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Published: November 1st 2007
The Beach at Tulum
Space and Serenity, Wow!Greetings All,
Well as you might learn from this we didn’t find that sailboat from Isla Mujeres so we headed south and west by land. Our first stop was Tulum for the full moon. We were mostly interested in the beautiful beach camping right next to the ruins which we found after a long walk and a really short expensive cab ride. I will keep the story short but taxis are a pain in the ass. After our long walk we stopped at a Cabana rental and possible camping spot and learned that it was too expensive. When we asked about other spots we got the impression that camping was a mile back and really didn’t want to walk all the way back. The taxi driver, of course, confirmed our worries and we got in his cab only to find out that the place was really only 30 yards back up the road. Anyway, we agreed to a large fee for a really short ride.
Skipping ahead, the beaches there were great. But the camping was poor because I bought too small of a tent, (un tienda de campana mas pequena para dos gringos.) We also didn’t have pads
Tulum Timmy
Tulum Timmy had two too many tequilas. The full moon worked its magic that's for sure... and so did the tequila! to sleep on, and we had to squeeze all our bags in the tent with us when it rained cats and dogs. It was really a huge contrast because we had an absolutely beautiful location and poor sleeping and weather conditions not to mention feeling bitter about high food prices etc. I want to end positive here though, the beach was incredible there. No crowds! You could walk a very short distance and feel some seclusion. Looking north, you could see El Castillo de Tulum towering on a bluff over the ocean. Furthermore, the full-moonrise over the Caribbean felt like a nice way to spend our parting days on El Caribe.
In short we skipped the ruins and high-tailed if for Belize from Tulum. We figured we had Tikal coming soon and that would be enough. We were both anxious for Guatemala. The bus ride was exciting and it was nice to get across the border with no hassles. Of course figuring out what bus to get on in Chetumal was challenging and we played it right when we turned down the guy who approached us selling first class tickets departing over an hour later than the bus that
A Fishing Boat
The campground we were at was also a fishing coop. Hence, some boats on the beach. didn’t exist that we did get on. Anyway, we made one mistake and forgot to change our pesos at the border so we arrived in Belize City (very sketchy) after dark without enough money for a hotel. We worked it out though and got ourselves to a decent hostel (godsend), but not without getting ripped off by another taxi driver.
The next day we got to the bus station A.S.A.P. and got it the hell outta’ Belize City. The city felt much less foreboding in the morning hours though. Regardless, it was the sketchiest city this little country boy ever seen. Then we headed to San Ignasio, Belize. San Ignasio is near the Border of Guatemala and is a really fun little town to hang out in. We enjoyed an afternoon and evening there and headed for the border the following morning. F.Y.I. Belize is a tiny country that claimed its independence from England in 1981. They speak a dialect of English very similar to Jamaica. Outside of the city it’s a beautiful rural country with lots of adventures to be had, we are excited to return and do a proper tourist tour there.
After our night in
El Castillo de Tulum
The ocean-front ruins at Tulum. S.I. we headed to the Guatemala border with our destination being the City of Flores. No problems with the border crossing and we finally managed to exchange those pesos we’d forgotten to exchange at the previous border crossing without too much of a loss in rates.
I have to say I was a little blown away at the contrast between these two countries. Belize was the least developed nation I had ever seen. Guatemala, at that border, was remarkably less developed. We went from pavement and fences and buildings with desks and guards in Belize to a giant muddy area with a little tin building with a glass window that read immigration in fading letters. It only took a minute for the man to process our passports and give us our 90 day visa. No Problemo! The whole time we’re being processed we’re surrounded by taxi drivers and money changers trying to solicit our business which we easily declined. Of course, Taxi drivers keep following you when one quits talking to you the next one starts. I’ve decided that the international greeting for most countries of the world is “Taxi?” Anyway, we’d gotten a tip as to where the
Full Moon
Muy Bueno, luna llega! minibuses pick up and what we should pay so we walked there and caught one easily for a fair price.
Anyway, I was immediately enchanted by the breathtakingly open countryside in Guatemala. The road from the border was dirt for about 30 or 40 kilometers and was muddy and rough. Looking out the window though, I saw rolling hills, mixed fauna, horses, pigs and various animals along the roadsides. About halfway to our destination the road turned to pavement and things started looking a little more developed, and Flores is a beautiful little town on an Island in the Lake Peten Itza.
Now for the exciting part! Just about 6 or 8 Kilometers outside of Flores we encountered a demonstration. Nothing huge actually but apparently ex-military men wanting better pay or something were and are continually staging this protest. They had some downed trees and rocks and concrete laid across the road. The three way junction I guess is important because it’s the airport road and Tikal being the premiere ruins in Guatemala the Airport road is important. Anyway, we lost a couple dollars because we had to get out of our bus and walk 50 meters down
the highway to the other side of the demonstration and catch another minibus the rest of the way to Flores.
