We continue our way through Ecuador, once upon a time part of the Inca empire, then ruled by the Spanish Pizarro brothers, afterwards under Simón Bolivar part of the Great Colombia and finally independent in 1830. Politically it is a huge difference to Colombia, here in Ecuador there is a very succesful leftist government (Correa) that does not want to […]
Once in Mocoa we have two options: 1. Cross to Ecuador through "Los Llanos" (the Amazonas basin, hot and flat) or 2. cross the Cordillera (one of the ranges of the Colombian Andes with 4 passes), bike on the cold Páramo over 3,000mts to finally reach the Panamericana in Pasto. The decision is taken: We go for the mountains! The crossing through the […]
We exit the big city of Bogotá following the valley of Magdalena River. First a long downhill that brings us from over 2,500mts to just 500mts. The first contacts to the local people are friendly, they are not used to see many tourists and they always greet us politely: “a la orden”. We enjoy the “almuerzo corriente” kind of set menu with a soup and a […]
Bienvenidos a Colombia: The only risk is that you stay! Despite all the bad reputation that this country might have due to the violence, weapon dealers, drug cartels, paramilitary, revolutionary groups such as ELN or FARC we find a very rich and beautiful country with educated and polite people. The reality is far away from the image one can have of […]
After the first serious thunderstorms in our travel through the Americas (the rainy season has started!) we leave Costa Rica and jump into Panama. Instantaneously we feel the difference: the population is much more diverse (Asian, Americans, Europeans, Blacks from the Antilles and Jamaica, indigenas from the Kuna region...) One can feel the melting pot […]
We enter in a new country: Costa Rica! Guanacaste province seems dry and hot and the road turns quite busy and hectic with not much shoulder till Puntarenas. Afterwards the ride along the Pacific brings us more peace and flat roads. Costa Rica is a big contrast to the other Central American countries, quite clean (all trash is systematically collected) […]
Perhaps our favourite country in Central America so far, why? Nicaragua has very hospitable and honest people, the food is good and there are plenty of things to see: colonial cities and nice landscape. León and Granada are great examples of colonial settlements becoming important trading centres when the Rio San Juan was used once upon a time to carry […]
After the great cycling through Guatemala we decide to move to El Salvador, another little country with a violent past (the civil war finished in 1992) and still trying to reduce the big gap between poor and rich. The country has excellent places for surfers along the Costa del Bálsamo, for cyclists it is a tough up and down at over 45C. All in all we […]
Guatemala shows us its best when we approach Lake Atitlan, for some people considered the most beautiful lake in the world. We bike around this caldera lake and observe the 3 big volcanos surronding its shore. Peaceful and magic place for us to rest for a few days. We continue afterwards to la Antigua, former capital that has been hit many times by […]
We enter Guatemala through the highlands, this means there is some climbs but most important the temperature will be cooler than in the Petén area. Additionally we are able to meet many Mayas, still dressed with the local customs and their strong traditions. Despite the war that tried to exterminate them during more than 30 years and that just finished […]
The road between Palenque and San Cristóbal de las Casas is very scenic. We enjoy very much riding on these continous climbs that lead you from 100m to a final altitude of 2,200m. The temperature is fresh and on the way we can see blue water rivers, jungle, palm trees, cafe, banana plantations and many Tzotzil and Tzeltal traditional villages. Once in […]
LE QUOTIDIEN JURASSIEN (April 2012) « Elle embrasse le monde d'un coup de pédale » Effort d'imagination: se poser sur un tarmac à Téhéran, monter à califourchon sur un vélo et poser le pied, quatre ans plus tard, au bout du monde à Ushuaia. Ce voyage surréaliste, Corinne Maire, de Reconvilier, le réalise, physiquement s'entend, alors que d'autres […]
Let´s discover the Yucatan peninsula! We decide to leave our bikes in Palenque and do the loop "backpacking". We start with the colourful Campeche, a nice symbol of traditional houses and a big wall surrounding the city in order to protect it against pirates and attacks in the 17th century. We continue our trip to Merida, the capital city of the Yucatan […]
Palenque is one of the major Maya sites in southern Mexico, a city that flourished in the 7th century (100BC-800AD) It is a great place to get closer to the Maya culture with not too many tourists and a reasonable entrance price, the ruins are placed in the middle of the jungle and you can climb to most of the pyramids. From the top you can get […]
We make our way through the province of Veracruz visiting the colourful village of Tlacotalpan with its colonial trader houses and beautiful churches. We enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the locals in the daily life: entering to the restaurants to have the “menu del día”, chatting in the “plaza”, going to the bakery to buy bread... and of course we are […]