Eureka, Mexico! No, Wah-ha-ka, Mexico!

Reaching Mexico was like coming home as I was very familiar with Mexico. I had visited many times on vacation and "lived" there for a couple of months in a small fishing village called "La Playita" in '97 when I first attempted to start writing my book. The book writing failed at the time due to too many distractions but my love for Mexico didn't wane at all.

No this wasn't like swimming the Rio Grande but this river did form the border for Guatemala and Mexico and this looked like locals taking goods back and forth. I wondered if it was because if they crossed by river then they didn't have to go through customs. The bridge from where I took this photo was less than 100 feet away from the immigration and customs offices. Do they turn a blind eye on this stuff or was I misinterpreting what was going on?

Maybe this isn't "smuggling" but just another form of local transport?

Rambutans for sale by the kilos everywhere.

This was my first time seeing rambutans growing outside of Asia (where the name is the same). They are popular and cheap in Asia but expensive to buy in the USA since they are imported. I love this fruit and it was the perfect thing to have in my handlebar rack so I could easily access one, peel it in about two peels, eat the grape-like fruit and spit out the seed while riding. I ate 4.4 pounds/2 kilos in two days but at the equivalent of fifty cents per pound I couldn't resist. Sadly, once I left that particular area just inside the border there weren't anymore for sale.

The ultimate portable police lookout!

The roads in this very southern part of Mexico were very country feeling.

Another broken spoke. I had marked others that had broken with a Sharpie. This one was my third in Central America. I had never changed a spoke in my life before this bike trip. During the entire 4,221 miles of riding on Tankita in the USA in 1994 she never broke a spoke; but then again I had a third less weight on her than on this trip. Still to this day the front wheel is original and so are the spokes! I changed this spoke on the back wheel in 17 minutes! Okay so it is a break at the wheel hub which doesn't require that I deflate the tube and change the nipple, but I am still pleased with the 17 minute change out!

Sometime back in June it became apparent to me that the coming of winter would mean an interruption in my plan to ride through to Alaska. To ride any further north than California in winter was not desirable to me. I knew that I didn't want to wait out winter in California (too expensive) or go back to work in Alaska then continue the trip later (too much momentum lost) so my adjusted plan was to end the bike trip in San Francisco, California around November or December. There was no real geographic reason to pick the San Francisco Bay Area. It wasn't like that would be the 10,000 mile mark or anything like that. I just figured that if I wasn't going to have the big finish with my Alaskan friends up at Prudhoe Bay then I wanted to finish in another ceremonial way. San Francisco Bay Area offered that ceremony because I grew up there and would have lots of long time friends to celebrate with me. It meant I could have a sort of finish line party after all. 

While I was in Guatemala it occurred to me that I really wasn't enjoying the trip much anymore. I wasn't camping, so the adventure of finding a cool picturesque hiding place along the way was gone. The feeling of really being in nature was lost. I was getting up at the crack of dawn (to an alarm clock no less, yuk!) and was just riding from town to town. The heat was insufferable, so I was limited by how much I could ride each day based on the heat of the day and where the next town was located. I usually stopped riding by midday. The question "Are we having fun yet?" kept rolling through my head.
I began to dread the pedaling I would have to do up the coast of Mexico and the heat I would endure. I was, however, looking forward to the 1028 miles/1656 km of the Baja Peninsula because I knew I would be able to camp along the Baja and I figured it meant that I would have some feeling of adventure again. But I had already driven the Baja once in a car so there would not be anything new about it. There certainly wouldn't be anything new about riding in California except that it would be kind of cool to see the difference between riding in the states again after having ridden in so many other places. I thought the comparison would be interesting. Would the drivers in the US seem more polite? Would the people be friendly to a cyclist like I remembered them to be? Would there be a lot of places to wild camp? How fun would it be to be able to understand everyone easily and have them understand me? How long would it be before all of it got old?

It is interesting how once I decided I wouldn't be finishing at the very end of the Pan American Highway in Alaska that all of a sudden I was really looking forward to the finish. I had the mentality sort of like a horse returning to the barn after a long day of riding. Consequently, while I was in Guatemala I decided to change my destination plan again and end my bike trip upon reaching Mexico. I said when I started this trip that I would end it when I finished, when I ran out of money (I was coming close), or when I stopped having fun. It's time.

