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Published: April 24th 2010
Rainy view of Palenque
This is an amazing Maya site - and it hindsight one of the better ones.I am going to begin this tale when we got to Quintana Roo, the Eastern-most state in Mexico on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Thus leaving out a fairly soggy interlude that saw us travelling all around Chiapas and Tabasco states to try to get to Palenque when the roads were blocked by protesters. We did eventually get there and enjoyed the beautiful ruins despite intermittently heavy rain. However, this chapter is going to be about the two weeks that my mum, Karin, came out to visit us and to spend my birthday with me. It all starts on Isla Mujeres...
Isla Mujeres
Elliott and I had actually thought we might spend a month or so somewhere on the Mexican Caribbean coast if the diving was good and we could find a cheap place to stay. This could also have been a good way for my mum to come out and stay, and we’d have a base with a kitchen to do day trips from. However, it quickly dawned on us when arriving on Isla Mujeres a few days before my mum was coming out, that this was not the place for us - not long-term anyway.
Mayan hieroglyphs
From the museum at Palenque - it was amazing seeing how evolved the Mayas were at this really interesting museum Although Isla Mujeres started growing on me the longer we stayed, it’s just too touristy for me. I know I’m half American myself, and apologies to any American readers, but there’s just something about American tourists that does my head in! They just seem to operate on a different decibel level than everyone else - and it really annoys me to be forced to listen to their inane conversations and loud outbursts wherever I go. And that unfortunately means that Cancun and surrounding areas are not for me. It’s not Mexico, it’s Gringolandia…
It’s beautiful there, and people are really nice. We found our way around the little town on Isla Mujeres, and found cheap local places to eat for example. The main street in town is a pedestrian street with souvenir shops and restaurants lining it. It’s kinda fun walking up and down as a couple and hear the inventive ways the hawkers try to get your attention. My favourite is: You honeymooners…? But admittedly it gets a bit tiring - and after a while you realise that they are not that inventive after all, they just copy each other. Having just stayed in Zipolite for a while,
the prices of hostels and hotels also came as a bit of a shock to us. We had stayed for 150 pesos for our own room on the beach for the two of us (around US$13), this we almost couldn’t even get a dorm bed for one person for on Isla… But we quickly adjusted to the new price levels, and actually thought paying US$45 for three people was a good deal at the end of it!
So… we didn’t rent anywhere to stay long term, which I know was a bit of surprise to my mum when she came out. She had fallen really ill the week leading up to her flight. She was in bed with 39 in fever the day before! But somehow managed to get well enough to travel on Saturday the 21st. She unfortunately had some trouble with the changes in rules surrounding the ESTA form you have to fill out to enter America - even just for a connecting flight. So she had to take a different flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, but luckily managed to catch her connecting flight to Cancun anyway, but was obviously very tired and upset. We have since written
Of course once my mum arrived it was a windy and grey day
but the convalescent was still up for a recuperative walk to Delta to complain about the misinformation she was given, as well as the bad treatment, and I hope she’ll be compensated.
We had found us a nice studio place with room for 3 people, at a guy called Alejandro’s place (ask at Poc Na), so we fed Karin her first Mexican meal: quesadillas, and put her to bed quickly on her first night.
Then we started out slow in our exploration of the island to keep up with Karin’s energy levels. We had some beach time, both in windy/rainy conditions and in blinding sunlight. Elliott and I went diving one day, which was supposed to last a couple of hours, so Karin could have a relaxing morning with espresso from Mañana and a massage on the beach. We ended up taking a bit longer, though, as we realised that Mexico time is extra slow on Isla 😊
One day we rented bikes - mine was a lovely pink thing, I’d had my eye on for days - and set off to explore the island, which is 8 km long but only a few hundred meters wide even at its widest point. We cycled out of town on
the west side of the island, stopping at various points of interest, such as a bakery with lovely croissants, and eventually we took a turn-off to the Isla Mujeres Turtle Sanctuary. I’ve never seen turtles quite so close up before, only seen them on dives before. I admire the work they do at the turtle sanctuary: going to the beaches where the turtles lay their eggs, fencing off the eggs, and when they hatch keep them at the sanctuary until they are big enough to fend for themselves in the wild. However…. There was hardly any information about this worthwhile project at the sanctuary, and the turtles kept back for display were kept in really small pools in their ‘aquarium’ where they are being fed pellets at regular intervals for the tourists to see. Sure it was nice to see different species and sizes of turtles, but I wish they were kept in fenced off ocean outside or bigger pools at least. I did, however, enjoy their display of sea horses! I’ve never seen a sea horse before, although one divemaster once tried to show me and a group some in a dark crevasse… There were two kinds: big (ca.
