Tips for Travelers

Security and Safety in Mexico

rfay — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 22:30:34 +0000

We've told you about the highways and our greatest risk in every country - the traffic. But many of you were most worried that we'd be abducted by drug-traffickers or thrown in prison by the "federales." And some have asked us why we weren't bringing a gun (Don't bring a gun to Mexico! You'll go straight to jail if it's discovered at a border crossing!).

In terms of our everyday experience, we have to tell you that Mexico seems to be the safest country we've traveled in on our trip so far. Our perceived level of risk both to person and property is lower than in either Canada or the United States. Nobody has bothered us or our stuff in any way.

Now we'll have to admit that we're not careless travelers and we keep our eyes on our things and don't leave our bikes unattended. We're experienced third-world travelers. And if somebody says an area is dangerous, we listen carefully and try to evaluate the risks. And we also have to admit that we aren't likely to be seen as good kidnapping subjects, since there's nobody to ask for a ransom. Most people here think our bikes are pretty cool, and pretty expensive by Mexican standards, but they don't seem to think we have all that much money (or we'd be going by car, right?) So maybe our risk level is lower because we're a small target. But I don't think so. I think Mexico is just a mighty calm, friendly place.

The other day I read the US State Department's advisory about Mexico. It could get you *really* scared! Basically, they say that you need to travel only on the toll road (the fancy interstate highway here) during the daytime, and with your windows rolled up. It's SCARY! And it contrasts so starkly with our experience. I'm sure that every incident they cite is true, but I think there's a lack of perspective. They're reporting "risk" in absolute terms - suggesting that you shouldn't take any risk. What they really should be doing is saying something like: "When you're in the subway in Mexico City you should take the same measures you would take in any metropolitan subway." Or "When you're driving on the highway and you see something that doesn't look right, you should be careful, like you would anywhere in the world." They just say "don't do this and don't do that" because it's so risky, without putting it in the context of our U.S. risk level. People get shot in our home city of Denver, and that's really bad. But we don't think about it at home. I believe that fewer people are murdered annually in a Mexican city the size of Denver,
but the State Department doesn't make that kind of comparison. They just make you fear and act as if you can manage risk by avoiding risky situations, rather than calculating and dealing with risk.

We're going to miss Mexico a lot. And we may have to learn a lot more about managing our security in Guatemala and Honduras. We'll see. But we have to tell you it sure feels like a friendly, safe place to us.

Nancy's tips on riding the roads of Latin America

nancy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:36:32 +0000

Sometimes our determination to find back roads gets out of hand, like this road in Guatemala

I wrote this in response to a letter of consternation from one of the few other women (and one of the very few other "mature" couples) riding a route like ours in Latin America. It seemed worth while sharing with you, my management technics on how I managed riding the roads of Latin America.

This intrepid rider sent a note saying that the roads of Mexico were freaking her out so she was hopping on buses to avoid certain stretches and was having a difference of opinion about the risk level of the roads with her husband. Here is my response, such as it is:

First of all, I do think you have great amount of courage and smarts and capabilities. I admire you on many accounts. Anyone that has ridden Copper Canyon the way you you did has my admiration. If I knew you better, I might be more comfortable telling you that you have balls.

In retrospect, after riding through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, my thoughts about riding in Mexico are that it is a difficult country to ride in, especially as you get closer to the cities. The bigger the city, the more aggressive the drivers, and less room for mistakes. That said, indeed, in order to keep yourself safe, one person in the group always has to be the most reasonable (usually the woman) to do what it takes to keep going safely and in one piece, both physically and mentally.

Here are some of my/our ways we keep going, keeping in mind I have more fear than Randy (or is it more sense?).

There were lots of good roads in Mexico like this one in Chiapas

I always use a helmet mirror, I can see 180 degrees behind me. It took me about ten days to get used to it. A few years latter I got Randy converted. At first we both used used a handlebar mirror but it is not good enough. With a helmet mirror or a mirror on the glasses, I can turn my head just a little bit and see completely in back of me. This is the number one thing that keeps me safe. Randy now rides 1000 times safer. He had many close calls that he was unaware of and therefore unable to take defensive action. So, you ask, what does it do for me? I can get off the road when there is just not enough room for all the traffic or I can take the whole lane when there is not enough room for the vehicle in back of me to pass or I can hear another vehicle is coming around a corner that the driver in back does not know about. I also walk sections that just do not make sense to ride, like blind corners up a steep mountain. Sometime I ride on the opposite side of the road where there is a better shoulder or no gutter. Mexico gutters suck. The roads in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua do not have those steep gutter drop offs.

