So with a few shells, some photos and an abundance of mosquito and ant bites we hit the road again. Just wanted to point out that we got more skeeter bites here than Newfoundland and Alaska combined O_o ! Moving inland we had an exhausting 30 minute ride to Merida on perfect roads. Feeling we needed a break from our break we decided to spend some significant time in the big city. We found a decent deal online again and decided to stay for 10 days over the New Year’s holiday.


Ummm…this was not the deal but it was right across the street from our hotel.



This was the place. No secure parking although we had no issues with leaving the bike covered up in the parking lot.


The inner courtyard area, pretty swanky place actually.


These guys were nesting right outside our room.







We took the time to regroup and relearn what this adventure was all about. Why were we doing this trip in the first place? What did we give up to be here? What are our goals? These were all discussion topics we talked about at length.






Cathedral de San Ildefonso, built using stones from ruined Mayan pyramids and temples, it was completed in 1598, making it the oldest cathedral on the continent.






Peeking inside the cathedral.




Some of the 5-0 were riding bigger bikes. Out with the old, in with the new! A new generation V-Strom 1k next to an older one. Nice!


There's a real interesting mixture of buildings on any given street. Some are just old, some uninhabited, some brand new looking. You can find the full spectrum by just walking down one street.


This was only a few doors down from the pic above. It's not like back home where neighbourhoods seem to dictate the class of homes you will find or vice versa.


There's no such thing as cookie-cutter. Everything has incredible character here, even something as simple as a door.


Let the show begin! One of the roads around Plaza Independencia was closed on Sunday while performers entertain the crowd.


This little tyke was entertaining himself.


Stunning entrance to Casa de Montejo, built in 1549, today it houses a bank and a museum.


I absolutely loved Merida.


Even Kermit loves Merida.

Mark was a little less excited by the big city. I think for me it just felt more familiar and comfortable. This made it easier to feel the excitement of traveling again. Of course by the end of 10 days we were both getting very itchy to move on. We finally had a plan again. Our goals were reborn and we were looking forward to continuing our adventure.

~Lori

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We've gone from 1400km's in 4 days to about 200km's in nearly 3 weeks. Taking this “slow” thing to a new level, we put down another exhausting day riding a whopping 83km’s from Merida to Uxmal (pronounced oosh-mahl). Lori found another excellent deal online at a hotel only 2km’s away from the Uxmal ruins and out of uncertainty of where to go next, we checked in for few days.




I know what you're thinking. A few days at this place? Yeah, that’s gotta be tough.


The next morning we found a path right at the back of the hotel property that would lead us to the Uxmal ruins.


Playing a little Mexican heavy metal just before entering the ruins, these guys sounded a bit tinny to me.


This the largest of the pyramids here is called Casa el Adivino or Pyramid of the Magician. There's another name that it goes by, Pyramid of the Dwarf but that name involves a story of witch and a dwarf being hatched from an egg. The dwarf eventually challenged the Mayan King to a test of strength and after passing several of the King's challenges, the King instructed the dwarf to build a house bigger than any other in Uxmal or he would be executed the next morning. The dwarf ran back to the witch who told him not to worry about it. The next morning the king awoke to find this pyramid. Enraged he challenged the dwarf to one final test, they would break wood over each others heads. The King went first but after exhausting his bundle of wood, the dwarf was still standing there. He was of course protected by a magical tortilla the witch had him place on his head. The King knew he couldn't bow out of the challenge in front of all the people, so he let the dwarf have his turn. He was of course killed and the dwarf became King.

Pffft! Witches, dwarfs being hatched from eggs and magical tortillas? Who believes in such nonsense? Everyone knows that the pyramid was built by aliens.


Uxmal was once the capital of the region and dates back to about 600-1000 A.D. It's also considered one of the Maya cities most representative of the region's dominant architectural style.


Oh and it's also a UNESCO world heritage site.


Speaking of stuff that dates back to a thousand A.D. Ok maybe not, but these guys were everywhere at the ruins.


That's quite the mohawk dude!




You can see the group of people in the middle of the pic getting a guided tour of the place. Unfortunately we didn't hire a guide, at about $60 it was a little (ok a lot) over our budget. They charge the same if you're solo or in a group, so it's either $60 for us, or $3 apiece if you're in a group of 20. Oh and that's after paying an admission fee. I still thought it was pretty cool to hear some of the guided tours being conducted in German, Russian and English.


Instead of spending our hard earned money, I shall sit here and contemplate life...and eavesdrop on the tour.


Even without the inside scoop, the place was still very cool. I tried to imagine what life was like back in the day. This main courtyard was dubbed the Nunnery Quadrangle by the Spanish, can't tell you why though, my Russian is a bit weak. I understood something about vodka but I don’t think it was related to the Mayans.


No CAD, no lasers, just some dudes carving everything by hand.




Did I mention there were hundred's maybe thousands of these guys?