The view from our 'flat' at Alejandro's
Manana, the restaurant to the right served the best veggie burger, although my mum would say they should be famed for their espresso! 10cm long) yellow ones that were mostly hanging out with their tails wrapped around seaweed; and tiny little brown ones that were maybe just half a cm long. We spent a while there, and I’m glad to have contributed to their worthy cause.
Then it was off further south, where we’d read you could spend the day at a hotel and use their facilities. When we turned up it turned out they had merged with a Dolphin Discovery experience, that included zip-lines and swimming with dolphins, free buffet and bar - all at the small price of US$59! So we skipped the swimming stop we’d hoped for and went to the southern tip of the island - Isla Mujeres’ Lands End. We went up in the light-house for a great view of the island and the turquoise waters surrounding us. Then we found out that it cost money to go all the way to the end, where the island’s only ruins are. Which we would of course gladly have paid - only we then read on the sign that the money paid went to the upkeep of an ugly collection of sculptures that were marring the landscape. So we
had a refreshment, lemonade made with fresh lemons and fizzy water, mmm, in a café instead and enjoyed the view from there.
Then we cycled north again, this time on the eastern side of the island with a fresh sea breeze blowing in from the Caribbean. There were some fantastic views on the way, and so many iguanas to spot all the way we lost count… It was also interesting to see where the locals live. There are a lot of prestigious properties outside the town, but there are also more basic clusters of houses where I would imagine the locals enjoy some peace away from the hustle and bustle of all the tourists.
Isla Mujeres definitely has two faces: The one shown to all the tourists with the souvenir shops and silver smiths, and behind that the ‘real’ Isla where people live their lives like everywhere else. Here, most of them just make a living off tourism…
Birthday on Tulum Beach
After five days on Isla Mujeres, we decided to move south before Semana Santa, Easter Week, which is supposed to be crazy busy in Mexico with hotels being booked out months in advance and
Our common room at Alejandro's
where we had a nice room with bathroom and fridge, as well as access to the kitchen travel being as frantically busy as Christmas. Karin wanted some real beach holiday time and we obviously wanted somewhere nice to stay for my birthday. In Tulum we looked around both at hostels and hotels before we decided to just go straight to the beach and look. We had had a place called Diamante K recommended to us, so we started there. It was very impressive at first sight. Straight onto a rocky outcropping with sandy patches and beautiful views of the Caribbean. The huts were glammed up rustic wooden ones with nice white sheets and mosquito nets on beds suspended on ropes from the beams in the ceiling. With a ‘little’ financial help from Karin, we decided that we’d try it for at least one night. The problem being that we were quite isolated with no shops around for alternative eating besides the restaurant at the ‘resort’ which would of course add a lot to the expense of staying there. We tried the restaurant a couple of times, and it was ok, but when we decided to stay we looked into ways of getting around. Bike hire was extortionate, we could afford a taxi into town and back again
Boats where the fishermen cut fish for the tourists every morning
My mum of course took pictures, but I think they're just a bit too gory... for the price of one bike - so that’s what we did.
And then it was just time to relax and enjoy… It reminded Karin of a luxury resort she had stayed at in Antigua, only at a fraction of the price. Paradisiacal, I think was the word she used 😊 We hung out in the shade in hammocks reading our books when it was too hot, went for swims at the little private beach in front of our hut (which we unfortunately had to share with the rest of the guests…), went for walks on the long Tulum Beach just north of the resort, and went into town at night for better and cheaper restaurants and to stock up on snacks for the next day.
Unfortunately, I got a sore throat a couple of days before my birthday, which of course developed into a fully fledged cold and super runny nose on the day! I still had a fantastic day, though. The best birthday in recent memory, in fact. We went for breakfast at a neighbouring resort, Mezzanine, where we’d had some fantastic coffee the day before. I had banana pancakes, orange juice and caffe latte and
We rented bikes one day to do a tour of the island
We just had to make a little stop at the bakery on our way ;) some great presents 😊 Then we squeezed in some beach and sun tanning time before we went up to see the Maya ruins that have made Tulum a destination in the first place. They are the only ruins with an ocean view, and used to be an important port for the Mayans at its height 1200 - 1521 from where they traded with other cities in Central America and shipped food and goods to other Maya cities on the Peninsula. The Maya name for it was ‘Zama’ which means dawn - this was the first place for the sun to rise in the Mayan realm. Tulum is Spanish for ‘Wall’ due to the massive wall surrounding the site.
