Yucatan, Spring 2009

March 18 - April 15, 2009

March 18-19: Mexico City

I arrived in Mexico City and headed for the hostel. Turns out I remembered pretty well how to use the subway system so was able to change trains and get to my destination without any mishaps. The air in Mexico City is dirtier than I remember, I can feel my chest tightening up as my lungs try to cope with the smoggy air. I spent the next day relaxing around the hostel and taking a long walk down the Avenue de la Reforma to stretch my legs. I met several people starting trips in Mexico of varying length and had several interesting conversations

March 20: Getting to Xalapa

The brassy pounding rhythm of Norteno music was belting out its provocative beat as I stepped up to the driver standing at the door. He examined my ticket and then motioned me toward the attendant waiting nearby who attached a paper ticket to my bag and tossed it in the luggage bin of the bus. I walked into the 2nd class bus grateful that I would soon be leaving big dirty noisy Mexico City for the cleaner smaller city of Xalapa. We left on time with not more than 25% of the seats occupied, fighting traffic and gravity as we slowly climbed out of the extinct caldera of Texcoco. Considering that Mexico City is already at 5000 feet it always surprises me a little that we have to climb to get out of the city. Not a trivial climb either, a two popper. That is, my ears popped twice on the way up as I vented that nasty exhaust filled Mexico City air trapped in my inner ear. At the top we started a long ride over flat ground, the Altiplano of Mesoamerica, sparse, dry, basically desolate with only a few pine trees and cactus to keep the weeds company.

About three hours into the trip we stopped at Parrote to gather a few more passengers and give some business to old men and women selling snacks and then started the long long descent toward the Gulf of Mexico. As we started the descent the clear sky was replaced with a cloudy rain threatening sky, the ground turned deep brown under a thick layer of grass which gave way to increasing forestation. The people seemed more prosperous and grazing animals dotted the land with a mixture of goats, sheep, horses, and cows. It also seemed cleaner, with less trash thrown about.

I got to Xalapa about 3pm and walked through the taxi stand toward the bus station, telling each taxi driver “no gracias” I don't need a taxi. It seems that taxi drivers must be the most optimistic people in the world, most have seen me reject several previous offers of a taxi but somehow they expect a different answer for themselves. I guess the sight of an old gringo heading toward the bus stop just won't fit in their world view and they suppose that I must have misunderstood the previous requests.

I found my way to the IH hostel without to much difficulty and checked in. It's a very nice hostel, but as with other IH hostels it's quite institutional. It seems that I am the only resident in a facility that can accommodate at least 40. I have my 6 bunk room to myself and only have to compete with the desk clerk for the internet access. This proves formidable competition so I postpone checking my email. I already miss the friendly bustle of the hostel in Mexico City with the interesting conversations possible in the morning and evening.

Mar 21: Museo de Antropoligia

I found a little mom operated kitchen up a side street from my hostel for my breakfast of huevos Mexicana. I got a slow start this morning but I don't have much to do except visit the museum. After breakfast I found the bus stop I needed and waited a rather long time for the combi that goes to the Museo. I had to ask an old man selling papers on the corner to make sure I was waiting at the right spot. Eventually the bus came and I was ushered on by the newspaper seller, who checked with a passenger to make sure it was the right bus. The young lady he asked watched me get on and then at the prompting of her mother she began to practice her English with me. It turned out her mother had graduated in economics many years ago.

The Anthropology Museum is quite good but has virtually no English so I didn't get as much out of it as I had hoped. Nevertheless, I saw several of the big heads produced by the Olmec culture. And was really surprised at some of the clay sculptures. Most were the abstract monster variety famous with Mesoamerican culture but a few were realistic lifeline replicas of some person. Most surprising was the clear African character of several faces. Of course the big heads have some African type features but mostly they just look abstract to me. But at least one life size bust looked very African. Enough to make one think about the Afro-centric theories sometimes promoted in the US. After the museum I hiked up to a small park at the top of a local hill. The park has lots of vegetation and thick forests with a nice view at the top. On a clear day evidently one can see the gulf. It was pretty clear today but I couldn't say for certain I could see the coast. I met an American couple who had recently retired to the Veracruz area. They claimed they spent about 70% of the amount they would have spent in the US.

March 22: Cardel and Zempoala

Finding my way to the bus station this morning presented more problems that expected. I started out in the direction pointed to by the hostel clerk, armed with a bunch of Spanish instructions I didn't understand. Asking along the way, a newspaper hawker pointed to a spot on an improbably small side street. I stood there for some time, occasionally asking passers by and getting inconsistent instructions. One early morning riser told me to go down to another street. Fortunately, I was embarrassed to ignore the advice of the newspaper seller still eying me from across the street. Some other people assured me that I was at the right spot. Eventually, a minibus showed up with the required sign of CAXA. I didn't recognize the 'get out' spot until some passengers told me to get out. I was in luck, the bus for Cardel was leaving in ten minutes.

Cardel is not especially small but manageable with a compact zocalo and shopping district on it's side streets. People on the street were immediately able to tell me the way to the Hotel Cardel, just down the street from the station. After leaving my stuff in the room I headed for Zempoala by bus. It's about a ½ hour ride to the ruins which are reasonably well preserved. The main historical importance of the ruins at Zempoala arise from Cortez having used it as a base from which to launch his invasion of the Mexican (Aztec) empire. He left a small rear guard here that was disarmed by Navarez when he arrived with an armed force from the governor of Cuba to arrest Cortes. Learning of the arrival of Navarez, Cortez rushed back from Tenochitlan to eventually fight and defeat Navarez. Navarez used the Templo Mayor as his final stronghold during the battle with Cortes so, minus the missing plaster covering, we can see the actual site of this decisive battle.

