Day 34 11/29/2021
Odometer 27,714 – 27,835 ——121 Miles (5135 Miles Total)
Cintalapa – San Cristobal De Las Casas
So last night after I finished typing up the days events I found out we couldn’t make the hike to Arco because of heavy rains the last few days. I was pretty bummed as we revolved the last few days of our trip around this hike. So we made some other plans. We got breakfast with Lillys family before we left. She mentioned to her aunt that I was going to ride to Cancun after we part ways in San Cristobal. her aunt brought up how there’s a road through the mountains going to Cancun from San Cristobal where indigenous people block the road and ask for a decent amount of money from you to pass and there’s a chance of being kidnapped by them.
I popped open google, typed in route 199 in Mexico and of course it comes up. One of the most dangerous roads in Mexico. People have been killed, robbed and kidnapped on this road. Most busses that take this road have a armed truck following and leading the bus full our tourists to make it through the section. I also read that some people have gotten through this portion of the drive only paying 100 pesos to the people that stopped them. Being that I’m older now I should probably be smart and take the longer road to avoid all of this even though 199 looks like a blast to ride on with all the twisty turns on it. Theres a saying about Chiapas which is the region I’m in right now along with the dangerous roads. “You are entering Zapatista territory, where people rule and the government obeys.”
We made a 45 minute ride in the morning to Cascada El Aguacero. Lilly understood it was 124 steps to the bottom of the canyon where there was a waterfall and a huge canyon with a river flowing through it. It was quite the sketchy road to go down and if I got a bit wobbly on the bumpy dirt road covered with jagged rocks we would for sure have gone off the cliff to our deaths. We parked, paid 100 pesos and started the walk down. 124 steps later and the bottom of the gorge was nowhere to be seen. Im starting to think Lilly really isn’t Mexican and lied about it all because it seemed more like 1000 steps! Hah. Also good news for all my guy friends. I lost my speedo this morning rummaging through my luggage so no more speedo pictures on Instagram until I find a new pair down here!
We got to the bottom of this gorge a few minutes later and the view was incredible. 6-700 foot walls on either side, vertical, with a purely clean river flowing through the middle of it. We walked up a few hundred feet to find a huge waterfall dropping into the river as well. We walked all the way up under the waterfall crawling through small caves to access the waterfall where it was landing on some rocks. Got my daily shower in!
We hung out there for maybe 45 minutes admiring the views. The walls were stunning, birds flying in the thermals everywhere, the sun beating down on us through the clouds passing through and the river was actually warm. I don’t understand how water can be this clean without being freezing cold. Maybe its magic! We started our hike up and tried to count the steps. I got to 400 and gave up, Lilly hit 720 at the top. I think she’s a fraud. Who knows what she’s hearing people say to her in Spanish!
We got back on the bike and made it up the sketchy dirt road without riding off the edge. Our next destination was Sumidero Canyon. 1:40 minutes away. We rode near a city called Tuxtla and rode up into the mountains. We went from 1000′ ASL to 5000′ ASL I think if I recall correctly. The view of this canyon was insane. I wish you all could see it in person. It looked completely fake in front of my eyes. The rover flowing through the canyon was huge and the walls surrounding it were 3000′ tall. Pictures don’t even do it justice. When we walked up to the edge we noticed part of it was closed off with a camera crew. A few guys from France I believe set up a slackline from one side of the canyon to the other and they were going to try to walk the line across to the other side. The width of the canyon they were trying to walk was probably 3/4 of a mile. WILD! I hope they make it and I can’t wait to see the video. While we were just looking at the canyon I realized my friend Miles Daisher did a wingsuit BASE jump in this canyon a few years ago and landed in a boat in the river because the river is full of American crocodiles.
Next stop was San Cristobal about 2 hours away. We went from 1000′ elevation to about 7000′ on this ride on a highway through the mountains. The whole ride was pretty much climbing through the mountains and it got quite chilly which was nice since it was pretty hot the last few days. I almost ran out of gas but we made it. We got ourselves a hotel in San Cristobal where we will be for two nights until Lilly flys out and I start my ride to Cancun but I’m still undecided on it.
We went out for a walk, got a bunch of food, some snacks, did some shopping for friends at home, walked around some more and that was our night.
In other news. I was supposed to be taking a sailboat from Panama to Colombia since its one of the ways around the Darian Gap. I have been emailing the captain about dates and he told me he’s doing a trip December 20 and January 10th. I have been emailing him asking him to book my slot for the January 10th date. he finally replied to me yesterday saying that the owner of the boat is giving them issues and they won’t be having anymore tours until they find another boat. He says they found another one but the boat is being overhauled as we speak and he’s pretty certain there will be tours in January but he just doesn’t know when. Seems pretty unreliable to me so now another huge headache has opened up. I have to find a way to get my bike to Colombia VIA airplane hopefully which will be pretty expensive. Im hearing $1400-$2000.
