We have arrived in the southernmost state in Mexico, Chiapas, where we have enjoyed trying some of the locally grown coffee and cacao and taking on one of the most challenging climbs of this trip.
We spent our final night in Oaxaca with Rodrigo, who must be the most popular Warm Showers host ever (so many people have stayed with him!) and we too enjoyed his company and beautiful family and huge garden to pitch our tent and bathe ourselves.
After sharing breakfast with Rodrigo and his wife Lupita, we got back on our bike, rode in heat of the day out of Oaxaca, then into the cool mountains of Chiapas. Rolling clouds and sometimes gusty winds greeted us as we returned to 2000 meters. We rode through small towns and heard word and several other cyclists just a few days ahead of us.
Yesterday, we climbed up to the city of San Cristobal de las Casas along the piste (tollway). While the libre through this stretch looked significantly more interesting on the map, we decided to take the more straightforward route in hopes of making it to a host’s house in San Cristobal and avoid being benighted. It ended up being the biggest day of climbing for us on this trip, 2800 m in 141 km. When we finally reached the outskirts of the city, we where surprised to roll up to two other touring cyclists who were staying in San Cristobal with a friend of theirs. We exchanged WhatsApp info and headed separate ways with a cheer of excitement at seeing other tourers.
Zane, who agreed to host us from Warm Showers, greeted us with an incredible meal of chickpea curry, of which Mark and I polished off several bowls.
We went to bed feeling content, but by morning Mark was feeling sick, achy muscles and a head cold, and at Zane’s offer, we decided to spend another day with him so Mark could get some rest. We’ve spent the day resting and prepping for our next leg of touring. Zane shared some local coffee and we tried some incredible chocolate ice cream with cacao from the region.
We plan on being back on the bike tomorrow, taking some shorter days and crossing into Guatemala in just two days!
Check out our photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8sK1ryrupSjneZ9BA
Thanks for reading! -Nic