House of the Governor, supposedly where the King lived (you know, before he was beaten to death by a dwarf).


Taking a break on the steps of the House of the Governor. No dwarfs in sight to challenge, probably a good thing since I forgot my magic tortilla. Considering when all this was built it's quite impressive. There was so much thought given to the orientation of every building, every stone. For instance the main doorway of the house of the Governor is aligned exactly with the largest structure of the neighboring site of Nohpat (about six kilometers away). This alignment is set up to track Venus's southern most arc rising over the horizon and just above the Nohpat structure. Quite a contrast to how we build our homes these days.


Front left you can see what was known as the Ballgame Court, an area used to play a ballgame where players struck a 9 lbs ball with only their hips, knees and elbows. Players wore protective clothing made from leather to cushion the impact.






Ahh, the ancient aluminum ladder. It is rumoured that archeologists spent years uncovering this gem, one step at a time.


Trying to imagine if this was the living room or perhaps the man cave?






A perfect ending to a perfect day!

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Our photo editing software seems to be acting up. GRRRRR! It has for some strange reason spontaneously deleted all the edits to all photos since we left Merida and we're trying to get back up to speed. Yes we have backups of the photos but it seems to be a little more complicated than that.

In the meantime here's a short little video I forgot to add to the previous post from Uxmal.

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Our visit to Uxmal very much reinvigorated our spirits and recharged our Allspark. But where to next? That’s THE question we keep asking each other lately. How about south into Guatemala…via Merida (yes I know Merida is north of us O_o, and yes, we did just spend 10 days there). Our logic (I use the term logic loosely) was to resupply in Merida and to research which border we wanted to cross.


Apparently we missed this mall with an indoor ice skating rink during our first stay in Merida. Just goes to show you that no matter how long you visit a place for, you probably won't see everything.


Juan the mall cop was keeping all the skaters in line.

A couple of days later, instead of heading south we found ourselves booking a hotel off the main strip in Cancun. Yeah, I don’t know what we’re doing either but it sure is fun! We figured since we were so close, why not stop there for a few days…or a week. It seemed fitting to keep the momentum of our lack of momentum going. Or something like that.



Lori once again managed to find us a great deal online at the Holiday Inn Express, and although perhaps not exactly indicative of the typical North American standards for room quality of a HIE, the place was fantastic. What it lacked in room swanki-ness, it made up in amenities.


A beautiful pool area and a fantastic multi course breakfast served up every day by Armando and his team. The hotel is also away from the main tourist strip, which means that it’s quiet and that we had to walk a few kilometres to get anywhere - something we were both excited about. No really! Riding around on the bike isn’t exactly a high intensity workout so we enjoy every possible opportunity to get some exercise.








We found a little public beach just off a parking lot amongst some resorts.


Let’s be honest though, had the beach been in our backyard like some (or most) of the all-inclusive’s, we may have done zero walking.

The first night in town we found this awesome little hole in the wall that served up quesadillas and nothing but quesadillas, all kinds of quesadillas for 12 pesos each (about a $1).


Not a bad view from our room. Unfortunately that's mostly all Lori saw for several days after getting sick. We ended up hanging around the hotel and the pool for several days while Lori recuperated. I suppose there are worse places to get sick.

We've read about people getting sick in Mexico from eating or drinking the wrong thing, but we were pretty much eating and drinking the same thing so we're not sure what it was. I don't think it was the quesadillas since I essentially lived off of them while Lori was sick and didn't eat anything. It's hard to pass up yummy dinner and a drink for $4.


While hanging out in Cancun we found out that our friend Tina and her friend had escaped the bitter winter back home and were in nearby Playa Del Carmen on holidays. So we hopped on the bike and made the short trek to PDC to have some dinner together. Small world.

The last 2 nights in Cancun we decided to treat ourselves to some better food. Not only because we cheaped out most of the week but Lori was also feeling much better and since she hadn't eaten in like days, we thought it would be a nice treat. We did our usual "let's walk down the road and stop at the first place that has people eating and looks good" bit and came across the Surfin Burrito/Pizza shop. I had probably THE BEST chicken parmesan I've ever had from these guys. Short of having live chickens roaming around in the back, everything was made from scratch while we waited. The portion size was also quite generous and I was almost in tears having to leave what I couldn't finish behind. But with no fridge at the hotel, such goes the travel life. We found ourselves back the following night and both ordered the Mahi Mahi fish & chips. Double WOW! Definitely a place to check out if you ever end up in Cancun. Best fish & chips since that place in Kaslo, B.C.

Considering we're not huge fans of super busy touristy places, we had a great time here in Cancun (apart from Lori getting sick of course).

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With bellies still full from the previous two days, we packed up and left Cancun heading south towards Chetumal, which is essentially right on the border with Belize.