A rule we try to follow with one or two exceptions, is the weakest link (usually me) gets to make the call. If one of has a concern we stop and discuss it and find a solution. One solution is to find a secondary road. We used a map of Mexico called Guia Roji which had yellow roads shown as secondary roads, we tried to ride mostly those. The ones with pavement but without painted lines were a great joy because of the light traffic and they brought us to places way out of the way which added increased interest for us. We always asked locals if there was alternative roads to get to where we wanted that where quite with less traffic. Most locals knew a different route. Also we use a GPS in many roads where on there but we relied on asking the locals.
Another technique is when one of us gets freaked out by the traffic conditions or whatever, is to stop and regroup. During the rest we decide the best course of action, whether it is to find another route, just rest and regroup, use a different technique, or even take a bus. (We did take a bus because of traffic on one road in Costa Rica seemed deadly to me, but that's the only time we've actually done that. Not the only time we've taken a bus, but the first time we were forced off the road and into a bus by our perception of the highway and the traffic. That road from San Jose to Limón is just not for bikes. A few days after we attempted to ride it and bailed by hopping on to a bus, someone referred to it as the road of death)

We do not separate -- except once when I was sick, I bused to the next town and got a hotel about 15 miles away. We stick together even though it means that one of us (Randy) probably won't get as far in a day, and both of us are affected by the other's riding style, of course. Randy rode many thousand of miles alone before we started this trip and he hated it. He was lonely and miserable. A key for us is to stay together and get to a safer place. Even though Randy hates to get rides and I respect that, we have a handful of times gotten rides when it just made more sense for various reasons. He use to be purist but he benefits more for taking an occasional ride. We stay together. One time we took a bus in Mexico was from Durango to Zacatecas - the vacation period of Semana Santa (Holy Week) was just coming up and it was reputed to be quite dangerous just as we were approaching a long (and probably quite boring) stretch of road.
We wear real bright clothes when traffic is heavy. You know that green that screams I am really a yellow.

When the traffic is intense, I feel better when Randy rides in back to give me a buffer, but not too close, so I can still see traffic in my mirror and I can take evasive action when required but not endanger him by my action. The one in back is given less room by the traffic then the one if front. By the time they pass me they have pulled into the other lane. Randy does not freak out but being the one in back as much as I do.
As far as taking a bus ahead by yourself and letting your riding partner ride and catch up with you at the end of the day, You have to go by your gut. Every woman feels differently. For me, I found I have felt perfectly safe. I am 53 and not such a target as if I was much younger female. I do my business in the day and I do not go to big cities alone. If I feel strange vibrations, I usually go introduce myself by name and ask their name. It is the ones you do not see that our the problem. I ask for help if I need it and everyone is glad to help out and it give you a new adventure in making contact with the locals.
One last thing - we have an agreement that any way that either of us wants to cope with the traffic or road safety is OK. In other words, there are no recriminations about "why did you get off the road - there was no problem" or "why are you afraid?" Each of us has a different experience at every moment, and we both have different fear and perception levels.

Do what you can to keep going. Take a break in a nice place for a period of time and them start again.

I hope I do not sound like I have all the answers because I do not. Every road is different. The Guatemala border crossing freaked me out because of the new experience of all the chicken buses coming up behind us. Boy are they aggressive but mostly with the loud horns. I thought they where saying "Watch out I am coming through and if you are in my way I am going to get you." But after a few days I found they really said, that they where coming though, yes, to give you warning but mostly to let the people know that their rides are coming or around corner to warn others of their presence and other times just to say hi, great job. They are very expressive with those horns. But they are good drivers and used to avoiding all sorts of things on the road, including cyclists. They don't get paid for having accidents or killing cyclists. I find that if everyone cooperates, including us, we all get along just great

Ok, I think I answered you question. Thanks for giving me a chance to run on at the mouth. You can tell we've talked and thought a lot about this. But our experience has been quite good.

Randy also wrote some notes on riding in Mexico, safety, maps, and route selection

Politics and Security in Colombia

rfay — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:15:55 +0000

You´ve all heard of Colombia and the tremendous security/drug/paramilitary/guerrilla problems they´ve had over the years. Some of you told us not to go here because of what you had heard. We decided to go, however, because of what we heard from the cyclists who had actually passed through: it´s a calm country, beautiful, with incredibly friendly people. And that´s what we´re finding too. We haven´t had any problem, but we do read the paper and we do see the results of the strain they´ve had over the years.

Basically, Colombia got buried under the corruption of drugs and the challenge of a revolutionary insurgency for decades. They seem to be digging their way out over the last ten years or so, and the current president, Alvaro Uribe, is immensely popular for the progress he´s made. The guerrilla group, the FARC, is still there and still holds some very important hostages, some that it's had for more than 8 years. But it seems to be declining in power and influence. You might wonder from reading the paper that their primary reason to keep holding those hostages is that it's their last grasp on power. The FARC seems to be still quite dependent on the drug trade for its financing.

During the guerrilla years, private security forces were created by the big landowners, and developed into what's called "paramilitary forces" here. Essentially, they became private armies in their own right. Several of them have been "demobilized" and information about these demobilized forces and the fact that some aren't really demobilized is in the papers daily. They too are identified with the drug trade.

And of course you all know about the drug mafias of Colombia. Everybody remembers Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel of the 1980's. Pablo was killed in 1993, and Medellin is a calm, safe city. However, the drug trade continues at a high level from various place, with the collaboration of guerrillas and paramilitary and people who just want to be rich, as well as the campesinos who grow the Coca leaf. (Remember that coca is a traditional product used by local people for millenia. However. the market created by the demand for cocaine in the developed world turns it into a different kind of product.)

