The language classes in San Cristobal were a success! After spending most of a week there, we headed “downhill” to Ocosingo and onward to Palenque. The trek took five days, although we could have easily done it in half the time. We saw two different Mayan ruin sites and made it past a road-block protest. However, Daisy took her turn at being sick.

San Cristobal de las casas to Palenque

Jason with instructor Laura and fellow student Carmen

The Spanish lessons were well worth the time and cost. In case you’re wondering, it is relatively inexpensive – for US standards. I signed up for 15 hours of group class over 5 days, and the total was M$1320, or US$90. I had a class size of 1 or 2, and had two very different but both knowledgeable instructors. I enjoyed the opportunity to practice speaking — and I’m sure Daisy enjoyed the break from giving the lessons herself!

This tarantula is out of the cage at the bug and insect museum!

So what did Daisy do during the week? Yes, she was busy too. The first couple days she took care of our hostel choice and related things while I was still sick. Then, she finished a final(?) draft of a paper. Impressive, no? All this while sipping coffee along the pedestrian streets and people-watching! It was strange to see the many, many tourists wandering around in hippy-style clothing. We called them the ‘raggedy-baggedies’ since they reminded us of the alternative-living-surfer-dudes that we saw in Tofino, British Columbia. The mornings were for studying and work, and the afternoons for recovering and wandering the streets or going to museums.

Raggedy-baggedy pants in this one!

We love the festive streamers on the pedestrian streets

When it came time, we were very excited to get back on the bikes and out of town. However, it was then Daisy’s turn for gastrointestinal distress. On day 1 out of San Cristobal we made it about half way to our intended destination – through a lot of up hill, menacing dogs, and way way too many speed bumps! We stopped in a town of 40 thousand-plus people, which was (of course!) in the middle of a large fiesta. After a bit of asking around (and difficult navigation) we arrived at the other side of the fiesta and finally found the two small hotels. Unfortunately, there was only one room available. It had dirty sheets, no electricity, and no hot water in the shared bathroom. There wasn’t even space for the bikes! After an unintentional detour on a dirt track to get back to the highway, we collapsed at the local medical center and they allowed us to camp there. It was a night filled with typical fiesta sounds, but we were tucked away safely.

This dirt track got really steep before we found the highway again. Needless to say, it didn’t end up being a shortcut!

Our resting place for the night – boxed in by tables, benches, and vehicles!

On day 2 we made it to Ocosingo (no uphill actually…) and got Daisy parked in a hotel to help her feel better. I spent a few hours in the afternoon taking a collective bus out to the ruins of Toniná. They were great – 7 terraces of buildings and pyramids built up and into a hillside. You were allowed to wander wherever you wanted. I even made a few Mexican friends!

Model of the ruins at Toniná

Looking up at the hill and 7 terraces

Looking down from the very top

I really was up there!

Jason chillin’ with two new friends. Apparently my blue eyes were attractive…

On day 3 we thought we were going to leave Ocosingo, but soon found out we weren’t going to make it anywhere. We left our hotel and biked about a mile to a large grocery store. From there we went up a couple steep hills on our way to the edge of town. Daisy was really feeling the stomach pain, so we decided to stop. I checked out the nearby hotels, which were all more expensive than the one from the previous night. We limped back to our hotel and were happy to move back in before they got the chance to clean our room! The internet was functional there — until the power went out for the whole town. We spent all afternoon and evening reading our kindles in the dark.

On day 4 we successfully exited town. Part-way through the day’s ride we ran into a looong line of parked cars. Immediately we wondered if there was a road-block ahead, as there was when we left Oaxaca. Sure enough, there was! The reason for the protest was that the Mexican government has taken Agua Azul out of the hands of the locals, so they are no longer getting the tourist revenue. In any case, we were able to barely sneak through. As we walked through the barricade, one guy was stopping us but a few others told him to let us through. Whew. The good news was that the traffic was really light afterwards! We decided to skip Agua Azul, and head on to Misol-Ha, another waterfall in the area.

Back-up from the road block

Jungle and farms. The blue river down in the valley is the one that agua azul gets it’s name from. It is blue.

Daisy enjoys a coconut water “to go”

Jungle converted to corn fields

Misol-Ha waterfall

On Christmas Eve (day 5) we arrived in the tourist town of Palenque. It was bustling! We did our food shopping, and then went to the hippie-ish enclave of hotel/hostels called El Panchan on the road to the ruins. We got the last room at the Jungle Palace. Although we didn’t see any monkeys, we sure got our share of jungle rain! We spent that afternoon at Palenque viewing many, many pyramids and other structures. The tourist load was a bit lighter than usual, but the stone staircases were definitely a bit more treacherous! The sheer number of ruins (and Mexicans hawking their wares) was very impressive.

On the way to our room in the back of the “Jungle Palace”

Big building and reconstructed tower at Palenque

One of several large pyramids at Palenque

Daisy inspects the spot where the door hinges went

Looking back at several ruins from the top of another

Jason’s precarious position while he took the previous photo

Waterfall with limestone-like cavern formations on the walk to the museum

Next up: the rush to Merida and visiting there with Daisy’s parents for a week.

Our route from Oaxaca to San Cristobal – over 400 miles!

View during the climb into Chiapas

Our introduction to Chiapas included another raging headwind combined with an unexpectedly steep 3,000′ climb.  At times it was literally impossible to ride and we had to resort to walking up the hill.  During the wind gusts it was too difficult to even walk, and we had to use our bicycle’s brakes just to keep from getting blown back down the hill.  Yikes!!  Needless to say, it was another day where we didn’t make our intended destination.

