Dia 73 Tikal
Slept great at the Hostal los amigos last night in Flores. While waiting for the bus to Tikal, I met Seth, a law student studying in DC. Another great friend made! We cruised Tikal together, talking the whole day. He's a dedicated cyclist who hopes to do a journey like mine someday..... Tikal is impressive!! The pyramids are much taller than Palenque and the site is just amazing. Much hs been excavated, however, it seems there is much more that that the jungle has refused to give up yet... Saw monkeys, wild turkey, pizotes, a crazy red headed woodpecker, parrots, and tons of other exotic birds that I didn't recognize. I need to decide which route to take from here, which I'll work on tonight in Flores. The camera is dead!!
Dia 74 Flores - Sayaxche 64 kms?
Well, I'm fairly dryed out now and ready to push on. I backtracted past La Libertad and stopped in at the same comedor for lunch. Anna and the ladies there were surprised to see me again and were more talkative than ever. They all said they wanted to go with me and I invited them to go and get their bikes...
Shortly after lunch, I encountered 2 Swiss cyclists, touring on recumbants. They were headed to Flores, so I sent them to the Los Amigos, where I'd been told by one of the staff that I was the first cyclist to stay there. Yeah, I beat the Euros again! Not 10 kms later, another 2 touring cyclists came up the road. Jacques, a frenchman, and Dean, a rastafarian, came riding up and I sent them to the Los Amigos as well. Now they'll be inundated with cyclists!! It's amazing that in the months I'd been touring, I'd only seen 4 other tourists, now 4 more within an hour! Crossed the Rio Pasion on the ferry and decided to stay here in Sayaxche as it's threatening rain again and I'm tired of being wet. After the day off at Tikal, I feel strong and ready to rip off a bunch of Kms. I'm so content to have now seen some of the most impressive archeology in the Americas, I'm concentrating now on trying to straighten out my route and move on toward Costa Rica.
After checking into the Hotel Valle Verde, I asked one of the guys hanging around for a good place to eat. He sent me around the corner, where I wound up being dissapointed by the comparitively high price, small portion, and lack of flavor. Still hungry, I went looking for more. I encountered a street vendor, who told me they offered "churrascos." Not knowing what a churrasco is, I asked and was directed to a young man who spoke excellent English. He's Anderson, from Belize. He explained and we followed with a nice conversation while the cook prepared my churrasco. He went off to work as my food arrived. Twice as plentiful, twice as flavorful, and half the price! Then, I returned to the hotel, and who's working the night shift? Anderson. So we talked some more. Another cooincidence occured today when I was eating my meager, pricy meal. The very same family who had come into the restaurant and sat at the next table last night in Flores, came in and sat at the next table! This was amazing in that I was now in a non-tourist town, and blocks off the main drag......
Dia 75 Sayaxche - Chisec 121 kms
Said goodbye to Anderson this AM as I was up early enough to see him off as he ended his shift at 6:30. A light mist was falling, so I covered my bags and braced myself for another wet day. Had to wait around for a restaurant to open as I wouldn't think of heading out without a full tank to start the day. Guess I don't get very good gas mileage as I have to eat a lot to keep my motor pumpin'! The mist stopped and the wind was light, so I clicked off a bunch of kms quickly. I almost became irritated today at the constant shouts of "Gringo! Gringo!" Anyone under the age of 12, always from a safe distance, would shout "Gringo!" which would alert the rest of the youngsters in the neighborhood, who would then chime in. Then, they'd follow with a barrage of commentary in their native Q'eqchi. Sometimes they'd throw in a word or 2 of English, usually "goodbye." I took this to mean I'd better leave....I don't think they meant to be derogatory, but It's disturbing to be pigeon-holed purely on appearance. Very poor people here in this part of Guatemala. The houses are made of traditional materials like wood and palm fronds. No electricity or running water here. Every stream is full of women and children washing clothes and bathing. Gender roles are evident here as the men dress in western atire, carry machetes and work in the fields. The women dress in long skirts and shawls. Many of the women and children are barefoot. Every little pueblito has a baptist or evangelical church that appears locked and unkept. I guess the missionaries came, build, and then leave..... No monster catholic churches as an obvious double standard exists. The infrastructure enjoyed in "white boy" Guatemala is missing here. And don't dare speak up ar they'll send in the army again.... I got through this flat part and entered a beautiful mountainous area this PM. Super abrupt, jungle covered cliffy mountains. Still totally indigenous. They hack down the jungle as much as they can to plant corn and beans to feed their babies. It's easy to be an armchair environmentalist and cry foul, but if you were to witness the conditions these folks are living in, You'd do the same.... Another cheap room tonight as the jungle here is a bit daunting. Totally wet, mud, snakes and I kept seeing monster tarantulas crossing the road today ........