We have had a bit of experience with the security issues. Every day we ride past military checkpoints. The soldiers are everywhere. Everybody feels that the highways are very safe as a result. However, as we rode through the lowlands we came through an area of great drug influence. In one town, the coca-growing campesinos from the nearby mountains were trying to close the major highway we were riding in protest over the government's coca eradication program. They want more support - if the government is going to destroy their crops in the US-sponsored coca eradication program, they think they should be compensated and helped to move to other crops. We heard about this protest and some occasional violence for days before we arrived in Taraza, but when we rode through nothing was happening. We didn't even see the demonstrators. But we didn't tarry to look for them either.

Health, Healthcare, Health Insurance, and Vaccinations for the big ride

rfay — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:13:42 +0000

People often ask us about health-related issues, so here are some answers.

Health Insurance: Since we are from the US, with an immensely expensive and burdensome healthcare system, we felt that we had to carry health insurance that would cover us there. Although we might be able to cover expenses for most types of events in the other countries of our journey, a single week in a hospital in the US can easily bankrupt anyone. So we carry normal (expensive) major medical, high deductible ($10,000) health insurance that would cover us if we had to go limping home for a major chronic illness or something. But that insurance doesn't cover us outside the US, so if we had a serious accident or something, we could end up without coverage. So we also bought health insurance that covers us outside the US (cheaper by far). Our monthly expenses for health insurance are probably the biggest expense of the trip.

Note that "Trip insurance" is not worth much for a trip of this size, since it is not renewable and typically has pretty serious limitations. It's oriented to people going on vacation, not to people living abroad. What we needed (and most travellers will need) is the type of insurance that expatriates buy. The folks at Global Insurance Net make a specialty of this type of insurance, and we were pleased with their expertise and service.

Health Care: We've been pretty pleased with healthcare everywhere we've been. It's much easier to obtain and far cheaper than in the US, and of very similar quality, in general. We've been in for dental cleanings and checkups, parasite tests and treatments, chest itch, and all the little things you might have over the course of a couple of years. All care has been good. We haven't had any serious episodes needing serious care except the whooping cough, and that developed while we were in the US. And our care there wasn't really all that good. Lab tests and such are far easier in most countries here. When we've suspected that we have parasites (digestive issues that don't go away) we've either gone to the doctor or straight to the lab with a sample. You don't need a doctor involved - you can take a stool sample to the lab, get it done, and know the answer. Then you can take that to the doctor (or just to the pharmacist) and get the drug required. Or, of course, you can go straight to the pharmacist and just get the drug and skip the test in the first place. Our parasite consult with the doctor plus lab test plus drugs in Nicaragua cost a total of about US$15.

Note that getting parasites is really just one of the things that can happen occasionally in the third world. It's not something to get too excited about. You do the test (if you want) and take the drug. All very simple.

Heath: We've been generally healthy, gracias a Dios. We got the whooping cough in Guatemala and then recovered from it in the US. We recommend to all adults the vaccination which is now available. We've had occasional stomach distress, but only a few times did it put us down for a day or two.

We take vitamins. We have a theory that I get a little depressed or discouraged without them. Anyway, when I start taking them again I seem to get better. We eat things that are cooked and hot, when we can, or dry. We avoid green salads, and generally leave them on the plate when they're served. We have eaten all the food in all the countries we've been through, and like it all. We also ride pretty moderately, and take a rest day every 3-5 days, sometimes more than one day. Staying rested and not getting exhausted helps with the health issues.

All in all, we've had a wonderful health situation (wasting all that insurance money - but that's what we'd rather do).

Vaccinations: The Center for Disease Control has loads of recommendation on what you should do travelling in every place on earth. We took everything they recommended, including Yellow Fever, Hepatitis A&B, Typhoid, etc. We also got the 3-part Rabies shots, which were quite expensive. And we wish we had gotten the Whooping Cough vaccine for adults. We didn't know about it at the time. But we got Whooping Cough in Guatemala and it put us out of commission for 3 months.

One of the more difficult issues is malaria prophylaxis. (Read the docs on Malaria drugs and prevention at the CDC page.) There is no immunization for malaria and it can be a very bad thing. From Mexico through Panama, you can take chloroquine, which is a weekly pill sold under the brand name Aralen. It is widely available, cheap in every pharmacy, and has no side effects. A great thing. However, you only need it in areas that are below 800 meters in elevation or so, so we didn't take it when we were at 2000+ meters in Mexico, for example. However, south of Panama the malaria is chloroquine resistant, meaning that you should be taking other drugs. And all the drugs have side-effects. And they're not so easily available. The best one is not even available outside the US and Europe, and is terribly expensive. We ended up deciding to try to stay high in the mountains (above about 800 meters) and not do the drugs. But we haven't seen many mosquitoes so far in South America at all on the route we've taken.

One note: In Mexico all of the vaccinations are free. So instead of paying US$450/each for our vaccinations we could have gotten them free. We did get our third Hepatitis B vaccination there, for free. So it's worth considering going this route.

Altitude Sickness: We were quite concerned about altitude sickness as we crossed Peru over the last couple of weeks. We crested at 4700 meters, and that may be our high point for the trip, but we'll be at 4300 and 4400 several times yet, and that's almost the same.

