(Campeche, Mexico -- Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico)
In my original plans to cycle down the Americas I imagined that I would pedal Mexico in 2 and a half months. One month to cycle Baja, and another month and a half to crunch out the rest of Mexico... Needless to say, things have drastically changed. 6 months later I was entering the state of Campeche. I had changed my mind and decided to cycle the Yucatan Peninsula, and 3 more Mexican states!
I slept the first night out of Palenque, Chiapas, on the border of Tabasco and Campeche. I was 2 days behind my friends Andre and Ben, and they didn´t know I was behind them. To everyone in my life's knowledge I was in the Jungles of Peten, Guatemala following my brother Sunny who is with Hippo, and Angelo, my original plan.. However, things changed at the collectivo station.. With my stuff on top of the shuttle to the Guatemalan border I had a sudden moment of doubt about my direction. I flipped a coin six times, and the coin shamelessly told me to grab my stuff and hit the road to the flatlands of the Yucatan. I paid the driver simply for the hassle of tying my stuff to the roof and then a moment later untying and bringing it down. I left the shuttle station on my bike and pedaled the other way. Many surprises were ahead, and amazing things to see... I spent 6 days alone through most of the Mexican State of Campeche until I ran into 4 cyclists from Querretaro, Mexico dubbed the Bykings.. David, Cheto, Edgar, and Omar.. We had met at the Panchan in Palenque the day Ben, Andre, and I had left the archeological zone, and then again I ran into them on the highways of Campeche. All on bikes, and with similar goals and destination, we´ve stuck together ever since!
(The day I ran into the Bykings)
The adventures began right way.. Like the huge caverns we camped above on our first night together. Calcehtok..
(Calcehtok)
We played guitar and made percussion with stones in the darkness of pachama's insides..
(The view from the bottom looking up)
(Tree vines that come down from above)
(La escadera a pachamama)
That same day we were going to go check out some lesser known mayan ruins of Oxkintok nearby. When we arrived at the site they were charging $50 pesos a head.. It seemed a little steep of a price given the size of the park space, and the fact that we had seen some amazing things earlier that day already for free.. Outside the gates we met a very skilled tour guide who informed us of some other caverns nearby which have only been discovered by the public for the past year and a half. He told us how to get there, and I say he was skilled because he came away with $100 pesos of our money. Although, he did leave us with some good history and information of the area. Like how to get to the virtually untouched sacred grutas of the Oxkintok Mayas:
Complete with mayan carvings on the walls, and with the proximity to the temples this gruta had a special air about it.. We also had it all to ourselves which made our visit here an even more magical afternoon..
The tour guide also informed us of a secret cenote in a small town nearby called Kopoma. He told us it was in a lady's property across from the baseball field of the town. So after checking out the sacred cavern we rolled out to scope the denote, and it wasn't quite what we were expecting. We got to the baseball field, and all there was across the street was a residential row of little homes. A kid overheard us talking about the cenote, and pointed to one of the houses on the block. He told us that was the one, and that we can walk along the side of the house to get to the cenote. Semi reluctantly we pushed our bikes into the backyard of the house, and sure enough in the backyard is a well with a staircase that leads down to the most badass pool I've ever seen in anyones home ever.. (And Ive been some fancy shmancy homes w/ badass pools)... But nope nothing comes close to this:
(Staircase to the Cenote. Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
It was a nice contrast seeing a humble little one family home with a chicken coop, some dogs, and with a bit of a ranch feel above such a majestic natural wonder. Instead of selling off their land the family has stuck strong to keeping, and preserving this special place. They don't advertise or exploit it for money. Instead they charge a meagre $10 pesos for people who happen to know or hear about it. The family was very nice, and not only did they allow us to camp above the cenote in their backyard, they also cooked us dinner with food donated to us by the kind owners of a local tienda. This was the first of five cenotes we would swim in before the end of our time together on the peninsula.
Our next stop though was the biggest city, and the capital of Yucatan, none other than la ciudad de Merida. We spent a week at the house of Omar's uncles house Antonio (Tonio) where we had the luxury of home cooked meals, and a large clean space with wifi and showers.. Even though we were locked out of the main house it was a really good week of productive video editing! This is the only picture I have of that time:
(Rio cleaned up and hard at work!)
