It wasn’t easy to leave the paradise of Playa del Carmen. But the new wheel had arrived and the new tires and chains were assembled, so we left.

The first day was a short day. We did the 65 kms (39 miles) to Tulum within 3 hours. It was flat, boring and hot. But a good way to get back to the rhythm of cyling again. The next 2 days also were flat, very boring and hot. We didn’t see anything except the long straight road and low vegetation on the sides of it. At one part there was nothing but 1 small restaurant during 75 kms (45 miles). Then we arrived at lake Bacalar, where we camped right next to the lake and stayed for a day. Unfortunately that was the only clouded day in a long time.

Then came the long stretch to Palenque; 300 kms (180 miles) in 3 days, of which 1 day of 160 kms (96 miles). It wasn’t all flat anymore, part of it was pretty hilly and it was still very hot.

In Palenque there are also Maya ruins and we visited them. It’s a large complex, but only a small part of it is uncovered. It has been done very nicely. You can get a good look of the buildings because you can climb onto them. In the museum are artifacts on display which were found in the area, also a sarcophagus of a king.

Right after Palenque, the hard part started; we were going back into the mountains. We cycled 220 kms (124 miles) and 5000 altitude meters (15000 ft) in 3 days. It had been a long time since we did some real climbing, so we had a hard time. We stopt at the waterfalls of Agua Azul the first day and camped there. The waterfalls and the water are beautiful and have a beautiful blue color.

After the last hard day of 100 kms (60 miles) and 2300 altitude meters (5900 ft), we arrived in the colonial city of San Cristobal de las Casas. There’s a nice campground over there and we camped there. There were no other cyclists there, but a lot of other campers with vehicles so we had plenty of company. We were invited for dinner immediately, so we didn’t have to cook ourselves. Since we also didn´t have much energy to do so, we were happy to be invited. We stayed there for 2 days and now we´re on the road again. Descending to the coast and then up again, back into the mountains.