While making a stop at the Scotiabank in Playa Del Carmen (yes there are Scotiabank branches all over Mexico by the way), this little boy walked past and did a WHOA! when he saw our bike. He looked at his mom and then back at the bike, so of course we offered for him to sit on it which got him super excited. After spending a frustrating hour + trying to change some money over at the bank (things in Mexico have one speed - slow), it was nice to put a huge smile on a child’s face. It totally washed away any frustration we had.


We stopped short of Chetumal in Bacalar and found a decent hotel right in the middle of a residential neighbourhood. For 350 pesos and secure parking, it was almost everything we needed.

A little tired after our first long ride in a while, we decided we didn’t want to ride anywhere else to look for dinner. Instead we asked the lady at the front desk of the hotel if there was anything around where we were. She pointed us towards a few places and off we went by foot in search of food. Now walking around a strange town in the dark would typically freak us out just a little but for some reason we felt very safe and had no issues, other than the first couple places we were directed to were closed. Actually it seems they hadn't opened yet by 7 pm. We eventually came across what was a grill in front of a house with a couple of plastic tables and chairs, and a man and his wife prepping some food behind the grill. The hand written menu on the wall indicated they had quesadillas and a couple of other items. “Quesadilla con queso por favor”. They had to send their daughter down to the corner store when we asked for some bottled water. We couldn’t help but be in awe of what passes for a restaurant here in Mexico. There is no way anything like this would be allowed to exist back home. It would simply be shut down. Not only are places like these not shut down, they are absolutely everywhere here, and they have fantastic food to boot!

The next morning we headed for...well we had actually been discussing the possibility of heading south into Belize before we even left Cancun but at the last moment we decided since we were still in Mexico, we would back track a bit and see some of the things we missed when our (internal) engines got stuck in warp speed before Christmas. So we set a course for Palenque instead!


Also I think we may have discovered the real location of the Bat Cave! For obvious reasons we can not disclose its whereabouts here in our report.


827 km’s in two days landed us in Palenque where another fantastic archeological site awaited. We were also pretty sore from the ride after essentially a month of zero riding.


While asking about a room at the hotel, we hummed and hawed about the parking since it was essentially outside and unsecured. I think the guy at the front desk misunderstood that we were unhappy with the price, so he offered to lower the rate. I forget that everything is negotiable down here. Note to self for future hotel stays. Lori went to take a look at the room and came back with a thumbs up. I was able to park beside the hotel away from the street and essentially in front of our room.



The next morning we awoke to an unfamiliar sound, it took a few moments for it to sink in. It was raining outside. Actually not just raining but a torrential-like dumping of H2O. By mid day our plans to see the ruins were washed away. So what do you wanna do now? Oh I know, wanna see my elephant?



Or how about my swan(s)?


What?

Lucky for us (or maybe you) the rain let up by the following morning and we were able to get out.


Palenque was once one of the most powerful Mayan cities, back in the day. Its ruins date back to between 226 BC and 800 AD.

When we parked the bike a couple of teenagers came over and asked if we wanted them to watch the bike. When I declined they offered to clean the bike. What? No way dudes! I worked hard at getting it this dirty, in fact Tigger hasn't had a bath since California and I have no immediate plans to change that. I was also a little worried what "clean" might mean so I threw the full array of security precautions on the bike before we went inside. Mainly the disc lock and the cloak of invisibility (aka bike cover).


Palenque is located essentially in the heart of the jungle and is quite different from the Uxmal ruins. While Uxmal is beautiful and very...refined, very clean looking, Palenque has a much more organic & raw feel to it. Both are stunning in their own way.


One thing they both had in common was the pyramids themselves and all the stairs!




It's also another UNESCO World Heritage Site.




Oh look, more stairs.


This pyramid was closed off to climbers (I mean tourists).


I'll just wait down here for you, ok?



As we hiked deeper into the bowels of the ruins we began hearing the ominous screech of the howler monkey, it’s quite a unique sound and one that doesn’t seem to match their size. Kind of like hearing a Steble horn on a little kids tricycle.


Something else we didn't see in Uxmal, was all the locals selling trinkets inside the site.




Definitely colourful.


We eventually came across some pretty amazing artwork.










Tree huggers are everywhere, even at Palenque!


As are unique plants.




Lori was happy to find some great deals at the parking lot mercado, while I was happy to find our bike was still there...dirt and all.

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This guy was right next to the hotel entrance in Palenque.


Cool looking entrance.


Hotels and restaurants lining this beautiful stone road in the zona touristica. On our (rain delay) day off here, we took a stroll away from the hotel zone and into town. Wow, as soon as we crossed the bridge it was like a different country. That elegant serpentine stone road gave way to potholes, loud music and all kinds of tienditas (little stores). It’s amazing the contrast between the two areas. I wish we had taken some pics there but of course our small camera is on the fritz and it was raining just a wee bit much for the big one.


