Tabasco isn't just a sauce


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North America » Mexico » Quintana Roo » Bacalar
April 15th 2009
Published: April 19th 2009
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Becan RuinsBecan RuinsBecan Ruins

Mayan ruins, well preserved
April 14, Tuesday

Taxes are done and I'm a happy camper. Actually I'm a happy hotel-er since we've only camped once in Mexico so far. I have to keep in mind that the rooms are between 250 pesos and 750 pesos - or between $20 and $60 per night. Not really that bad considering the cost of camping in a lot of State Parks is about $8 to get in and another $20 to $30 to camp. We left Palanque and headed north and east to Escarcega, in Tabasco State. I'm not sure if that's where the spicey sauce got it's name from. When we visited Avery Island LA, home of the Tabasco brand, they mentioned that the originator brought home some peppers from somewhere, so maybe it was from the state of Tabasco in Mexico and that's how he named his sauce. The ride to Escarcega was much less exciting than the other days we've had in Chiapas State. This town is not on the "beautiful Mexican towns" list, it's the least attractive and on the "most likely to cause you to want to keep your hand over your wallet" list. We found a hotel, ironically the Hotel Escarcega, after checking with the Hotel Ismarelda which would also have been fine, then we went for a walk towards the "Super Che" which is a step or two down from Wal-Mart. We got a few sideways looks, mostly I think from guys trying to be cool and scare the Gringos, but no one actually made any moves and I never felt ill at ease enough to be truly concerned. Cheese and crackers plus chips back at the hotel, and after some reading, down for the night.

April 15, Wednesday

This marks the middle of the second week of Holidays for the Mexicans. So far, we've not had any problems getting rooms, but I think that's because we are visiting the places that the Mexican families go on holiday away from, rather than to. The ride from Escarcega to Chetumal is pretty straight away, with the first 100 km or so on brand new, nicely done roads. We ran about 130 kph along there, and the real treat was all the topes had been removed going through the small towns. The road guys had made pedestrian bridges over the road instead of slowing all the traffic down with the speed bumps. I also noticed bus stops on both sides of the road about every half mile. I'd sure hate to be on the local route and try to make any time to the big city. We stopped at a little place that had a Canadian Maple Leaf and a British Union Jack flying along with a Mexican flag. It turned out to be Rio Bec Dreams, a small hotel/bungalow type spot, with a little restaurant, and owned by a Canadian man and English woman. We spoke to the son, who spends much of the summer in Toronto, but comes down here to help out for a few months in the winter and spring. Tough life. After a coffee and some conversation in un-accented English (for Deb that is, eh? ) we hopped on the bike and rode to the Becan ruins which were about 1/2 a km off the road. On arrival we were greeted by 8 local kids, none of whom were selling anything. I think they were just interested in anyone who came for a visit. 41 pesos ( where did they come up with that number ?) per person, but well worth it. This particular "town" was begun around 550 BC and was big time around the time that Tajin ( the other ruins we visited ) was just getting started. The highest pyramid was much bigger than those at Tajin and the structural designs were very different, including curved corners and interior rooms. The area involved did not seem as spacious, but the buildings were in pretty good shape, you could actually go into some of the interior rooms, and I climbed the stairs to the top of the highest ruin. "Becan" means cliff or water formed canyon, and this place had a 1.9 km long fosse, like a moat, surrounding the city, assumedly for defense. Back at the bike, and amidst all the kids again, Deb and I had an ice cream cone, 5 pesos each, courtesy of the bicycle ice cream man. Once I checked to make sure nothing had "fallen off" the bike and disappeared, I treated all 8 kids to cones. I figured I could spare the 40 pesos ( $3.20 ) in the interest of good international relations. Besides, the ice cream man needed the business. I was able to make out that he was asking all the kids if
Rulers palaceRulers palaceRulers palace

From atop the highest pyramid
the parents would mind if they had ice cream. None of them thought mom or dad would mind apparently. On towards Chetumal, past the turn off to Belize, and into a nice seaside town with, most importantly, an "Italian Coffee Shop" where another BC Canada couple made our acquaintance. A quick and unsuccessful stop at Sam's Club ( no Wal-Mart in town ) and a chat with a retired expatriate from Florida who seemed to really want to speak English to somebody, then we cruised Bahia Blvd along the shoreline. Soon the decision was made to continue north to Laguna Bacalar, where several different people had recommended the Hotel Laguna. Found the hotel, it was very pretty, right on the shore of this beautiful lake, and we were quoted 850 pesos for a small room with no view. I said hmph, and asked them if they had any other rooms available. Nope. So we cruised on a little further, finding everything else with no-vacancy signs up. Returning to Hotel Laguna, I girded my spanish speaking loins for a bargaining battle. In I walked, and informed them that 850 pesos for that room was very way too much. I offered them 750 pesos, and would stay for two nights. The girl shook her head, smiled and said no. So I then asked her did she have any other price in mind, like maybe 800 pesos. She thought for a moment, looked into some paperwork, and then asked the lady at the main desk something. The lady responded after a moment's thought, and the girl said to me... " Okay, 700 pesos for one night and you can have two nights at that rate if you want. " I'm not sure how that bargaining was supposed to have gone, but I accepted before I said something stupid in spanish like " Oh, no , I will only pay 1,000 pesos. " We were disappointed that there was no view, but the way I made it okay was if we wanted the view, we'd probably be sitting out on the terraces anyway. Plus the only other option was to return the 60 km back to Chetumal, and hope there were rooms available there for reasonable prices. We had a nice supper in the attached restaurant, sat on one of the bench swings overlooking the lake for a while, and then into the room with no view. Oh yes. They want 35 pesos for the code to access the wi-fi internet. More hmph.

April 16, Thursday

This was a day of lazing around. We took a dip in the fresh water lake, sunned ourselves for a while, took a ride into town and visited the Spanish Fort. This was a very interesting structure, easily defendable, and was used to protect the town for many years. Bacalar was a center of trade since the early Mayan days, and also a place of strategic importance. Inside the fort was a very well done museum, with placards in both Spanish and English. Later we looked at the nice houses along the lakeshore, had some coffee, read our books. Like I said, a lazy day.


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Spanish FortSpanish Fort
Spanish Fort

This bridge was originally a wooden drawbridge


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