Days 123 Through 125: Ocosingo To Palenque

In keeping with our policy of avoiding overly trafficked roads, we decided that an extra 60 kilometers and an extra 1000 meters of climbing was totally worth avoiding the tourist death trap that is the road between Ocosingo and Palenque.  We double-checked with the proprietor of our hospedaje in Ocosingo to make sure the route we had mapped wasn't trampling into any risky areas.  He assured us that the people in Chiapas were not like those in the north.

These three days of riding were some of the best we've had this entire trip in terms of landscape, quiet traffic free roads, challenging (but fun!) dirt roads, and most importantly, the people.  Where the indigenous communities of central Mexico often viewed us with distant curiosity, the rural indigenous communities of Chiapas were some of the warmest most genuine people I have ever met.

We were greeted by dozens and dozens of families which gathered at their doorsteps to wave and smile at us.  Raucous laughter followed us as I honked my dino horn in response and kids often ran alongside our bikes.  Storekeepers invited to sit and talk and cool down in the shade.  Sometimes, we were barely speaking the same language because for many of these folks, Spanish is also their second language.  We were privileged to chat with a Lacandon Mayan man who wandered into our campsite one night as well as a Tzotzil Mayan family.  The patriarch of this Tzotzil Mayan family had to translate for his wife, but she was intensely curious about us, and in particular, my helmet.  I encouraged her to try it on and half the town dissolved into laughter.  It is moments like this that will forever be imprinted in my memory of this trip.  I wish I had more pictures of these people, but the moments were too precious to break.

Climbing out of Ocosingo for one last cool night of camping... the jungle calls us.

Just before the summit, a family sells us some delicious tamales stuffed with chicken and a red mole.  For 10 pesos, we dined like kings in our tents as the rain started yet again.

View from our campsite.

My home, somewhere near the summit after Ocosingo on the road to Nahá.

And then the long misty descent into the jungle... we passed through the clouds!

Back to dirt roads.  No one but me and a few guys on horses (that speck is a kid on a horse, btw).

The jungle beckons with its steamy hot green awesomeness.

Fourth flat of the trip... 

While I may not have gotten any flat tires, I have made up for it in minor crashes... locked my rear wheel and tore off some scar tissue from my last crash.  Whee, blurry picture taken in a hurry... we needed to buy some empanadas from a nice local lady and I was too hungry to take a good photo.

We decided we would make our second day a short day of riding because we weren't sure that we would be able to find any wild camping in the densest parts of the jungle.  Instead, we would relax at the ecotourism complex at Nahá, which means "house of water" in Lacandon Maya, aptly named because it sits on a large laguna.  We did a little exploring with our bikes to check out the laguna and then headed back to set up "camp."

The hiking path to the laguna eventually became unrideable, but this part was fun!

Ooh laguna! 

A boat of local Mayans come in for the day.

Our home at Nahá... we took shelter in the non-functional restaurant since its the rainy season.  Of course, since we had shelter, it barely rained that night, but I sure appreciated having dry gear anyway.  Plus, a curious local Lacandon Maya man came by to chat with us about the local flora and fauna.  Trying to explain how far we had cycled to someone who has no idea what a kilometer is was sure interesting.

After a leisurely breakfast at the only restaurant in town (which happens to have some of the best coffee I have ever had in Mexico) and a few conversations with some random tourists who happened by, we set out for a sweaty, long, hot, melty but absolutely amazing day of riding.

I never get bored of the jungle sky...

This is why wild camping is hard in the jungle... how the heck do you hack through that to camp?

Some parts of this dirt road are better than others... they are doing work on the road which means lots of loose (though mostly rideable) dirt.

Fifth flat... apparently Gonz is angering the "flat tire gods."

We decide to make a huge push to get to Palenque... we zoom down the last bit of mountain to a spectacular sunset.  And then mountains ended forever.

While we thought jungle camping would be a good idea, this place was perhaps a bit too hippy for us.  Although Gonzalo had a miserable night trying to sleep off the hot riding day, I tried to make the best of it by hitting up Don Mucho's, which had some live salsa and cumbia and even found a few dance partners.

A few travel notes for cyclists:

• The road from Ocosingo to Nahá to Palenque is a wonderful mix of about half pavement and half dirt road and virtually no traffic.  It took us two and a half days of riding with 3000 meters of climbing over about 180 kilometers.  We got a very late start (like after 2 pm) the first day and ended our day near the summit after Ocosingo, had a short second day which ended around 4 pm, and then a longist third day to arrive in Palenque.  Just do it.   

• There are plenty of little abbarotes in the tiny towns along the way, though grab the restaurants when you can because those are a bit few and far in between.  Fresh fruit and vegetables were particularly hard to come by.  We were able to nab a few bananas from a random guy who passed by a comedor, but otherwise, saw only one or two places with fruits and veggies.

• Camping in the protected areas of the jungle is virtually impossible, but after Nahá, there is quite a bit of farmland carved into the jungle which may provide some more opportunities.  Nahá by no means had great camping grounds, and it was a bit pricey at 85 pesos a tent, but I appreciated having a roof, (cold) showers, nice clean bathrooms, and not worrying about hacking into the jungle.  There is just one restaurant in town at the entrance, but it is lovely and you can stock on very basic groceries and water there.

• The carnitas at the intersection of the road that heads towards Ocosingo where there is a military checkpoint are stellar and dirt cheap.  52 pesos bought two horchatas and five carnita tacos. 

• We intended to camp at a place called Mayabell, which is supposed to have a nice jungle pool and be a little sanctuary in the jungle just before the ruins.  Well, I made a boo boo, I thought Mayabell was located in El Panchan, a hippy complex with a serious party atmosphere.  Just know that to reach Mayabell, you need to enter the national park and pay the fee, and that El Panchan is just before the toll booth.