After a week of intensive video editing, gear upgrades all around, partying, and getting to know a bit of the big city in the Yucatan, we still needed more time. We ended up crashing an extra 5 days at a warm showers house, Jonas and his friendly family hosted us in their home! Jonas did a bike tour from his home in Merida down to Ecuador, and you can read about his trip here: A Ecuador en Bici.
Part of the reason we needed a bit more time was because Omar ran into an old friend of his from his childhood camp, Memo, who decided he wanted to ride with us, and that's how the Bykings turned into 6.. Photos from the day we left Merida:
(The Bykings w/ our w.s. host Jonas! From L to R: Rio, Cheto, David, Jonas, Memo, Edgar, e Omar. Photo by Jonas Gutierrez)
(Bykings in sacred circle formation. Photo by Jonas Gutierrez)
Our next big stop after Merida was the 'Pueblo Magico' of Izamal. There was however two or three cenotes to see on the way there..
(Inside pacha mama)
(Cenote #1)
(Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
(Cenote #2)
(Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
(Photo By Edgar Supertramp)
(Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
(Cenote # 3)
(Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
It's hard to make a lot of distance when every 30 k there's another natural wonder to see, feel, swim in, or what it may be. Good thing the entire peninsula is as flat as a pancake, and two days out of Merida we were in the yellow Pueblo Magico of Izamal.
(Business, Mayan Temple, Business)
The town of Izamal is built around the ancient Mayan site named Kinich Kakmo.
(Surviving remnants of Kinich Kakmo)
(View from the top)
The Spanish colonised the town in the 14th Century, and built the town Cathedral above an ancient pyramid with stones from the ruins. That's where we slept during our one night in Izamal.
(The 'rooms' the father let us camp in)
Leaving Izamal we headed straight for a WWOOF community known as The Lemurian Embassy which was only 60-70 k away. Located at exactly 8 kilometres down a little offshoot highway between two little towns, the Lemurian Embassy was quite the community.
(Photo by Edgar Supertamp)
(View from 'la tore del amor.' Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
The owner of the land is an interesting DJ, author, E.T. enthusiast, sustainable community organiser, among other things. His name is Guillermo Alarcon. In my request to stay emails he seemed very nonchalant, and being that the web site was very well made we had quite a different outlook on what our time was going to be like at the Embassy.
We were expecting a well organised community where we'd be put straight into work on some projects. At least that's what the website made it seem like. Instead, when we arrived we were thrown into a very different scenario. It quickly became evident that The Lemurian Embassy had been operating on the sheer force of a revolving door of caring volunteers, and the day we arrived was the day the that previous 4 volunteers were leaving. The girl who had been there the longest told me that when she arrived the previous volunteers were the only ones there as well, and that they had passed on the duties to the next group who was now passing them onto us. After the second hour of our stay we were already in charge of the lot, with 6 dogs and 1 cat to take care of, in the middle of the jungle.
The first couple of days were the toughest, as we struggled with conflicting desires on what to do, and how long to stay. Mostly the issue was that we were a bit unorganised, and were left with an entire community that had been essentially abandoned. It was a bit overwhelming. Lots of things had to be done or could be done, and we just didn't have a guide as to where to start. It took all day at first just to gather wood, make fires, feed ourselves, go to town for food and water, feed the dogs and cat, and maintain the place clean. That's all mainly just for our daily survival, and basic maintenance of the land.
It wasn't until Erika arrived we had some direction. Erika is a native girl from Guadalajara who has been involved with the Lemurian Embassy since it's beginnings, and who Alarcon recently asked to be the official caretaker. She popped up one night out of the darkness, and it was great for us because we finally had a bit of direction.
(Cooking Breakfast. L to R: Memo, Omar, Erika, Ana)
Erika got us straight to work on a couple pressing issues such as clearing and organising all the trash from the past few months, and cutting down a weeds forrest that was taking over part the property. Aside from that we lodged enough wood for the remainder of our stay, as well as received a bit of money from Alarcon to feed the animals.
Things were pretty smooth from that point on, and we even had time to see some of the sites nearby. About 2-3 k from the community lies the relatively unknown, and virtually invisible (until you are literally on it) pyramid of Ikil.
(Pyramid of Ikil. Looking up from the bottom)
(Climbing to the top)
(Bykings 'on top of the world.' Photo by Edgar Supertramp.)
Mother nature has literally eaten this pyramid, which we were told is a site a bit older than Chichen Itza nearby. I wish we had more time to explore as there was a lot of hidden things to see. Such as little tunnels, mayan carvings, possible sacrifices, and more hidden behind a veil of nature.
