Ek Balam – last report from Mexico

Today was our last full day in Mexico. We decided to go to Ek Balam, a nice Mayan archeological site near Valladolid. We got there on a shared taxi with two Dutch girls, arriving at about 10. This site is more compact than Coba, so we didn’t need bikes to get around, and there were several structures to climb. One had a nice sign saying “Don’t Jump” in case one was tempted to jump from one structure to another over a narrow but deep passageway. I guess Ella was considering it, so maybe the sign was a decent idea. The most fun was the principle pyramid, which here is a much bigger building comes than the usual pyramid, more of a wide structurewith nice views from the top.There are also a lot of well preserved details on this main pyramid, giving one the sense of what all Mayan buildings must have once looked like.

After looking around the ruins for a while, we walked a mile or so to the nearby cenote. A cenote is a deep sinkhole, usually collapsed, filled with clear water. Most of the rivers in Yucatan are underground because the earth is all porous limestone, and these cenotes are all over the place. We had a lovely swim here in X’Canche Cenote.

I assume that this will be the last post of the trip. Tomorrow we have a 7:30 bus to Cancun, giving us enough time for a quick lunch before heading to the airport. I assume we will eat at the “chicken a la plancha” restaurant that we enjoyed at the start of the trip.

Coba

Yesterday, we moved to Valladolid, a small city with a cute colonial center. We are staying in a great hostel, the Casa Xtakay. It’s only 1 1/2 blocks from the central plaza and with A/C and normal height ceilings, it’s a step above the Siesat Fiesta, though we do miss the pool. It’s owned and run by an older couple, and in fact has only been open for two months. On room was advertised as having three beds, but in fact it has a double bed and a single bed. I expressed surprise but said that it was okay, but within minutes they had brought in another bed. It does make the room a little crowded, but the kids are happy not to have to share. They served a huge breakfast this morning, and are just delightful hosts, with fresh fruit, tea, coffee, and juice available at any time.

Today, we took a bus to Coba, a Mayan sight with one of the highest pyramids. It is quite spread out, so we rented bicycles to go between the different clusters, and I think the bikes were the best feature of the place for the kids. It was starting to get hot, so we quickly rode to the big pyramid to climb it.its a pretty big climb, and there is a rope down the middle to help those scared by the steep stairs. I think the rope is mainly needed because Coba is so close to Tulum that there are many unfit tourists trying to climb up. We certainly didn’t need the rope. The view was good from the top, mainly over the forest canopy, but the sun was fierce. At least below, we were in the shade of the trees. We didn’t stay on top long before trotting down the stairs past some who were butt-sliding one step at a time.

We continued to bike around the site. There were two nice ball courts and a couple of smaller pyramids. After a couple of hours of looking around we left the site and started looking for where to find a bus back. I had read that finding buses back to Valladolid wasn’t easy, and after asking around, we ended up at a small store/restaurant/hotel where a guy said that a bus would come by at 2 or 2:30. It was only 12:30, so we settled in for a long wait. But Coba is in Quintana Roo, the state of Cancun, which means that it is an hour ahead. We only had to wait 30 minutes until a second class bus came by. It didn’t have A/C, but it also didn’t stop that often. In 50 minutes we were back in Valladolid.

Celestún

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Celestún, home to a large flamingo colony. We took a local bus there, about 2 1/2 hours with stops in every village on the way, and got dropped at the boat pier outside the town. What a zoo! There were tons of people lining up to go on the 75 minute boat tour. Each boat takes 6 people, so I needed to put together a group. It didn’t take long. Right behind be in line was an Australian woman who had 9 with her. Our three added up to two boats. Done. She has been living in Mexico with her Mexican husband, confusingly named Rob, for the last six years. They were being visited by her cousins from a small town (2,000) 4 hours west of Sydney. We took a boat with the couple and their kids while the cousins got the second boat.

