Wandering with Tedder and Tamara

We were up and out of Puerto Morelos by 7:30am. We knew it would be warm- and it was already almost too warm as we left. First we had to finish the paperwork on the rental car. That took too long- about 45 minutes later we were on the road.

An hour later we got into a rain storm. It was the first real rainstorm of our trip- and it was POURING. We rode in it for about a mile before stopping for gas and to put on rain gear. By the time we left the gas stop, the rain had subsided, but the roads were covered in water. Tamara took a stretch piloting the bike- we went about forty miles, finally taking off our rain gear since we were simply too hot.

Since we had given up our Mexico maps this morning, we were riding a bit blind. I quickly looked at the roads on the GPS and subsequently chose the wrong route. However, we were headed south, which seemed correct.

We ended up, 50 miles later, in La Union. It was literally the end of the road. After a snack and some confusion we found the border crossing- it was the creek on the side of town. That was a bit of a surprise. We still thought it might be possible to load the bike onto the tiny little boat, but we went across the creek and talked to the Belizian customs post. It turns out it was only a local crossing, they didn't have the ability to process immigration, or the bike, or anything else. Darn.

So, we turned around and rode all the way back to Chetumal, then went to the border crossing. Leaving Mexico was relatively easy, with just a little bit of confusion about voiding the bike's temporary importation paperwork. That was made worse when a border guard took the adhesive sticker and slapped it on the windscreen. The adhesive and mylar foil stayed on the windscreen when we took it off, so now we have a 3x5 inch rectangle of crap that will permanently be on the windscreen. Bah.

Entering Belize was a little more difficult. First we went to immigration and got our passports stamped. The surly border agent wasn't happy when we explained our plans weren't completely set- whether we wanted to stay 1 night, 2 nights, or something else. So we firmed it up and got her to let us and the bike in. However, we had two more hoops to cross. First we had to get the bike fumigated, meaning we paid about $5 and had someone squirt nasty chemicals on the bike. Next, we had to get insurance that would be effective in Belize. We had heard this would be the case, so we weren't too surprised, but I did try to get through without it. Eventually we paid about $20 for insurance for two days.

So, after some money, chemicals, and two new stamps in our passports, we were in Belize. From there it was approximately 40 miles down to Orange Walk, our destination city for the evening. The roads are flat and somewhat well-maintained. It is certainly odd to see signs in English again- also, the speed limit signs are in MPH, which is weird.

We've always heard Belize is expensive, but our hotel experience didn't bear that out. Maybe it is different because we will only stay in lowland places with air conditioning, but $35USD seemed quite reasonable for a very modern room with AC, wifi, super clean bathroom, and such. Unfortunately the actual Net connection is very slow and flaky, so it's almost like not having access- we can't check mail or download anything.

After 10 hours in the saddle, we are happy to be settled somewhere comfortable. Tomorrow means another border crossing and more miles. It's a little bitter to know that we had to backtrack so far, and that we were further south in La Union than we are now. Part of the adventure.

(bonus points if someone can find a map that shows La Union, Orange Walk, and Chetumal)