hr 4 wheel drive I was back in Tlachichuca, enjoying a hot shower and a restful afternoon and dinner. In the evening Pico Orizaba was visible from the center of town as if to remind me of the great experience I just had!
Now back to the bike and on to Guatemala!
November 6th, 2009
Now that I’m in the vicinity of the highest peak in Mexico, Pico Orizaba, the weather is still quite unstable with rain and isolated thunderstorms. Hence I decided to leave my mountaineering gear in Puebla and for now continue riding past Puebla towards Oaxaca, the next big town to the South-East. From there I plan to ride a bus back to Puebla; I’m hoping that in a week or so the weather will clear and be better suited for the Orizaba climb.
The route from Puebla to Oaxaca leads through some mountaineous terrain. It is a fairly new road and well engineered, with lots of bridges and cut-outs to reduce the impact of the hills. (For some reason they build very few tunnels in Mexico; they’d rather take out an entire hill, which creates huge scars in the landscape…)
Yesterday I had a fast ride; after the two travel days and hauling bike and bags by bus it felt great to be on the road pedaling again! I started the day around noon at 2100m ASL, crossing two hills up to 2400m, and ended the day around 6pm after a huge downhill of some 650m. For 10-15 minutes I was cruising along effortlessly at speeds between 40-70 km/h, passing a few trucks going very slow on the way down… It felt good getting back some of the energy I had put in over the last 3 hard days of riding towards Mexico City before my week vacation.
Today I continued downhill into a broad valley which reminded me of coming down the Brenner Pass in the Italian Alps. I left the autopista at the last little village before the long climb to restock on water and some food. Since this is off the beaten path with very few tourists, people stared at me and my bike as if I’d come from a different planet!
Back on the autopista the road continued downhill and dropped down to almost 1000m ASL where it crosses a narrow valley via a very tall bridge.
From here the road turns abruptly to the West and starts a very long climb over 30km of 1200m up to 2200m ASL! In the midday heat this was very tough. Beautiful landscape, mind you, but extremely tiring nonetheless.
I was mentally prepared, but it still took me 4 hours with all my weight to get up there. Some of the passing trucks were also going very slow due to their heavy weight; I was tempted a few times to accelerate and hang on for some truck-surfing, but decided not to as it was too dangerous.
At the end of the day I was very tired and happy to find a small place renting rooms and enjoying a hot shower. At least I’m getting some acclimatization out of this riding and sleeping above 2000m. Tomorrow I should reach Oaxaca and on Sunday take a bus back to Puebla. Hopefully the weather will improve some over the next couple of days so that I can do some acclimatization climbs and finally the climb of Pico Orizaba.
October 31st, 2009
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