From Anchorage to Ushuaia by Bike

After leaving Atlacomulco, not our favourite city, we headed towards Toluca. About 30 km away, we joined up with another cyclists, and then two more. We met Ulyces and his father, Oscar, and they really seemed to want to help us out, and they invited us to their place that night.

We got to Toluca, and after some concerted checking of maps on the computer (we have really good maps on the computer, but not on the GPS, which only has the bare minimum of details), we arrived at their house. It wasn’t a long trip, but I was really tired: I was sick the night we stayed in Atlacomulco, and well acquainted with the toilettes there… A friend of Ulyces’ translated into in English whatever we didn’t understand, and we tried our best to answer in Spanish. Oscar suggested that we stay in his second house for the night, and we were happy to accept. So we found ourselves in the back of his pickup truck , for about a  20 minute drive in the opposite direction from where we were heading the next morning. We arrived at one of their three cement business offices, which was really just a well equipped house. Ulyces showed us the couple things we need to know (like hot water, micro-wave, and how to open and close the door… sounds like simple things, but you’d be surprised…). And then, total luxury. They had to go – they had plans for evening – and we had the house to ourselves. We had a bite to eat, then went to sleep – on a real bed!

The next morning, they had invited us to their house for breakfast with the whole family. We packed up all our stuff, ready to get into a public taxi, and then waited for Ulyces to come. He competes a lot (biking, running, kayaking) and he was supposed to come by on his bike to show us which taxi to take and then bike back. Really good practice, since it’s uphill all the way! But in the end, he’d been out partying the night before and he drove.

We ate with Oscar, his wife Teresa and their daughter Guicinella who spoke English, and they all asked us a lot of questions. We brought out the map and they showed us the places we should see, the best routes to take, and generally gave us lots of advice. After breakfast, Oscar told us that he wanted to drive us up the hill between Toluca and Mexcio. It’s about 30 km from there and  3100 m high – we were at 2600 m) and then it would be downhill all the way to Mexico City (2200 m). Sébastien really wanted to bike the whole way, but he knew I wasn’t feeling the greatest, and after hesitating a moment or so, we agreed. So we left in his pickup with all our bags and bikes in the back.

The kilometres roll by as we climb steadily. There’s no shoulder on the “libre” highway and bikes aren’t allowed on the “cuota,” and in the end we are glad to have this motorised help. The cars are driving pretty fast and road is windy. We stopped at an interchange (where our driver would be able to turn around) and unloaded our bikes. But Oscar was really worried about our safety and told us as much – several times! He went to talk to the police who were also stopped there, and when he came back he told us to reload our bikes onto the truck: he wanted to drop us off at a place about 5 km further along where would be able to take the side roads all the way to Patrice’s house, our host in Mexico.

The goodbyes and “muchas gracias” were effusive, we got plenty of advice and we promised to keep in touch with this family of angels – the first Mexican family to take us in, just like that, after a chance meeting on the road.

So there were, basically parachuted into this sprawling metropolis of 22 million people, totally disoriented since we arrived almost without noticing. We felt under attack, like we had lost all points of reference. We stopped for a pee break in a huge high-end mall… and I felt a little out of place surrounded by Dior, Vuitton, Hugo Boss, etc., - I was in zip-offs, all covered in bicycle grease (that’s what you get for hitching a ride in a pickup truck!)

We got back on our bikes and decided to go to “Bosque de Chapultepec Park” for lunch since we were a little ahead of schedule. The park in is the centre of the city and very busy on Sundays, full of those mobile vendors. We found a picnic table and sat down to catch our breath.

And I realized then that we just started a new stage of our trip – Mexico City. We made it! My throat closed up and my eyes welled with tears… it wasn’t very long ago that Mexico City seemed impossibly far away, and now we were here!

We spent a couple of hours in the park and then headed out to Patrice’s. It wasn’t far to his house, so we decided to take a little detour through the centre of the city. I confess I spent most of time keeping my eyes on the passing cars and not on the sights. We arrived safe and were warmly welcomed… in French!

