on our way...

goodbye, griga so it was. on sunday, july 3, we said goodbye to dangriga, the town we called home for the last several years (3 for abby!). already we had begun the process of leaving belize and the week before we took a ¨training ride¨ to and from punta gorda for a last taste and look at the south (thank you john, tim and ms. caddy for the multiple plates of rice and beans that are still keeping us fueled). we officially left dangriga hours late last sunday morning, but in hindsight we wouldn´t have done it any other way. town was out and about at that 10 o´clock hour and from the bustling streets people bid us a proper griga goodbye. oh griga!

we were fully loaded for our first time and so we paced ourselves getting to belize city, tackling only the maya mountains to belmopan the first day and riding the sketchy western highway to belize city the second. already belize was promising to make leaving as difficult as possible and we swallowed heavy rains during both days. in belize city we spent a hectic three days making final preparations for our next 3 months on the road, while bridget also had to close out with peace corps on her last years in belize. friday, july 7th, we headed north, to ride our last 85 miles of familiar road to corozal town.

again, on our fifth day riding since our jaunt to punta gorda, we faced a cold deluge of belizean rain in the long stretch before orange walk town. pulling into town, however, we were instantly warmed by the friendly traffic and people streetside that honked, waved or hailied us in gestures of good luck. on thursday in belize city we had done a short interview with channel 5 news and it was quite apparent that the story had aired. our 15 minutes of fame certainly made the transition of leaving a little easier! a representative from town council photographed us on the street (as we were taking $3 tacos to the face, naturally), and after complementary ice cream cones from the streetside vendor we were invited into the major´s office for a quick chat and email exchange. oh belize, how we will miss your small town love!

belly full and spirit warm (though not dry), we rode the last couple hours into corozal, battling the strongest headwinds we´ve faced in belize. it seemed either belize wouldn´t let us go or mexico didn´t want us in. just short of our destination in corozal town we were stopped by the northern districts´ news crew for another interview and photo op. we reached pcv nicole´s house exhausted, but she immediately took charge and for dinner revived and carbo-loaded us with authentic sicilian pasta. the girl even woke up with our 4am alarm to make us breakfast (there was steamed milk in my coffee!). nicole, you sicilian goddess, thank you for hosting us our last night in belize!

la frontera from nicole´s warm and cozy cabana it was only 8 miles to the border where we crossed, anticlimatically, around 6:30am. no sooner did we get our 90-day visa stamped and the rains began--a rain with drops the size of grapes. getting out of chetumal freeway rushhour traffic was a good and honest introduction to a roadtrip through mexico, but after 30 km or so we found our pace and our peace in a comfortable shoulder. the 123 km rolling and wet ride carried us through quintana roo and the maya archeological corridor where bullfrogs polluted the road with their guts and filled the air with a cacophony of sounds. we arrived in xpujil, campeche at 2pm and heeding the advice of our fatherly customs official, borded a bus to escarcega to avoid the 148 km of narrow and dangerous road.

escarcega to chable the long (but sunny!) ride to chable took us through pasture lands dotted by farms, ranches, livestock and...18-wheeler monster trucks. we had been warned about the wide semis and the narrow roads (forget shoulders), but we didn´t anticipate facing both, simultaneously, and so early in the game. here was a ride that tested our focus, coordination and communication, all while trying to smile politely (and pleadingly) to the passing truckers. despite the overwhelming size of the trucks and the endless stretches of road, we found comfort in the reappearing faces of three mexican gentlemen we met in the xpujil bus stop who were en route to san cristobal. chable, surprise surprise, was a sleezy truckers´ stop. nicole, thank you for the mace.

chable to palenque the 4am alarm had a sweet sound this morning as we knew we were getting out of chable. the ride to palenque (79 km) took us just that much farther away from dangriga in topography and language, but brought about a few things close to home as we reached the ancient maya site of palenque. upon reaching palenque town we resupplied and set out the final 9 kms to the actual site. having lived in the company of the mopan and kechi maya in belize there came a certain familarity in the maya of palenque and of the archaeological site itself. but the distinct differences in the architecture (more of a steeple style) and of the surrounding mountains (mountains!) highlighted the transition that we are making both in the literal gound that we have covered and in learning about and observing the ways of a different group of maya. as we walked the grounds of the site there were the obvious questions of how these structures became vacant, and as the imagination began to play with thoughts of past histories and little feet pitter pattering about the concrete grounds, there also came the intimate knowledge of one sister claire whose presence graced these grounds only one year ago. time can be a strange concept when visiting a place like palenque as well as when on the road. and oh yes, we did tour palenque in our bikers.

palenque to san cristobal we took a bus from palenque to san cristobal to avoid what seemed like a guaranteed encounter with banditos on the steep and blindly curving road. this notorious stretch of highway runs through the heart of the zapatista territory and 3 out of 3 parties of cyclists we spoke with prior were robbed by large groups of men (with machetes) that ambushed from the bush. 2 bus tickets, please! the 200km took nearly 6 hours by bus on a road that climbed endlessly into the hills. truth be told we weren´t guilt stricken by the lift followed by a full day off. san cristobal is a quaint little town tucked away in the misty highlands but harbored the typical bohemian invasion that ¨discovers¨an indigenous pocket in the hills. we still spent a nice, if chilly, layover day walking the streets and climbing the juxtaposed stairways to overlook either end of the town.

san cristobal to tuxtla guttierez crawled from cristobal and soared the sierras...had to climb our way out of the little valley where san cristobal is nestled; dangriga seaside did not prepare us for this elevation. as soon as we caught our breath enough to look up upon the summit, we saw the sierra madre mountains wrapped in early morning clouds, and what would be our descent for the next 50 kms. with a mere pedal stroke we met speeds which we might never match again and slid down the mountains like two little ice cubes into the capital city of chiapas, where we are now. we´re thawed out now, but we have at least five days ahead of climbing back into the mountains as we head for oaxaca. the prize at the end? mole. 7 different types of mole.