Nancy is quite sensitive to altitude and was very worried about it. Randy grew up at over 2300 meters and was less worried. We took it quite easy, making sure we didn't climb to an elevation more than 1000 meters higher each day. We spent 2 or 3 days around 4000 meters before going over the pass. Nancy felt like it was a big challenge but did not have any of the classic symptoms of altitude sickness. She felt weak and worked hard, but didn't get "sick".

We have both tried chewing coca leaves, a time-honored way to deal with stress at altitude. Nancy feels like it really helps her, but it's annoying that the leaves get stuck in your gums. I tried it and think it's OK but probably won't do it again. Nancy has also fixed a water bottle full of "mate de coca", coca tea, several days, and feels like that helps too.

We bought some medicine in the pharmacy also, but didn't really understand its use or possible effects, so we didn't use it.

The biggest advice, of course: Go up slowly. Go up gently. Take time to acclimate. If you get actual altitude sickness (especially HACE or HAPE, cerebral or pulmonary edema) which is possible even at lower elevations like 3000 meters, GO DOWN IMMEDIATELY.

Camping Versus Hotels in Latin America

rfay — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:02:58 +0000

When other cyclists told us we would probably spend a lot of nights in hotels in Latin America, we kind of scoffed at them. As seasoned bike tourists, having camped all over the US and Canada, we figured we'd be camping more than most.

But we have been staying more than 80% of the time in hotels in Latin America (although that number is declining as we get farther south). People ask about this, so we thought we'd tell you why.

Camping in Latin America is different from camping in the US and Canada. There are no (or almost no) "official" campgrounds. It's really rare to see anything like that, and when you do, it's often more expensive than a hotel. And there is almost no "unclaimed" land, like in the western US or Canada. In the US and Canada, if you see a quiet place, you can just set your tent up there (if you're discreet) and nobody will ever know or bother you. In Latin America, almost everything is "owned". One time we set up discreetly behind a horse barn in a Mexican pasture right at dusk. Since we had run out of options, we just set up. We were immediately discovered. Some kids came and checked on us right away. Nobody bothered us, but we were not succeeding at hiding out.

Another thing about camping in Latin America is the security issue. Any of the locals will tell you that you should never just camp along the road, especially within sight of the road. That makes you a sitting duck for crime. The locals will say that camping is fine, but you need to ask in a village or at somebody's house for permission, and they'll give you a safe place to set up.

Some of the reasons for staying in a hotel:

It's cheap and easy (if you get to a town that has one and you like what you see). In Mexico we paid US$10-15 per night. In Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru it's been more like $5-10 per night, sometimes with a nice room and cable TV.
You get a shower, often hot.
You get a secure place for yourself and the bike and gear.

Some of the reasons for camping out:

Sometimes your tent is a fancier place than some hotels you find.
You make friends when you ask for a place to stay.

All this said, we know lots of people who have camped almost all the time on their voyages, and have done it very happily. And we're camping more and more. Sometimes we're not making it to the next town, and lots of times the little hospedaje in the town is not really worth sleeping in, so it's a lot better to set up the tent. And we love sleeping in the tent.

Just for grins, here's Nancy's list of things she asks about now when looking for a hotel. She used to ask about things like a toilet seat, but she's down to basics now:

Is there a bathroom, or do you have to go out in the field?
Is there hot water? Is there water? If so, when is it available and for how long?
How many roosters are there nearby?
How many cockroaches when you flush the toilet?
Is there a good place to light up the stove? If Randy can't make the morning coffee for me, I might never get up!
And most important, make sure there is no discoteque in the neighborhood (or the next neighborhood over), especially on weekends or holidays.

Bike Maintenance In Latin America

rfay — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:22:32 +0000

People sometimes ask us what kind of bike we recommend, and how we manage bike maintenance. Here are some thoughts.

Ride a bike that's maintainable. In Latin America, that means a 26" mountain-bike style bike with standard components (V-Brakes or cantilever brakes, not disk brakes). You can buy 26" tires and tubes in even a small town, and you can find a mechanic who will have at least some tools for working on your bike. In a medium-sized town, you can get a rim and maybe spokes. If you have a 700cm wheel, you may have to send away to the nearest capital city and wait for a few days to get some of these things. Some people with difficult-to-obtain parts have spent lots of money on international shipping (and then on customs duties) and have waited ages to get going again when they've had a failure.

Ride a bike that's strong. It's better to be heavy than fragile. Get 36-spoke wheels (we're committed to this after a long failure of a 32-spoke back wheel in Canada. We haven't had a broken spoke since we switched to 36 spoke wheels). Get straight-gauge, strong spokes.

Carry a few spare parts. You can't carry everything. We always have tubes and patch kits, some spokes and the tools to replace them. Many people carry a spare tire. We don't, at least until now.