At least we managed to get the bike packed before the skies and flood gates opened on us. Rain, and lots of it. Our rain delay the day before last prompted us to try and recall the last time we rode in the rain. None in January so far, December? Nope. November? Nope. October? Think again. We rode through a very light shower on our way to Mariposa in late September but the last time it really rained was back on Vancouver island, September 3 - and it wasn’t what I would call rain. That stuff closer resembled a monsoon! Rumour is Christian Slater and Morgan Freeman were trying to film the sequel to Hard Rain on Vancouver Island that day but had to call it off because it was raining too hard.

Ok so I came to learn that my Sidi GoreTex boots were no longer waterproof back in Alaska after intentionally stepping into a creek to gauge it's depth before taking Tigger across. Within seconds my sock was damp, confirming of course that yes, my boot was in fact no longer GoreTex waterproof.

When we finally arrived at our hotel in Victoria, BC after our all day slosh fest in September, I had taken off my boot and poured out enough water to sustain an entire garden in the Sahara for weeks. No creek, no river, it was just from sitting on the bike and riding in monsoon type rain all day. Here’s a little fun fact for you kids out there. Did you know you that if you use a hotel hair dryer to dry your clothes and boots for, oh I dunno, say an hour, the hairdryer itself will start to melt? I mean who knew, right?

Did anyone else just see that squirrel?

Anyway, our dry spell of nearly 5 months would officially come to an end today. Something that turned out to be in fact the good news. The bad news and another fun fact is that there are about 100,000 topes between Palenque and San Cristobal de las Casas. A stretch of road that is about 213km's long and should take about three and a half hours to complete according to Google, took us the entire day in the rain. Admittedly we did take a half hour break in some random town where Lori somehow managed to get talked into teaching a local some English numbers. He was quite enthusiastic and didn't want us to go.


I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing. Boy that looks like a fun road. Don't let Google deceive you. This fine looking stretch of twisty highway is paved with potholes, washouts, more topes than I could count (hey I wonder if a step counter would work on counting topes?), dogs chasing cars and bikes, cows and goats. I know what else you're thinking. I just described the average road in Mexico. Ok fair enough. But for some reason this one seemed to be the pinnacle of crappy roads. Perhaps our opinion was just dampened by all that rain.



Another positive, we discovered our Klim gear really does work to keep us dry and also manages to keep us pretty warm. I was surprised when I noticed the temp had dipped all the way down to 8 as we ascended to 8000 feet. I was only wearing a t-shirt underneath the jacket but felt pretty comfy. Our Klim gear has actually been somewhat of a joke for us, because we haven't seen a drop of rain since getting the stuff back in September. Hey at the very least it's proven to be good insurance.

Typically we have a list of at least three hotels that Lori has vetted before we arrive in a new town. For some reason we decided our list of one would be enough for San Cristobal de las Casas. I think maybe we're out of practice because of course our hotel was full, and with darkness falling we found ourselves riding around town looking for something else suitable. Now there's definitely no shortage of hotels in San Cristobal, you can easily find something really nice in the $100-200/night range. No gracias! Turns out you can also find something in the $40 range with secure parking with just a little bit more work.

The next morning we awoke to a spectacular day and hit a cafe at the main plaza for some brekky. Jamon y queso quesadillas for Lori and Pepperoni y dos quesos Crepas for me. Yu-mmy! Lori had also made a list of a few places for us to check out for accommodations, all within walking distance. Our first stop was the Rosco backpackers hostel. True to what Lori had read, they offer a free night in their dorms (or 50% off a private room) to anyone riding a bike. We got a great vibe from everyone there. “Great, we’ll be back in an hour,” we said.


Not only was Jorge the owner super friendly but he also rides, his two GS's proudly parked inside the courtyard. He also spends part of the year living in Quebec but we won't hold that against him.

While walking back to our hotel, we quite literally nearly walked into our friends Seb and Kim from wanderingsouls who we met at the HU meeting in Mariposa. At the time they were travelling around Canada and the US in their van that they shipped over from Belgium. Shortly after the HU meeting they decided to go back home and return to North America with their two motorcycles and ride to South America. Neither of us knew we were all in San Cristobal when we just happen to walk down the same street at the same time. C'mon how cool is that? After moving our gear to the hostel, we spent the rest of the day hanging out with Seb & Kim catching up. They talked about riding through snow in Chihuahua, Mexico (yes there is snow in Mexico) while we talked about the heat of Merida. C'mon, what are friends for?


Seb lining up the shot.




The walkway at the plaza downtown.


While trying to fall asleep back at the hostel that night, we discovered our next door neighbour liked to do impressions of Meg Ryan at a diner. Lucky for us (too bad for her) it was very short lived experience. Other than the nightly entertainment, the hostel also offered on site full service laundry, a nightly bonfire and tours.


Back at the main plaza. Catedral de San Cristobal in the background.