After the cultural aspect of the day, it was time for some hot chocolate - a must on any birthday if you ask me - and then a little nap before dinner. Again we went back to Mezzanine for some delicious Thai food and some free wifi for picking up all those lovely electronic birthday greetings :D Thanks, everyone!
Tulum Town
After our luxurious interlude at the beach we moved to more modest quarters in Tulum town. We’d already looked
around at various hotels, but were happy that the
Weary Traveler had a private room available for us. It is a ‘happening’ place, with a central courtyard in front of the dorm rooms with a kitchen, free DIY breakfast (more about that later!), a bar, grill in the evening, and free wifi. Everyone seems to get up early (I imagine due to the noise of breakfast starting just outside people’s bedrooms) and then it’s a rugby scrum for coffee, cereal, toast, pancakes and eggs that you cook for yourself if you can get space at the grill. So simple, and yet so many variations can be made with those few ingredients. We invested in some milk, and suddenly the world of French toast was open to us as well. It was a really well-stocked kitchen with oil, spices, lentils, rice and pasta - but most importantly cinnamon and maple syrup for our French toast and pancakes 😊 Yummm.
Like Isla Mujeres, Tulum town is split into the parts that tourists go to: the main street with all the restaurants and souvenir shops, and then the rest of town that’s like any sleepy Mexican town with little corner shops and shoe
My first sea horse sighting
Of course it was in the 'aquarium' at the turtle sanctuary, so still have to keep an eye out for the 'real thing' on my dives... stores and clothes shops. The main street is actually the highway cutting through the middle of town, unchanging bar a few speed bumps, making Tulum seem like little more than a truck stop
Chichén Itzá
By now it was time to hit the highlights of the Yucatán Peninsula, so we rented a car and set off to see one of the 7 Wonders of the World: Chichén Itzá. On the way, we passed through the cute Colonial town of Valladolid. We parked the car to have a stroll around the square and streets lined with beautiful pastel coloured houses. The more inland we came the more traditional people appeared to be, with women in Valladolid dressing in white dresses embroidered with colourful flower motifs on the shoulders and in tiers on the skirt and underskirt sticking out underneath. We had lunch in the courtyard of a crumbling colonial town-house converted to a hotel on the plaza where we had totopos which are a kind of home-made nachos with salsas which you get before your meal at the fancier restaurants, followed by gazpacho for the ladies and some kind of meat for the carnivore 😊
Like most other
ruins we’ve seen, Chichén Itzá has been restored to the point where parts of it can’t even be called ruins anymore. This in particular goes for the central pyramid, El Castillo for which it is famous. Even though it’s been rebuilt, it still looks spectacular as it rises in front of you in the hot spring sun when you first enter the site. Around spring and autumn equinox, a shadow is cast on the stairs that look like the jagged spine of a serpent. We had heard that it gets crazy around that time, and were glad we had waited. We overheard a guide say that there had been 60.000 visitors, a new record, on 21 March this year. I’m not going to go into details about the site, you can read those
here, but I will say this about our visit: it’s awfully hot there, fairly overpriced to get in, too full of other tourists and souvenir sellers (why can’t they wait outside???), and not very informative in its displays. Furthermore, our views were constantly marred by the stage that was being set up for Elton John’s concert a few days later. But take a look at my photos
Turtle
The Turtle Sanctuary on Isla Mujeres saves thousands of eggs each year that are then hatched and re-released into the wild when the turtles are big enough to stand a chance - some of the ruins are quite nice 😊
Punta Allen & the Sian Ka’an Biosphere
The next day we set off in the opposite direction, through the
Sian Ka’an Biosphere to a village at the southern end of a narrow strip of land that divides the ocean from a massive lagoon. The road is nothing more than a dirt track, and we’d heard and read lots of stories about how bad it was and how long it took to drive to Punta Allen. Sure it had lots of holes in sections, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. Just after entering the park, we stopped at the visitor’s centre to read about the flora and fauna being protected in the biosphere, and to go up into the look-out tower for views of the sea, the lagoon and the rainforest-covered land that divides the two. Then we went down to a dock in the lagoon and watched fish swim and jump around in the milky green-blue water and pelicans trying their luck in acrobatic nose-dives.
