Cycling from Alaska to Argentina

So today, we left Flores, and three kilometres down the road, Oliver and I parted company. He is now heading to Belize, whilst I stick to Guatemala for the time being, and head towards Lake Isobel, and El Salvador. I’ve really enjoyed his company over the last week or so, and its been great fun to share the road and experiences with him. Cycling with another person or group is definitely far easier than cycling solo, but of course it does rely on having a cycling partner who has the same way of thinking, goals and abilities. That said, I am looking forwards now to breaking new ground, and the excitement that comes from heading off down roads and into the back of beyond of a foreign country by yourself.

It wasn’t a promising start, when my route took me over a rough road directly next to the landfill site. This stretched on for a kilometre or so, and unless anyone is interested in vultures tearing apart smoking piles of dirty nappies, I suggest avoiding it. About 10 kms later, I rejoined the main road, where my only problem was that my camera stopped working. A couple of hard whacks against the handlebars seem to have temporarily solved that one though. A 100 km day, which I finished at just gone 13.00 at Finca Ixobel, a property 5 kms south of the town of Poptun. Originally a farmstead bought by an American couple, it now styles itself as an ecological retreat and backpackers centre. Volunteering is possible here, and the place has a laidback feel to it, although I really want to cover more ground, so I will only be staying the one night.

I left after a good breakfast, and continued on the road to Rio Dulce. Guatemala is famous for its highlands, and although I don’t think I went above 1000 metres, the road was ‘lumpy’. (This is a new cycling term that I have invented for lots of ups and downs, and I expect to be using it more frequently when I cross the Andes).

Some of the views were great as I snaked between small villages with people on horse back, and chickens running every which way. I noticed quite a lot of Pepsi signs today - Pepsi seems to be winning the battle of the corporate giants here in Guatemala !

After 5 hours of cycling, and another 100 kms in the bag, I reached the town of Rio Dulce. As I cycled in, I had the feeling I had been here before, and as I checked out a few hotels, I knew for sure that I had. I had stayed at ‘Brunos’ before in a cell like room (Lonely Planet recommended). This is my traveloguie from five years ago. This time I stayed in a far nicer place with TV, hot water and clean room for much the same price.

Note - A few days ago I bough a Caliendore, or a heating element. This means I can now boil water in my saucepans in hotel rooms. Bring on the Pot Noodle !!

Apart from a hilly 10 km stretch within the first half of the day, todays 75 kms of cycling was fairly straight forwards and uneventful. Traffic was a little heavier when I changed roads from the 13 to the 9, so it was on with the headphones at that point. I ended up in the small town of Quirigua, which is full of friendly people. The room in Hotel Royal is impeccable for 75 quetzales a night. The town did have one slight frawback though. The favourite hobby here seemed to be shouting very, very loudly and making as much noise as possible. Which made it all the more amusing later on in the evening, when the owner of the hotel asked me to turn my TV down !!

A little bit of a harder ride today, due to some pretty intense heat and lumpy countryside. The landscape also changed from lush green to dry brown earth. I had a good, cheap breakfast for 15 Quetzales at a roadside stand, which fuelled me up well for the hills ahead. I decided to call it a day in the small town of Rio Hondo, where I took a 60 Quetzales  hotel room. The shower was almost icy cold, but boy did I need it !

There was a short day on the cards for the next day, as I had a few more Quetzales left over than I had originally calculated, so I decided it was better to spend a day extra in Guatemala than lose out on an exchange rate.

Had a bit of a shopping disaster when two out of five products I bought from the local store were out of date. The biscuits were seven months over but tasted ok !

Today got off to an odd start when I was woken at 05.30 by a rooster announcing the start of the day. Nothing unusual about that, until somebody emptied an AK-47 into it. Well, that’s what it sounded like. I thought it might be a power transformer blowing, but the sound went on too long for that, and until I am presented with evidence to the contrary, I am going with the AK-47 theory. Besides, the rooster didn’t make another sound.

I left a bit later at gone 09.00 as I only had a short day in mind. That said, it was a pretty gruelling one, despite it only being 40 kms. The road deteriorated badly, traffic was intensely spewing out plumes of black smoke, the hills were steep, noise constant and a very strong wind blew against me. So when I entered the outskirts of Chiquimula and was greeted by a large, modern shopping mall, I was taken quickly by surprise. I soon recovered however, and dived straight into McDonalds. The staff there must be fed a constant diet of red bull, because I have never seen so much energy and enthusiasm!

I found myself a hotel, and as I had some quetzales left over, decided to treat myself  in the supermarket - strawberries, yoghurt, sardines, muesli, fanta and pot noodles. Keeping it real as always!

A nice early start, with a slight detour back to McDonalds for breakfast to fill myself up on healthy goodness. Which was probably just as well, because todays cycling was a tough one. All uphill to the border with El Salvador, against strong winds, and in ridiculous heat. The border crossing itself was straightforwards, and apparantly, the Guatemala entry visa which was for 90 days is valid also for El Salvador and Honduras.

There was a bit of a lorry queue on both sides of the border - Some of the guys had slung hammocks beneath their trailers to be shaded from the sun!

Thankfully, after another 5 kms of uphill, it was a wonderful downhill pedal free ride into the town of Metapan. They use US dollars in El Salvador, and a hotel room was 8 dollars. 

Again, a short day of just over 50 kms, but another tough one that left me wondering if there was any flat ground in El Salvador at all ! There are quite a lot of volcanoes here though, so I guess not. The heat was pretty impressive once more, which when combined with the steep ascents left me dripping in sweat. Along the way, a car wheel overtook me, closely followed by the car itself, throwing sparks up into the air as it grinded its way across the road before stopping in front of me. The guy got out of the car, ice cream still in hand - So that was ok then.

I cycled into the city of Santa Ana, and headed into what I assume to be the centre. El Salvador is a country I have done zero research into, have no information about, and have no guidebook or specific maps for. great orginisation there! I ended up in Hotel Livingston, which I have initially taken for two nights, although may extend further, as I really should plan my route to Panama.

These last days cycling in the sun have topped up my cyclists tan nicely. (Towel not models own)