Indigenous women selling everything from toys and trinkets to clothing. They can be found all over the downtown core. They typically walk right up to you offering you whatever they have. We find ourselves saying "no gracias" half a dozen times before they move on. Of course I have to keep Lori in check because she doesn't always say no and we only have one bike after all.


How about some ice cream delivered right to you instead?


Like a moth to a flame, Lori spotted a market nearby. Fantastic colours!

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Although we had planned on hitting the road within a few days, our friends Seb and Kim talked us into checking out Sumidero Canyon before we left. When I discovered that the Rosco hostel had a tour bus departing right from the hostel, well that sealed the deal and we decided to stay another night.


Sumidero Canyon is located just north of a town called Chiapa de Corzo, about a 60 min ride west of San Cristobal. The decently twisty and scenic mountain road made me wish we had come on the bike instead of the bus, although for a whopping $3 each we got to sit back and play passenger for a change, ok so it was a change for me. Besides, we would have spent more on gas and the toll had we come on the bike.

The canyon dates back to about the same time as the Grand Canyon in the states, 35 million years ago - give or take a few thousand years. It was formed by cracks in the earth’s crust and erosion by the Grijalva River which continues to flow here now. The river actually begins all the way in Guatemala, flowing for a total of 766 km. Sumidero Canyon is home to only 13 of those kilometres. Although our tour boat didn’t make it that far upstream, at the north end of the canyon is the Chicoasén Dam which provides 30% of Mexico’s hydroelectric energy.


Stunningly sexy orange vest...check - safety first after all. Oh and by the way, the woman over my left shoulder...is actually standing up. Seriously.


Heading off into the unknown.


Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games...




Cacti growing right out of the mountain here.


The canyon also plays host to a plethora of wildlife. The Snowy Egret seen here, Blue Herons, cormorants, and many more.


“Hey do these wings make me look fat?". The black vulture.




Canyon walls climbing as high as 1000 metres.


Cueva de colores (cave of colours).


The various colours are a result of the filtration of magnesium, potassium and other minerals.


There is of course a sad side to the canyon. Pollution! There is about 5000 tons of solid waste extracted from the river annually.


There's even a Christmas Tree here (Árbol de Navidad) - no really that's what its called.


It's actually a waterfall. The branches are made by mineral deposits from the waterfall, which are then naturally covered in moss. It apparently is much more vibrant in the rainy season, we are here in the dry season so it’s a little dull.


Of course it also looks like that face in the top right corner could step out of the rock formation at any moment and attack the hordes of tourists.




Geoffroy's spider monkeys.


Due to habitat loss and being hunted and captured for pets, these guys have made the endangered list.


Say hello to my leetle friend, the Amercian Crocodile.


These cuddly little guys can get up to 2000 lbs and 20 feet in length, not to mention they can swim up to 20 mph. Their habitat extends as far north as southern Florida.


So this dude thinks it’s a good idea to dive into the very same river. Huh! Maybe he’s never been upstream, I dunno.




After our boat tour we got dropped off back in Chiapa de Corzo to do some sightseeing. The Santo Domingo church here was built in 1554.


Much more simple looking on the inside, although it still had lots of character.




Locals set up shop pretty much anywhere and everywhere.


Absolutely one of my most favourite pics from Mexico. The hat and glasses are so grown up and so is that pensive look on his face. The stuffed toy adds perfect contrast and grounds him to his true age.

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Amazing pictures! Looks like you had (are having?) a wonderful time. Keep living the dream.

After our Sumidero Canyon excursion we decided to stay another day or two in San Cristobal. We really liked what we had seen of the town so far and wanted to do some more exploring. As much as we really liked the Rosco hostel and the atmosphere there, their private room (without the discount) is as expensive as a nice hotel room so we decided to find some more cost effective accommodations. After checking on some more local hotels, we found one that fit the bill. Clean, secure parking for Tigger and walking distance to the centro, for under $30/night.

So we got our key and began unloading, and this is where our adventure began. Lori left the door to our room unlocked (at least she swears she did) and we went back down to get the rest of our stuff. You might imagine what happened next. We got back upstairs and yup, the door to our room was locked. No problem, the nice young man at the front desk got the spare key and tried to unlock the door - tried! All together he and some of the other staff tried for about a half an hour to get the door open. Seems the door wasn’t locked after all. The room was on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the street and luckily we left the balcony door open. After climbing up a ladder and in to our room, the young man checked on the door from the inside only to discover it truly was broken!

Needless to say we ended up with a different room. Now to get our stuff. He began tossing all our gear down to me over the balcony, one item at a time.


Lori helped too, kind of like when Tigger had a dirt nap, Lori helped by taking pictures . I got a little nervous when the guy was about to drop our laptop down to me, instead, it along with our helmets, got handed down with the help of another staffer who climbed halfway up the ladder. We had a good chuckle over it afterwards, certainly our most adventurous hotel stay so far.



We spent the next couple of days soaking up the atmosphere in and around the centro.