And just like that it was done.

I had ridden four days into Mexico to Arriaga, a cute town which seemed like a good stopping point.I won't tell you how many miles total that I rode yet. I am saving that for the statistics blog!

Aldona and Marek were the cyclists who were heading north also. They started in Santiago, Chile, we met in Peru (and shared in being robbed together), saw each other quite accidentally in Colombia, and now arranged to meet in Mexico while they were on a break for a month. After I ended my riding in Arriaga I took a bus to meet up with them in Puerto Escondido. Marek cooked a fresh fish dinner for us in the open air rooftop kitchen which consisted of a gas mini stove, a sink with a hose running in it with a few mismatched plates and utensils.

This room arranged for me by Marek and Aldona cost 100 pesos ($8 USD). The building was owned by a Gringo guy from somewhere in the southern US who had married a woman from Mexico.

View from the rooftop of the building where I stayed for 9 nights in Puerto Escondido.

Trying to even out my cycling tan before heading to winter in Alaska.

The beach at Puerto Escondido. I barely saw any gringo tourists here, mostly Mexican tourists, it was great.

Fresh fruit for sale. Other strolling vendors sold ice cream, ceviche and occasionally souvenirs or crafts.

Pelicans! I love pelicans! When all else fails and you don't know the word in Spanish, try putting an "o" on the end of the English word and it may end up being correct as in the case of "pelicanos."

This brave pelican was looking for a handout from this fisherman who was just in from a fishing trip.

And he eventually prevailed.

They are rolling the boat over logs to move it further up the beach for storage.

Tending to the nets and making repairs.

The main street along the water in Puerto Escondido.

A coin operated bathroom stop on the mini van ride to Oaxaca. The $3 sign is really 3 pesos. Many countries use the dollar sign for their currency even if the currency isn't dollars.

Lunch stop.

The road was very narrow and winding as it climbed up to Oaxaca. The drivers of the mini vans drove like maniacs. I was glad I was not riding on my bike huffing and puffing slowly up this road without a shoulder.

As we ascended higher it began to get chilly and the clothes for sale reflected that.

Rooftop at the Casa Angel Hostel in Oaxaca. The weather here was sunny but chilly at night.

In the big city of Oaxaca a bunk bed at a hostel with a shared bath costs more than a private room with its own bath in Puerto Escondido-this was 178 pesos ($14 USD). Well, at least it included a good breakfast.

Oaxaca is a very nice city. I liked it a lot. I stayed in the area near the Zocalo main square in the historic center of town. The historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I spent a lot of time walking around Oaxaca and enjoyed the cool air immensely. Located at about
5085 feet/1550 meters above sea level it was a perfect temperature.

A portable and pedal powered knife sharpener.

Indigenous woman and daughter in their traditional dress.

Oaxaca had a lot of pretty churches and they were all very well maintained.

This mural reminded me of Valparaiso in Chile but there were only a few here and there.

In the Zocalo (main square) there were lots of sidewalk cafes, ice cream shops, and street vendors.

In the evenings or on the weekend the Zocalo was just packed with people hanging out and socializing.

Inspiration on how to "pimp my ride" Tankita!

Street food has always been my favorite. In Mexico there is a lot of street food. One of my favorites is grilled or boiled corn basted with lime, chili powder, mayonnaise, and crumbled cheese. It is so good and it comes on a cob or in a cup.

Chapulines-a famous food of Oaxaca consisting of fried grasshoppers with chili, lime, and garlic added for flavor. I ate them as an appetizer with tortilla chips. They were a bit crunchy and reminded me of eating the shells on large shrimp (which I learned was okay to do while in Brazil) except these were a bit dry and the flavor was just okay.

I love to dance and can get a pretty good "groove on" but I cannot keep a hula hoop going to save my life! I admired this girl who was a master with the hula hoop.

The town of Santa Maria del Tule on the outskirts of Oaxaca is famous for the enormous cypress tree growing in the town square and seen in this photo to the left of the church.

