On the Road Again

December 15, 2018

It's good to be on the road again!

Well, we made it! We actually got up, got on the bikes and made it to our destination without getting sick, getting lost or running out of steam! Hurray!

It's a little blurry because, well, it was 6:30 for Pete's sake!

We started the morning in Campeche where we got up and out quickly, thinking we'd like to get some kilometres in before eating our nutritious breakfast (you guessed it! Peanut butter wraps!). It was actually a little cool to start with and I was wearing a light jacket for the first time, but we were happy with that as it bode well for the rest of our day on the road.

As we rode up to the malecon for the last time, Jim called out "look!" and there it was, the Campeche sign that we thought we were going to miss! They must have worked overtime, knowing how important it was to us to get this one picture in before we left - what a great town Campeche is!

Sign done, we rode up the malecon to the end and joined the highway out of town. The traffic was light and the shoulders very wide which made for very comfortable cycling. We had a very slight incline out of town (about 40 meters, but this time it was spread out over many kilometres so not noticeable). Other than that it was fairly flat, straight and not too exciting cycling. We had a bit of a tailwind so were booking it to get as much done as we could before the day heated up. However, we did manage to spot some cool cows and one plant that we had seen over on the Ruta Puuc but couldn't identify.

We made good time for the first 20 kms, our speed topping out at 18mph at one point (must have been that nice tailwind!). Finding a conveniently placed bus stop, we took a break and had our breakfast - wraps and mango juice - yum!

The next 20 kms were about the same. _{Long, straight and not too exciting, but it was now warming up and we pushed to get another 20 done before again taking a break at a bus stop. These bus stops are great! They are all along the highway and provide a good spot to sit and get out of the sun for a bit.}

This was a confusing sign! If I go that way, will someone be shooting toward me? Should I go the other way? I think I'll just go straight and avoid it altogether!

As we left the bus shelter for our final 20 kms of the day, our old friend the wind made an appearance and this time not in a good way. It was pretty intensely in our faces for the whole time and made that last bit feel like we were cycling uphill all the way without the benefit of a nice downhill. We had one quick break with 10 kms to go (yep, another bus stop) before making our way to Hecelchakan. Riding down the main drag we passed the one hotel that I knew of in town (the other being 8 km outside of town on the other side). It didn't look that great, and we were not sure we wanted to stay here so we cycled on. At the main town square they were set up for a fair with rides and all sorts of booths so we stopped to have a look. There was a busy little street food place there selling similar food to what we had eaten in Merida, so we parked the bikes and the young man found us a table. I mean, he literally went over to a table in the sun, picked it up and brought it over for us! How's that for service? We ordered the sandwiches we saw before (don't know what they're called but they are some sort of pulled pork thing) and a couple of Cokes. I have so far resisted having a Coke here, although they are everywhere and other than beer, the safest thing to order to drink. I was a little concerned about the caffine, but I guess I'll find out tonight if its a problem!

Lunch finished, we decided that it would be more fun to stay in town and check out the fair later on than to be 8 kms away and probably not come back in, so we cycled back to the first place and booked a room. The lady was very sweet, allowing us to bring the bikes into the room with us, but this is your very typical budget motel here in Mexico. The bed is as hard as a rock, with tiny pillows and a sheet for cover. The walls are lime green and there's no ac, only a ceiling fan that is either off or on full blast. And last but not least, the toilet - there is no seat. I've read enough blogs about Mexico to know that this is to be expected in many places like this, so we are not overly concerned. Hopefully we will be too tired tonight to care about any of it and will sleep peacefully. After checking in we changed our clothes and went for a little walk through town. It is an interesting place - kind of a bedroom community to Campeche. The buildings are painted and there are many interesting doors, but it does not have the charm of old town Campeche. But then again, it also doesn't have the constant sight of people selling their wares to anyone they see. This is where people live and not a tourist destination, which gives it its own charm for us. While we enjoy the benefits of staying in those nice tourist places, we really did want to experience all of life here in Mexico and you can't really do that if you never mix it up with the locals.

These were everywhere in town! I don't remember seeing any in Campeche, but we did in Santa Elena and Merida

Along the way we found a small archeological museum and went in for a look around. They had some excellent pieces and information, as well as a very pleasant and cool setting, so we enjoyed our time there.

I love the limestone with the ribbon of pink running through it. We saw lots of quarries along the way today

In case you were wondering, here's how to pronounce the name

I loved this wall in the courtyard of the museum

This doll was found in the grave of a small child. Notice the articulated arms and legs

Our town tour complete, we came back to our room, cranked up the fan and had a little siesta. After I finish with the blog, we will head out to find some dinner and see what's happening at the fair. Tomorrow will be a shorter day of about 50 km. We will start early again and hope the wind doesn't find us until we reach our destination of Maxcanu!

Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 239 km (148 miles)

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