Shoe shine/news stand. There are no less than a dozen shoe shine stands around the main square.


That’s a mean looking trunk you got there.


We became regulars at Cafe Grano, great coffee and a killer desert menu. It’s also a great place to people watch since it’s right in the main square.


Lori found a huge and I mean huge, outdoor craft market to explore.


Hey, whataya think you’re doing? Put that back!


Iglesia de Santo Domingo, built in the 17th century.


There are 3 main pedestrian walkways (or andadors) in town.


All are filled with indigenous people selling their crafts to all the tourists. This entrepreneur not only carries her stock of blankets and sweaters but also her kid. Kid #2 in tow learns the family trade from an early age.

That’s one of the things that stands out here in town and Mexico in general. All the kids working in the street. Instead of playing with their friends they are out in the street shining shoes, selling candy, little bracelets and nicknacks. Indigenous women teach their kids the craft from a very early age, every day is bring-your-kid-to-work day for them. It’s just life down here.


Right in the centro is the Catedral de San Cristobal, built 1528. Beautifully lit up with the setting sun.


Backside of the catedral.


There is much to photograph it's easy to hang out here for hours.

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Lately we’ve been changing direction quite a bit. I have to say that I absolutely love the freedom to be able to do that. No timelines or schedules to keep, it’s almost intoxicating. We definitely started out very driven to get to some of the places on our bucket list: from Newfoundland to Alaska, HU meeting in BC, then south to Ushuaia before it gets too cold. But that has changed somewhat. That destination is no longer the driving force being everything. Ever since the HU meeting in BC we decided to slow down and enjoy things more, putting that into practice almost immediately coming down the Pacific coast as we stuck around at various places that we liked, and then in California. I think this adventure was always about the journey in between those destinations and not the destination itself. Maybe it’s just that I have a better understanding of what those words mean now.

Our stay here in San Cristobal seems to have somehow dragged out from one day to another to another. We’re on Guatemala’s doorstep and had full intentions of being there already. First we stayed an extra day for Sumidero Canyon, then we realized that it was the weekend. Now this might seem strange to some, but we rarely have any clue what day of the week it is. Some people lose track of time, we lose track of days & weeks, I’ve even forgot what month it was recently. I blame it on our lack of schedule although to be honest, I kind of like it. What’s the weekend got to do with anything? Nothing really. But my understanding is that the borders are busier on weekends and typically understaffed. So we thought let’s wait till Monday.

Prior to arriving in San Cristobal we made the decision we would stop in Antigua, Guatemala to take some Spanish lessons. Now we know that some people say you don’t need to know the language to travel while others say it’s definitely helpful. I realize this is an individual thing, but we feel like we fall into the latter group. Not being able to communicate added to our disconnected feeling during the first few weeks in Mexico.

So how’s this for another change of direction? Monday rolled around and by the time I came out of the shower Lori found a Spanish school here in San Cristobal and said “how about taking Spanish lessons right here?” It’s an easy thought to entertain since I really like the town. “Sure,” I said. So after breakfast we headed out to the school where we met one of the teachers and decided we would try it out for a couple of days. If it works out, great, if not, Antigua it is.

Our second day of Spanish school and we might be staying a month! No really! School went well both days so we asked if they knew where we could rent something for a week or two. Jose Carlos, the administrative assistant drove us up the road to a place the school rents out and gave us the grand tour.






I can’t tell you how excited we were about having a full kitchen. This one is even better as it comes with all our stuff already here


Tigger has a home, safe and sound.


And the best part is the view from our huge balcony. Ya this will do!

The only question is for how long? We initially decided on two weeks so as not to get too far behind schedule (you know, the schedule we don’t have) but after thinking about it overnight we decided on an entire month. It’s 2000 pesos per week or 5000 for the month, so we thought why not? A month it is. Hopefully we'll know a little more than “cerveza por favor” by then. At the very least, I’ll definitely know more about cervezas.

Not sure what this is going to do to our trip as far as timing. I can say with certainty that the light on making it to Ushuaia is pretty dim if we stay here for a month but it feels like the right thing to do. We are super stoked about having our own place for a little while, our own kitchen, even the TV and internet are included - woohoo!

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We've become foster parents!! We have temporarily adopted a young boy named Billy and his dog Bess from our friends Kim and Seb of Wandering Souls. Billy and Bess are the brainchild and braindog of two great people Beau and Trish from Australia. Billy and Bess are travelling the world and represent the faceless tragedy that are orphans/street kids and abandoned dogs. They represent hope. Check out their Facebook page here

When we took them in we planned on heading south quickly but as is the case with travelling we saw a squirrel and off we went in another direction so Billy and Bess will likely not stay with us for much longer. We definitely love what they stand for and fully support the cause.