It took about 15 minutes at the pier for us to make our way up among the many groups of six, but the boats were streaming in, unloading and loading, and moving quickly off. Soon we were flying along in the estuary between the coast and the island that holds Celestún. We could see several groups of flamingos, and we stopped with 10-12 other boats to check them out.We then went into a small channel in the mangroves where we saw a few more birds, some large termite nests high in the trees, and a cool swimming hole where fresh water bubbles up from an underground river. We took a quick dip there.Then we were hustled all night back to the boat so we could return to the pier and our boat could take out another group. It was a fun excursion, if a bit touristy and a mob scene.

We then took a moto-taxi into town where we had a nice grilled fish lunch and then caught a bus back to Mérida. This direction was much faster. Not only did we not stop at multiple bus stations in Mérida, but it even left us right in the town center, near to where I had to pick up our laundry and near to the Siesta Fiesta Hostel.

We had a quick swim and went to dinner at our new favorite Italian restaurant.

Today, I woke up early for another run, and we are now relaxing in the room. After we finally motivate for breakfast, we will move to Valladolid, our last stop of the trip.

Las Grutas X’putil

Yesterday, we went on an adventure to a set of caves that I heard about it online, and which also got a small mention in our guidebook. Getting there by public transportation was half the challenge. We took a collectivo, a small van that leaves when full, from a tiny station off the San Juan park. I had to ask a few people at the park to find the right building. It didn’t look like a bus station. I paid the 111 pesos, and they gave me three poker chips with numbers written on them. Luckily, that only left one empty seat in the van so we were soon ready to leave. We then walked out to the van, and the driver called us by chip number, so the lower numbers got earlier choice of seats. We ended up with the two kids sitting together and me behind them. We were off. In about an hour, we arrived in the tiny pueblo of Calcehtok, with the last 100 meters at less than five miles per hour as the small road was more than half full of a series of piles of small stones that we had to edge by or, at times, drive partially over. It seems that the road was going to get a new surface soon, but for now it was nearly impassable. In the town, they let us out and suggested that we find a motor-tricycle to the caves. I was heartened to see some more collectivos there waiting to fill up to head back towards Mérida since I had heard that it could be hard to get a vehicle back as they were often full when they passed through the pueblo. Meanwhile, we could either walk the 2miles to the caves or find a motor-tricycle. Then an older man appeared with this odd vehicle, kind of like a tuk-tuk without the decorations and with the “cab” in front. After we bargained for the ride, I sat with the kids on a small bench with an awning while the older man got on the motorcycle part and started pushing us along the road. The pavement was so bad that we could not go fast. I’m also not sure how much horsepower the motorcycle had. It was slow going on the uphill parts. Halfway, he stopped at a junction. There are now two sets of caves that one can visit. We were looking for the Caves of Calcehtok, also known as X’putil. The signs at the junction indicated to the right were the Caves of Calcehtok while straight ahead were the Caves of X’putil, formerly known as the Caves of Calcehtok. He told me that X’putil was much farther as he wanted more money. I replied to the extortion by saying nothing. He tried again, and I said that we could walk. He kept driving. Another mile or so, we ended up in a small parking lot with a pickup truck and a motorcycle parked, and a guy lying down beneath a tarp. There was a simple entrance with a small desk under an awning, and no one else around. The motor-tricycle drove off, and we looked around. The guy lying under the tarp came over and asked us which route we would like to do: the family route for an hour, the intermediate route for two hours, or the extreme route for six hours. We went for two. He took the money and we started off when we heard a car drive up the dirt road. He went and checked it out, and soon another four people, a couple with their two daughters joined us.