After spending the morning at the ruins I left and returned to Cardel. A talkative driver exercised my limited Spanish while he narrowly missed every possible obstacle on the road, including pedestrians. A good lunch of fish with green salsa and lime set me in the mood for one of the frozen concoctions that have spread all over Mexico from Michoacan. Unfortunately they didn't have my favorite, pineapple with Chile powder so I got the plain pineapple instead.

Dinner at a working class restaurant consisted of a pasta soup, fish, rice, and lettuce. I skipped the lettuce and ate the fish while wondering if this was the ugliest or only the second ugliest fish I had ever seen. It was all mouth, bony spines, thick skin, with a little bit of meat hiding here and there. It tasted good though and at 30 pesos just the right price.

March 23: Veracruz

It turns out I have a room with a choice, either cool air or engine noise through the open balcony window. Fortunately, mosquitoes did not come with the cool air. Roaring engines on the street below woke me up enough to notice that it's really hot and muggy in my room, I'm beginning to question the wisdom of getting a room with no AC and no ceiling fan. Sometime after 3am I fell asleep again and didn't wake till about 6:30, just 30 minutes before my bus for Veracruz. I dashed my clothes on, then dashed down the stairs, then dashed down the street to the station and ticket office, getting my ticket with seconds to spare. Then I waited for the bus, waited a little more and asked the ticket attendant, and waited and read and waited. Finally, about 8:30 they decided the bus was not coming and put me on another bus leaving at 8:40.

The zocalo area in Veracruz is very attractive with cool sea breezes blowing in from the gulf and shade tree supporting a noisy raucous set of birds. Even in mid day it's relative cool. The people are more friendly here than I've experienced so far this trip. An unemployed school teacher told me where to get off the bus from the station and showed me the direction. Later a retired engineer walked up for a conversation and then some college girls interviewed me in english as a homework assignment.

I took some pictures of the remains of a 17th century fort that once was part of a couple miles of fortifications against pirates and other invaders. As the guidebook notes, it's mostly interesting to see that the edge of the ocean is about ½ mile away now. Why? I don't know. My hotel, Hotel Amparo, only costs 150 M$ for a single, comes with WiFi and so far the rudest hotel clerk I've experienced. I guess with an endorsement from Rough Guide they don't need to be nice.

I met a young woman from Switzerland tonight while eating. She was friendly and eager to talk after traveling alone for a few days. Alas, she smokes and her Mexican tobacco cigarettes severely affected my throat. Still, the company made for a nice evening and a welcome break from eating alone. We tried to sit at a restaurant in the zocalo for a cool drink but conversing was very difficult because of the incessant attempts by street hawkers to sell us something. The conversation went something like this:

me: Where do you (no gracias) live in Switzerland?
her: I (no gracias) live in Bern buy mt (no gracias) boyfriend lives in Luzern.
me: (no gracias) Long distance relationships (no gracias) are difficult.
her: Well, it's (no gracias) only an hour by train so (no gracias) we see each other (no gracias) all the time.

March 24: Villahermosa

The Veracruz and gulf area has been much cooler and drier than I expected. The ceiling fan does a great job of cooling while sleeping, I even needed a sheet to cover myself. I rose early to make sure I found the bus station with enough time for breakfast so by 6:30 I said adios to the grumpy desk clerk, who took my key with almost a smile. I'm getting better as saying “el bus para _____ venga aqui”, at least I feel less self-conscious hearing myself ask the question. Today, I elicited four responses, I went with the three vote majority for the bus stop around the corner from the hotel despite the advice of the one dissenting vote standing next to me waiting for a bus. Fortunately, I didn't need to wait long.

As I was leaving the hotel an old gringo traveler about my age was checking in after a night bus from further south. He looked like the seasoned gringo vagabond I envision myself to be, faded aloha shirt, old straw hat, worn pants and sandals. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to talk. I gather he's been coming up from Guatemala and further south for the last four months. I'm sure I would have enjoyed having some time to visit. I saw another couple my age in the bus station, also traveling independently.

I arrived in Villahermosa relative early and after checking in to the hotel I asked the young desk clerk about the directions to the Parque la Venta. She and her boss were quite incredulous that I planned to walk, kept pushing to take a taxi for over 100 M$, and only reluctantly confirmed that I needed to start north. It turned out to be an easy walk, it would have been easier if I had seen the entrance across a large busy street and hadn't walked too far. The museum/park/zoo of la Venta is very interesting. They have the huge heads and some other olmec artifacts on display in approximately the setting in which they were found, thick jungle growth amid the calls of howler monkeys and the roar of jaguars. Well, I didn't hear any roars but I did see jaguars. The displays have English descriptions that were greatly appreciated.

It's expensive in Villahermosa. My hotel costs 390 M$ (about twice what I normally pay), the comida corrada costs 50 M$ (about 15 more than I normally pay), and a glass of watered down orange juice costs 8 M$.