While we've been in Mexico we have been overwhelmed by the number of street kids and stray dogs and cats we have seen. We know that this isn't even the worst that the world has to offer however the numbers are staggering. I have read that in Mexico City alone there are 20,000 street dogs euthanized every month. That's heartbreaking. What's more heartbreaking is the way in which it is done. I won't say how but it isn't the painless good night that happens in Canada that's for sure. There are some rescues but they don't even make a dent in the numbers.

As a complete sucker for anything on four paws I have had a very hard time while in San Cristobal. I have enquired of local people and the consensus is there is no rescue here. We are in a residential neighbourhood and the number of dogs is overwhelming. We watched a pack of about 7 or 8 fighting the other day. Another has had a litter of puppies since we have been here and still more are injured and obviously ill. Apart from staying permanently and setting up our own shelter there is little we can do, but believe me the thought has crossed my mind. We put out food for them and it is gobbled up by morning. That's the least we can do.

Don't even get me started about the street kids here selling stuff and offering to shine your shoes. Those are the one's in the tourist area. Elsewhere is a much different and more sad story. I could go on but I'm sure you get the picture. It is much like orphaned and abandoned children anywhere in the world. They do their best to survive, that is all.

I'm not trying to ruin anyone's day, just bring awareness to the situation in one part of North America. We often forget that Mexico is part of North America. It gets lumped in with Latin America and Central America but in reality it is our very very poor sibling. Of course we can learn from Mexican people. They have an overwhelming sense of family, they look out for one another. They don't complain. They just do what needs to be done to get by. It's actually quite inspiring.

As I've said before we have totally fallen in love with the culture and people of Mexico and believe they should have every opportunity we have. If we can bring any attention to this we will. I'm sure as we travel further into many other countries we will repeat this over and over again. For now Mexico gets our attention and our respect.


It gets cold here in San Cristobal so we made Billy and Bess some warm accessories. Nobody should have to be cold.


Billy and Bess come to school with us.






A street dog meets a dog with a home.




Our neighbours yard. They cook, do laundry, play, eat and do pretty much everything in that area. They also have a huge family dinner most weekends. They laugh and listen to music and keep their 5 dogs in the yard where they are safe and fed.

~Lori

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This adventure of ours has gone from having a plan to go here and there in order to see as much as we can, to going somewhere on the spur of the moment. Either because someone suggested something or because we simply felt like it was the right thing to do according to our internal compass. When we arrived in San Cristobal de las Casas, we didn’t know how long we’d be staying for or where exactly we were going to next. We wanted to keep moving south and thought we’d be in somewhere in Guatemala within a few days. Our (very) broad plan was that we’d make it to South America sometime this spring, before possibly taking a break and flying home for the summer.

Suddenly we find ourselves residents of San Cristobal. Although the first order of business should be to re-name the place SUN & Hyde Cristobal. Why? Because it’s pure heaven here when the sun is out. The temp soars to around 30 Celsius with very little humidity, it’s absolutely perfect out. We find ourselves having morning coffee and playing cribbage on our balcony and working on our tans. Of course as I write this I’m buried deep under several layers of blankets because it’s cloudy. Cloudy here means the high is between 13-16 Celsius and unless you have a heater inside your all concrete house, it’s F-F-F-F-F-F-cold. According to the Weather network, it’s always 31C here - NOT!

I realize that our friends and family back home are experiencing a typical -30 Celsius winter, so this might all be falling on deaf ears. However, y’all have central heating - something that is seemingly unheard of here in Sun Cristobal even though night time lows are single digits. My new friend the parking lot attendant at the Chadraui told me it snowed the other night. SNOW! We finally broke down and bought a heater, even had to put on socks and start wearing a sweater. Ok I admit it, we’ve become soft


Some of our neighbours don't even have windows. Ok I'll stop whining about the cold now.

We’re going to school (San Cristobal Language School) three hours a day, five days a week. Seems to be going well although I get a little frustrated sometimes. I guess I expected it to be a little easier considering I already had two other languages under my belt prior to English. Apparently I’m not a kid anymore though *sigh*.


We change up the scenery once in a while and have our lessons in a cafe. Lori and Lorena studying hard at Cafe Yik.


There are dozens of little cafes around here although we found ourselves coming back to cafe Yik often. Great coffee and atmosphere.


Another day, another cafe lesson. Lorena had to leave on some family business so Luz took over for a while.





We’ve settled into a nice routine of school and rotating between exploring the town and lazying around our casa. Weekends are very busy in the centro and you can’t go more than a few feet without half a dozen indigenous women trying to sell you something. The weird thing is if you buy something from one, three others show up offering you the same thing.

Some of the views from our apartment:

A typical backyard in this neighbourhood. There is a constant chorus of chickens, roosters, ducks, turkeys and dogs singing "the song of their people" all around our place, not to mention the church bells and vehicles driving past our place that play some catchy tune to identify what service they provide - AGUA or gas or... I can’t believe people have all these animals in their backyards here. At first it was annoying but now it’s all part of the scenery. I have to say I never imagined myself living in a place like this, least of all totally loving it! Ok maybe not the rooster calls that go all through the night - I thought they only did that in the morning?