I think we will post more on Flores, this wonderful Hostel we are at, and our visit to Tikal sometime in the next week. I will save that episode, possibly, for Natalie! In the meantime I am also adding here a piece that I wrote while in Mexico. It’s kind of a creative piece of prose that includes some research I did on Mexico’s history and some of the feelings I really had to grapple with while there. It’s also sort of obscure experimental prose for me so you can read it or not and make of it what you will it is not by any means your average blog entry. Peace!
Yucatan YuCanTan I’ve always felt tanning is a subtle mockery of so many darker skinned people. Of course, it shows up in comedy routines and elsewhere where as much is said. Socio-Anthropologically speaking, I think, a tan is desired mostly as a sign of luxury. Commanding a little jealousy from friends with no time for assuring themselves their straps aren’t leaving white lines
across their backs. Yes, a good tan represents the luxury of time; time to lye in the sun. Granted, even with cancer being the deadliest disease in the U.S. maybe the world, people still spend their time catching rays un-protected. I wonder about people sometimes! Maybe, eventually no tan will represent having the money for sunscreen, because sunscreen is, in fact, damned expensive.
Hoy yo toca mi guitarra
A los dirrecciones cardinal
So I could get the sun
Spread equally across my skin
In Asia pale skin is the sign of wealth and luxury. People, particularly women, prefer paler skin. For them it represents affording to stay out of the sun. Working class people work in the sun and their skin gets darker. In Mexico the same seems to be true, paler skin is preferred, but I don’t know enough about the culture to guess why. I only notice the actresses on television who look as fair-skinned as any gringa. In fact some of them have had enough plastic surgery to look almost identical to American actresses. One soap star I was watching, during a ferry ride from Cancun to Isla Mujeres, looked remarkably like Drew Barrymore. It
was not the first remarkable resemblance I had had seen on a Mexican T.V. program but it was clearly too uncanny to be circumstantial. Maybe fairer skin is preferred simply to look more like Yankees because the U.S. is the latest symbol of wealth. People the world over look to the U.S. as a guiding light for their aspirations. And we subtly mock them by taking advantage of their lands and labor while tanning on their white coral beaches.
Parece mejor lo de los demás
I’m going to the dark side
I’ve never been before
For my pride
Necesito un piél
mas Moreno
Socio-Anthropology aside it seems the grass is always greener on the other side of the border. For Gringos going across the border means cheap labor, goods, and beautiful white sand beaches on an ocean that never gets too cold for a dip. Ironically, everyone in the neighborhood has a pool and rarely goes to the beach. Furthermore, all the resorts in the area have beautiful ocean front swimming pools for lounging in the sun. The nearest resort to us, The Mayan, has a full mile-long maze of ocean-front swimming pool with a full-bar set in
Bye Bye Belize City
I took this photo from the back of the bus while departing Belize city. It felt Apro po. the pool. You don’t even have to leave to pool to get a drink! Personally, after staying in the middle of it all for a while I find it rather disgusting. While traveling I prefer to take in the culture a little bit if I can. In this region I find it challenging to bridge the gap between cultures. Of course, Natalie and I try to be open and engaging with locals but it often feels hopeless because we’re Yanqui gringos like so many others here, so many others who treat the locals with contempt. Navigating this problem has had me wracking my brain for weeks now.
Yo pienso mucho
en la revolución
en su revolución
sé nada,
Et’ tu Brutus
Recently I read up on the Mexican economy. Mexico has made a remarkable recovery since the Zapatista uprising on January 1st 1994 and the ensuing economic debacle. The uprising was coordinated with the first day of NAFTA. Apparently the government has made a considerable, for a government, effort to meet the demands of the Zapatistas and keep the ceasefire. The Zapatistas work and fight to recover lands lost at the turn of the 20th century, and to
get support for people’s living in Chiapas and others of the poorest states within Los Estados Unidos de Mexico. Notably, NAFTA opened up the land market to foreigners prior to NAFTA foreigners could not own land in Mexico. It should also be noted that by 1910 almost all of Mexico’s (the native’s lands) had been sold to foreign, investors. Eight-hundred bureaucrats owned almost all the land in Mexico and had reduced 12 of its 15 million people to perpetual or absolute slavery. Hence, the original Zapatista uprising led by Emiliano Zapata, and from the north Pancho Villa. The uprising was successful and started a long process of redistribution of lands.
Zapata went on to redistribute lands in the south according to a fundamental principal:”destroy at the roots and forever the unjust monopoly of land, in order to realize a social state which guarantees fully the natural right which everyman has to an extension of land necessary for his own subsistence and that of his family” Again, Zapata was remarkably successful in his region, not only with land reform but with comprehensive social infrastructure reform. Not surprisingly, in Mexico City land redistribution mostly benefited bureaucrats. Zapata was ambushed and a
Downtown San Ignasio, Belize
The view from the oh-so-quaint Central Hotel deck in San Ignasio. thousand men lying in hiding fired on him simultaneously.
