4

Maya Peninsula 

Feb 17, 2020

Yesterday I flew from Oaxaca to Cancun on Interjet Air. The flight was only about 1-1/2 hours and the timezone was one more hour. By 2:45pm I was on the ground and by 5:00 I had found a hotel, dispensed with my travel bags and was on a local combi to the beach. I made a transfer to the Route 1 bus and headed down Hotel Avenue. Lots of people, tons of people, and it isn't even spring break. Just a local Sunday afternoon out at the beach enjoying life.

Well, Cancun is a bit too big for me, I am thinking.

Because I am just exploring I have no plans. This afternoon/evening I walked along the beach for a couple of hours in and out of the water and the gentle surf, and hotel after hotel. By the time I decided to eat, all they were serving was beer, there were closing down for the weekend. By now I was tired from a long travel day and decided to head back toward the hotel.

I am staying in a place called "ONE". It isn't pronounced "Ohhh Neh" but rather like the English number "1". I had paid for two nights but while eating a couple of tacos at a roadside cafe I decided this place was not right for me. Back at the hotel I talked to the desk clerk and let them know I would move on in the morning. I made a reservation at a Hotel ONE in Playa del Carmen for a couple of nights and will plant my flag on that beach. Beach time, maybe a tour or two, Cozumel, whatever, maybe Tulum. It is all in the neighborhood.

At a loss for words, cold for February...

I checked-in to another Hotel One in Playa del Carmen and went to the beach but decided I would plan on one night there. I was only a few blocks to the beach and in a good neighborhood. I went to the beach to walk and explore. Before I knew it I was at the end of a beach and at the dock for the Ferry that crosses over to the Island of Cozumel. I jumped on board.

First view of the water in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen Beach

Playa beach II

45-minutes later I was on the pricier island. I strolled along the "Muelle". I was hungry and walked past the commercial tourist zone and went to the Mercado Central. There I found a place selling fresh fish, fried red snapper. I had one on a bed of rice with black beans. A worthwhile place for a good meal.

One of my brothers may have a foot fetish a bird told me, just saying. Working on my tan.

1/2 a Dos Equis is a VV with foam to boot. Such deep blue water.

Cozumel waterfront 

Cozumel Ferry Docks 

I don't remember where but: Margarita with Jamaica - Good

The Yucatan, including Cozumel, is in the state of Quintana Roo (Roh)

A happy cloud

During spring break, maybe even Breakfast for Whiskey

After this late lunch I walked around some more then headed back toward the ferry to take me back to Playa. What do I run into? Nothing other than a Starbucks with a Frappuccino with my name on it. Who could resist on this hot humid sweltering day, "Bochornoso".

Now, that task completed, I joined the Ferry crowd and powered back to Playa del Carmen for the night. I should say, I slept the 45-minutes back waking only when the engines powered down for docking. "Que dormidita tan sabroso!".

Sculpture between Playa beach and downtown.

Dancers under the sculpture

Feb 19, 2020

Many days I lose track of what day it is. But it should be Wednesday today.

I awoke early the next morning, Wednesday, and decided it was time to move on from Playa del Carmen and see some Mayan ruins on the Yucatan coast. Time to head to Tulum. I arrived in Tulum by 8:30 am and found a room next to the bus terminal (ADO). They let me in this hotel early and I paid cash. Time to go explore.

Tulum Ruins

The Tulum ruins are built on a hill at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Caribbean. Very scenic but oh so humid, just like most of the "Costa Maya". And so very full of tourists, too many, it almost felt like a Disney experience with hour long waits to get to see a Kodak moment.

Some ruins visible on the edge of the cliff in the distance.
Beautiful green and blue water in the Caribbean. 

Stonework is not a well crafted as many of the other sites I have visited in Mexico.
The size is still on a massive but it is simply very primitive craftsmanship.

Tunnel through a main wall fortification to manage traffic and access.  This wall is about 12 feet thick.

Pretty solid construction.
While it looks like they are falling, the leaning walls are part of an arched entryway, designed that way. 

This is a pretty large site. Because of its location, it gets lots of tourist traffic.  There is a lot of open space though 1,000 - 2,000 years ago it may have been full of temporary and permanent structures here within this jungle setting.

After visiting the Tulum Ruins and since I was on the beach I walked along the beach for a good while, my shirt, shoes, and socks off and enjoying the sand and water while sweating like a cold beer bottle on a table. From what I could tell, there was not much else to see here in Tulum and I started getting a gypsy itch after only 3--4 hours here. Hmmm, my hotel room is only 50-feet from the bus depot.

Well, I caught a caught a cab back to the hotel and asked if they would let me out of the room and they agreed to give me my cash back since it wasn't even Check-In time yet. I promptly hoisted my backpack and walked to the ADO bus terminal and bought the next ticket heading south.

Playa del Carmen to Tulum to the end of Mexico, all in a few hours.

Destination Chetumal

By 4:30 or so I was checked into a hotel in Chetumal. Marketing says that it is where "Mexico Begins", En done Inicia Mexico.