March 25: Palenque Town

Old age strikes again. I got up this morning, packed up and headed to the second class bus station to see if I could find a bus that left earlier than 9:30am, the first departure from the first class station. I decided last night to head toward San Luis de Cristobal and then Ocosingo. Given the things I want to see it makes a little more sense to go to Palenque after San Luis de Cristobal. As I walked in a tout was calling for riders on the Palenque bus, which I promptly signed up for, grabbed a yogurt, and got on with my luggage. The bus was scheduled to leave at 7:30am. As I was sitting there thinking that this bus was a lot tackier than the first class bus and only saved 3 pesos I remembered my change of mind last night. Oh well, back to plan A!

Palenque town is hot and humid when I get off the bus and wander up Juarez street looking for some breakfast. The ride was interesting. The second class bus stops any old place along the route, picking up old ladies and young students, old men with plastic bag luggage, and mothers with babies. We didn't leave at 7:30 as promised at the bus station, instead we waited until the bus filled. Adding new questions about why I was on this bus but we made it to Palenque town about 10:30am which I think may still put me ahead of the first class bus by at least 15 or maybe 20 minutes.

After breakfast I finally decided to stay in town instead of in the cabins out by the site. I think I'll enjoy being in town where I can find in internet connection and enjoy the zocalo. I might have found some fellow travelers out at the cabins but who knows. The Posada de San Vicente is the cheapest and crummiest place I've stayed. The bed is soft, the inside of the room is painted a pastel green and the outside of the bathroom is painted lavender. It seems they built the room of concrete, then as an afterthought added a concrete bunker inside the room to house the shower, sink, and toilet (no seat). Well, what do you want for 80 M$ / night. Well, change would be nice. I had to give the clerk 200 M$ for two nights, and agree that she would later give me the 40 M$ change I was owed.

Tonight in the zocalo we have some music, a marimba band. I found a cheap restaurant that looks out on the zocalo and I can hear the music very nicely although the cars block my view. I've seen quit a few white tourists around, for the first time since Mexico city. I guess the place brings in a large number of all kinds of tourists, backpackers, tour groups, wanderers. The town is awash with cheap hotels in the zocalo area, evidently the better newer hotels are on the edge of town toward the ruins.

March 26: Palenque Ruins

Today was Palenque, finally. My first Maya site, and one of the most famous. It´s set away from the modern town of Palenque about 15 km, in the jungle. I was there by 7:30am and waited around with the curio hawkers until it opened at 8am. They probably wondered what this crazy gringo is doing here so early in the morning, doesn´t he know he´s on vacation. Finally they opened, I purchased my ticket, walked around a tree, then an as yet unopened temple, and there was the big former palace and several big temples off to the right surrounding an open grassy plaza. The temples here are much better preserved than those I´ve seen before in the central highlands or in the Veracruz area. The ruins in the altiplano were largely destroyed by conquest or quarrying to make churches but these cities were abandoned and forgotten until rediscovered in the last couple hundred years.

In some cases the roofs of the top structure had fallen in but in some cases the roof and everything in it were still basically intact. I walked along the base of the big temple pyramids listening to the howler monkeys noisily defend their territory from other troops, amazed to see such a thing. As with other Mesoamerican pyramids, the stairs are very steep so climbing to the top of those for which it´s allowed left me pretty soaked from sweat and chugging on my bottle. From the top of one pyramid I had a fine view down onto the flat lowland jungle below that covers most of Yucatan.

I finally came out of the site downhill at the museum. After the museum which included a replica of the tomb of Pacal, I decided to walk back up to the entrance to get a cool drink and watch the selling and bargaining by the tourists. It's about a mile hike and on the way I found an inviting trail that led me to a stream and a cool pool of water. There were some local children enjoying the pool so I couldn't take off my clothes and go for a swim, but I could take off my shoes and roll up my pants and wade a bit. It was really cool and refreshing. I could have spent more time there if I had my swim suit.

Finally, I got up the energy to finish the hot climb back to the road and up to the entrance for some aqua fresca and some shade and antics from the tourists. While the other gringo tourists amused me I provided amusement to the local vendors when I found the place where they go for a snack, just out of sight of the tourist restaurant. I think the owner should have given me my drink on the house since I think I was bringing in some business.

March 27: Yaxchilan and Bonanpak

My stifling room was marginally cooler as I lay there waiting for the alarm to sound, to wake me for a day trip to Yaxchilan and Bonampak. I was eager to see Yaxchilan as it had figured prominently in my book on the Maya. Two interesting things happened there. First, twice the dynasty had to continue with a king born to a daughter of the previous king instead of a son. Because the Maya only counted patrilineal descent this presented the new king with a problem of legitimacy. Fortunately for later generations they solved this my producing an extensive version of the creation myth because it relates the creation of the original king by both a man and woman. By drawing extensive parallels between the current king's mother and the original mother he could legitimate his ascension to the throne. The second interesting thing about Yaxchilan occurred in the final decades. Overpopulation led to stripping the local area of trees forcing people to go farther and farther to get firewood and to find land for farming. It seems this process weakened the king relative to lesser nobles because he began to include them in some of his carved friezes depicting important rituals.

As a tourist the part I enjoyed the most was the boat ride on the river to get to the Yaxchilan site, the few tourists around, and the very natural setting. It took about 45 minutes by boat to get to the site, we passed villages with the women washing and the kids playing, and a couple alligators on the way. Walking down a jungle path led to the site, hemmed in on all sides by the jungle, howler monkeys busy howling in the trees above and around. The pyramids are quite well preserved, many still have their temples on the top. It's also pretty free for climbing around where ever you want. The main plaza had several large stele commemorating various kings.

