Our Travels | Tom and SJ

Dec 3 2009

Mexico Part 3

I took a ferry from Mazatlan to La Paz, in southern Baja Mexico. I heard great things from other cyclists about Baja so I was really excited to hear what it was all about. I made the trip on a cargo boat and slept on the deck at night. We departed Mazatlan in the afternoon (about an hour after I arrived in Mazatlan!). No rest for the wicked.

Mazatlan Coast

The boat ride took 18 hrs (the Sea of Cortes is not small!) and was fairly uneventful. I was the biggest dirtbag and attraction on the boat of truckers, as I showered, did all my laundry in the sink and tied it to the handrails of the boat to dry. I fixed a few slow leaks in my tires, and generally got some stuff sorted out that I had been ignoring for the past week. I was preparing to hit the ground riding when I got to La Paz the following morning and wanted to be ready. The road home is long and to get there by Christmas I had to keep the pace strong!

Arriving in Baja was exciting. The landscape is barren desert. The sunrises and sunsets spectacular, and nights tranquil. I camped every night in Baja out in the desert under cool, quiet, starry skies. I awoke before dawn every day to start riding before the wind picked up (which it did almost every day…headwind). The scenery was beautiful and riding fairly uneventful, but highly enjoyable. It would make a great bike tour in itself. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Cargo Boat

Baja Landscape

Fiery Sunset

Dusk

Pre dawn in Juncalito

Pelican, Juncalito

Sunrise over Cortes Sea

Baja Landscape

Baja Dusk

Baja Rollers

Dusk, Baja

Baja Sunset

20,000 kms

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Dec 3 2009

Mexico Part 2

My good buddy Ned came down to Puerto Escondido to ride and surf with me for two weeks. We did just that! I met Ned at the bus terminal in Puerto Escondido, and believe it or not, the bus was early!

We spent a day getting munched by quick breaking waves in Puerto Escondido and fighting fierce currents. The sun beat down intensely at 35C and we hid from it in the afternoons. Bloody hot. The next day we hopped on the bikes and started riding. Things started out well, as we left early when the temperature is cooler. Ned looked like he was enjoying himself.

Ned, looking comfortable

Then the temperature picked up a little, and started taking its toll on Ned. All of a sudden the ground looked appealing to Ned and he eyed every bit of shade on the side of the road as a place to crawl into to take a nap.

Ned needing an ice bath

But he soldiered on and after a day or two the heat became more manageable, and our daily departures earlier. The afternoons were spent chilling in hammocks, swimming and drinking beer. Nice.

Ned with two beers in hand

We camped on the beach almost every night in my tent with a fashioned mosquito net cover, which allowed it to be cool enough to sleep without getting eaten alive by the mosquitos.

We surfed a few more times, enjoyed more sunsets, and took a few days off at Troncones and Nexpa, two surfing hotspots. I think Ned wants to be a long boarder.

Surfer Ned

Ned Surfing

Ned about to get munched by huge wave

The time went by quickly and it seemed that just as we were getting into the rhythm of cycling, he had to go home. We made it to Manzanillo, where Ned hopped a bus back to Mexico City to catch his flight home. Too short a trip Ned.

Usual Suspects

Ned Enjoying Coastline

Ned and Tom above coastline

Ned saluting the camera

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Nov 9 2009

Mexico Part 1

My great Mexican/Canadian friend Gilbert told me of a few things to do in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Since I had a little extra time before meeting Ned on the coast, I decided to head back into the mountains for some sightseeing. My first day I ended up in the town of Comitán de Domínguez. I had no idea what it had in store, but was very pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful colonial town with great food and atmosphere. The mountain air was a little cooler and I slept very well. There were concerts in the main plaza, and kids everywhere dressed as the dead…beacause it was Halloween!

From Comitán I road through cold rains to San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Along the way I found a sign showing some caves so I went to check them out. It turned out to be worth it, and I escaped the rain while in the cave.

Stalactites

Stalagmites

More cool rock formations

The caves were a nice treat. I descended into the cool and wet San Cristóbal in the afternoon and looked around for a tour company. The next day I wanted to visit the Mayan ruins of Palenque, as well as some waterfalls north of San Cristóbal. I signed up for a tour that left early at 6:30am the next day. About the usual time for me.

The first stop was the Cascadas de Agua Azul, which means the Blue Waterfalls. The water is supposedly at bright aqua blue, hence the name. Since it had been raining hard recently, they were more like the Cascadas de Agua Chocolate.

Cascadas de Agua Azul

More falls at Agua Azul

Upstream of the falls.

The next stop were the free-falling watefalls of Misol-Ha. They too were really spectacular.

Misol-Ha Falls

Misol-Ha Falls...notice the people walking behind.

Onward we went to the ruins of Palenque. Since it was pissing rain, and a Monday afternoon, the ruins were empty of people. This was perfect for me, who didn’t mind getting wet for a little tranquility. I looked around the quiet site and enjoyed the solitude.

Ruins

Falls by the ruins

After visiting the ruins, I decended out of the mountains, heading south for the coast (isn’t that the wrong direction to home?). I passed through some more stunning landscapes, and Parque Nacional Aguacero, a canyon with a spring spouting waterfalls out of the canyon walls. I was the only person there, and I camped at the top of the canyon cliffs. It was a pefect day of bike touring: Beautiful scenery, mild tailwind, perfect campspot, empty park, all of which were unplanned surprises.

Chiapas Mountains

Lovely

Canyon at Aguacero

Aguacero Springs

From Aguacero Park, I road down to the coast, the home of magical beaches. I spent a couple nights at the remote beach of Barra de la Cruz, which was completely empty. I met another cyclist and we shared a Cabaña for $3/night each. It was lovely. I even surfed a few waves – luckily for me it was calm enough not to get smoked by the usually massive waves.

The Coast

The Empty Beach

From here I rode to Puerto Escondido, where I will meet my good friend Ned, for a couple weeks of riding and surfing. Along the way I found a park of iguanas and tortuses. I went in and a young girl gave me a tour. I was a conservation project for the local area. These iguanas grow up to 1.9m in length and live on average 30 years. Thankfully they are vegetarians, and pretty laid back.