Keep the bike clean. We think that a bike that's clean doesn't wear as fast, especially the drive train. About every month, more in dusty dirt roads, less on clean pavement, we take our bikes and clean them and completely clean the chain and drivetrain. Often we'll go to a lavadero, a place where they wash cars, and either pay them US$1 to wash the bike or borrow the hose and do it ourselves (don't let them put high pressure water against the axles or bottom bracket or headset!). And we take off our chains (we love the SRAM chains because you can just remove the magic link and take them off, without a chain tool). We put the chains in plastic bottle with a little gasoline or diesel or something and shake it and get it all clean, the wipe it up with a cloth and put it back on. We have also paid a little bike shop US$2-3 to clean up the bikes.

Keep it maintained. The chain and cassette and rings are going to get worn out, as are the tires, of course. Keep ahead of these things, and you won't have a crisis down the line. You can get drivetrain components for 9-speed bikes in most cities in Latin America. We try to change the chain every 2000 miles or so, and the whole drivetrain after 2 or 3 chains. We have had the advantage of a few trips home in which we could bring back parts as well, and on one of these we brought back a whole drivetrain to Panama.

Our maintenance schedule: We try to tighten all the nuts and bolts every month, and clean the bikes and drivetrain. We remove the chains (we use SRAM chains with the magic links, so can remove them without damage and without tools) and soak them in some gasoline. Then we clean them up, dry them out, and re-lube them. Getting the dust and dirt off the other parts of the bike and drivetrain also helps prevent numerous kinds of wear.

Use the local talented bike mechanics. There are lots of good and "OK" and very useful bike mechanics in Latin America. More than at home. And they're far more creative and can do far more with less than you might expect. And they charge next to nothing. I'm not going to say that you shouldn't take responsibility for your own gear and watch closely, but you'll find more talent and experience and moxie than you might expect to find. Our friend Tim Malloch wrote about his many good experiences with mechanics on his ride.

Keep your screws tightened. We try to tighten our screws every month or so, especially the rack screws. Don't overtighten, of course. But a failed front rack has thrown many a cyclist over the front handlebar. And loose screws lead to mechanical failures of all types.

Parts are available in the big cities. You don't have to have (most) parts sent to you from home. Almost all parts are available in the major cities. If you have a major need, you can get on a bus and take the wheel or whatever to the city and get it fixed. Also, your local mechanic can probably arrange for almost any part to be sent to you via bus, if you can wait a day or two.

Rims and Wheels. We had hoped to buy 36-spoke wheels that would go the whole way, but it didn't happen. Rims wear out due to braking (unless you have disk brakes), and due to the load we put on them. We have had great experiences with getting new rims installed in both Colombia and Peru. In just an hour or two, a mechanic put on a quality rim, rebuilt the wheel, and life has been good. And the charge for the wheelbuilding was perhaps US$5. So I'm now more inclined to get a new cheap rim more often rather than to worry about how to get a fancy one sent from the US. But so far, the local ones have lasted as long as the really fancy ones we started out with. Never buy Mavic rims of any type for bike touring. I don't know what's wrong with them, but they always crack. They're terrible.

If you're interested, take a look our Bike Maintenance Log.

Update, September 17, 2008: I (Randy) had a rear axle just a bit loose probably since Trujillo. When I first tried to get it adjusted in Huanuco, they didn't have cone wrenches! How can they not have cone wrenches! Same result in Huancayo. Today I found a deaf-mute bike mechanic in Ayacucho who did have them, and got it adjusted. Now I will carry cone wrenches when traveling in Latin America.

Another update: My beloved multi-tool got lost or stolen above Huanuco, so I went looking for a replacement. I was able to come up with a pretty nice set of Allen wrenches, but I still wanted tire levers (Nancy has some, but we try to be independent on the ability to change tires.) So I went all over Huanuco and Huancayo looking for them. All the shops held up screwdrivers and said that's all I needed.

Gringo is not a bad word, and other misunderstandings

rfay — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:27:16 +0000

Everywhere we go in Peru the children cry out "Gringo!" It has happened in lots of countries, but they're SO enthusiastic about it here. Some cyclists misunderstand this cultural phenomenon and think that "gringo" has a negative context (or only applies to North Americans). It's just not true. Gringo is just a regular descriptive term, and everywhere we've been it just describes people who talk funny, wear funny clothes, have a funny walk, and probably have money. That even includes people from Chile, and can include kids from the city who dress like gringos.

Some people have heard the story that "gringo" was something said in Mexico during the various US invasions, and it referred to the green uniforms of the invading US troops, and they were saying "Green Go Home" or something. Well, it might be true (nobody knows) but is has nothing to do with what "gringo" means today. Gringo just refers to any north-American, European, Japanese, or most any foreigner who looks or talks funny. It's not an insult. Of course, like any descriptive term it could be used as an insult.

Another little Spanish word that confuses cyclists: Adios. You may have been taught that "Adios" means "goodbye", but in Mexico and Central America it means "Hi and Bye", kind of like I think "Aloha" means in Hawaii. So when you're riding by someone in Honduras and they yell out "Adios", they're not saying "get out of here", they're giving you the most natural greeting they can for somebody who's passing by: "Hi and Goodbye!" People who have 5 words of English have also been taught that "goodbye" means the same thing as "Adios", and it doesn't really. But they'll call out "Good Bye!" as a greeting.

Finance and Money Management On The Road

rfay — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:50:15 +0000

Lots of people ask us how we get money while travelling, and whether we carry a lot of cash, etc. Here's an attempt to answer your questions.

