Chiapas Cycling Odyssey: Authentic Indigenous Immersion

So much fun! This was an amazing tour. It is definitely very challenging so be aware of that when booking. We were able to slow down at a few points towards the end, but the guide is receptive to your pace.

We booked a mountain bike tour to visit the indigenous people of Chiapas. First the staff was great, accommodating, and made the trip 100% enjoyable. Also our guide spoke Spanish and English. Second, we are road bike riders and the hills and elevation gain on this trip was no joke. You have need a level of fitness for this tour to be enjoyable. Third experiencing the history and culture outside of the city was incredible you go to see churches, small towns, local shops, a 25 family community and its school even meet the kids. Then after many hills you come into another town and eat breakfast at a local shop were they cook on a wood fire place. Fourth and final you need to do a tour wirh Jaguar, it was a great experience and recommend it to anyone who wants to be out and enjoy chiapas history.

Not suitable for non Spanish speaker. The guide doesn't know English and it didn't help that he had others Spanish speakers join at the last minute who obviously had much more fluency and comfort with the language. Ultimately, I didn't end up getting to see anything because we kept on going on different paces, with on bikes and verbally. Obviously also, don't go for this unless you are used to mountain biking in hot weather. Unfortunately, a total bust and loss of money for me

Maurice and Zola were excellent tour guides . We had 5 on the tour. We went to chemula and Zinacantán. One has to be in reasonable shape for this tour. Maurice took care of everybody and I felt safe and taken care of. Good quality mountain bikes in good repair. The visit to the two indigenous towns was personal when we got to duck into a kitchen and eat lunch with the local Tzotil tribe made from an authentic cooking fire set up. I liked biking through the vegetable fields and watching the Tzotil people harvesting and seeing the dramatic mountains surrounding these towns . The hills are hard to bike up and I had to walk a little but to me that was no big deal

This was a remarkable way to see the countryside. What we hadn't understood was that it was partly on mountain bike trails. We were experienced road cyclists but not mountain biking. We couldn't do the last 5 km due to it being so technical and way above our skill level. That said, our guides, Fernando and Nata were wonderful and very understanding of our lack of skill! The church in Chuluma was beautiful and fascinating to be able to observe the rituals. Felt very honoured to be allowed into this community.

Very nice ride. Got to see interesting unusual celebration with fireworks in front of the church in Chamula.

The tour was really fun (albeit exhausting) and the destinations were fantastic! Much nicer to arrive in a small group to those places than with a minibus full of people, I loved the breakfast in a village home that was just made for the three of us. Our guide spoke very basic English but we managed quite well with a mix of our Spanish and his English. :) Would definitely recommend this tour although I have to admit since we went in the dry season, the landscapes were not as pretty and green as they are in the pictures (but obviously that has nothing to do with the tour itself).

Maurice is an enthusiastic bicyclist. He made our ride very enjoyable. He carefully routed us out of town and away from traffic. The bikes were well maintained. He was very safety conscious.

We were the only two going for the bike tour this day and we had the friendliest and nicest guide! We totally controlled the tempo, if we wanted to stop for a break or to take pictures. We had such a great day! Even though it was a tough day 🥵😂 some of the mountain streches are pretty steep and you bike for 2-3 hours. However, if you like feeling that you are alive, combined with the very cultural visits in the two communities this is definitely the tour for you! If we had more time we would definitely had done a tour more!

If you like to be active and want to explore the indigenous villages and more rural sites of the area I cannot recommend this tour more. The views were amazing! My tourguide was Luis, he explained a lot about the region and was really helpful with his clear handsignals during mountainbiking. The tour takes about 5 hours and you have time to visit the churches and see the rituals performed in Chamula. You can bike at your own pace and take pictures whenever you want. Had the best experience!