Inicia Mexico - Where Mexico Starts: Chetumal!

Statue on the El Muelle Walkway

Belize Ferry terminal to leave Mexico

It is Carnaval here, all week long. That pagan, Christian, crazy celebration before  that long 40-day event.

The Mayan God of Travelers and other stuff. Read the fine print on the plaque.

Being this close to the "Caribe", it is the spirit of Carnaval that is making a lot of noise every night. It will get louder as it gets closer to Fat Tuesday.

Feb 20, 2020

Lake Bacalar 

My first full day in Chetumal I was able to take a tour to float and explore Lake Bacalar and the many Cenotes in the lake. The tour consisted of a pontoon ride around the lake showing the various 7-colors of the lake depending on the depth of the water. The boat stopped a couple of times to let the passangers swim in this fresh water lake that is one sand dune away from the Caribbean. Definitely a day for a sunburn. 

A pool in case you don't want to get in the lake.

Once the tour was over I wanted more water activity so I made my way to a kayak rental and went for a ride on a plastic kayak. I paddled around for almost an hour before I had enough of water for the day. Time to head back to Chetumal.

A Cenote, or Limestone Sinkhole in the lake that measures between 4 feet, a white color, to about 270 feet, a deep blue color.

A view of the Bacalar shore with an old Spanish stone fort up on the hill.

A tour boat in the lake and the lighter water with more boats where people are in the water.

Ruinas

On my return from the lake to Chetumal, I scheduled a tour to two Mayan ruins for the next day, a Friday if I am on track with the calendar. These ruins are west of the city and close together. They are about a 1-1/2 to 2- hour drive through the rural countryside. A nice drive after so many days of blue water. Well, you have to complain about something.

Dzibanche Ruins

Getting there is half the battle. Check out those ears.

Ramon y Filemon

This is my guide here in Dzibanche Ruins. His name is Filemon. The rocks at his feet are from some of the buildings on the site. The tree next to Filemon is a Ramon tree. Here is what Google has to say about that:

Brosimum alicastrum, is a member of the fig/mulberry family can be considered as one of the 'miracle trees' found in our forests. It has over 50 common names but we may know it as Maya Nut, Ramón tree, or Iximche (Corn Tree)

As my guide says, if you eat the nuts raw, they taste like dirt. If you boil them or roast them and grind them, they taste like corn and you can make tortillas out of them.

This is one of many temples on this site. Because of the rural setting and very few tourists, you can still climb up  on many of these places. Going up is difficult because each step is about 16" high. Coming down?, "Que te vaya bien". Rodando,  haciendo gaitas, a nalgas, or simply a step at a time, very slowly. You have heard of the song, Rodar. Something about "No es tan importante llegar primero, lo que cuenta, es saber llegar. Interesting the things you think of when balancing and teetering on top of a shear face of a pyramid in the jungles deep in southern Mexico. 

Lots of examples of the jungle swallowing up sites like these. There is a handful of guys that own the task of keeping the  Selva/jungle away for consuming these ruins. 

A long way up. Under the thatched roofs are some preserved carvings.

These carvings suggest that all the stone walls were covered with  plaster at one time, carved, and painted red and in some spots green.

Here are three crypts or tombs where Royalty were buried. In the top one they found a powerful woman leader. Below were her staff. 

These are the bedrooms for the support staff for the Royals that ruled here for 1,000 years.

In general, I still liked the ruins of Monte Alban in Oaxaca (Zapoteca) best of all for their architectural and design quality that is much above what I have found on the Mayan Coast. But among these, the Tulum site is the largest but the lowest quality.

Kinichna Ruins

The second Mayan site of the day is the Kinichna ruins. This is a much smaller site though many more may be uncovered in the surrounding mounds. It is also possible that this is part of a larger site that includes both Dzibanche and Kinichna.

Here there is only one temple, as complex as the others but alone in the jungle. 

More steep stairs

The trees growing on this pyramid will break it apart soon. 

This entry way includes about 20% of it restored based on what similar pyramids in the area look like. i.e. the top 2-5 feet have been reconstructed to demonstrate what they may have looked like. 

Pics don't truly reflect how complex these sites are.

Local scenery with charm. 

This is the end of the Mayan coast leg of the trip. Next, who knows until I get there but as of tonight, Saturday, Feb 22, 2020, I have arrived into Merida.

After spending almost 2-days in Merida, taking a city tour, and doing lots of walking, I don't have much to brag about in what this city offers. Their old classic colonial architecture is crumbling, taxi drivers are the same as everywhere else. The travel agent was the friendlies person there. Well, in one of the parks, not the Zocalo, I saw one of these chairs. There are actually several hundred around the city while on the Double Decker bus. Anyway, this one was not occupied and had a tree bush behind it along with the tip of my finger. It happens.

These chairs really need foot stools, and cup holders, and a shade or awning. 

Stay tuned, I have another few days/weeks. From here I have a ticket to Chihuahua, via Mexico City. And from there, Go West my man. Go West.