Bonampak is much smaller but has some very well preserved frescoes inside an intact temple at the top of the main pyramid. It was still hard to make out much detail but you could see the bright colors used for the painting, bright red, turquoise, green, and yellow. No flash meant no pictures.

There were two Czech anthropologists, a couple young women from Oregon, a girl from Norway, and a Mexican couple with the mother in my group. Speaking English was fun again, for a change.

March 28: Bus to San Cristobal de las Cruces

The bus from Palenque to San Cristobal climbed steadily, slowly up mountain roads toward Ocosingo; past small villages, past small collections of hovels to few to count as a village, past untold numbers of old coke bottles and plastic water containers, through jungles and pine forest and maize fields clinging to the hillside. It's not very far to San Cristobal but it took us more than five hours to make the trip. We stopped for five minutes in Ocosingo for snacks and the bathroom.

I got to San Cristobal about 1pm, found a room for only 80 pesos/night and started looking for lunch. I kept walking and walking rather stunned at the amount of tourism here. I passed countless hotels, some hostels, numerous restaurants, sidewalks thronged with pale and dark skinned tourists, and almost an equal number of Indios selling their necklaces and textiles. It's much cooler here than back near the coast, combined with the interesting native cultures this place has been attracting lots of tourists for a long time.

I slept tonight with two blankets and still felt a little chilled. What a change from the night before when I only wore a t-shirt and kept the fan blowing on me all the time.

March 29: San Cristobal

My hotel has a roof garden with a nice view of the surrounding city and mountains. I sat there this morning enjoying some music and watching the town slowly come to life. Later I took a nap and read. Finally a vacation.

March 30: Canyon de Sumidero

Today I took a day trip to Canyon de Sumidero. A boat took us down the Sumidero river one it's course at the bottom of a very narrow canyon. At it's highest point, a sheer wall extends up from the water level for 1000 meters, (3000 feet). There were some chances to see wildlife, some crocodiles and a monkey, as well as quite a bit of bird life.

After the canyon tour our driver took us to see the small town of Chiapa de Corzo, which has one of the many local versions of the indigenous culture. Basically we had time to visit the church, browse some of the shops and for me to leave my hat on the sidewalk. It's really a sort of disaster for me, I won't be able to find nearly as convenient a hat locally and when I get home it will cost me quite a bit to replace, if it's still available.

So, I went around town looking for a hat, of which there were surprisingly few. The one hat shop I found sold exclusively stiff cowboy hats with no ventilation at the top of the hat. I found some nice urban style straw hats but again no ventilation at the top. I did find one nice hat just like I would like but it was just a little too big, had no sweatband or hatband, and was expensive. Taking a chance, I got the expensive hat hoping to find solutions for it's defects.

March 31: San Juan de Chaluma

It seemed like a good idea at the time, go to the Maya village of San Juan de Chaluma by horseback. The village is home to one of the many local communities of indigenous people with a distinctive dress and customs. Their religious practice consists of a sort of hybrid of old animist rituals with Roman Catholicism. The inside of the church has no pews, but the floor is covered with pine needles, perhaps to mimic the forest floor they traditionally used for the ceremony. The people come here to get cures for sickness or perhaps to bless some upcoming event. They first clear a spot on the floor and light a large number of candles they stick to the floor. The rest of the ritual seems to involve chanting, the services of a shaman, drinking some local liquor that tastes like moonshine to me, a bottle of pop, and a chicken. Evidently they drink the pop to induce a burp that rids them of the evil spirit causing their sickness. At some point they sacrifice the chicken but they go outside or that and I didn't see the gory details.

I arrived at the corral for the horse, which was nice enough. My guide and I then started out toward the village, about an hours walk by horse. Unfortunately, instead of the forest path I had envisioned, perhaps with occasional views of the valley below, we walked up the road with the traffic. We did use some secondary roads and at one point we did go up a mountain path for maybe a couple hundred yards, but all in all not the primitive experience I had hoped for. I only got an hour to visit the village which was not really enough time to see the church thoroughly and walk through the market area where the local people bring their crops to sell. I did meet a nice Australian couple who were fun to talk to.

I remembered seeing a small shop in which a woman worked on her sewing machine. I found the shop again and with my limited Spanish I asked her if she could use her “la machina” to sew in a sweatband to my hat. She understood what I wanted so while she did that I went to the fabric store, found a bit of nylon cord and a cord lock, which she then sewed into the hat to make a loop so I could hold on the hat in a wind. All in all it works very well, I rather pleased with myself for constructing this new hat out of raw materials.

Last night the sound of live music from the bar next door to my hotel drew me in to listen to some jazz. The guitarist and trumpeter were quite nice to listen to as they played one American jazz standard after another. A nice glass of Mezcal made the evening go just fine until about 11pm.

April 1: Bus to Ocosingo

It's time to leave San Cristobal de las Cruces. This is a very pleasant town with lots of tourist amenities and resources, nice cool temperatures, and plenty of opportunities to enjoy oneself, so I'm a little sorry to leave. I caught the 7:15am bus to Ocosingo and had time to chat with a nice couple from Switzerland before the bus left.

Ocosingo is a completely non-tourist town with a very nice little zocalo. I went to the Tonina ruins as soon as I found a hotel room, the bus cost me only 100 pesos. The ruins are very big but evidently most of the site has not yet been excavated. The primary temples facing the main plaza contain some very well preserved frescoes and plaster relief. Part of the complex contains a room with a maze of tunnels that provided some relief from the heat outside. The main temples rise high above the plaza, faced with an extensive set of stairs rising steeply toward the summit. I found plenty to see along the way so it took me more than an hour to climb to the top. From the top I had a great view of the hill country surrounding the site, now full of ranches and small truck farms (minus the truck).

