Six Months !
Hello world !!
It has now been 6 months that I am on the road ! The Halfway Milestone of my trip, 11 000kms and 4 friends on the bike ! Right now, I am sitting on a bed, in a « cabina » in the small town of Quepos. I am listening to a belgian radio (thank you Wifi !) and the noise of the electric fan. Since last time, I have so many stories to tell, forgive me if I forget some, forgive me if I don’t mention your help, your kindness or your smile on the side of the road !!
When I was still with Sofie, we met Polo, the Melba's neighbour, in Lazaro Cardenas, Michuacan, Mexico ! This incredible man and cyclist helped us to fix our carrier, taking pieces from his kid-carrier, the work of a professional ! I am still impressed by the fact that people take your own problem and make it theirs until it's fixed. It takes them time and energy, but our grateful smiles seem to be all they want ! Thank you Polo, it was a pleasure to share those moments with you, as well as on the road !
As for Sofie and I, our adventures were not over. A few days later, we had to go to Ixtapa, a kind of huuuge village with loooots of resorts, luxury hotels, amazing surf beaches, etc... we were not supposed to go there at the start, but Sofie had a iPhone related problem (no kidding: her sweat had infiltrated inside and... had broken everything!). So that led us there, and we randomly ended up with a mexican/american group of surfers, each of which was funnier than the last ! Leon and Edgar took us for a surf lesson in the morning and Carl and Suzanne let us enjoy their resort! Waves were strong, cocktails were refreshing, the sun was hot, and... sand was everywhere!
About sand, and see and ocean, and sun... we have witnessed an amazing life on the coast! Dolphins playing around the boat, whales far far away launching water high up, marin turtles having marin turtle sex, and looots of fishes, most of them dead in our plate!
Mexico with Sofie was everyday a new food experience, a slow but efficient cycle rythm, and a lot of fun with people, even without talking the same language! She is really good to tell jokes with... her hands!
A few days later, we came across Aglae and Yohan (cyclists from Quebec that I met one month sooner at La Paz). They saw Sofie leaving and Simon arriving and kept me company in between.
Interesting thing : when we left, we rode with them for a while, and we ended up totally sticking to their habits, which was easy since Simon didn't have any reference point ! So, more sport, more difficult days, more bicycle and tortillas with avocado or tuna for lunch (no more fried fishes, good for my budget!).
We had some really hard days at first because Simon and I weren't yet used to ride together, the wind was terrible (it took the middle chain away from the gear 4 times on 5 kms), and because the days were long ( around 100kms). Just before San Cristobal de las Casas, we faced a 70 kms up hill slope, climbing on 2000m of altitude. We managed to survive this with good music, motivation, rythm, and amazing views. I feel sooo powerful on this kind of day! When the difficulty becomes a challenge! Whooouuhooouuu!! That was the 25 of December, Feliz Navidad!
The 4 of us stayed together until January the 2d, after the visit of the Agua Azul waterfalls and the wonderful maya-city of Palenque. The waterfalls were (busy but) really beautiful, due to their turquoise color, and what the nature can build without human. Palengue was impressive in what the human can build without technology! I was in another time, dreaming about another way of life, imagining those people, their faces raised to the pyramid summit, under a shining sun, looking at a sacrificial ritual, the blood that flows down the stone's stairs... well, another time, another civilization, another mindset...
It was really nice spending time with other cyclists, especially those one!! Aglae, and Yohan, full love, tail wind, fun, fun, fun, bonne humeur!! And this was also the end of Mexico! Thank you Mexico for everything we discovered!
Guatemala, here we are! Simon, Sublime and I were ready for new adventures!
