We made it to the Yucatan!
5-12-01 to 5-27-01

Since our last posting, we have traveled the entire Gulf Coast of Mexico. I say traveled because most of the way was by bus. After our first day of 40 miles of dodging speeding buses and tractor-trailers, we decided the road wasn't big enough for all of our ideas. We hopped a bus and road to Tampico.

Tampico is a major oil port with a quaint downtown area rimmed with airy parks and a modern shopping district. The crowds are manageable and the people are nice. We stayed several days to try to acclimated to our new life. We also took the opportunity to unload some of our gear. The first few miles let us know we were WAY overweight. Between us we got rid of about 15 lb. of gear, trashing some, sending some to Ecuador and the rest back home.

After asking around about the condition of the surrounding roads, we decided to continue by bus. Our next stop was Tuxpan. The farther south we traveled, the hotter the weather. Tuxpan is a lovely little port town worth a nights stay. The atmosphere is very friendly but less like a Port town than Tampico. We visited the Cuban Mexican Amistad Museum a ferry ride across the river.

Our next stop was Veracruz, a large port city that has diminished in recent years to more advanced petroleum specific ports. Veracruz is an old town with lots of tradition and a very interesting history. The crowds and vendors alike were rowdy and unappealing. With the exception of a good cup of coffee, our most happy moment in Veracruz was catching the 13 hour bus ride north to Campeche.

In stark contrast to Veracruz, Campeche is clean, quite, and very sophisticated while still carrying a sense of its Mayan heritage. We arrived at the Campeche bus terminal at 5:30 am and road our bikes into the town center. The sun was rising on the cobblestone streets and the warm regard of a compassionate village engulfed us as we sat down for a wonderful breakfast. We spent 3 days in Campeche getting to know the people, the great food, the Spanish colonial buildings and the 16th century ruins of the old fort that was built to protect the town from pirates. Some of the best news we received was that the traffic was very light in the Yucatan and the long route to Merida was great for cycling. Inspired we headed out early the third morning.

With the temperatures regularly rising over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (feels like 1000), we like to set out before the sun rises to take advantage of the few hours of cool cycling. Up until this point we had ridden fully loaded only on flat ground. The whole way to the Edzna ruins was hilly (even though the books say the state of Campeche is flat). We were getting our butts kicked by the hills and the headwind. The heat and exhaustion had us quickly thinking of more gear we could get rid of. In the end it was worth it. The Edzna ruins are incredible. Nothing can prepare you for the scale of these buildings that were built 3000 years before the combustion engine. Being overheated and dehydrated we tried to take a nap in every available shaded spot. The bugs had other ideas so we just continued on and walked back to the restaurant where we had eaten lunch. The warm hearted Jonathan Christopher of Restaurante Hechicera let us pitch our tents out back and use his bathrooms (the food is great too!). We talked for a few hours before crashing for a well deserved nights sleep.

Early the next morning we set out toward the town of Hopenchen. We had to stop for about an hour so I could replace 5 broken spokes on my rear wheel. After about 12 miles of riding we came to a small town called Cayal and we stopped to buy water. Pretty much everywhere we have been, the locals have looked at us like we were street clowns. The smaller the town, the more interested we are to them. At 9:00 am the temperature was already 98 f. We were beat from the previous days riding so we decided to catch a bus to the next set of ruins - Kabah. We sat at the bus station in Cayal for several hours during which time an old man - Fabian Median Chic - sat down beside me to inquire exactly what we had done to deserve the terrible punishment of carrying those huge bikes around with us. Between biblical scripture quotes and Mayan/Spanish translation studies Fabian explained the differences between Catholicism and the Mayan theology. I sensed his passion and was impressed. Later, the mango lady alerted me that he was considered the village miracle having survived being shocked by the electric line he sliced through with this machete. I was even more impressed. We were wished luck as we hopped on the bus to the ruins of Kabah.

Kabah is a much less impressive set of ruins than Edzna, but still very interesting. We looked around for 3 hours then road about 5 miles north to a hotel. The next morning we road about 10 miles to the ruins at Uxmal. We were "ruined out" by then so we decided to lunch then catch a bus to Merida. While waiting for the bus we met a couple - Bill and Irene - that had ridden from Merida the day before. We were envious of the shape they were in - both because they weren't loaded down with gear and because they could ride 50 miles in this heat and still walk. We caught the bus to Merida and were happy to have a few days to get to know this interesting city.

We are slowly getting our gear down to "riding" weight and getting our bodies up to riding ability. We knew the first weeks would be for getting in shape. We are still getting in shape but mercifully the rainy season has arrived to help us stay cool while we get there. Next we will be heading to Cancun.

Until then......