Yo soy un gringo idiota
A su cultura sé nada
I come to drink
And make a stink.
The Caribbean and its white coral beaches easily delivers people into a promised land of over priced merchandise. Playa Del Carmen, formerly a quiet little fishing village and ferry terminal for Cozumel, is now a booming tourist town. Since NAFTA in 1994 Playa del Carmen has grown from under 20,000 people to well over 100,000. The town has a unique feel to be certain. Fifth Avenue or Quinta Avenida is a block off the beach and is lined with businesses, restaurants and bars. Quinta Avenida reminds me of the time I visited a buddy and the storage unit on the lot next to his place had mysteriously exploded. The garage-doors on all the units had blown off and all contents formerly within were in jumbled piles in front of their respective units. Piles o’ crap pouring out the front with concrete walls and a roof, that’s what the stores of Quinta Avenida remind me of.
When you are actually shopping for something on Quinta Avenida it’s like walking the gauntlet.
Natalie In Flores
Oh what a wonderful place to arrive at! Sales people sit and taunt passers by. If you are not shopping they may not talk to you or if you’re not looking their direction in the first place you never feel obliged to respond. On the other hand, if you are shopping you are looking their direction; so the lines come flying “Pasale!” “Come in.” “Allow me to rip you off!” “Have a look, free to look, no cost you nothing.” Every store spills out into the street, with display racks up to the awnings, or tables covered with knick-knacks. And you walk by saying, “No gracias, No gracias, No gracias” almost every step of the way. No cars drive down Quinta Avenida but sellers’ comments pass like a freight train, one identical car after another, seemingly endless and very few of them actually grabbing your attention. It reminds me of the county fair when I was a kid where one swindler after another tried to lure you into a game played with a stacked deck. Clearly, this is not my type of travel destination!
Confessional;
For countries to heal
A spilling of guts is necessary
No secrets, no hidden agendas, Nada mal.
Clearly I am the
Flores Sunset
We were gifted with a gorgeous sunset the first night in Flores. only one with a problem here. The salespersons selling time share condos to flocks of Tourists aren’t complaining about things here. The guys making a buck selling junk on Quinta Avenida aren’t complaining about tourists, or the growth for that matter. Expatriates and vacation homeowners here aren’t complaining about their houses multiplying in value at a rate equivalent to Playa Del Carmen’s growth. And the Chiapans relocating for work aren’t complaining about their opportunities, as far as I know. Who am I to complain? While shopping near 5th in Playa I met a vendor who did not try and lure me into his store. We had a delightful conversation. I quickly grew to respect him, maybe because within 20 seconds of being there he had a guitar in my hands. Roberto was a very genuine individual who spoke fairly good English. He told me he learned from a book, and now he is learning German. Anyway, I asked Roberto what he thought about the rapid growth in the region. He looked at me pretty blankly and said, “No thoughts, I think nothing of it.” He went on to express his feeling that it’s not worth the time to worry about what just is.
Tu Sabes Nada
“We are Nihilists, Lebowski
We believe in nothing, Lebowski!”
Somos Gringos Idiotas con mucho Tiempo para nada!
Roberto taught me something in that exchange. He made me feel arrogant for even asking the question. Who am I to walk blindly into this situation and start passing judgment because I read a book or two and feel great pity? I’m deeply saddened and troubled by my country’s past and present actions but does that give me the right to go around feeling pity-full all the time.
Maybe I’m just naïve to care that only the wealthy will ever own beach front property or that that matters. Playa Del Carmen is not one of the fastest growing cities in the world because only people with money are moving here to buy beach homes. It’s growing because people are moving here for the jobs too. Tourism is the third largest industry in Mexico and the Yucatán is the hotbed of it all. Sadly though, the Yucatán does little to benefit the peoples of Chiapas; except for the fact Chiapans can move to the Yucatán for work.
The simple reckoning I’m having is that I come from a place of privilege. It’s a privilege to have stacks of books and computers to dig through. It’s a privilege to have the time to read. And maybe, it is a privilege to have the time for pity. These are all things not to be taken for granted. I fancy myself a radical or a revolutionary. I want change. I want justice. I want mutual respect. But, is it my job to go out and care and fight battles for people who don’t have time to fight? No, I think maybe it’s presumptuous of me to even imagine that. Mexico has a history of revolution as do Central and South America. These are people who know hardship. They understand it in their bones, in their roots. I am not a person who knows hardship. Nonetheless, I return to cultivating my first tan with a new understanding of confusion, and daydream about the pale skinned Nihilists in “The Big Lebowsky.” Who, I’m not sure I ever understood, before now.
Tu Sabes Nada
“We are Nihilists, Lebowski
We believe in nothing, Lebowski!”
Somos Gringos Idiotas con mucho Tiempo para nada!
By: Tim Page, Fall 2007
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Lars
non-member comment
Keep on Writing
I love your trip and your writing. Thanks for sharing it. 34 degrees this morning in Chelan. Nice to see pictures of people in shorts.