2022 in Review, Part II

[ Ciudad de Guatemala ]

Queridas transglobalistas,

Happy mid-January, and a hearty welcome to Guatemala. On my end, things have been unsurprisingly low-key—at least until the past two days. I’ll clue you in on some exciting and drastic changes coming soon to a cyclist near you, but first we need to finish the review of two-oh-two-two.

The following images take us from Oaxaca de Juarez to the Usumacinta river, into Guatemala, down to Antigua and finally to Guatemala City.

You know the stories, more or less.

Enjoy!

Your friendly neighborhood Transglobalist,

—jim

With a little luck, the next blip I make on your radar will be from much further south, and a much higher altitude. Fingers crossed, amigos!

This moment was so important I don't mind that it's the first image in two different albums. After nearly five months of setbacks and health issues and general blah, I got back on my bike and departed Oaxaca. August 28,2022. A VERY good day!
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First stop, Tlacolula de Matamoros. Local mariachi volunteered for a portrait, who am I to say "no?"
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Ayutla-Mixe, Oaxaca. My two guardian angels and one of my favorite stops along the Trans-Mexico South.
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Typical roadside monuments seen around the world, but in Mexico, almost always with a can of Modelo. Thumbs up!
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Santa Cruz Quetzaltepec, where I was stopped by the rains and had a brief crisis of courage--based on some stupid hearsay and the subpar functioning of my not-yet-recovered-from-Oaxaca Spidey-sense. The looong stretch from here to Raudales Malpaso, Chiapas was one of the more remote and challenging of the southern route. In the end, as I should have known, it was a region full of kindness and hospitality. To wit...
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...this family in San Lucas Camotlan, who took me in and fed me breakfast rather than merely giving me the hot water I asked for.
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The descent outside of San Lucas Camotlan and into some insanely gorgeous mountain terrain. Much more challenging in the rainy season. More rewarding, too.
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You know what it takes to make me happy? Not much more than a wood-burning, mud stove. Efficient, beautiful, and man do I get taken back to Kot, Nepal at lightspeed!
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The most annoying part of the entire southern tier. About a mile and a half of this, with mud anywhere from ankle- to almost knee-deep. Stagnant water, mosquitoes, but fortunately no slithery reptiles (not that I could have seen them). I don't mind this sort of thing when it takes you into remote areas, but this was supposedly a "shortcut" that did nothing but add misery. On the plus side, it eventually came to an actual highway, where a swarm of policeman had just broken up a drunken brawl between two machete-wielding farmers (no one was hurt, btw).
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Poblado Nueve (Village Nine). I camped on the porch of a fried-chicken restaurant to avoid a lightning storm, and got invited to a 58th Birthday Party across the street. Maybe a couple hundred residents, total, and a great evening.
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Tecpatan, Chiapas. Interesting little town near the end of a highway: no way out but up. And up. And up some more. I stayed two nights, and considered a third.
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Hurricane #1 for yours truly, Hurricane Julia, which I weathered in the town of Tenejapa, Chiapas. I slept for two nights in an unused room atop a local bar, reading a book and trying to stay warm.
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Another of my favorite towns, and the last "big" town of the TM-Sur: Ocosingo, Chiapas.
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Guatemala! Arrived on October 19th, and already my 90 days are up. Tomorrow (Jan 16, 2023) I will renew my papers at the local immigration office here in Guatemala City.
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Sayaxche, Peten. My first real destination in northern Guatemala, and still one of my favorite. The sketchy ferry is a highlight of Peten, and just that questionable ride across Rio de la Pasion is more interesting and culturally fulfilling than a thousand years spent in the horrific and profoundly overrated Flores. (Which I'll say again: DO NOT GO! You're wasting your time, and will experience zero Guatemalan culture there. Go to El Remate instead!)
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My first "Hey, I like this!" photo from Guatemala. A corner of Sayaxche's central plaza.
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And then? I got lost. Well and truly lost the way I like it. This area is full of Q’eqchi’ settlements, and was my favorite in-saddle experience in Guatemala thus far.
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Same region, at the border between Peten and Alta Verapaz. Incredible hospitality and great conversations.
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The very strange airport of Fray Bartolome de las Casas. Never used by planes, at least for the two weeks I sat holed-up in the local hotel taking time off, and planning ahead for 2023.
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My favorite franchise in Guatemala. More accurately, my favoritely named franchise: El Gallo mas Gallo. It translates pretty much to "The Cockiest Cock." Why? Only the Shadow knows. This branch is in Coban, Alta Verapaz.
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Your likely arrival and departure point in Antigua Guatemala. A line of chicken buses waiting outside Antigua's mercado. (Also, I received my self-gifted tilt-shift lens--as you can clearly see. Thanks, Jessica, for the assist!!!)
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The famous Volcan de Fuego visible from Antigua. I took this on my early-morning ride out to Alotenango and back, so it's a closer view than you get from the "city" of Antigua.
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On the night of December 11th, we got to see an extremely rare, hour-long eruption of Fuego. This is a highly cropped telephoto shot from a gazillion miles away, but you get the idea. It was impressive. These eruptions happen multiple times every day, but usually only for a couple of minutes, and much less intense. (This one was long and severe enough to warrant mention on the volcano's wikipedia entry.
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One of my proudest moments from the past two years. When I arrived in Mexico in August of 2021, I spoke diddly squat Spanish. My grammar is still ugly AF, but I sat with my teacher two hours daily, one-on-one, for ten days without a word of English. I'm currently watching Mexican telenovelas on Netflix. I'm reading Ende's The Neverending Story in Spanish (realllly slooooowwwwwly, but still). I know it's basically a participation trophy, but I participated at avanazado alto (high advanced). Score!
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And Guatemala City's little taste of Paris, the Torre de Reformador. From my first full day in Guate: Christmas Eve.
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The Transglobalist
Photographer, cyclist, paraglider pilot, backpacker, skydiver, writer, explorer, musician, hitchhiker, digital nomad, and American dissident.

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Bienvenidos a Colombia!

August 15, 2023

2022 in Review, Part II

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2022 in Review, Part I