I got potatoes on my head but don’t call me a potato head, Mrs. Potato Head that is. After leaving the travelers haven in Huehue we quickly found ourselves in another chill spot in the small town of San Cristobal Totonicapan. We were hosted through warm showers by an eccentric expat named Carl who is an avid cyclist and the director of foundation that helps young women thru college. We stayed in a guest cabin he has on his own little cultivated Forrest of rare, smuggled n’ snuggled trees. We did some mountain riding with him and his posse of girls and on one of the steep downhill rides Annina took a gnarly spill over a wet patch. Luckily she was able to bike away with only scrapes and bruises and we stayed a bit longer to rest and recover (theme!). We bathed in a local swimming pool fed by a thermal spring. We also had some trees named after us in the communal forest that has some of the southernmost growing firs.
We continued our route up a volcanic range towards lake atitlan.
We had our first major tire malfunction of the trip. Ernesto’s sidewall of his rear tire blew out so after a quick fix on the go we started making our steep descent towards the bowl of lake Atitlán.
Our rims were heating up a decent amount from braking downhill and soon enough the patch on the tire blew out again. So after finding a spot off the road to wait we threw up our thumbs to catch a ride to the next town with a bike shop. We were quickly picked up by a guy who runs a Christian nonprofit that helps feed children in the local schools. He dropped us off at the bike shop in the town of San Juan where we were able to find a replacement tire. As the cloud cover began to roll in we asked around and found refuge with our homies the bomberos. We continued around the west side of the lake and made it to the town of San Lucas where we again stayed with the firestation.
We knew the road out of the lake would be steep so we decided to hitch out and pretty quickly got a ride with a trucker all the way to Chimaltenango. We were only a short ride from our next stopping point for a bit, Maya Pedal. We were excited to volunteer with this organization since the start of our trip. They make bicycle powered machines as alternatives to modern energy consumption. They have a good thing going there. We stayed for a little over a week sharing the space with other volunteers from Britain (Ashlee and Rio) and Portland (Benny Boi) who would be staying for a few months. We also completed our first mural! It’s an illustration of Quetzalcoatl on a bici-licuadora(bicycle blender). It also has 3D elements with repurposed scrap parts. We’re pretty proud of it and are looking for a place to make our next mural!
We took a day trip to the tourist center of Antigua and we celebrated two years of being together (cue cheesy music!) by playing music in the streets/restaurants with a man who only spoke in incomprehensible riddles and wore a startlingly white shirt. We also stumbled upon a random dance mob of women with old lady masks.
The day before we left two other cyclist travelers from France/Switzerland rolled in on the spot and we exchanged stories of our travels. At Maya PEdal, Annina submitted a job application to do independent anthropology research in India (something she’s been working on for a few months) so hopefully we’ll be eating samosas n’ ghee on the other side of the planet in a year and a half. After a few tweaks to our bikes and attaching our new flag pole to the rack we were ready to head into the big city. We rode on the back roads on steep descents before reaching the traffic jammed center metropolis. We were graciously hosted by our friend, JessI e, in a house with two energetic chocolate labs.
Our goal in the city was to get our Tetanus vaccine updated since we have had many close encounters with rusty barbed wire. So on a rainy day bike ride we went to the Red Cross and got our booster shots (fun!). After resting up in the city, watching some movies, and eating popcorn we made our way towards the border with El Salvador. Unfortunately on a rainy day Ernesto’s back tire went flat on a steep up hill and, running out of patch glue, we had to hitch to the next town to get supplies. We were happily welcomed into the bombero station. After the flat was fixed we made it to the border. The border was a very weirdly set up crossing with a huge waiting line for all the trailer trucks and cars but luckily we just pedaled past all the stopped vehicles got our exit stamp from Guatemala after chillin hard in this country for two months. Finally we crossed into our next country: El Salvador! On our first night we found refuge with the local police precinct in the town of Cara Sucia (dirty face). We were reminded of the coastal heat the next day on our ride to the beach as we arrived saturated in sweat to a beach campground owned by a local family. We spent a day at the beach relaxing in hammocks and avoiding the blazing volcanic black sands during the middle of the day. It was so nice to rejoin with the Pacific Ocean once again. We met travelers from Spain and Brazil heading south as well in their mobile car setups. Whenever we can we’re trying out all the pupusas we can get. We also discovered a sesame seed horchata that’s pretty popular in El Salvador. It’s delicious. Now we’re heading towards the mountains again before reaching the Honduran border.
Here’s the video recap:
Any recent food revelations that have got you hooked?
Any new reality-perspectives that have made you rethink things?
Pupusa Party Pups,
Annina & Ernesto