After a couple of bone-rattling hours we arrived in Punta Allen, which wasn’t, as the name suggests, actually on the point of the land
spit. For some reason my mum had expected a small port town, but it was nothing more than a few sandy streets with a couple of jetties on the beach. We had some very nice lunch, then a superb cup of coffee from a crazy Canadian hawking his beverages loudly on a street corner. These we took with us as we went for a walk to find the lighthouse. The track we found, took us nearer to the point, through mosquito filled mangroves and coconut palms, but still not all the way… From the map it looks like this is one of the places where the sea and the lagoon exchange waters, but we didn’t get to see it.
After another cup of coffee we all got back in the trusty car and rattled our way home, stopping only briefly for a sunset swim and for Karin to steal a few rocks and corals washed up on the beach. We then lost her for a while, as she roamed the mangroves on the lagoon for the perfect sunset shot 😊
Cenote Dos Ojos & Lagoon Yal-Ku
On the third and last day with the car, we got up
early because we’d heard our next attraction was amazing if you were the first to get there. And we were! A Cenote is a limestone sink-hole filled with clear freshwater by underground tributaries. We avoided some of the Western-run circus ones with their zip-lines and what not, and went to a Maya-owned one called ‘Two Eyes’ -
Dos Ojos , as there are actually two cave openings to this cenote. We knew you could dive in them, but we didn’t expect the number of divers we saw there. When I say we were the first there, I don’t mean at the site, I mean in the water, because there were a couple of groups of divers receiving their pre-dive instructions. It is not just a hole in the ground, as I think when I hear the word ‘sink-hole’, but rather a cavern with stalactites hanging off the ceiling, and half filled with strikingly blue, clear water. It was amazing jumping into and breaking the smooth, still surface. We snorkelled around looking at the small fish, the sandy bottom, and at the edges of the cavern underwater stalagmites and eventually the opening of the tunnels that the divers disappeared into. It was strange
snorkelling in fresh-water as ones buoyancy is so different than in salt-water. It takes a lot more concentration and work to keep yourself afloat and breathing air rather than water. After a while we got up and went over to the other opening where there weren’t so many divers getting ready. Here there was more cavern to explore, we swam under an overhang towards a bright light we could see, and it was another opening right overhead. Unfortunately, a snorkel guide, protective of his craft, said we weren’t allowed there without a guide. As he guided us back to the main cave with his flashlight, I couldn’t help compare how easily we had entered the other cave and how difficult a route he led us…
After some lunch we cooked up in the kitchen back at the Weary Traveler, we drove up the coast again to a place called Yal-Ku which means ‘Where the Fish Grow’. Like the more well-known Xel-Ha, Yal-Ku is a small natural lagoon that we’d heard had really good snorkelling. The steep edges of the lagoon are surrounded by rocky paths, and the calm salty water is the perfect place for the fish to hang
out when the wind is whipping up the sea. As we hadn’t been too impressed with the snorkelling along the coast (apart from a sting ray on my birthday!), we decided to go. It was a little weird to be in such a busy place with hardly anywhere to sit, but we did enjoy the snorkelling a lot. Elliott and I saw a turtle. Ell and Karin also went out to find it again, with no luck, but they saw lots of sergeant majors, sea fans, some huge parrotfish and batfish. Karin hasn’t snorkelled very much and got very excited about everything she saw, which reminds me of how I was when I first started snorkelling in Thailand 😊 A homemade ice-cream topped the day off beautifully!
Cobá
After giving back the car, we had a few days to chill on the beach before Karin was catching her flight back again (Mon 5th April) from Cancun. We then rented it again for that day to be able to load it with my mum’s luggage and drive to Cobá really early to get there before the tour groups and have the sight more to ourselves, then continue on to
Cancun to have lunch before her later afternoon flight.
Cob á is different from the other Maya sites we’ve seen because it’s in the middle of a jungle. The ruins are less reconstructed than at other sites, and we weren’t being harassed by any souvenir sellers, just a few taxi offers… We had seen a picture in our guidebook of the view from the top of the Nohoch Mul pyramid, and it fully lived up to my expectations. We were there almost alone and could see the jungle stretching out in all directions around us with a few other ruins popping up in places, and the lakes in front of the site off to the right. It’s quite spread out, so there was a lot of walking on the dusty paths - another reason it was good to be there early before everyone else. Although, the walk through the jungle was almost more exciting than the large collection of indecipherable stelae we walked around. Some areas lacked a little information, shall we say… Anyway, for those interested in more on Cobá, click
here.
As we drove away, we made one stop at the lakeside to see the crocodiles. I’ve
never seen them in the wild before, and my experience was a ruined somewhat by the two guys who had decided to charge an entrance fee to the jetty into the lake from where you could see them. They were trying to lure the crocodiles closer by repeatedly throwing large lumps of chicken meat tied to a string into the lake and then retrieving it again. Granted, two of them did come very close, but I do wish they could just be left alone.