We can relax now – the bikes are safely stored and we plan get around in taxis, on the bus, and on the subway (since we don’t want to have any problems or have the bikes stolen). We’re staying here for a week, and we plan to meet with no less than 4 microfinance institutions, to visit Teotihuacan (the major archeological site), and discover Mexico City!

Sara

In the city of Morelia, we met Ulyses (the friend of the brother in law of a member of the warmshowers network in San Diego… yes, a friend of a friend of a friend!). He’s an experienced mountain biker – he doesn’t bother with roads or paths, he heads straight into the mountains! He gave us some good tips on the route to take to Mexico City, where we’re supposed to be by Saturday or Sunday. Following his advice, we stopped in Senguio to see the Monarch Butterflies.

We left on foot from Senguio, already 2300 meters up, and after a long 11 km climb and 800 m higher we discovered the mysterious monarchs at more than 3100 meters above sea level.

Monarch Butterflies spend the summers in Canada and migrate to Mexico, to the state of Michoacan, for the winter, where they stay from the beginning of November to the end of February. They come back to this exact location every year traveling thousands of kilometers to reproduce and then to die. The larva will turn into butterflies and then head back to Canada to start the new annual life cycle. There are millions of butterflies the gather here, and they cluster on branches and make them bend under the weight of all their wings. It was both breathtaking and totally calming: in the complete and utter silence we could hear the rustle of their wings and the creaking of the branches that were straining under the weight of these light and delicate creatures. They were everywhere, and we were in their space: they were in the air, covering the trees, and even the ground. We stayed an hour, awestruck, before heading back …

11 kilometers down towards the peaceful little town of Senguio.

Sara & Sébastien

Since Guadalajara, we’ve crossed a plateau at 1500 meters in altitude. We got lost on some rough roads around the shores of Lake Chapala, but we ended up passing through some traditional villages where the inhabitants must have thought we were strangers from another planet!

Then we climbed, and climbed, and climbed up a hill 2384 meters high, and I set a new speed record – 71.8 km/h (the previous record was held by Sara for 71.4 km/h).

We came back down towards Lake Patzcuaro and we spent New Year’s Eve in Patzcuaro with Susan and Doug, members of the couchsurfing network. The colonial town was very lively, and we had a great time.

We wish everyone a wonderful year in 2009, full of good health, amazing discoveries and great people.

Sébastien

We have had the good fortune to try out all the different companies, like Fedex, UPS and DHL, to try and get rid of a few extra pounds. The Mexican postal system is really not the best for sending packages, unless you are trying to lose it for good. From what we’ve heard, the packages get lost or disappear, and if they do happen to arrive in the right place, they’re three months late.

Bearing this in mind, we compared the relative prices and lateness of the companies, and UPS came out the winner. We present ourselves at the UPS office with our package, where the receptionist tells us that the packing simply won’t do – of course in generally incomprehensible and accelerated Spanish. Marta, our host who insisted on coming with us, explains the situation, but even she doesn’t understand why the packaging isn’t acceptable. And after we had taken the time to cut up a box to the right size, carefully tape up the sides, and to cross out any writing that wasn’t the address. Alas, our packing job was apparently substandard. Marta insists that the receptionist look behind the counter for another box. We we’re in luck – she found a carton, seemly quite similar to the one we had used, but this one was acceptable to her. Flabbergasted, we look at each other, and then proceed to transfer the contents into this new box.

We thought that was the end… but no, we had to fill out five copies of a customs declaration (because the package goes through the US…) and they needed a complete description of the contents of the box, everything that we put in and the value of it, and then we got to the official forms. Sébastien felt like a movie star, and had to sign his autograph no less than ten times! We had to stop at the cash register, of course, but got a 15% discount for paying in cash. And at last we were rid of those extra pounds… after spending more than an hour in the UPS office.

Now, keep your fingers crossed that it arrives!

Sara

Although some may be cold, others are hot. And yet the date is shared by each : it’s the 25th of December…

It’s CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Thank you to everyone for their support.

We have already been quite spoiled this Christmas: we got to visit a microfinance institution and its clients. Marta and Carlos not only invited us to spend Christmas with them, but showed us the IMF that they run, called Opportunidad Mexico.

Sara & Sébastien