I know it's been a while since I've posted last. It's always tough to find the necessary time to sit down and do this, among the all the other things I need to do on my "days off". Following the sang, 'a pictures worth a thousand words', I'm going to really try and write less, and just let you look at the photos.
Now I'm well into Central America, and have had the excitement of crossing a few borders, and experiencing some of the differences of the countries. I've been in San Salvador the past few days, and am getting back on the road tomorrow. I still have been battling illness, and it is plaguing my trip - pun not intended.
Leaving Cozumel and getting back onto the mainland was great. I had a tailwind for good stretches, with more flat, smooth roads (oh how I miss them...). In just a few days I was at the border of Belize, and was really excited. Besides Canada and Mexico, I had never been to another country before, and now this was a new one on the list. The first thing I noticed about Belize, is that they speak English, the next was there are so many black people (there are virtually none in Mexico). Lots of people speak Creole, and almost everyone has a creole accent when I spoke to them. It was very confusing because I didn't know if I should speak Spanish or English. Everyone was real friendly, and as usual I had lots of curious people asking me about my trip.
I had planned on only staying a night in Belize City, and moving on, but with some convincing from my mom, I took a boat out to one of the islands, Caye Caulker, to do some diving. I stayed there a few days, and dove the infamous "Blue Hole", which was incredible. It was a three tank dive, but the first we did the blue hole. After descending 40ft to the bottom, we kicked a bit until the real drop off, and descended all the way to 130ft. At this depth we could only spend about 10 minutes, but in the short time I saw massive bull and reef sharks swimming along. As we swam through the "stalagmites", I could look over and see the sharks slowly swimming along, in the dim light. With no other fish or marine life, and lack of adequate life, it had an eerie feel to it, and was awesome. The second dive I saw three eagle rays flying along a wall, I tried to get a picture of them, but they didn't come out...
I woke up one day on the island, with a terrible sore throat (but nothing else). Little did I know, that from that moment, I would feel sick (with a slight sore throat, and malaise/fatigue), for the next few weeks. This led me to believe that I probably have contracted mononucleosis.
Back on the mainland, I was racing from the city trying to avoid the hurricane that was supposed to hit the coast in a couple days. When I reached the border of Guatemala, I still wasn't feeling real well to ride. I stopped for water at a purifcadora, and a young man there tells me how dangerous it is to be riding on the roads. Especially after a microbus was just robbe a few days previous on the same road in between there and Tikal (while I stayed with them, another one was robbed). He offers some space out front to camp. After camping a night at there (they also have a local radio station) in Melchor, the mother of the family, Rut, mentioned, as I began to pack my things, that I could stay if I wasn't feeling well. I ended up staying four days, camping on their front lawn. Even though I was sick, and not feeling great, it seemed like we all really connected, and at the end it seemed like it was difficult for all of us to say goodbye.
Riding towards Flores, I was curious if I might get robbed, but fortunately nothing happened. I camped a night near the lake, then stayed on the island of Flores. I took a microbus to the ruins of Tikal. What an incredible experience, and amazing how much better the ruins were than in Palenque. I saw howler monkeys, Tucans, and much more intricate ruins.
Before leaving the hostel on the island, I met a young woman that works there. While we were talking, it somehow came up that both her parents were killed three years ago. She has three little brothers that she basically takes care of, and works a ton. She's also trying to finish school at the same time. Riding along that day I had this knot in my gut thinking about her situation, and how difficult it must be.
Riding from Flores, I continued to have lots of heat, rain in the evenings (much more common), and had to deal with some bad roads again. Climbing into the mountains, I crossed into El Salvador, and had loads of hills to climb until descending a big one (after ascending it of course) after Santa Ana, towards Sonsonate. Within about a week, I was on the coast. I camped at one of the first points on the stretch of coast West of La Libertad called Mizata. I hung out there a day, then made my way around the very windy, up and down coast to El Zonte. There I spent a few days, trying to wait for more swell, that showed up, but was still real nasty.
I finally left and made my way up the long hill from La Libertad to San Salvador, where I met up with a the couchsurfer Andre that I was supposed to stay with. Right off the bat I noticed how incredibly helpful he was. First he met me at the gas station at the top of the hill with his truck, to pick me up because it is confusing to find his house. Then the next day he drove me around to do errands that I needed: go to the post office, grocery store, buy new strings for my guitar, go to the bike shop to check my chain and headset, etc. He always seems willing and motivated to help me. I can't thank him enough.
After a few days of getting errands done, mixed with a bit of relaxing, I'm getting back on the road (a little unwillingly, it's always tough to get myself out on the bike when I've got a kitchen, shower, bed, TV, etc). Still I'm excited to see the other countries, and looking forward to doing more surfing in Nicaragua.
Some Thoughts While Riding:
Traveling from country to country, things have been changing rapidly, like the currency. It starts to get confusing trying to remember what things are worth.
There's a company BTL that blocks Skype in Belize.
I learned about the Zapatistas, and the war in Chiapas, Mexico, after I had already passed through there. Maybe that's why it seemed like there was a definite more negative vibe as I passed through the towns (although I still met lots of great people).
It's great being able to speak a little Spanish and notice the subtle differences in the countries. In Guatemala, they say boss and calidad a lot. There are things I really like, like in El Salvador, they say recto, for straight, instead of derecho in Mexico (much better because derecha is right, and sounds to close to derecho)
There have been lots of times when I stop for water, and people give me a few liters. They could charge me, but when I ask the cost, they just tell me "nada". Then wish me a goo trip.
I remember a while ago, hearing from several people "I wish I could ride my bike everyday". Somehow implying that I'm lucky, that it's all fun and games. These people have no idea what I've sacrificed, and what I have to deal with. These are the kind of people that would quit within the first week.
It amazes me how quickly I get accustomed to places I stay and certain situations. I've become very adaptable. A great example was in El Zonte taking a shower outside among the plants. At first I laughed at how ridiculous it seemed, then it just became normal after a day or two.
I realized that I don't really carry my guitar for just me to play. I carry my guitar for others to play. There have been quite a few times (once recently) that people tell me how they haven't played in so long. I can see the satisfaction playing gives them. It's a great feeling knowing that I can help them in some way, and enhance their life.
Riding in some places, with the smog so bad, and with so many diesels, that I will actually get black boogers in my nose.
Kilometers ridden so far: 14, 908.3
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