Panamericana

31.03.09

Belize City to San Ignacio

On my own again. Max left yesterday and Wayne is gonna stay another day in Belize City. I got up a bit after 6, took a shower but didn‘ t really get moving. The coffe- and burrito-place across the street opened at 7, so I had breakfsat there. Unfortunately accompanied by that annoying australien moto-biker. He just talked and talked and talked again.

I sat on my bike at 8 am, 29 degrees C! Cycling out of the city was ok, but I missed one turn because I‘ ve been looking at all the people on the road instead of paying attention to the road-signs.

The wind was good and the kilometers flew by. At least during the first half of the day. I met the japanese cyclist whose name I forgot again. We passed each other a few times and had several breaks together. For lunch I ate fried chicken with rice, beans and coleslaw. It was pretty good but way too much!

The second part of the day was a bit more hilly, but the real problem was the heat. At 5pm we arrived in San Ignacio. ? Wanted to cycle the next 10km to the CG while I looked for a place to stay and tried – without success – to find a bikeshop.

The room in the guesthouse is ok for 20 BD, best about it is the balcony, though. I sat there for a while and waited for the air to cool off. But you need a lot of patience for that…

 30.03.09

Day off in Belize City

What a bed night! It was so hot and I hardly slept at all. The board of wood under my bed on which my mattress was placed was broken (I didn‘ t do it!!!). So my mattress was bent and it was even hotter. Max got up at 5am and left a bit later. I couldn‘ t sleep anymore and got up at 6am, took a shower and sat at the veranda in front of the guesthouse. A moto-biker from Australia talked to me constantly in his strong australien accent. He told me all the things I didn‘ t wanna know, not at 6 am, not before breakfast and not in that dialect. He didn‘ t even try to pronounce the names of cities in Central or South America in a correct way. I‘ m not saying here that my spanish is any good – and my english isn‘ t perfect either – but I couldn‘ t stand that.

Belize City isn‘ t a nice place. Many beggers, self-announced tour-guides, many drug-use …

We walked to a bikeshop where they didn‘ t have any tubes for me. The sight-seeing was pretty short and not very entertaining. Burritos for breakfast, luch and dinner and quit a few beers. Some time at the internet-café, reading, relaxing.

That was Belize City.

29.03.09

28.03.09

27.03.09

26.03.09

Nicolas Bravo to Chetumal

73,2km, 4h11min, Ø 17,4 km/h, 224hm

We left Nicolas Bravo at 7 am, it were about 25 degrees C. Almost no wind, but it increased within the following hours – and was of course a headwind again.

It was mostly flat today. At 9 am we already made 38km – what a great feeling! At a small abarrotes where I bought a coke, the owners where just feeding a “Bambi” with a bottle of milk! Interesting type of a pet;-).

The next 15km I cycled together with Max and Wayne, drafting a bit made it a lot easier, but on one of those short climbs I just couldn t keep up with them and cycled the last 17km alone.

It was only 11:15am when I saw them again, after 70km, at a Plaza in Chetumal on the main road where they where waiting.

It took us a while to find a hotel we liked – it would have been nice to have wi-fi for the rest-day tomorrow, but those hotels with wi-fi were twice as expensive as the hotel without wi-fi – and had only 2 beds. So we finally checked into a hotel without wi-fi. Three beds in a large room.

I didn t do much this afternoon. Resting for a while, drinking a coffee and walking around town with Wayne. There‘ s not much to see here, even the water of the Carribean Sea was gray-brown, probably due to the wind, and not very inviting.

Later, on our way to the pizzaria, we met another cyclist who was searching for a hotel. He is from Japan, started in Utah and is on his way to Argentina.

Dinner tonight was my most expansive meal in Mexico: 200 Pesos for Pizza and 2 beers!!! I guess Max has to tell me some tipps for bush-camping now ;-).

25.03.09

Becan to Nicolas Bravo

59,6 km, 3h31min, Ø 15,4 km/h, 366 hm

After a warm but good night we got up at 6:30am. Breakfast, packing, the usual morning-routine. At 7:45am we stood in front of the still locked gate of the Maya ruins of Becan. We pushed our bikes around the gate but were told a few minutes later that we had to wait until 8 am. We payed the 41 Pesos entrance fee and walked around the ruins for a while – just in time to stay ahead of a whole bus-load of Germans. The ruins were pretty nice and the site a lot bigger than I expected it.

Back on the bikes we made a short stop at the abarrotes where be camped last night, bought some cold drinks (already 28 degrees C) and try to get some motivation to fight the headwind that was already blowing again.

Though it was a long day for me yesterday my legs felt ok and cycling wasn‘ t as hard as expected … at least for the first 35 km. At a military checkpoint I had to open my panniers and show what‘ s in there. Some questions later – I understood only half of it – I was on my way again. What do they think a cyclists carries in her/his bags???

The wind was picking up around noon and cycling became a lot harder for me. Rolling hills the whole day, but with that wind there wasn‘ t much that was rolling;-).

Max and Wayne were quite a bit ahead of me and had already finished their lunch when I reached Nicolas Bravo. After discussing our options for the night we ended up staying at a “hotel”. The rooms are clean and simple – a bed and a light-bulb. Outdoor toilets and a bucket-bath. But there‘ s really nothing else I need.

Wayne and I had dinner at a small place across the street. We both got ½ deep-fried chicken. There was so much fat around it that it was hard to find the real meat! It was actually pretty bad, but they were just so proud when they served it! A can of beer helped…

24.03.09

Escárcega – Becan

147,9 km, 8:37h, Ø 17,1 km/h, 955 hm

This morning I decided not to cycle together with Wayne and Max because I wanted to go at my own speed. So I left a while after them but we met again later on the road. There was a headwind all day and it was pretty hot. During the day I drank about 2,5 l of green-ice.tea, 4 l of soda and 4 l of water! I was really glad that there were so many small places along the road where I could buy cold drinks. The climbs today were neither long nor steep, but somehow neverending. It was already dark when I arrived in Becan, so the last hour of cycling wasn‘ t much fun. The CG there didn‘ t exist anymore, but Max already talked to the owner of a small store and he said we could camp in or behind his garage. This was my longest day on this trip so far.

Hi guys!

Just a short note here to let you know that everything is fine. The last 5 days I cycled together with Max from Austria and Wayne from Australia. We heard many stories (we don t know how many of ‚em are true) about the route between San Cristobal and Palenque being king of dangerous. That‘ s why we decided to cycle there together and everything went well. The first 2 days were very hilly, the last couple of days it was mostly flat – something we all didn‘ t experience for a while.

It seems as if I‘ m actually on my way to Belize now – so that decision is made. It‘ s only about 300 km to Belize, so  my last days in Mexico are counted!

I‘ ll write more once I get to Chetumal which is about 275km away from here.

CU Anja

23.03.09

El Aguacatel – Escárcega

109,1 km, 5:35h, Ø 19,5 km/h, 294hm

Another flat day, not much to see on the side of the road. We checked into a hotel in Escárcega already at 3pm. Time went by quickly though – internet, grocery store and dinner.