I had a difficult time getting a picture of myself at the ruins. I mostly had the ruins to my self and with nobody to ask I decided to set up my tripod and use the remote control to get a picture of me standing in front of the stairs leading to the top. Just as I got my camera on the tripod and started to position the tripod a guard from half way up on the pyramid yelled at me that I couldn't use the tripod. Evidently it's OK to take hand held pictures but you can't use a tripod. Frustrated, I had to put my camera on my day pack on a stone and make the best of the situation.

The people here are extremely friendly. When I walk around the town I get several hello's in accented English, and several people have attempted to talk to me. There is essentially none of the typical tourism one finds in so many Mexican towns near a tourist site. The Tonani site had a restaurant selling a few souvenirs along with a selection of Mexican junk food but nothing in the town. In particular, I haven't seen a single woman, man, or child selling trinkets on the zocalo. It almost seems odd.

The one defect in my hat concerns where the cord attaches to the hat; the lady did not center the attachment point on one side. On one side it's attached about 1.5 inches off center. It didn't really affect the wearing but it bothered me so when I passed another woman with her “la machina” I asked her to fix it. She understood and obliged, using her foot powered pedal driven machine to re-sew the cord in a center position. I hadn't seen an old Singer sewing machine like this in many many years, at least outside of an antique shop. Still in use, it could be nearing a 100 year birthday.

April 2: back to Palenque

I came up with a plan last night, finally, a plan for the next stage. I want to get to Xpujil, the best staging location to visit the ruins around that area, including Calakmul. I got up early and headed for the combi station near the autobus station, where the day before I had heard them calling out for passengers to Palenque. Getting an early start, much earlier than the 9:30am start offered by the regular bus schedule, I could possibly get to Palenque early enough so that could catch an onward bus to Escarcega or even Xpujil.

I climbed into the combi with the other working class Mexicans in a hurry to get to Palenque. The bus leaves when it fills, so we all waited patiently for more passengers to arrive. Unfortunately an earlier passenger had taken the front seat next to the driver so I took a seat in the last row next to a window. Evidently they sell tickets by the seat not passenger, a mother with her 9-10 year old son got on board, he forced to sit sheepishly on his mothers lap for the journey to save the fare. You could see the embarrassment in his face, but resignation as well. Later, when his mother had to stop the bus so her son could go outside and throw up his embarrassment reached the acute level.

Finally, with the seats full the driver was summoned. He sat down, cranked up the Norteno music and we all roared out onto the highway headed for Palenque. I was prepared for a spirited ride but the next 2.5 hours involved more high speed passing, bumper to bumper tailgating, and screeching tires than my worst imagination. I did take some solace by observing that the other passengers were quite unfazed, most nodding off into morning naps so they could arrive at their destinations well rested. Well, except for the young boy who should probably avoid ships in the future.

We arrived in Palenque about 8:20am, just 20 minutes after the bus for Escarcega left. Well, maybe next time the travel Gods will favor my plans. For today, it's back to the dreadful Posada San Vicente, made worse this time because all the 'good' rooms are taken. I'm upstairs in the stifling heat, wearing my underwear, the ceiling fan on full blast, waiting until night so I can go out for dinner.

April 3: Xpujil

The heat in my room never dissipated but did become relatively tolerable by around 3am. I got up and enjoyed another cold shower then did a few personal chores. Amazingly, the slightest physical exertion led to sweating and overheating in the stifling heat. Finally, it was time to head for the bus station, after a quick breakfast I could look forward to hours of cool air conditioned comfort on the drive to Escarcega. The town of Escarcega lived up to it's reputation as the ugliest town in the region, and very hot. I had to walk to the center of town to get some money as I had forgotten to get some in Palenque. The people around here are definitely not used to seeing gringos walking around, and I attracted a few 'hello's. Getting back soaked in sweat I waited in the windless bus stationed until my next hitch with air conditioned comfort arrived. Xpujil is a wide spot on the highway with a considerable number of hotels and restaurants. My guide book only listed two and I had called ahead to make a reservation so I felt obligated to go there. It's costing me 460 pesos per night, so nearly the most expensive place I've stayed and I'd say about the nicest. Even without AC the room is cool and the ceiling fan keeps the room very pleasant.

April 4: Becan, Chicanna, Hormiguero, and Xpuhil

A new personal best for me today, four sites in one morning. I found a taxi driver that approached me yesterday for a trip to Calakmul and told him I wanted to go to Becan and Chicanna, he threw in Hormiguero and Xpuhil. The drive out to Hormiguero involved a dirt road and passing through some small pueblos. Fortunately, I had read this and expected the journey, otherwise I think I may have become rather frightened going out into the jungle with this perfect stranger. But it worked out well, my driver showed me around and seemed to know his way around the area very well. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand too much of what he was saying. Hormiguero is a charming isolated ruin set deep in the jungle surrounded by lots of birds and other small animals. Becan, Chicanna, and Xpuhil all share a so called Rio Bec style which involves very steep long stairs up to temples on top of steep pyramids that have been elongated to have a rectangular base. Some temples have doors that appear to go through the open mouth of a monster, complete with teeth and stylized eyes. Often a climb to the top provided an extensive view of the jungle beyond with other temples peeking up from the sea of trees.

