Cycling The Globe

A Cycle Touring Expedition Around The World

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Day 1716, Coban – Raxruha: The Real Guatemala

Posted by Thomas Andersen Posted on Jul - 02 - 2015

Distance: 110.2 km
Ride time: 6:52:22
Average: 16.0 km/h
Max speed: 59.0 km/h
Total: 36877 km

Another one of these days where you would look at the map and think: OK, I’m descending from 1400 to 200 m during the day, easy cycling. Not at all! My GPS says I climbed an impressive 2400 m between the descends. They were small climbs but some of the steepest I have encountered on the whole trip. In fact I had to get off the bike and push several times which usually doesn’t happen.

What made up for this tough cycling were the views; what a beautiful green country side here in Guatemala. In fact, my friend Juan Carlos had told me “It doesn’t get more Guatemala than this”. True, I have really gotten off the beaten path out here in the mountains.

I even spotted an area where they used terrace farming – something that reminded me of the area around Lake Titicaca in Peru.

The villages are full of traditional people. I tried to sneak in a few photos.

Up and down, up and down…

And a road swimming pool? 🙂

For the night I ended up in the village of Raxruha where they surely don’t see many tourists. Everybody was looking and all the kids yelling “gringo, gringo” as I walked around looking for a place to have dinner. My room, clean but with just enough space for the bike and the bed, was only 4.6 US$. I remember some 5$ hotel rooms in Ecuador as well, but this might be the cheapest place I have slept in whole Latin America.

I’m glad I turned away from the busy highway and got to explore these rural parts of Guatemala. I love it out here, and tomorrow there is more to come.

Categories: Guatemala
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One Response so far.

  1. The main roads may get you there fast, but they are by no means the most interesting. As the Third Doctor once said to the Brigadier:

    ‘A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.’

    How true it is, in this case, that the longer distance is much more interesting!