Stats on the giant tree-Common Name: Ahuehuete (or Sabino). Ahuehuete translates per Wikipedia to "old man in the water" in the language of Nahuatl.
Scientific Name: Montezuma Bald Cypress
Family and Genus: Bald Cypress
Age: More than 2,000 years (This age is a speculation based on growth rings of other trees like it and near it. Some estimates place it at 5,000 years old!!)
Thickness: 190 feet/58 meters
Height: 137 feet/42 meters-other sources show it as 116 feet but some say it is shrinking!
Diameter 45 feet/14 meters
Volume: 2,679 cubic feet/816.8 cubic meters
 Weight: 701,188 tons/636,107 metric tons 
Another source showed the circumference of 119 feet/36 meters

This tree is disputed as the biggest tree in the world in circumference. One photo showed that it took 17 people lined up arm to arm to encircle the trunk. Unlike the giant banyan tree, and contrary to how it looks, it is one single tree and has been tested and studied to prove it. It is declining in health because of the changing environment around it. It is fenced off for protection from people so I was not able to go touch it or embrace it (like the tree-hugger I am!) which was sad but understandable.

It is a coniferous tree but it kind of resembled a willow tree in how it hung.

There were all kinds of cool burls gnarled around the trunk.

This is facing the tree on the skinny side but it gives perspective of the size a little.

There were "child guides" giving tours of the tree for tips. I overheard them pointing out features of the tree which looked like various animals. I thought they should be in school on this weekday!

On that day there was a special festival around the square and church.

More of the festival that I stumbled upon.

The ruins complex of Monte Alban just outside of Oaxaca city was a cultural center for the Zapotec peoples. The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

View of the "ballcourt"

Various reliefs inside of one building.

A large sun dial of sorts. See photo below for explanation.

The sign reads-Positions of the sun at noon and throughout the year 1)Winter solstice shadow 14.5 feet/4.4 meters long 2)Zenith, no shade, May (when going north) August (when it returns to the south) 3)Summer solstice, shortest shadow ~7inches/17 cm. The labels Poniente Atardecer and Oriente Amanacer are West sunrise and East sunset respectively and Sur is South.

Wild life at the ruins (smile)

Road rising up from the Oaxaca valley on the way to a place called Hierve el Agua. I got a ride in the back of a truck that performs taxi service.

Small town still on the way to Hierve el Agua

Looking down on Hierve el Agua which translates to "the water boils."

These natural pools are formed by fresh water springs that bubble up from the rocks here.

View from the opposing cliff back at the pools.

Per Wikipedia-"The site consists of two rock shelves or cliffs which rise between fifty and ninety meters from the valley below, from which extend nearly white rock formations which look like waterfalls. These formations are created by fresh water springs, whose water is over-saturated with calcium carbonate and other minerals. As the water scurries over the cliffs, the excess minerals are deposited, much in the same manner that stalactites are formed in caves. One of the cliffs, called the "cascada chica" (small waterfall) or the Amphitheatre, contains two large artificial pools for swimming as well as a number of small natural pools. One of the artificial pools is very near the edge of the cliff."

Patterns in the calcium

One of the pools reminded me of an infinity pool. I didn't go swimming because it was a bit nippy here.

One of the springs bubbling up

Graffiti carved on this poor plant!

Refreshments were sold at the entrance to the "waterfalls."

The entire road to this place is unpaved. It felt very remote at the falls as there was only a small town near it. The two closest towns (San Lorenzo Albarradas and San Isidro Roaguia) have less than 2,000 occupants combined. It was nice to get there before "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot"
(Joni Mitchell).

Cactus fence

This is a map of my route in Mexico corresponding with the last photo for this posting in Oaxaca, Mexico. As usual the orange line indicates where I rode my bike and the black line is where I used other means of transport. I rode until Arriaga then took a bus up to Oaxaca where I dropped off Tankita and took a mini bus to Puerto Escondido on the coast to see my cyclist friends for nine days before returning back to Oaxaca.

Back in Oaxaca, I took a final ride with Tankita totally loaded. (I didn't usually ride with sandals on, this was just for the final spin.)

Tankita all broken down into parts and placed in the box that would carry her home with me on the plane to Alaska.

After I arrived back to Alaska my good friend and ex-boss, Jack, explained my bike trip briefly to some people in my presence and finished the story with, "and then just like Forrest Gump she said 'I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go home now'." 

This blog brings you up to the end of this awesome journey which ended on August 19th, 2013.

Photos and blog posts to come:

North to Alaska and total bike trip statistics