(Mayan faces)
(Snake head found near the top)
(What appeared to be the sunken in entrance of the pyramid)
All in all we ended up spending 6 days at the Lemurian Embassy. It was a good time of consolidating our team, ironing out rough edges, meeting new friends, doing some good work for a community, and mostly learning to work together through challenges. We also managed to acquire a new rider to the Bykings during this time. Ana, from Morelos, Mexico, made the decision to join the Bykings after meeting the guys when they took the day off to check out the Chichen Itza ruins.
After almost a week we left the Embassy and rode straight for the second and larger 'Pueblo Magico' of Yucatan that we would see, the town of Valladolid. Thanks to David's artist friends we secured a place to sleep that night in the badass art studio of Pelucas from Galicia, Spain.
(The day we invaded Pelucas studio)
(Trash art)
(Cuba)
Valladolid turned out to be very productive.. We got our friendship bracelet production on full force, and even managed to sell $650 pesos worth in two hours! The guys taught me how to make the simple bracelets they make for donations, and what a success they are! It's really the story of six bicyclists cycling down the Americas that sells, but having something physical we made to give is what connects us to the people.
With a bank of bracelet money, and excitement for more adventure we set off the long way to the Caribbean.. David split straight to the beach to go and help his girl and new Byking Ana gear up. So then it was 5, Edgar, Cheto, Omar, Memo, and I. Together we would explore the top tip of the Peninsula, the last bits of the gulf, and everything in between!
The first big sight we encountered was none other than the ruins of Ek Balam. Instead of blindly paying the $150 pesos to go in the official way we found an alternate entrance. Some art vendors informed us of a secret little road that goes to the back of the ruins. We found this road, and jubilantly left our bikes almost resting on the backs of some of the ruins.
(Breaking into Ek Balam)
What can I say about Ek Balam? Well, like all the other Mayan sites I visited, it was very impressing. Such beautiful architecture, and a remaining mysticism that is palpable. Also like most it is very touristic nowadays and has a growing 'Disneyland' like feel which is also present.
The heavy touristic blanket wasn't enough to sap out our fun and creativity though. Led by Cheto's percussion we made music and sang at the top of the pyramid, as curious tourists passed by.
We were having so much fun that we forgot all about the time, our bikes, and the fact that we had broken in without paying. Here's a shot we took right before getting hassled by one of the security guards for 'defacing' the pyramid during this photo:
After getting a little lecture from the guard we decided it was probably time to hit the road, and get outta there before the security start sniffing us out. Problem is when we returned to where we left the bikes all of them but mine were gone. I had the keen sense to lock mine to a tree, and so it was still there. It took about an hour of confusion, but we ended up getting the bikes back after paying for most of the entrance fees.
Our next stop was the town of Tizimin. It was the last big town we'd see for a while, and so we decided to take advantage and post ourselves right in the town square making bracelets, asking for food, and seeing if we can stay in the Cathedral. That's when we met Luis Manuel Pech Sánchez, who works for Por Esto! Yucatan newspaper. He was looking for a story, and found us. Here's a picture of the article:
You can read the full article here: Llegan Los Bykings! The town cathedral wasn't so interested in our story though, and basically told us to kick rocks. We had waited until after mass to ask the father if we could sleep there, and so now we were on the streets at around 11pm without a place to stay. On the plus side we were donated food by a local pizzeria who told us to ask the police department nearby, and once again the local police of a little town came to the rescue.
(The baseball field the cops let us sleep on. Photo By Edgar Supertramp)
From Tizimin we were a days ride to the gulf, and flamingo lands. The next morning we put the pedal to the metal!
On the road we passed a papaya orchard, and came away with 4 plump fruits.
We didn't end up getting to the first little town on the gulf, San Felipe, until after dark because of two failed cenote missions. Beautiful roads to pedal around sunset though..
When we finally arrived at the gulf, and the lively little town of San Felipe, it had been dark for hours. On the plus side we were given permission by the town police to camp on top of the 'kiosko,' and what a sweet camping spot it was to wake up to..
(Photo By Edgar Supertramp)
(Papaya and donated fruit salad. Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
While we were eating breakfast a curious boater known as Cejas came up to speak to us. He invited us to take a ride on his boat across the mangrove river to the beaches on the other side. The only way to get there is via boat, and he assured us that it was worth it. To alleviate our worry of the bikes Cejas got his friends at the police department to lock them up in jail during our little cruise.
(Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
(Photo By Edgar Supertramp)
After our little excursion on boat we rode off to the next, and more famous, port of Rio Lagartos. Again we were given permission to camp at the kiosko by the docks, and what another great camping spot that was.
(Morning in Rio Lagartos)
(View of the dock from our kiosko. Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
(Our dock for a day. Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
We were in flamingo lands, and up to that point we had only seen a few from a distance on Cejas' boat, and besides that only painted on every wall in Rio Lagartos. A slight hunger for flamingos had started inside of us, and we were told that near Las Coloradas, the next town, we could find them. We rolled out against heavy headwinds the next day, and instead of running into pink birds we ran into pink salt lagoons.
(Photo By Edgar Supertramp)
La Bomba Diggidad in the upside-down world of pink birds and pink water in Las Coloradas, Yucatan.
Even the sky turned pink that day as we cycled on the unpaved beach road between the little salt industry town of Las Coloradas and the little beach port town of El Cuyo. That's where we were told the birds were, and thats the road we had to take. 40 k of packed sand road, with pink lagoons & pink birds on one side and turquoise green gulf on the other, mangroves dispersed throughout, and all of us with our bikes and turbans for the sun. It was kind of like being in a strange new Salvador Dali painting and on a bike trip at the same time..
(Pink Sky. Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
(Green gulf. Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
We did see plenty of flamingos on the way to El Cuyo, however they are curious fellas, and you can't get within 50 feet of them. When we finally got to El Cuyo it was well into nighttime, and it was very nice to end the endless beach road right into the heart of town. The first tienda we stopped at to ask for food was a family who had happened to read our story on the newspaper, and invited us to a full dinner. It was a nice welcoming to El Cuyo.
(View from our camp in El Cuyo. Photo by Edgar Supertramp)
It wasn't until after leaving El Cuyo that I finally got a semi-decent shot of some frickin' flamies but here they are:
(La Bomba Diggidad in flamingo territories)
Zig-Zigging into the final frontier of Mexico, we rode into the state of Quintana Roo that day. We camped in the children's play park across the central plaza from the police department in Kantunilkin, ate donated food, and in the morning played music in the town square for the early birds of town. The police department had us up at 4:45 AM before the sun camp up, so we had plenty of time in the morning.. Our next stop was the little gulf island of Holbox, Quitana Roo about 45k from Kantunilkin.
(On the ferry from Chiquila to Holbox)
The sun went down on the ferry ride over, and we had to wait two hours in the town square to speak to the island mayor about where we could camp on the little touristy island. It wouldn't be a unproductive evening however, and how could it be when the Bykings take over the town square of a cool little town like Holbox? We sold over $400 pesos of bracelets, which became really popular with the kids in town. Later on a travelling musician in his later years befriended us, and went off with our percussion master Cheto to play some cool little tunes to the beachside restaurants on his ukelele. To end the night in style we were allowed to camp under some sweet palapas on the beach near town between two hotels.
(Holbox livings)
(My pad in paradise)
After two days on the island and continuing to live off the grace of the people, on a diet of mostly donated food, we had to head out. Part of living off the grace of the people is continuing on the journey they're helping support. We left the "forget your problems" island life of Holbox, to the 'there is no problems' port life of Chiquila across the bay.
(Looking for boaters in Chiquila)
We spent a couple of days in Chiquila looking for boats to take us around the peninsula to the Caribbean just 40k away. We were told that the boaters often take trips to little islands near Cancun where they go fishing, and that chances were if we had patience we could find some boat rides. For the 6th time on a bicycle journey I have attempted to take a short-cut via boat (not counting ferries), and for the 6th time the end result was that I left pedalling.
We may not have found a boat ride, but what we did find was that the boaters of Chiquila live some of the most tranquil problem free lives of anyone I've come across for a while. These humble guys may not have much, but they have their boats and their fishing lines/nets. They have the green gulf full of tasty fish, the sun, the wind, the beauty of living amongst nature, and of course their mota and chelas which are in no short supply. These guys whistle and joke around all day taking their little ships out to sea to catch food for a living.
We left Chiquila having to pedal the first 45 k back down the highway we took up to get to Holbox, and ended the day 15 k later in San Pedro. San Pedro is a little town only 50 k from Playa Del Carmen which is where the Bykings, and I are destined to split up. Their plan is to obtain some work during the busy season and save up some loot ($) for the next leg of their journey, and my plan is to finally catch up with Ben and Andre who I still haven't seen since we split up in Chiapas over a month and a half ago.
