Wednesday October 7, 2015, 255 miles (410 km) – Total so far: 12,090 miles (19,457 km)
Four days 255 milesWe made it to the Gulf of Mexico after five days then another four days to the ancient Mayan city of Palenque. Across from us and to the northeast is our home state of Florida and south at 1000 km is Cancun. I think we will pass on that touristy destination and save that popular destination for another day. We do have some cycling to do as my niece and Jocelyn’s cousin works in the Honduras and we would like to visit her there.
Coatzacoalcos is a major port city in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz, on the Coatzacoalcos River. Coatzacoalcos comes from an indigenous word meaning “Site of the Snake” or “Where the snake hides”.
The Gulf of Mexico is beautiful with really good waves. We found a hotel across the street and tried to find a surfboard but to no avail. But the beach and water was fun.
We have been in Mexico for two months now and can count on one hand the number of days that the terrain has been flat for more than two hours on each of those days. We cycled out of Coatzacoalcos on a Monday morning and spent the first three hours on hills. Then for the next 5 hours it was totally flat. We were excited as our miles for the day were 74. Flatness is very rare and pretty boring in Mexico. Indeed it is a cyclist’s climber’s delight!
We entered our 12th state of Tabasco yesterday and today entered our 13th state of Chiapas. Chiapas is a southern Mexican state bordering Guatemala. Its mountainous highlands and dense rainforest are dotted with Mayan archaeological sites and Spanish colonial towns.
Tomorrow we will explore the Mayan ruins in Palenque. After 11 days of cycling since Puerto Escondido we are ready for a day off the saddle.