Slept great at the Hostal los amigos last night in Flores. While waiting for the bus to Tikal, I met Seth, a law student studying in DC. Another great friend made! We cruised Tikal together, talking the whole day. He's a dedicated cyclist who hopes to do a journey like mine someday..... Tikal is impressive!! The pyramids are much taller than Palenque and the site is just amazing. Much hs been excavated, however, it seems there is much more that that the jungle has refused to give up yet... Saw monkeys, wild turkey, pizotes, a crazy red headed woodpecker, parrots, and tons of other exotic birds that I didn't recognize. I need to decide which route to take from here, which I'll work on tonight in Flores. The camera is dead!!
Dia 74 Flores - Sayaxche 64 kms?
Well, I'm fairly dryed out now and ready to push on. I backtracted past La Libertad and stopped in at the same comedor for lunch. Anna and the ladies there were surprised to see me again and were more talkative than ever. They all said they wanted to go with me and I invited them to go and get their bikes...
Shortly after lunch, I encountered 2 Swiss cyclists, touring on recumbants. They were headed to Flores, so I sent them to the Los Amigos, where I'd been told by one of the staff that I was the first cyclist to stay there. Yeah, I beat the Euros again! Not 10 kms later, another 2 touring cyclists came up the road. Jacques, a frenchman, and Dean, a rastafarian, came riding up and I sent them to the Los Amigos as well. Now they'll be inundated with cyclists!! It's amazing that in the months I'd been touring, I'd only seen 4 other tourists, now 4 more within an hour! Crossed the Rio Pasion on the ferry and decided to stay here in Sayaxche as it's threatening rain again and I'm tired of being wet. After the day off at Tikal, I feel strong and ready to rip off a bunch of Kms. I'm so content to have now seen some of the most impressive archeology in the Americas, I'm concentrating now on trying to straighten out my route and move on toward Costa Rica.
After checking into the Hotel Valle Verde, I asked one of the guys hanging around for a good place to eat. He sent me around the corner, where I wound up being dissapointed by the comparitively high price, small portion, and lack of flavor. Still hungry, I went looking for more. I encountered a street vendor, who told me they offered "churrascos." Not knowing what a churrasco is, I asked and was directed to a young man who spoke excellent English. He's Anderson, from Belize. He explained and we followed with a nice conversation while the cook prepared my churrasco. He went off to work as my food arrived. Twice as plentiful, twice as flavorful, and half the price! Then, I returned to the hotel, and who's working the night shift? Anderson. So we talked some more. Another cooincidence occured today when I was eating my meager, pricy meal. The very same family who had come into the restaurant and sat at the next table last night in Flores, came in and sat at the next table! This was amazing in that I was now in a non-tourist town, and blocks off the main drag......
Dia 75 Sayaxche - Chisec 121 kms
Said goodbye to Anderson this AM as I was up early enough to see him off as he ended his shift at 6:30. A light mist was falling, so I covered my bags and braced myself for another wet day. Had to wait around for a restaurant to open as I wouldn't think of heading out without a full tank to start the day. Guess I don't get very good gas mileage as I have to eat a lot to keep my motor pumpin'! The mist stopped and the wind was light, so I clicked off a bunch of kms quickly. I almost became irritated today at the constant shouts of "Gringo! Gringo!" Anyone under the age of 12, always from a safe distance, would shout "Gringo!" which would alert the rest of the youngsters in the neighborhood, who would then chime in. Then, they'd follow with a barrage of commentary in their native Q'eqchi. Sometimes they'd throw in a word or 2 of English, usually "goodbye." I took this to mean I'd better leave....I don't think they meant to be derogatory, but It's disturbing to be pigeon-holed purely on appearance. Very poor people here in this part of Guatemala. The houses are made of traditional materials like wood and palm fronds. No electricity or running water here. Every stream is full of women and children washing clothes and bathing. Gender roles are evident here as the men dress in western atire, carry machetes and work in the fields. The women dress in long skirts and shawls. Many of the women and children are barefoot. Every little pueblito has a baptist or evangelical church that appears locked and unkept. I guess the missionaries came, build, and then leave..... No monster catholic churches as an obvious double standard exists. The infrastructure enjoyed in "white boy" Guatemala is missing here. And don't dare speak up ar they'll send in the army again.... I got through this flat part and entered a beautiful mountainous area this PM. Super abrupt, jungle covered cliffy mountains. Still totally indigenous. They hack down the jungle as much as they can to plant corn and beans to feed their babies. It's easy to be an armchair environmentalist and cry foul, but if you were to witness the conditions these folks are living in, You'd do the same.... Another cheap room tonight as the jungle here is a bit daunting. Totally wet, mud, snakes and I kept seeing monster tarantulas crossing the road today ........
posted by Bicycle Bob at
5:42 PM
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