Money is obviously a big issue. You want to have enough, but not so much that you might lose it all at once.

These days it's just tremendously easy to get money from ATMs. The only exception to this that I know of is Cuba, and that's a whole different story. But everywhere we've been we're just a few days from an ATM. There are times the ATM doesn't work or won't dispense the amount of money we want, but the ATM has completely put away the use of travellers' checks (a waste of time and money) and the need to carry large amounts of dollars. (FYI: There are actually a number of machines in Latin America where you can withdraw dollars in addition to the local currency.)

Some tips:

Use a debit card. It costs LOTS of fees to do a cash advance against a credit card.
Find out from your bank how much it will cost to use your card at an ATM in Latin America. Some banks charge 2% of the advance and perhaps an additional transaction fee. Our bank (Fidelity) charges nothing. (The ATMS/Banks themselves sometimes charge a fee, but usually not. Sometimes there's a US$1.00 fee tacked on the statement. Sometimes there's a fee added at the ATM. Often there's no charge.)
Carry at least two different debit cards, from different banks. Carry them in different places. Sometimes your bank will (for no reason or for a good reason) just stop letting you get money off of a card. Then you're in trouble until you can figure out how to call them. (Note that they shut down cards for good reasons, like fraudulent use, as well as arbitrary reasons and by mistake.)
Make sure to contact your bank or card provider before you leave and let them know about your trip. They'll make a note of it on your account. Lots of banks assume that charges from Peru, for example, are probably fraudulent, so may shut down your card.
Carry some dollars. They can be changed nearly anywhere if you're willing to work at it. Sometimes it's not at a good rate, but you can get somebody to buy your dollars and get you out of trouble.
Remember that many banks can give a cash advance on a Visa card even if they don't have an ATM. It requires a little paperwork, but it can work out, and there's no additional fee. Any bank that has the "visa" symbol can theoretically do a cash advance for you.
And of course, follow the standard advice about money. Don't show it. Don't carry too much. Keep it in a secure place. Etc.

We have also been able to handle our home finances pretty well from afar. We do all our banking over the internet, being careful with passwords and how we manage them. We haven't had our account hacked to now, but it's a concern, and a fair reason to carry your own laptop.

We have paid taxes on our meager income each year by downloading Turbotax and doing it all in an internet cafe. Having less income makes it all easier, of course...

The BIG DEAL, and the hardest thing of all, was getting ready to leave in the first place. Everything else pales in comparison. Getting things sold, stored, and getting all our affairs in order was far harder than anything else we had to do.

FAQ: Don't you get tired?

rfay — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:31:40 +0000

This is an attempt to answer a Frequently-Asked-Question, both at home and on the road: Don't you get tired?

I think there are two different questions being asked. The first is, "Don't you get physically tired riding all that way?". The short answer to that one is: Yes, we get physically tired, and we rest and that solves it.

But the other question people are asking us is, "Don't you get tired of it? or bored?". And that one has a more complicated answer.

Yes, we sometimes do get tired of it. Sometimes the road is the same for a few days. Or the scenery and challenges seem to remain the same. Or the challenge seems a bit too much for a while.

Our standard prescription for a bike tourist that gets discouraged is easy: Rest for some time, and it won't seem so overwhelming. We know of one cyclist who, after riding all the way across Europe in record time, suddenly started feeling like all the people in the country where he was riding were looking at him wrong, like they were out to get him. We think he was tired, and should have slowed the pace, or stopped to rest a few days. But he was on a flight home within a couple of days, having aborted his trip. Cyclists often don't know how tired they really are.

Another thing that's important is to avoid dwelling on the ultimate destination. Our ultimate destination is Ushuaia, in Tierra del Fuego, at the bottom of South America. That's still a long way away. We have to keep focused on our short term goals, because looking that far down the line will make it all seem impossible. (We're having a bit of trouble with this right now, after all this time on the road. We're thinking about the destination.)

And it's terribly important to seek out good routes to ride. The fast ones are often killers. We could go down to the coast of Peru and Chile and ride as much as 60 miles (100 kilometers) per day, I think. But when you just ride on a fast highway and the scenery doesn't change, you end up riding like a zombie, and the enthusiasm leaves. Too much flat road, with unchanging scenery, or difficult traffic, will wear you out for sure.

We do take vitamins in an effort to keep up our attitude, and we do listen to books from audible.com on our MP3 player along the way, if traffic permits. This makes the hours go faster.

But right now, despite all this, we're struggling with where we're at and how far we have to go. And we've had a terribly interesting and rewarding time in Peru. It's perhaps the most stimulating and interesting and friendly place we've been. But some of the roads have been the hardest too, with more dirt in this part than we had experienced in any other country. I'm thinking about how far it is to Ushuaia (the bottom point in South America). And I'm thinking about the fact that we probably can't make it there before their winter sets in in April of next year unless we start taking more buses than we have.

Tomorrow we're going to take a bus that will get us over one of the most difficult dirt-road sections of the entire trip. It's 15 hours (and about 150 miles!) from Ayacucho to the pavement that will lead us to Cuzco. I'm always reluctant to get on a bus, being a bit of a purist, but we decided to do it. (We took a bus from south of Huanuco to Huancayo also... Nancy wasn't feeling well and it was just good to get that stretch over with.)