We decided to cross the border by boat, on the river! I think we payed way too much for it... but anyway, YOLO! (Mum and dad... it means "you only live once" ). The only thing we didn't know before was that there is no real road on the other side of the river. Let's go for 70kms on dirt tracks! Thankfully, smiles and encouragement from Guatemalan people were going to become our fuel. Some adventures further, we ended up at Raxruja (still don't know how to pronounce it) next to the Candelaria's caves. I was bluffed! We went there following Mihai’s advice, whom we met in Utah, several months ago. Those caves have inspired maya for their mythology, and I understand why! We discovered an unknown world! Where darkness is dominant, where silence is broken only by droplets of water, where Man is not welcome! We had to climb and jump to see this underworld, far from everything but so accessible. The second part of our day was devoted to the underground river, that we followed on inflated tubes, carried by water, lightened only by the small spot of our headlamps. What an experience! I can tell you, my imagination was going crazy, my senses were trying to take it all in, to be able to remember as much as possible! Piiioooouuuhoouuu!
My adventures with Simon were almost over... just one small step left to Semuc Champey. Well... small. I have never been so wet just due to my sweat. We rode 50kms in 8h30, almost without any pause, on rocks, no road, up hill at 6 km/h, down hill at 8 km/h, and walking at 4 km/h. This path was so hard that we had to walk for at least 5 kms, carrying the 60kg-Sublime. That was really a hard moment, physically, but ( there is always a bright side, no matter how bad it is!) the view was incredible, full of small green hills, with a golden light and a deep blue sky.
And that was the last bicycle day of Simon, I left him (a few days later) at Guatemala Ciudad and got on a bus to meet up with Jenn in Managua. I know it is cheating to take the bus! ;) but well... I only skipped 400 kms, who cares?
And a new adventure began with Jenn in Nicaragua! She and I were good friends before, and that was a good morale boost to ride along with someone very close to me! We were hosted in Managua by Loes and Styn from Belgium. They offered us real home-made bread, and a salad with feta ( and how I have missed those !…).
Then, we were on the road again! Going slow and easy at the beginning, visiting a volcano (with real lava moving, I swear !), an island here, and a natural pool there.
And then, in the blink of an eye, we were in Costa Rica! Jungle, volcanoes, animals, heat, sun, beaches again! The time went so fast! I don't even know what Jenn and I did !! Waw. But I need to mention Juan Carlos, bomberos from Puntarenas which is our good friend now; Fillip, bomberos from San Jose who offered us fresh vegetables when it was essential (yes... you need change when you are travelling… I know, strange!), and finally Ligia and her family who welcomed us, moving all the furniture to make us a little bit of room in the living room.
We ate a lot of fried chicken, rice, beans, fried sausages, fried plantain banana, fried everything. In Costa Rica, it was a challenge to find something that did not went through a deep-fryer ! And, as all good friends do, we had a nice chat around nice cocktails to tell each other our life stories.
And to finish (what??!! already??) with Jenn, we visited the Manuel Antonio National Park! I (not Jenn unfortunately, only I) saw monkeys, turtles, raccoons, birds, toucans, perroquets, monkeys, monkeys, strange unknown animals... that was a nice walk in the jungle!
Right now, I am waiting for Geraldine, who should arrive in a few hour! And I am sure that this new adventure will be as surprising and full of good moments as the previous one!
To conclude this article (and despite the fact I am living in a unicorn world) I would like to tell that this trip is really educating me, I am learning every second, with each person new things. I go through difficult times, I question myself, I have doubts, I have blue moments, I miss people and things in Belgium. I am always sweaty and sometimes every part of my body hurts ! The challenge I gave myself with this trip is bigger than I ever expected. I am always with someone but I do feel alone, since I am the only one who does the whole year. It is already difficult to stay 24/7 with people I know, but it is totally different to do so with « strangers » ! Every minute is about doubting myself, evaluating the other, wishing that jokes will be understood, hoping that my fellow biker is enjoying their time and do not regret to be here, wondering if every decision is taken in common or imposed by one or the other… well, on a human point of view, it is an amazing experience ! And all those difficulties make things more interesting and intense to live. But before all, all of your encouragements, all of your motivation words are essentials, and are my fuel to go to Argentina !!
I love you, I love people (except if they are blond of hair, orange of skin and president of USA), I love learning, I love bicycles, I love the Earth !!
Orianne
Thanks again to my sponsors :
TraKKs
Syemens cyclo Genval
Le journal du raid - 123Ecole
Berghen
Lasne Optic
