Well, we did it. We finally left Xpu-ha! As much as I love that place, I was completely stoked to be getting out and exploring new areas. Today we would ride down to Belize to reregister our bike and take care of paperwork, but had no idea how the process would go. Would we have to stay in Belize one night according to some weird 24 hour rule? Would they let us u-turn back into Mexico? it was kind of fun not knowing what to expect for the night.
Around Tulum, we stopped for gas and to get a coffee from the Oxxo station. We saw a Comex down the road, and thought we would stop to see if they had any denatured alcohol. Sure enough, they did. We had brought our camping stove and were hoping we would be able to use it at some point to be able to cook our own food whereever we went. Success!
And double success!
For lunch we stopped in a small town that the highway went through. We found this small restaurant/taco stand and pulled up not knowing what they were serving. The food consisted of a strange but delicious assortment of chicken, spaghetti, grilled onions, pickled onions, tomato sauce, rice and beans. We stuffed ourselves but still had food leftover so we bagged it and saved it for dinner.
We ran into a little issue along the way. At one point Eric didn't see a speed up ahead up us until last minute and took it at 30+ mph. The bounce must have been more than our milk crate could handle, because two of our zip ties fell off with the jolt. We pulled over, took everything out of the back, and put some new zip ties on in a matter of minutes.
We made it to the border in about 4 1/2 hours including lunch. I can't believe how easy the border crossing was, and there were hardly any people there. While standing in line, 3 guys from the US pulled up on 3 ADV bikes. They were from Nevada and traveling to South America too. We chatted for a few minutes and they gave us their card but since we were headed in different directions we moved on. Fun to run into other bikers and swap stories.
We found out we were ablet o enter back into Mexico the same day without having to pay a fee, so we drove 30 minutes back to up Bacalar, a town known for its beautiful lagoon and interchangeable colors. We found a hostel/campground and checked in early. While we didn't get a chance to take advantage of the lagoon, we said we would come back on our way back down as the water is beautiful and easily worth a night or two hanging around. Instead, we explored downtown taking pictures by an old fort and searching for cheap food and drinks for the night. In a small town like Bacalar, it is very hard to find reasonable prices.
We stop for some juice to rehydrate while we search for a hotel on our phone. It is hot, and we find we are exhausted much faster than we have been in the past now that it is summer time.
Good view of the bike
This pose was not intentional, but Eric does make a good model
We try to play on the seasaw but find our butts are not yet made of iron after all the riding on the bike. I have no idea how kids do this, I think my butt is still in pain after one round
Belizean style buildings are a normal sight this close to the border
We find some chili lime flavored ramen and add it to our spaghetti and chicken left overs. The chili lime flavored ramen is actually very good. Our hostel has a nice kitchen and porch seating arrangement.
Just like home, dogs are always your best friend when there is food around
So cute
Around Tulum, we stopped for gas and to get a coffee from the Oxxo station. We saw a Comex down the road, and thought we would stop to see if they had any denatured alcohol. Sure enough, they did. We had brought our camping stove and were hoping we would be able to use it at some point to be able to cook our own food whereever we went. Success!
And double success!
For lunch we stopped in a small town that the highway went through. We found this small restaurant/taco stand and pulled up not knowing what they were serving. The food consisted of a strange but delicious assortment of chicken, spaghetti, grilled onions, pickled onions, tomato sauce, rice and beans. We stuffed ourselves but still had food leftover so we bagged it and saved it for dinner.
We ran into a little issue along the way. At one point Eric didn't see a speed up ahead up us until last minute and took it at 30+ mph. The bounce must have been more than our milk crate could handle, because two of our zip ties fell off with the jolt. We pulled over, took everything out of the back, and put some new zip ties on in a matter of minutes.
We made it to the border in about 4 1/2 hours including lunch. I can't believe how easy the border crossing was, and there were hardly any people there. While standing in line, 3 guys from the US pulled up on 3 ADV bikes. They were from Nevada and traveling to South America too. We chatted for a few minutes and they gave us their card but since we were headed in different directions we moved on. Fun to run into other bikers and swap stories.
We found out we were ablet o enter back into Mexico the same day without having to pay a fee, so we drove 30 minutes back to up Bacalar, a town known for its beautiful lagoon and interchangeable colors. We found a hostel/campground and checked in early. While we didn't get a chance to take advantage of the lagoon, we said we would come back on our way back down as the water is beautiful and easily worth a night or two hanging around. Instead, we explored downtown taking pictures by an old fort and searching for cheap food and drinks for the night. In a small town like Bacalar, it is very hard to find reasonable prices.
We stop for some juice to rehydrate while we search for a hotel on our phone. It is hot, and we find we are exhausted much faster than we have been in the past now that it is summer time.
Good view of the bike
We try to play on the seasaw but find our butts are not yet made of iron after all the riding on the bike. I have no idea how kids do this, I think my butt is still in pain after one round
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