I’ve been cycling from the top of Alaska to the bottom of Argentina for the past eight months and just bikepacked across the frontera between Mexico & Guatemala, “Lagunas de Montebello.”
We’d been given much warning before crossing into the Chiapas borderlands. This particular slice of Mexico can be known as cartel country, a pastoral kind of wilderness lining the southern frontera’s furthest edge. So we stayed alert while seeking advice from knowledgeable locals at every turn as to which roads were safe and where to avoid. “Lately there’s conflict between two rival groups here and you don’t want to get caught in their crossfire,” a moto courier named Mauricio advised. “They were at Lagunas de Montebello six months ago, but now they’re an hour south en Cascada de Chiflón.”
Loosely following a raved set of “Meandros de Montebello” coordinates, we were headed straight across a moving target of territorial infighting. Mauricio and the others’ tones were serious but not apocalyptic: “Wherever you go, just don’t be caught out at night.”
Meandering between quiet dirt roads connecting tiny mountain towns, the area is considered a National Park comprising dozens of lakes in all colors, opaque olive greens and brilliant sapphires marbled with every pastel shade in between. The riding proved challenging but extraordinary, casually graduating from soft pine-bedded forestry to difficult rocky hikes through jurassic forests linked by endless chains of Big Sky vistas. We pitched our tents along the water at Bosque Azul, ditching our heavy bags and continuing to the border at Lago Internacional.
There we sat at the edge of a dock with our feet in. You could walk all the way around it into Guatemala, no ominous border wall, not even a fence, no armored Jeep convoys brimming with masked soldiers either. Just two trim young kids playing a friendly game of soccer, their laughter skipping across the lake with each gust of wind.
by donivanberube