Cycling in Guatamala

Crossing into Guatemala from Tapachula, Mexico ended up being quite a headache for me. Between trouble at the border and forgetting something of mine at my hotel, I ended up going back and forth on a 20 mile mountain section in Guatemala 5 times: 3 on bicycle, 1 on motorcycle, 1 in colectivo.

From San Pablo I did not know what kind of cycling was ahead of me. Starting around 1 pm it was straight up a mountain. I passed a Scottish couple early on who were finishing their day. They had started in Texas and were headed to Panama. We chatted for a few minutes and I learned that maps.me has altitude gain and she said that it was about 6000+ ft more climbing to San Marcos-yowsa! It ended up being the most difficult climb of my trip so far. In total, over 7000' of climbing in less than 25 miles, with deisel trucks /buses pumping out smoke on their way up and burning breaks of trucks on their way down, breathing was difficult.

At one point, so much did I sweat that, when I took a break, I poured water out of my shoes and wrung water out of my shirt, socks, and gloves.

Looking down at the smog above Tapachula México below

Climbing so much pushed me into and above the clouds. The temperature dropped significantly. And, in the clouds, it was very damp - a recipe for cold.

Reaching San Marcos, above the clouds, I was knackered, cold, desperate for a shower and food.

Unsure of what a day of cycling might entail around here, it is difficult to predict how far you can get. The next day I endeavored to reach Quetzaltenango (Xela, as it's called locally). Quickly descending a long descent out of San Marcos, it is was right back into climbing mode. There seemed to be no gradual climbs around here. It's either steep descents or long, steep ascents. I did make it to Xela in the end, though.

I realized when I started unpacking my stuff at the hostel that I left my toiletrie kit back in San Marcos. Dismayed and daunted by the prospect of cycling back over the same climbs twice, I thought I'd just catch a bus. However, speaking with the girl at the front desk it turned out her friend was taking the bus to school in Xela and could bring my bag for me. Few!

I planned to take 2 days to cycle to Lake Atitlan about 90k away, given how difficult and frequent the climbs were in these parts. So I set off for a morning side trip to a small  village of San Andres with, what I was told was, the oldest church in central america. I got a bit lost on the way ,ended up taking the long way over dirt roads through another village, but arrived nonetheless. Turns out it was nowhere near as old as I was led to believe, but it was a cute little town anyway.

Moving towards Atitlan I soon started on the first serious climb of the day. To my amazement a local cycled up to me and we climbed together for about 15 minutes of what eventually took me 1h:20m to ascend and 20 minutes to descend. I was really impressed with him. He said he did that ride a couple times a week. I have definitely noticed a significant difference in how active Guatemalans are compared to Mexicans-- -they cycle more and can be seen jogging for its own sake.

I end up at my intended destination for the day around 1 or 2. In search of some lunch the town really doesn't seem worth spending a day /night. So I ate some gross fast food chicken, the only thing I could find, and some fruit in the plaza, where I get a lot of stares, smirks, and unwanted attention, then resolved to attempt to make it to Atitlan the same day.
Turns out there was only 1 more serious climb on the day and it wasn't as challenging as I feared. I missed the turn to San Marcos, however, so I end up going to Panajachel, the most touristy town on Lake Atitlan, via the mountain town above - Solola. The descent into the lake was pretty harrowing. Fortunately I did it at sunset,  an unpopular time, for it was super steep and super windy!

Exiting the lake was, of course, straight up. A pretty long ascent with plenty of incline. It was the immediate descent that led to another long, steep ascent that kicked me butt. Fully amidst the mountains at this point this was some pretty professional level cycling.

 Towards top I found myself amidst farms in the clouds.

I surprised myself again to make it further than I had anticipated and got all the way to Antigua.

While Antigua is a more colonial city, with cobblestone streets and decaying antique exteriors, it's prices speak another story. A run up in real estate values, I learned, have caused gentrification driven by tourism. So while much of the architectures exterior is old the interior is very new, sheik, and upscale.

In heading towards the coast I passed between 2 volcanoes and descended all the altitude I had climbed up the past few days.  And I lost the altitude very quickly.

With a tail wind going down hill I hit 44mph...holding on for dear life, hoping the wind didn't gust across me.  And then, out of nowhere: speedbumps! Unable to bunny hop with a 60+ pound bike, I hit it pretty hard. Knocked off a water bottle and pannier, but fortunately not me!

Based on a recommendation from someone I had met in a café earlier that morning, I sought out a beach town, Monterico. After a number of small beach towns along the coast, Monterico was the last town before the road ended at a river.

I found a nice little hotel with other travelers, a pool, right on the beach. With a private room for $15/n I ended up staying few nights.
A small trip towards Hawaii (the town), I found a shrimp farm

 A beach cemetery

 And plenty of secluded beach

Leaving Monterrico I had to hop on a small boat down a river for about a mile to reconnect with another road and continue south.

 Looking back towards the volcanos near Antigua

A fellow on my boat purchased freshly caught fish from fisherman who fish with nets in the water, just throwing the fish inside their boat.

From there it was not far to the border with El Salvador.