While taking a few simple pedal strokes from one state or country into the next may not change the scenery at all, to a long distance bicycle tourist, it marks a major milestone and sense of accomplishment – as well as a new burst excitement and energy for the trip as a whole. We felt this when we crossed the Mississippi in the first month of our trip, when we reached the Pacific Coast in the Fall, when we crossed into Mexico near Christmas – and even more so entering Guatemala, our first Central American country, a few days ago.

We had been counting down the days until the Guatemalan border throughout our last week in Mexico. We cruised through our last day in the state of Oaxaca, heading towards the state of Chiapas over flat roads and through fields of wind farms – both of which are usually a clear indication of one of our worst enemies – strong headwinds. But not on this day! Fortunately for us, the windmills stood still as we rode by at a healthy 25km per hour, covering the distance from Juchitan to Zanatepec in record time. Here we were warmly greeted by Warmshowers hosts Rodrigo and Lupita and their two young sons Ethan (3) and Mateo (1). The four of them took us around their town that evening – Eden and Harper especially loved the children’s activities in the Centro such as a trampoline and electric toy cars they could ride around in circles. Mexican towns and cities really come alive at night, so this was something we truly enjoyed as we rarely explore much after sunset.

Our hosts convinced us to stay an extra night, and the next day brought us out to a natural springs where we swam in the crystal-clear water, ate delicious home made tacos and empanadas, and had the great honour of spending time with their extended family. Rodrigo is an English teacher at the local highschool, so we also got the chance to visit his class and share a bit about our trip – although we were incredibly embarrassed with our miserable Spanish skills.

As we were a week out of the Central American ‘malaria zone,’ we started taking our preventative medication. Having been warned of the bitter taste of these pills, and having been advised to crush the kids’ dose and mix it with something sweet, we broke out some of the chocolate hazelnut spread we had in our pannier. I tested out the mix, and without showing my distaste, encouraged the kids to eat their chocolate spoons – and once they were done, they’d get a lollipop. It worked out just fine except for a vomiting spell from both kids four hours later. Best taken on a full stomach and to keep that stomach full to avoid nausea and vomiting. The kids had a much less violent reaction following the second and third dose.

The state of Chiapas blessed us with slight tailwinds and incredibly flat roads, so we quickly made it into Tapachula, Mexico’s most southern city, where we splurged on air conditioning, ate pizza at a Domino’s with a play place, and searched high and low once again for a banderita Mexicana (small Mexican flag) which for some reason we have been continuously unsuccessful in finding. If and when we find one, we plan to attach a string of small flags to our trailer pole, marking the countries we have cycled through. While our time in Chiapas on this journey was short (we opted for the quick coastal route in order to spend a bit more time in Central America), someday we will have to return here to visit the highlights that we missed this time around – such as San Cristobal, Agua Azul and the ruins of Pelanque.

On February 23rd, we woke early to load up and take care of our last business in Mexico prior to crossing the border: changing our remaining few pesos into Guatemalan quetzals. Afterwards, as we were flying down the sloping downhill towards the border, I heard a noise like a gunshot close by. Completely startled, I realized one of the trailer tires had blown out and was flapping against the pavement. This amazing little tire (a Schwalbe Marathon Supreme) had over 9,000 kilometers on it – plenty of which were spent riding in the rough gravel and glass-strewn shoulder of the road. At last, we needed to use the spare we have been carrying since Hamilton! A quick change of the tire, a patch of the tube, and a few mangos and bananas later, we were back on the road for our last kilometers in Mexico.

We arrived at the border around noon and were surprised to discover no line-up. In fact, the only other traffic was pedestrian or bicycle in nature. Our passports were speedily stamped with our exit from Mexico, and after crossing a bridge, stamped again with our entry into Guatemala. The immigration officer sat behind a glass enclosure with two banderitas Guatemalteco displayed proudly. Eden looked at the flags with a glimmer in her eye and reminded me that we needed to find one for our trailer. Knowing that we might have as much difficulty finding a Guatemalan flag in Guatemala as we did finding a Mexican flag in Mexico, I convinced Eden to state “Yo quiero banderita de Guatemala para mi bicicleta.” This of course left the officer tickled pink, and she quickly handed over one of the flags to Eden who jumped up and down, pleased that she had accomplished something in the first five minutes of our time in Guatemala that we hadn’t achieved in two whole months in Mexico.

We only noticed that we were really in another country when we arrived in Coatenapeque, 40km down the road from the border. Here the differences between Mexico and Guatemala were quite clear: narrow, cramped city streets that seemed impossibly full of signage, numerous people shamelessly photographing us with their cell phones and shouting questions from passing cars, as well as television reporters following us and stopping us for interviews – which we eventually agreed to, despite our inability to answer most of their questions in coherent Spanish.

At the end of the day, we sighed with relief knowing we had crossed the invisible line that took us into another country, and into a whole new region of the world. This beautiful land was new to us, but with a rich history, diverse landscape, and welcoming and hospitable people, we knew plenty of adventures were waiting here to unfold and their memories to be captured.