It's super hot and humid. Walking around the sites in the mid morning left me soaked, dehydrated, and eager to get back to my relatively cool room. I'm impressed people can work in this heat and humidity.

So far, I'm unable to reconnect to the hotel wifi network. I'm beginning to think the problem is with my laptop. Even at home sometimes I can't connect my laptop to my wireless system because it can't get a DHCP lease. Grrr.... It's doubly frustrating because I think I'm a grandfather again, as of yesterday but can't get the official news.

Homiguero

April 5: Calakmul

With nothing to do at night it's easy to go to sleep early and then rise early so getting up at 5am and down to the bus station to eat breakfast and get a lunch was easy; I met my driver from yesterday for a trip to Calakmul. Two hours later I was walking up a jungle path toward the Calakmul ruins. The Calakmul site is huge, spreading over a large area but only the major structures have been excavated and partially restored. The restoration here, as at the sites I visited yesterday, mostly left the large trees growing up out of the ruins, clearing away the dirt, brush, and restoring some of the steps and the walls. Calakmul has a large number of stele but all have eroded to the point that you can't see anything. Evidently most of the knowledge of Calakmul depends on photographs made after their discovery, it's really a shame they weren't better protected.

Very few people visit the site. I saw several groups of people, most of them with guide. But, the groups are so few that it was easy to take pictures of just the ruins without anybody ruining the lonely beauty of the site. And, this time no officials stopped me from using my tripod to take pictures of myself.

My taxi driver has had a somewhat colorful life. He spent a few years working in El Norte (US), driving trucks, hunting, and now driving a taxi. He had exceptional vision, quite often pointing out to me animals along the road. He showed me the canine teeth he took from a Jaguar he killed when he was just 18. He does have to work hard because he has eight children, three boys and five girls.

Tonight the evening was especially cool so I went for a little stroll. On my way back someone started talking to me and within minutes I had met two other people who wanted to go to Calakmul and would have shared a taxi, and a third person who had paid for a taxi by himself for today. We both laughed while lamenting our fate to only meet tonight. So, my efforts over the last couple nights to meet people to share a taxi were just too early and probably in the wrong place. I think these people were staying at a hotel next to the bus station that perhaps is a little cheaper and attracts people without cars. Oh well, better luck next time.

My laptop still can't use the WiFi network here at the hotel. Double Grrr.... But, I got word by phone today that I'm a grandfather again, Emalyn Vallie Ottersburg, healthy, not wealthy yet, and hopefully wise in the future. Eri is fine, Kenchan curious.

April 6: Tulum Town

Bus to Tulum, I met a man about 10 years younger than myself on the bus. We ended up going to the same hostel. Daniel has traveled a great deal, more than anybody I think I've ever met. He's been living abroad teaching English since getting his masters in English some years ago. He's an interesting guy, not very politically correct but able to discuss intellectual subjects in an interesting way.

April 7: Tulum Ruins

Tulum opens at 8am with the sun already up, the air still cool from the night, and few people on the site. That would all change soon. The Tulum site has a great setting, next to the turquoise Caribbean sea. But, you can't get very close to the ruins, can't climb up to the temples or go in any of the buildings. All together, it's not as fun a site to visit as the other more remote sites with fewer restrictions. Daniel joined me for the visit. He is a dedicated photographer with his little camera, crossing roped lines in order to get the shot he wants, and waiting patiently for the sun to find the best angle. I thought for sure he would get the whistle from the guards on several occasions but so far his transgressions have gone undetected. He likes to shoot his pictures early in the morning or at the end of the day.

April 8: Coba and Valladolid

Last night the operator of the hostel offered us blankets, I'm glad I accepted one. It got rather chilly during the night with a cool breeze blowing in off the ocean. Unfortunately, my allergies kicked up so I've been suffering a little. Daniel and I decided to head for Valladolid with a stop at the Coba site. The bus station was full of foreigners and locals alike waiting for buses at 6:30am when Daniel and I arrived. We joined the others snacking on imitation oreo cookies and some bottled fruit juice available at the snack bar in the station.

This is the first free seating bus I've used in Mexico. When it pulled up I found that we also had to manage our own luggage. I had to worry a little that my bag would get off before I did so I kept looking out the bus window after I boarded. Finally, with the rear differential of the bus whining it's complaint at too many years of service we took off headed for Coba.

Coba has some modest ruins and attracts a large number of tourists because of it's proximity to the beaches. The guide book recommended renting bicycles because the site is spread out over a large area. We didn't rent bicycles but plenty of other people did. Sometimes groups of 30 or 40 people would cycle by on the pathways between buildings. When we arrived there were no cars of vehicles in the parking lot, when we left about noon the lot was packed with cars and buses.

From Coba we went on to Valladolid, a really charming and comfortable little town close the the Ek-Balam ruins. It's much cooler in this area of Yucatan than in Chiapas, which surprises me because it's lower. I assumed it would be hotter and more humid. The difference may only be due to a changed weather pattern but this is the third day now of cool evenings to complement the hot sunny days.