Getting to Cancun airport was an exercise in patience. We decided not to double back on ourselves, and were ‘rewarded’ with a route so full of speed-bumps it probably took twice as long as taking the long way around would have! So lunch became a bit of a road-side thing, but we arrived safe, sound and full at the airport in plenty of time to see Karin off.
Goodbye Mexico
We entered Mexico on the 29th of January 2010 and left 10 weeks later on April 7th; we travelled some 5850km, mostly by bus; and came out the other end a couple of thousand dollars lighter, but some unforgettable experiences richer (I know,
'Lands End' Mujeres style
You had to pay around 4 dollars to walk to the end, which would have been fine if we hadn't seen the sign that said the money went to the upkeep of the ugly sculptures that were ruining our view I’m making myself puke too). It seems like it’s much longer since we stayed with the lovely Maria in El Sauzal just south of the American border with our whole trip ahead of us. We’ve done so much: studied the snowbirds in Mazatlán, had our Mexican stomachs in Manzanillo, stayed on a cliff top in Maruata, got bitten to bits in Zihuatanejo, hiked around lava-covered churches in Uruapan, enjoyed the Colonial Cool of Morelia, marvelled at the Monarch butterflies in Sierra Chincua, got close to Frida Kahlo in Mexico City and saw our first pyramids there, enjoyed the Monte Albán ruins in Oaxaca, chilled with surfers in Puerto Escondido, (I’m reluctant to make this pun, but here goes…) ‘hung out’ with nudists in Zipolite, got wet in the amazing ruins of Palenque, and thoroughly explored beaches, islands, ruins, jungles and biospheres on the Yucatán Peninsula. And I’ve got 3003 photos to prove it 😊
It’s been interesting to see the differences between the North and the South, coastal and inland regions; taste the diversity of foods all going under the heading ‘Mexican’; attempt to count the percentage of men with moustaches (although we don’t have the exact number it’s
Photo shoot Karin style
This is one of the many things my mother subjects me to on a continued basis... in the high 60s); and seeing beetles of all colours in rare abundance all around us. The closer we got to Mexico City (where apparently they have a Volkswagen factory) the higher the density. Just like the beetles, it’s been a colourful experience. Despite spending over two months here, we’ve hardly scratched the surface of this great nation. We’re sad to leave, and hope to come back, but our curiosity is getting the better of us and we have to go and see what Central America has to offer, how it compares, and what adventures await us in this region that evokes notions of tropical, jungle-filled, beach-bracketed, ruin-strewn Paradise.
Love,
Kristine
PS: Here’s a little note I’ve put together (with a little help from the LP and Wiki) about a unique Mexican tradition that we did not get to experience due to the timing of our visit, but which still permeates the culture and the way it expresses itself and therefore is visible everywhere you go. I just couldn’t quite figure out where it fitted in - so here it goes in its very own Post Script:
The day of the Dead:
The underlying philosophy is
that death is not the end of life but its continuation in a parallel world. The pre-Hispanic Tarasco people believed spirits could return to their homes on one day each year one month after autumn equinox. Everyone would make sure they’d feel welcome by decorating their houses with flowers. With the Spanish conquest, the Catholic celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day were easily merged with the old Day of the Dead traditions. Day of the Dead in the guise of a Catholic celebration survived throughout the Colonial Period. After Mexican independence, poets used the occasion to ridicule members of the social elite by portraying them as dead with all their wealth and power rendered futile.
The great Mexican engraver, Jose Guadalupe Posada, expressed similar themes in his famous Calaveras - Skeletal figures of death cheerfully engaging in everyday life: dancing, drinking, working, courting, etc.
His most enduring character is La Calavera Catrina, a female skeleton in a low-cut dress and flower-covered hat which can still be seen today on all sorts of souvenir knick-knacks. I myself have been looking at a beach bag in gaudy colours and sparkling beads on more than one occasion…
For Mexico’s mestizo
majority, Day of the Dead is now a popular folk festival and family occasion. The families visit the graveyard to clean and decorate family graves, pray for the departed souls and build altars in their homes to welcome them back. These days most Catholics don’t actually believe the souls come back, as they are either in heaven or purgatory as per their faith, but they still honour their dear departed and commemorate them on this day.
Come October, sugar skulls, chocolate coffins and toy skeletons are sold in markets everywhere as gifts for children as well as graveyard decorations. They derive as much from Posada’s work as they do from the ancient death cult.
For more see
Wikipedia
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