So we have lots of advice for other people, but we're hoping that we can manage this tiredness or anxiousness and keep the trip on track.

Security and Bike Touring in Latin America

rfay — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The first thing to think about when discussing security is safety on the road. We're far more likely to be hit by a car or truck than to be held up by a robber. And probably most accidents don't even involve a car. None of ours has. So route choice, careful riding, a good mirror, and the like are more important than thinking about weapons and robbers and assaults.

But we need to think about those things. They happen here, and so here is our thinking.

Some of our advice is easy: Learn as much of the language as you can so you can communicate about security and understand what people tell you. Don't get involved with crooks or narcotics dealers. Pretty obvious.

Then:

Ask the locals about the security situation and listen to them.
Don't listen to stories from other travelers unless the events happened to them personally. Only very rarely should you heed anything you hear about a country from people in another country. They just have built-in fears.
When camping, (at least from Mexico to Bolivia) either camp with a family or in a town if you can. Or if you're stealth-camping, camp where nobody will ever know you were there.
Try to find out about outrageously insecure areas (the road from San Cristobal to Palenque in southern Mexico, or the town of Paiján in northern Peru come to mind)
Never leave anything unattended, even if it's locked. There's kind of a philosophy in the Latin world that if you leave something unattended you didn't really want it. An unlocked bike watched by a little boy that you just met in front of a little store is immensely more secure than a bike locked with a fancy lock and left on the street. A shopkeeper will often watch the bike, and then it should be fine.
Know and understand the difference between petty thievery and assault. You may get something stolen off your bike sometime, or you might get pickpocketed, but that's not really all that bad. Avoiding assault is the real issue. You do that with knowledge and planning.
Hotels are really pretty good for security. We almost always try to put the bikes in the room, and not leave them where somebody can walk by and fiddle with them. If they are out where guests pass by, we remove all the accessories from them. We also remove the accessories when we're likely to be surrounded by a lot of people, on bus trips, in city centers or the like. Remember, though, that the hotel workers do go into your room, and if you leave valuables, they can disappear. If you have a stash of cash, make sure it's very well hidden. We did have an episode of this type at a hotel in Honduras.
Keep your stuff organized, battened down, and where possible, within your view. Things that are loose or behind you might disappear. We had a tool disappear from a seat-bag in a little village where we were surrounded by a crowd.
Traveling together with a partner and staying close to each other is a huge security win.
Be harmless. Harmless people are less likely to have problems.
Trust people. You usually can. Our philosophy is that if you've looked somebody in the eye, they're not the ones that are going to go after your stuff. It's the ones you didn't see that are the problem.
The police are your friends. Be aware that corruption happens, but it probably won't happen to you. Ask them about the security situation. We've camped at police stations too.
Have money and debit cards in more than one place, so that you have a chance of recovery if something does happen to you.
We use a laminated photocopy of our passports for almost everything. It doesn't work at border crossings, but it works for almost everything else. This lowers the likelihood of losing your passport or getting it stolen.

Update: The morning after I wrote this, Nancy's camera was stolen outside the market at Ayacucho, Peru. It was a distraction deal: I was watching Nancy's stuff, but a guy created a diversion, and when I looked back, the camera was gone. What went wrong? 1. We went to the market with our gear to get some bread. We shouldn't have gone anywhere near the market with our gear. 2. Nancy didn't have the camera well battened down in her bag (she left the bag open) and she showed it. So we live and learn.

If you have anything to add to this, please leave a comment!

How much does your bike cost?

rfay — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:53:34 +0000

Ever since we got to Mexico we've had to deal with the question in every little village: "How much did your bike cost?" It's embarrassing and difficult. Our bikes are ordinary mountain bikes, middle-of-the-road affairs, but they cost around US$1000, which is more than a year's income for a Guatemalan family. It's more money than most campesinos in the countries we've ridden through will ever see. So if we say "1000 dollars", they go into shock. I don't think it makes the bikes more likely to be stolen, but it's just a terribly uncomfortable thing to discuss.

In the past we tried: "About 2 weeks' salary" (very unsatisfactory to all, since it's an honest and open question. Some friends suggested lying and saying "$200" or something. That doesn't seem too good either. We've tried "It was a pre3sent; I don't know." Also unsatisfactory. Everybody knows we know.

But recently one answer has been very successful. We say "It's our custom not to talk about prices and expenditures." They immediately nod their heads and drop the question. Es nuestra costumbre no hablar de precios. Since I was raised not to talk about such things, it's absolutely true. And people really respect it since they're used to respecting other people's customs. Anyway, a recommended response!

Toll Roads and Cyclists in Latin America

rfay — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:16:44 +0000

Cyclists occasionally ask us about our experience on toll roads in Latin America, so I thought I'd give a little overview. We've ridden on many of them without trouble.

Throughout Latin America roads have been "privatized", giving a concession to a private company to operate them for a period of years. In general, this means better maintenance on the roads.