The caves were great, though I’m glad we only went for two hours. They were warm and humid, and we were worn out by the end. We started by climbing down a rickety metal ladder and then turning into a small opening. I thought that I would need to leave my backpack outside, but he let me bring it in. He gave each of us a small headlamp which we certainly needed! We were soon in the pitch black, getting descriptions of what the Mayans used to do in the caves, showing us features named for a crocodile, jaguars, and Mayan gods, along with tons of stalagmites and stalactites. At one point we saw lots of natural yellow/gold glitter in the ceiling, and then Dylan noticed some red glitter on a rock below that turned out to be actual red glitter. So much for all natural features. About halfway through, we came to the bottom of a circular opening. It was strange to see the sunlight, and soon we were back inside. The final bits were particularly fun. We had to climb up a rope through a small opening until we were slithering on our stomachs to get though. I had to take off my backpack and push it through in front of me. We came to another larger cavern. How to get out? A tiny opening in on there corner. This time, while I took off the backpack, I could get through on my hands and knees. What fun! The kids loved it and were laughing at us “larger” people trying to squeeze through these opening. Soon, we were back above ground.

How to get back? I asked the family who had joined us, and they offered to give us a ride back into town. However, they wanted to visit a minor pyramid nearby, so we agreed to go there first, not that we had a lot of choice. The road there was so narrow that the vegetation on both sides were scraping the car and we proceeded at a snail’s pace. It took 20 minutes to go about two miles, but the kids did enjoy climbing the two main structures. There were only two other people at the site, quite a difference from Palenque. They main road to this site was not the one we came up, and since no one wanted to drive back down that tiny road, we went out the other way, and they dropped us off in the village of Maxcanú where, after asking around, we found a collectivo back to Mérida.

We were exhausted, so we washed all the clay off of us (see Dylan’s shirt)and took a swim in the hostel pool. By the time we were ready to get dinner, it was about 8 pm and almost every restaurant was closed. (We spent 15 minutes looking for a promising restaurant I had seen before realizing that we couldn’t find it because it was shuttered for the day.) we were lucky in finding a place open and, famished, we quickly agreed to eat there.

Today, I woke up early for a run, and the kids have decided not to go to Uxmal to see another pyramid. Instead, we will have a relaxing day at the hostel. I’m sure we’ll swim a bit. Tomorrow, we will get up early to go find the flamingoes of Celestun.

Aluxes Ecoparque – added one more photo

Technical difficulties reminiscent of China are keeping photos from uploading.

This afternoon, we took a quick combi ride to Alexes Ecoparque, a small zoo of wild animals saved from poachers and illegal pet owners. They have panthers, a miniature leopard,

deer, alligators, turtles, otters, foxes, panthers, spider monkeys,

flamingos,

and a peccary.

The highlight by far were the manatees. For an extra fee, the kids go to feed and pet it.

They are certainly funny creatures, slow moving and gentle. After feeding, this one even smiled for the camera!

Palenque

Yesterday was a long day. We were up in the cold of 4 AM, and tried to get more sleep in the van, with only partial success. We stopped at 7 in Ocosingo for a buffet breakfast, surprisingly good with pancakes, fruit, yoghurt, even corn flakes, along with the usual Mexican fare. Then back in the can for 2 more hours to Agua Azul, a beautiful, if touristy, set of cascades of blue water and limestone waterfalls.

Farther upstream, there were many calmer pools for swimming.

By the falls, the water was very calm, but right by the bank they had set up a helpful rope to keep people from floating down the minor falls there.

The water was a it chilly but that felt good. Even in the morning it was already warm. We had dropped a lot of altitude from San Cristóbal.

After Agua Azul, we drove another 45 minutes to a smaller casacades of Misol-Ha, basically one high waterfall with a small walkway that went behind it.

We had a fast lunch at Misol-Ha, and then it was off to the ruins of Palenque. I wasn’t sure how the kids would do in an archeological zone, but they took off to climb the places we were allowed.