April 9: Ek Balam

Daniel startled me a little when he looked into my room through the window. Like other cheap hotels in Mexico, my room has windows that face the inside of the hotel instead of the outside. In this case the windows face onto a small courtyard. People walking by can see me if I leave the windows open, which I need to do in order to get cool air during the evening. After breakfast we started off for Ek-Balam. I found the ruins at Ek-Balam one of the nicest and more interesting I've seen in Mexico. It has a lovely plaza surrounded by pyramids. The largest pyramid has some exceptionally well preserved stucco friezes. On one side of the long staircase leading to the top of the largest pyramid the entrance to a temple is form by the mouth of a monster. The teeth and other features of the carving still almost completely intact, only the color was missing. In fact, both Daniel and myself thought it was a reconstruction until I read in the guide book that it was almost completely original, only some small parts being reconstructed.

Opposite the large pyramid was a smaller one with a shady spot where I spent some time enjoying the site and taking pictures. By mid morning the site had attracted a steady stream of visitors but it was never crowded.

April 10: Chichen Itza

I gradually tuned out the sound of a small helicopter that filled my room after I turned on the ceiling fan. I had turned it on in the middle of the night when I woke up damp with sweat when the temperature cooled below the dew point perversely making it seem hotter. Valladolid is not that hot of a town, the evenings are quite pleasant but we're in a warming trend, hence the helicopter sound effects.

Daniel and I got to the bus station in plenty of time for an 8:25 bus to Merida, where we planned to visit the museum in the afternoon and take pictures of some churches. The second class bus filled with a motley band of poor gringo travelers and working class Mexicans and headed out only 10 minutes late today. Given the cool morning air the buses air conditioning could just keep it cool inside the bus so we traveled pleasantly to an unexpected stop at Chichen Itza. Surprisingly the parking lot was empty so we quickly decided to abandon bus and spend the day at Chichen Itza getting pictures before the crowds arrived. I suppose it would have been better to have planned this stop so we could have arrived when the site opened at 8am instead of 9:15am but it worked out nicely anyway.

Chichen Itza is much better than I expected. I had been led to diminish my expectations by listening to people who had been there and complained about the crowds and the trinket sellers. it was crowded and the number of trinket sellers was rather astonishing but the simple grandeur of the place can't fail to impress any visitor. The architecture and building are simpler than the Chenes and Puuc sites I've seen at Palenque and Calakmul but the size and massive imposing presence of the buildings sets Chichen Itza apart. The other pyramids I have seen typically had only one face, with the back side either not excavated or not ever constructed, perhaps using a small hill as part of the building plan. But El Castillo sits alone on a flat plaza, stairs up each of it's four sides, carving on all the levels and a sturdy looking block house temple at the top, formed from massive stones.

One side of the grand plaza has a forest of columns left without a roof to support but suggesting the grand impression that plaza must have made when it was constructed. The design of the temples on top of the pyramid mounds were simpler but imposing and inspiring strength. All together the site fully presented an image of power and authority, just the message I expect the ruler of Chichen Itza intended. Evidently, it's not clear whether they were Maya invaders from the south or Toltec invaders from the west.

 

We finally had enough of the site and headed for Merida on the next bus. Alas, the air conditioning of the second class bus in the afternoon could no longer keep up with outside heat so a hot sweaty two hours later we finally arrived in Merida, hot thirsty, and dirty. Well, at least the hostel we headed for was crowded and hot too! Needing a little taste of home, after a shower I headed for a McDonalds we passed to get a milkshake. No milkshake so I had to settle for a McFlurry and a cold apple flavored soft drink.

April 11: Merida

The morning started early with me tiptoeing around the dorm, hoping to not wake the others sleeping in the room. I imagine that the young people shudder a little when they see a old man like myself checking in, expecting the usual frequent bathroom trips in the middle of the night and the early morning rising. They, kindly, didn't keep me up late at night and I returned the favor by being ever so quiet when I got up.

Daniel was up and eager to go take pictures of the local churches. Daniel is a very enthusiastic photographer, willing to get up early and hang around late trying to get good light. He only takes photos for his own satisfaction which makes his dedication even more interesting. After a few morning shots we went to the anthropology museum which was very good. Later, Daniel took off for a minor Maya site close by to get some afternoon shots of the temple. He's a little overweight and slow moving but makes up for it with his enthusiasm for photography. I should try to emulate his energy here.

The museum has a very good set of ceramic effigies and some well preserved examples of chacmool. They also, unusually, have some good explanations in English. After the museum I wandered into a small plaza with a Mexican style food court, a dozen or more mom and pop food stalls serving basically the same thing on the same furniture and with the same sales pitch to every passerby. The sales pitch consists of yelling out the items they have on their menu, which are the same items their competitors are yelling but in a different order. The food served is Mexican fast food, tacos, pachulos, tortas, etc.

The food court had a father/daughter team performing in a nearby open space, belting out their best renditions of Spanish favorites. At one point I heard a Selena song I recognized from the movie. The little girl, probably about 15 was doing her best to show her moves and sing but, truthfully, it just wasn't very good. I enjoyed watching her try so hard and she looked so cute in her effort but I guess she better look for a different day job.

Later I stumbled into the museum of contemporary art where I found a new enthusiasm for sitting and looking at random brush strokes on a canvas. Well, actually, I was enjoying the air conditioned coolness. Some of the art was interesting. Outside the zocalo was busy with preparations for Easter Sunday. It's 'Semana Sancta', holy week, here in Mexico and the event calls for extra religious activities and some festivities in the plaza.

April 12: Uxmal

The fan next to my head was working hard to stir the hot air in my dorm room which surprisingly works to keep one cool while sleeping. Well, perhaps cool is not the correct description but it's comfortable for sleeping. The main drawback, I wake up a little dehydrated from a night of being a human swamp cooler. Last night never cooled down, it was over 100 during the previous day.