The winds were fierce – and so was Jason’s face

We turned off the main road an hour before sunset to seek out a small town to pass the night.  Yet again, we found a tiny town where perhaps no gringo has ever gone.  As we approached the main square we heard fresh bread being announced on the loudspeaker.  We followed this sound to its source: the beer dispensary.  Apparently, a local family uses it as a base to sell all sorts of homemade foods.  The bread was delicious!  We asked everyone we met about who to ask to get permission for camping. The town’s main official was out of town for another few hours, so we set up on a basketball court to make dinner. As we did so wave after wave of interested young men (and a lone woman) came by to gawk at us and ask us questions about our trip.  Luckily, the official eventually returned and let us camp in his mother’s patio.  She was kind to us and showed us her pet squirrel that she had rescued after it was hit by a car.  It was a restful night, but we were ready to be back on the road in the morning.

Countryside during our dirt-road tour towards the Sima

Our next day in Chiapas was supposed to be easy…  but of course it wasn’t.  We had a nice morning of riding up and down rolling hills, and we planned to stay at an ecotourism center situated next to a giant abyss in the ground over 400′ deep.  Unfortunately, we missed the shortcut turnoff and as a result we almost didn’t make it by dark.  The last 8 miles of riding were on a narrow dirt road that led us to the middle of nowhere.  We saw goats, horses, and cows all relaxing on the road.  What we didn’t see were cars or any other tourists, but we bravely rode on.  We emerged into a surprisingly well-kept and lovely area on the edge of an impressive abyss.

Jason is happy to have made it to the top of the 500′ dirt climb

Cattle (almost) blocking the road

The hole in the ground was a real thing!  It was a circular area about 400′ wide that had simply sunk into the ground.  The walls were sheer cliffs 400′ deep.  We camped for free that night in a flat area off to the side and comfortingly nearby were fully functioning restrooms.  The downside was the crazy British man also camping there who proceeded to have loud arguments with himself in the middle of the night.  Luckily, he left us alone and was gone early the next morning.

The Sima de los Cottoras (Sinkhole of the Parrots). Unfortunately for us, the birds migrated north in November so we didn’t get to see their dramatic circular exit at sunrise. (On the other hand, we got to sleep in!)

Traffic as we entered Tuxtla Gutierrez

Our next stop was the capital of Chiapas: Tuxtla Gutierrez.  For the last five or so days we had been seeing caravans of folks running along the road carrying torches.  We learned that these were pilgrimages for the Virgen of Guadalupe, who is very important for Mexicans.  The runners were always accompanied by festively decorated pick-up trucks, mini-vans, or even tractor trailers.  We exchanged waves and honks as we passed and got passed by them on the road.  Their pilgrimages finally ended on December 12, and we were lucky to be in a very major city for the final celebration.  The main street of this hectic town was shut down entirely to make room for pilgrims, street vendors, food, carnival rides, and thousands of pedestrians.  We were delighted by the festivities, if a little overwhelmed.  Once again, we were reminded that Mexico really knows how to party.

Main street turned (mostly) pedestrian during the celebration for the Virgen de Guadalupe

We were surprised to see carnival rides on some of the side streets!

Don’t forget the hundreds of motorcycles that were also part of the parade/pilgrimage – and the noise they made…

Many “colectivos” lined up to take folks all over the place. For less than $1 US each, we got a 20 minute ride.

Initially we planned to spend a single night in Tuxtla, but Jason began to feel a bit unwell the next day so we decided to take a rest.  In the afternoon he felt good enough to venture out of the hostel. We took a collective bus to a nearby town where we boarded a speed boat to take a sightseeing tour of the Sumidero Canyon.  This canyon was impressive for many reasons.  The sides of the canyon rise up to 3000 sheer feet above the water in towering walls.  In the narrow areas that weren’t cliff faces, rain forest abutted the river’s edge.  We even saw a crocodile!  It was a wonderful trip.

The canyon walls were tall and sheer

We loved how the hands went up to take photos – and we got to see it all from the back of the boat. The best was the girl with the full-size iPad.

Water dripped from above and created a formation they call the Christmas tree

This tourist attraction wouldn’t be complete without a floating snack store! (Surprisingly, there weren’t any dogs at this stop…)

The next day we set out for our biggest day of climbing yet on this trip.  It was 6,300′ of elevation gain over 28 miles as we rode to the city of San Cristobal.  It was to be our hardest day yet, and not just for the climbing. In the morning Jason decided he felt good enough to make the climb, so we headed out.  Technically, he was right, but in retrospect we probably should have stayed put.  About 1/3 of the way into the climb Jason was feeling poorly with an upset stomach and a headache.  It was a surprise to both of us when he suddenly vomited in the road during a rest stop.  It sounds horrible, and I guess it was, but after it was over Jason felt much better and remarked that it tasted like a strawberry-banana smoothie.  Bizarre, but oh well.

Daisy’s super-loaded bike

Daisy enjoys a much-earned “elote” for a snack. She even likes the spicy sauce!

I took as much of the weight as I could off of Jason’s bike and we slowly continued climbing. He didn’t feel like eating but I tricked him into eating a lunch of fruits and veggies with peanut butter.  Slowly, slowly, slowly we made it up the mountain.  It was quite a moment of relief when we finally crested the last part of the hill and saw the shining city of San Cristobal in the valley below.

For now, we are staying put in the city while Jason recovers for a bit.  We hypothesize that he ate something that really really didn’t agree with him, and it is just going to take a bit to work its way out of his system.  We plan to stay here for around 5 days to also allow Jason to take some language classes, as long as he feels up to it.  We’ll let you know how it goes!