It was very hot, and Ella quickly faded, so along with ruin climbing we had to take some breaks. Dylan and I climbed one that Ella skipped. and loved looking for small features.He even took a turn at photographer.Overall, we did very well, but it was a long day. We were all so glad that we didn’t need to drive back to San Cristóbal with the others in the van. They still had another 5 hours of bumps and windy roads. We stayed in Palenque at the Yaxkin Hostel, again a king-sized bed and bunk beds, and more importantly air conditioning. It is hot and muggy here. This morning I got up early for a run at 7:30. The first half was fine but on the way back the haze burned off and it go to 80 too fast for my liking. Luckily, all we did after my run was hang out in the room. By taking the tour yesterday, we covered the important sites of Palenque before we even arrived, thus earning us a morning off. This afternoon, we are going to visit the Aluxes Ecoparque, some sort of local zoo.

San Juan Chamula

Today we started in San Cristóbal, getting some French pastries and passing through the main square. Unfortunately, the main church is closed for renovations but one can still take pictures of the facade.

We then took a collectivo to Chamula, a small village in the hills around San Cristóbal. It is famous for its excommunicated church where they now celebrate their local traditions.

You can’t take pictures inside the church, so I had to suffice with some of the processions getting ready to enter.If you look carefully, you can see the main church below.There were all sorts of firecrackers going off in the square as we waited to buy our tourist tickets for going inside. It wasn’t that there was a long line. They just ran out of tickets so we had to wait 10 minutes for a new stack. Inside the e were many groups of people lighting huge numbers of candles and opening bottles of soda in front of them. (Apparently, burps are a way to rid oneself of bad spirits.) The floor of the church is covered with long pine needles that they clear away before lighting candles. It’s a wonder that the place hasn’t gone up in flames.

After out short visit, we took another collectivo back to San Cristóbal for lunch and a quick walk up a small hill, El Cerrito de San Cristóbal, for nice views of the city. If you look carefully, you can see the main church below.

After walking back down, we dropped Dylan off at the hostel while Ella and I returned for one last time to the tourist market around The Iglesia de Santo Domingo to pick up an amber necklace and some bead animals.

It turns out that there is some problem with the route to Palenque. All public buses are taking a roundabout route that makes the journey ten hours instead of five. Our hostel here also books tours, including a long day trip to Palenque. “Because they have to get back in one day,” they still take the five hour route. That doesn’t make sense, but for just a little extra money we can get to Palenque in the same time as the bus with stops at two waterfalls and a tour of the Palenque ruins. Seems an easy choice. The only downside: it leaves at 4 AM. At least, we get dropped off in Palenque at 5 PM and don’t have to take the five hour return trip.

12

Yes, Dylan and Ella are 12 today. We celebrated by sleeping in, going to a French bakery for pastries, and shopping in the tourist market. Ella got a pair of necklaces, one for her and one for Dylan, and a bead bird for herself. Dylan got a set of bead fruits and a set of magnets for himself. We had a nice lunch with gelato for dessert, and now we’re back at the hostel for some R&R. I plan on going for a run later. While it’s warm in the sun here, it is much cooler than anywhere else we’re going to be, so I might as well take advantage of it.

The Cancún Beach

Yesterday, we had our one day in Cancun, so we went to the beach for a few hours, enough to enjoy the water but not get too much sun.

It was easy to get to the beach and back, just a short bus trip. We came back to shower and clean up for the plane trip to Chiapas. That was last night’s activity. With the evening flight and an hour shuttle ride, we didn’t arrive to Rossco’s until close to 11 pm, and that is with an extra hour. At least this hostel exists! In fact, we have a nice room with a king-sized bed, bunk beds, and even a small balcony with a hammock. We slept well.

Arrival in Cancun

Surprise! The Sherry family is on the move. We arrived in Cancun easily enough and then spent an hour wandering a small neighborhood looking for our reserved hostel. Eventually, we came back to a place for the second time and buzzed. It didn’t have the right name, but the address seemed right. Guess what? I had reserved a room in a phantom hostel. It had closed three months ago. (That explains the available rooms!) so, it as to until after 4 pm that I got us a room at another place, a short taxi ride away. They also, it turns out, didn’t have the family room advertised on Booking.com, so they gave us two single rooms for the same price. The kids are taking the nicer room, and I’ll be across the hall. Never a dull moment!