So sad, someone hung this guy out to dry.


Hey, where did everybody go?


I don't think anyone clears their field here in Mexico, they simply burn it.


Man do we see some mesmerizing sunsets from our place. We have literally dozens of pics just of sunsets, so I'll only bore you with a couple.


It's typically the cloudy days that bring out the best sunsets here.




So one day I returned from picking up some groceries and while emptying the side cases I discovered this guy was no longer full - probably something to do with that hole above the 680ml. Hmmm!


Yup, found the iced tea. Somewhere along the way in Mexico I lost a couple of the rubber covers for the bolts protruding from the bottom of the case which apparently pierced the can.


You know since I have the case off the bike, might as well try and improve the shape since it still isn't quite right from the accident.

Our apartment is located near the top of a very big hill so we’re definitely getting a good workout every time we leave the apartment. Even so I feel kind of guilty for being lazy at times and have started doing the stairs next to our place. If you’re picturing perfectly neat stairs like in a stadium or the Hamilton escarpment for example…don’t. Every step here is uneven, of various height and length and various degrees of angle downwards. Between the doggy treats, dogs themselves and the odd drunk guy laying on the stairs, it’s somewhat of an obstacle course. With visions of doing a few sets the first time out, I barely made it back alive after one, and had a few choice expletives once I caught my breath. 286 stairs round trip, 911 steps = just brutal. Yup, I’m definitely out of shape, Lori scolded me as I lay there on the couch recovering, "you know you're not 20 anymore!" Although in all fairness we’re at 7200 feet and I kind of have one speed - GO!

I do have to say that it’s quite humbling seeing a man without a leg going up the same stairs with the help of some crutches. On another day I noticed an older man pulling an ice cream cart up those stairs, just going to work. What I do for exercise, these people do because they need to make a living. Really made me think of how much we take for granted back home and how much we complain about piddly stuff.

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Hey mate, great pictures and stories. Stay safe and have a good time.

Thank you

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Drunk on one spectacular sunset after another our month rolled by faster than we wanted so we decided to stay another. We were really enjoying ourselves here and well, South America has been there for a while and will most likely still be there when we get there.

We kept up with the Spanish lessons for part of the second month before taking a break. We still really enjoyed learning the language but going to school every day was becoming a chore somehow, so we took the last two weeks off to you know, unwind.

Because we have far too many photos, here are some more sights from San Cris:


Meet Fiona, the Spanish school mascot? She was so excited to see us every morning as we arrived for class. Definitely well taken care of with that manicure. Lori promises she will stop shopping if we can bring her with us instead. I don't think Luis and Silvana (her people) would like that much. On a side note, we really enjoyed our time with both our teachers, Luz and Lorena. They were both fantastic and we can't recommend the school enough. If you're ever thinking of taking some Spanish lessons and are in the area, definitely put San Cristobal Language School on your radar.

During our second month here, we managed to meet up with Roel and Azure from MyTicketToRide who were staying at the Rossco hostel. We first met them at the HU meeting in Ontario back in 2013, then again at the HU meeting in California in 2014, and now here.




Not quite sure if this is a delivery vehicle or…


Speaking of delivery, in a weird way Mexico is not unlike Canada or the US where you never have to leave your house if you don't want to. Back home you can order almost anything online and have it delivered right to your door. Here, the agua-man, gas-man, even fruits and vegetables are delivered right to your door. For instance our 20L jug of Reverse Osmosis water was delivered right to our door within an hour of request, all for the crazy price of 19 pesos (or about $1.50).










UGH! These topes are simply annoying. Now you can try and ride through these on an angle and avoid the pain of having to go over one of them but that always ends up with the rear end of the bike being squirted sideways as the rear tire doesn't exactly fit in between them. Luckily we haven't encountered these while raining, yet.


The roads in town are anything from dirt to crap to smooth very well worn tile like surface that is slippery to walk on never mind ride on. Kind of reminds me of ice actually. For an added degree of difficulty....just add water.


Even walking presents its own hazards around here. It’s actually much easier to walk on the streets than it is on the sidewalks believe it or not.


Who's an angry whopper?


Iglesia San Francisco. There are no less than a couple of dozen churches in SC, much like every other city in Mexico.


Probably my favourite restaurant in SC. They offer a variety of dishes from around the world and live music almost every night. I think Lori was tired of hearing me say "wanna go to Cocoliche for dinner?”


I got my Cocoliche once in a while as long as Lori could get what she wanted…SHOPPING!






Cool bus, these guys came all the way from Argentina and are heading up to Alaska.

What started out as a short post has somehow morphed into the biggest and most pic-heavy post yet. So I've decided to split it up into two separate entries. A never ending posts seems kind of appropriate though considering it took us over 2 months to leave town. Stay tuned for part dos.

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