From Anchorage to Ushuaia by Bike

We’ve finally made it to Oaxaca, the capital of the State of Oaxaca, but it wasn’t easy. Why so difficult you ask?

When we left Tehucan, we thought we could push through to Oaxaca in three days. It should have been manageable, not too much trouble, even though we saw a few small mountains on the way and knew at least one night would be spend camping in the bush.

So we left the couchsurfers in Tehucan Saturday morning. Sébastien is sick: fever and congestion. I’m not at my best either: I have a cough and my nose is totally stuffed up. But we decided to set out into the desert in the middle of Mexico. As we left the city, the sign said 189 km to Oaxaca…

The first day started out with 45 km of downhill, but then we had to climb and climb and climb. We were supposed to pass through a village, but we never came across it. Good thing that we had filled up our bottles at the toll booth. So after more than four hours in the saddle, 778 m of ups and downs, and 55 clicks, we finally gave up and pitched the tent by the side of the road, just on the other side of the fence, after asking permission from the resident shepherd. It was the worst camping location we have had so far: right at a corner, on a slope. The trucks that went by were so noisy both coming up and going down the hill, and we slept badly. Happily, the shepherd tried to cheer us up by saying that we could camp there whenever we wanted…!

The second day took us to Nochixtlan, a little town that became our saving grace. We found a homey little hotel, not too expensive, with a good bed and a lovely hot shower. We also went to a drug store… neither of us were feeling all that well and our morale was in our shoes. We had had to pedal pretty hard to get there that night – 6 hours, 82 km, and 1313 m of ups and downs.

The third day, today, we checked on Google maps and really thought that it would be easier. But no! It was up and down the whole way – 85 km, 763 m of altitude adjustment and almost 5 and a half hours in the saddle.

So we were absolutely exhausted by the time we reached Oaxaca – everyone had told us what a great city it was, and supposedly cheap. We went around the city and checked all the hotels we found, but everywhere was expensive, the most expensive that we had seen so far in Mexico. We eventually went back to the first hotel we had tried, without a private bathroom (and still 50% more expensive than what we normally pay). As of yet, Oaxaca hasn’t won us over.

We know that we are on an amazing trip, the trip of a life time, as everyone tells us. We know that this really is an incredible experience, but not every day is sunshine and puppies. Sometimes we just feel like ditching the bikes and going home to our loved ones and familiar surroundings. It’s been a bit rough for the past three days, since even though we’re sick, we have to keep pedaling, eyes on the road.

Sara