Ben and Andre leave Tulum for Belize and Central America on the 12th of December, and my intuition is to ride that current with them. My brother Sunny, Hippo, and Angelo, 'The Free-toes,' are already in Nicaragua, I have a ton of WOOF's in Belize that have already given me the green light, and overall I feel Central calling me. This chapter of my journey is soon to be over after I spend these last couple of weeks editing videos, working on my bike, and saying "see you soon!" to the Bykings.
What was the most amazing thing I took from the last month and half on this spectacular and special peninsula of Yucatan? I would have to say that it was growth, knowledge, and a desire to learn more. Not about natural places or geography, as I will already learn those things just by moving. What I mean is to learn and grow as a traveler, as a person, a soul. The Bykings got me in touch with travelling in the flux of the universe in a way that I haven't been since my first bike tour from Missoula, Montana, USA to near Nelson, British Colombia, Canada with the Rainbow Bicycle Caravan. Like the Rainbow Caravan had taught me up north the Bykings once again showed me was possible down south. What I mean is living within the Universal laws of give and take. Without money. You help me I help you type of living. Being good enough to give freely, and also humble enough to ask for help when needed. With a combination of never paying for a place to sleep, asking places for food and only buying roughly 30% of our meals (which we payed collectively), making bracelets & music, we were living at roughly $10 pesos each a day between a bit before Merida, and Playa Del Carmen (doing crazy zig-zags the whole way). On the last two days, after more than 20 places had helped us up to that point, I decided to finally start documenting the people who help us.
(Lunch by fruteria in Kantunilkin. Muchas gracias Carlos!)
(Fruit salad and following breakfast donated to us by Carlos at El Nuevo Amanecer)
(Lunch the following day arriving in Playa Del Carmen. Muchas gracias Miguel!)
(Arroz, frijoles, e pero caliente donated to us by El Buffet de La 10. Muchas gracias Miguel!)
We took advantage of being with our loaded down bikes, and even got dinner that night as well:
(Dinner at Pizzamondo Playa Del Carmen. Gracias Mateo & Mateo!)
(Veggie pizza donated to us by Pizzamondo)
In just the day and a half that I decided to start documenting the goodness of the people we were donated 4 meals. The truly amazing thing is that when you ask for help with an open heart the majority of people are inclined to help you. This has been a huge breakthrough for me. I had assumed when entering Mexico that the people wouldn't be inclined to help me down here since I look like a 'gringo', white people are thought of as having money, etc etc.. But I have been proven wrong in a big way. It doesn't matter what you look like, where you come from, it only matters what you're doing, and where you're going. If you're living in the flux of the Universe a thing as small as an inspiring story is enough to keep you fed for the day if you're just humble enough to share your story, and ask for a little help. I will continue to ask for food, and document the people that support me and my companions, and my goal is to evolve to live more and more in the give and take! More special than the actual food is the act of love involved in asking and receiving food. The giver feels good for helping hungry travellers and gets to share their food for love instead of money, and the receiver is much more grateful for the meal that was shared by the heart, and not ordered by the money. My conclusion is that donated food is holy food. It is food made by the human heart instead of slaved for material money. Lastly, it's great to relieve myself from the decision making process of deciding what to eat, and instead give myself fully to the universe trusting that it will provide me with the nutrients I need, and so far it has been like magic. Thank you Bykings for getting me back in touch with the ways of the flux!
I'm currently in Playa Del Carmen, Quitana Roo, and I will be here for as long as it takes to get my next video series up: Pedal The Globe w/ The Bykings: Conquering Yucatan! I estimate it will be roughly 6-7 videos long, and will take a while to edit.. I will also use this time to take advantage of the badass biking community shop, Embajada Mexicana de la Bicicleta, where I can use the shop to tune up my bike: La Bomba Diggidad, who's in serious need of a little love and grease. So if you happen to be wondering where I'm at these days I'm either here fixing up my bike:
Or, perhaps I'm chilling with or participating in a bike ride with our warm showers hosts Javier & Clara who run a local biking community, Bici Neta, or possibly editing videos at the Byking's friends apartment by the beach Andrea & Nash. There's a lot of work to be done before I leave here to team up with Ben and Andre. Let's see if I can fit in a bit of fun and playa in here too.. Woooooohooooo! Hasta luego!