We have never been asked to pay a toll on any of the roads we've traveled from Mexico to Argentina. However, we have heard of cyclists being required to pay on some roads in Mexico.

Also in Mexico, we avoided the toll roads but occasionally took them. (We find that the toll roads there are fast and fancy, but you get no sense of the culture of the country.) There was one road (from Pueba to Oaxaca) that was rumored to exclude cyclists. Also, the road from Tijuana to Rosario in Baja California is supposed to rigorously exclude cyclists, forcing them onto a very dangerous, narrow alternate.

In our experience, though: We haven't been excluded from any toll roads, and we haven't been charged tolls.

On occasional, in Mexico and again in Peru, there were specific procedures they wanted us to take when approaching a toll booth. They did not want us to go through the auto lane (because we'd register on a camera?) but rather go completely around the toll booth installation. One time in Mexico, not understanding this, I approached too close and the guard did raise his gun for my benefit.

Latin American Highway Etiquette and Cyclists

rfay — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:35:53 +0000

We've heard many people complain about motorists in Latin America, we we haven't had a lot of trouble. We actually have quite a lot of respect for the drivers, especially the professional drivers, as they seem to know what to do with us and often do it with courtesy.

However: The more you stay on the busy roads, the more complaints you will have. For example, we often say that there are two experiences cyclists have in Mexico. Those who come down the main highway on the west coast feel like Mexico is one big, busy, ugly highway. Those who mosey down the small roads in the interior of the country feel like it's a wonderful, welcoming, interesting country with reasonable highways.

Here are some of our observations about highway etiquette and getting along on the roads in Latin America:

We think Latin American drivers are far more skilled than those in North America, since they're used to avoiding all manner of obstacles in the road - not just bicyclists, but also donkeys, dead horses, kids, and the like. They're far more defensive and ready to avoid an obstacle.
In many countries, there is a specific routine of honking the horn to let cyclists or pedestrians (or anyone else) know that a vehicle is coming from behind. Often this is a quick tap of the horn, but it may be more. It is generally not meant to be offensive, but rather to let you know they're coming. In Guatemala the buses have enormous air-horns, and are honking them all the time, but it's not necessarily to tell you to get out of the way - they're letting people know that the bus is coming and they'll want to get on. However, I don't want to be in the way of any of those Guatemalan buses!
There is a myth among US cyclists that the bicyclist needs to just take his lane and make the motorist pass. Our opinion is that this just doesn't work in most places, and especially where a motorist may approach suddenly - they won't have enough time to avoid you and you'll be dead. The roads in Latin America are shared, and getting along on them is a matter of cooperation. We get out of the way for the trucks and buses, and they give us a little room. It's all about cooperation.
If you are riding on a busy, fast road, remember that visibility is crucial. If a motorist has just a fraction of a second more notice that you're there, an accident is that much less likely. When we rode several hundred miles on highway 15, a straight, fast toll road in Sonora with no shoulder, we wore "screaming yellow" vests and could tell the difference. Motorists had just a little more time to move over and get ready to miss us.
Nancy wrote about riding safety here - one of the key things she said was that when riding together, the partner with the higher tolerance for traffic should ride in back. That way the cars start to get out of the way earlier, and the more-tolerant partner can handle it.
All that said, the busier the road, the more it all breaks down. If there's too much traffic in too little road, it will just be a nasty experience. That's yet another reason to study the roads ahead, have good maps, and avoid the big roads.

Safety: Riding on Sunday

rfay — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:14:59 +0000

One thing we heard repeatedly in various people's blogs: "Sunday is a big drinking day in Latin America, so you should avoid riding on Sundays".

Well, they were certainly right about Sunday being a drinking day for the men. Wow, have we seen a lot of blasted men on Sundays. And I'm sure some of those men were driving.

But most people in Latin America do not drive private vehicles, and there is far less traffic on the road on Sundays. So our experience, over and over, has been that Sunday is a great day to cycle. It's also the day that the local sports-cyclists get out and ride. It's the perfect day for cycling.

Putting Your Bike on a Bus in Latin America

rfay — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:21:52 +0000

We have now used buses in Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Peru, and Bolivia, and have used the train in Mexico and Bolivia.

In the US it's quite a lot of pain to transport your bike by bus or plane - they want you to disassemble it, put it in a box, etc. It's a big deal. But we've had generally good and easy experiences.

The size of the bus's storage compartment is often the biggest issue. If the bike won't fit, it will have to be disassembled. On a dangerous road in Costa Rica we decided to bail and take a bus and we had to wait overnight for a larger bus with a larger storage compartment.
Sometimes the bike goes on top. In that case, we try to supervise how it's fastened down. But they seem to be experts. However, it's our bike, and therefore our responsibility. We care about it more than anybody else does.
Sometimes they have charged us a bit for the bikes, which seems reasonable. It is generally negotiable. Sometimes we haven't been charged at all.
There is some risk of damage to the bikes, as they rattle around. Normally they come out with some scratch or something that they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. On a couple of dirt roads they have gotten extraordinarily dusty.
Sometimes when things are very busy you may have to make advance reservations and wait, since baggage compartments may be all full.

Overall, our experiences with buses have been quite satisfactory and easy.