Daniel and I got going toward an 8am bus, the Ruta Puuc. This bus goes to four different Maya sites ending at Uxmal. We only got 30 minutes at the minor sites, but that was generally enough, and we got 2hours at Uxmal, which was just enough. I felt rushed and had considered the possibility of finding my own way back to Merida from Uxmal but in the end the heat convinced me that I'd seen enough.

For the bus ride I sat next to a young Mexican woman who was traveling with two friends from Puebla. She and her friends were enrolled in a cooking school and hoped to work as chefs in one of the kitchens catering to tourists in Mexico. The three girls were energetic but poor so had brought their own food instead of buying from the site vendors. I enjoyed talking with her as mostly I interact with people in the tourist industry and have relatively few opportunities to meet regular Mexicans. I guess she's not really normal since she wanted to practice her English as much as possible.

Uxmal is very impressive. Many of the buildings are still largely intact and together form quite an impressive center area for the ancient city. In one area the buildings formed an open square probably about 100 meters on a side with numerous rooms in the building facing inside to the courtyard. Just to the north was the towering massive of the pyramid with it's usual steep stairway leading up to a well preserved entrance to the temple about 2/3's to the top. The temple at the top was mostly missing. to the east were other large buildings with multiple rooms and another pyramid. Overall the site still communicated the power and prestige of ancient Uxmal when it along with Chichen Itza and another city formed a confederacy that ruled the Puuc region of Yucatan.

April 13: Cancun

My hostel has the usual cast of characters one finds in hostels but here concentrated in one. Of course we have the 'normal' population of youngish backpacking travelers from Europe and the US, surprisingly many women. We also have the older traveling sage who can't be surprised or enthusiastic because he's seen and done it all before. Every story this person hears inspires a bigger fish tale from some other part of Mexico. In the morning in the corner of the eating area we have the two cute Korean girls, eating and murmuring and looking carefully at their guide book and counting their money. Perhaps most strange was the Japanese middle aged guy who seemed to spend most of every day watching videos on his laptop. Almost every time I came into hostel I could see him there sitting on the bench pouring over his laptop, engrossed in something. Even my attempts to speak to him in Japanese failed to get much more than a grunt as acknowledgment. This could be part of some sort of martial arts discipline, he eats breakfast sitting ramrod straight in his chair, toast with jam held with both hands chest high until he brings the bread to his mouth for a bite. He takes a single modest bite, moves the toast back to the required position, and carefully chews until swallowing, at which point he can then take another bite. We also have the loud, disheveled, disorganized hippie who alternately deprecates the US or ridicules the local people. Some Mexican backpackers and a father/daughter team fill out the roster for this morning.

Despite the interesting cast of characters I decided to move to Cancun a day earlier than I planned, in hopes of escaping the heat. The Chacmool Hostel here in Cancun has a very nice roof patio where I can catch an ocean breeze and wait for the sun to go down, and with it the temperature.

Joshua and Emily arrived later in the day with a sad tale of robbery and disappointment. They have come to Cancun to get replacement passports from the US consulate here after their's were stolen along with their bags from a hostel in San Cristobal. They had checked into the hostel, left their bags in the dormitory, and went to get some money. Thus, fortunately, they had their ATM cards and some identification but they lost most everything else. While they were gone some people came into the hostel and stole a number of bags while the managers were not paying attention. Later, the young Swiss girl managing the hostel indicated she even knew the perpetrators but would or could do nothing about it. The police were useless. They offered a reward of 5,000 Pesos for the return of the bags, the manager told Emily that the thieves divided up the stuff and sold it for much less than 5,000 pesos within hours to get drugs. Considering how much this woman knew about the thieves led Joshua and Emily to conclude that she was actually complicit. Needless to say, they were not as happy with Mexico as most other travelers I've met.

April 14: Cancun

Cancun is a bore. I went to the resort strip today to see what Cancun has to offer. The beach and water are very beautiful but access is rather difficult if you're not staying in one of the beach side resorts. And forget walking along the beach for any distance, it's broken up by buildings that extend their foundations into the surf making it virtually impossible to pass. Effectively this limits the public access beaches to rather sad little sections of sand with no services like cold drinks or snacks. Allegedly during the evening the sidewalks are full of tottering young people toting around their plastic elongated containers full of beer or wine, just like those I saw in Las Vegas. In fact, the whole strip looked almost exactly like Las Vegas, with the long sections of barren sidewalk in front of the resorts separating equally long blocks of tacky trinket shops, bars, and other entertainment options.

I did find something I like about Cancun. Just across from my hostel is a large half circle shaped plaza. The flat side of the half circle has a stage and an enclosed playground for kids. The outside of the circle is lined with food stalls serving inexpensive but good Mexican food, some carts selling Marquisitas or Chorros, or other sweet treat, and some carts selling small jewelry or other souvenir items. In the middle in as expansive space given over to little kids driving around small electric cars, each chased by a mother of father trying to prevent the inexperienced driver from ramming into other cars or bystanders. Joining the melay are an assortment of bicycles, tricycles, and little tots walking. I'm staying in the downtown area instead of the resort area so the Mexican families come out after work in the cool of the evening with their families to enjoy a treat and some family time.

April 15: Goodbye Mexico

Goodbye to Mexico. I'm down to my last little bit of Mexican money and headed for the airport today to fly back home.

© Copyright Wayne Joerding, 2009