In Mexico, Fun starts with X

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Oh how to find the small villages of Mexico. We didn’t have a map. We didn’t have a guidebook. We didn’t want to go to any of the places listed on the hostel bulletin boards or tongues of other travelers. So we consulted the giant cartoon bus map at the ADO station! It had the usual tourists map symbols for restaurants, airports, ruins, and activities, and next to the lonely city of Xpujil, there were none. It must be the small village we are searching for, especially since it’s in the general direction we want to travel! Angela asked the bus ticket guy if there were hotels in Xpujil, if there is anything to see, and was it cheap there? Since this was a small village in another state about 5 hours away, that’s like asking the gas station attendant in Peshtigo if he knows some great activities and hotel prices in Wawa, Ontario! He gave us his best answers and a confident grin, so we bought our tickets and shrugged our shoulders! I know I’ll have fun with Angela anywhere! Let’s go!
We pulled into town after dark, and surmised there were about 3 hotels in town, and lucky for us they were the 3 buildings around the bus stop! The guy who retrieved and checked our baggage off the bus switched hats and showed us a hotel room the next minute! We decided to stay with Kathy, Bonita (Beautiful!)! Everything she showed us was BONITA! Cable TV! Bonita! Bathroom! Bonita! We couldn’t say no, and for about the same price as our previous hostel, we had a clean nice hotel with satellite cable and our own bathroom! We walked up and down the main highway road of town that evening, and came home to nice cozy beds and watching a movie. Luxury! The next day we woke up to sunshine and couldn’t wait to explore the new town. We followed the usual wandering patterns, and turned where we saw more stores or people and soon we stumbled on a small festival (for health education and testing!) that was full of colorful locals, running children, and multiple taco options! I was excited to get a real Mexican tamale (the ones in Belize are just not exactly right…) AND eat a carne asada y queso torta which was basically a flavorful philly cheese steak sub! After eating we enjoyed shopping the small stands and bought our fire poi some cute carry-all buckets for travel and protection. After buying the buckets, our only shopping focus was on finding kerosene so that we could impress our new small village with fire dancing! But alas, none of the hardware stores sold kerosene and the nearest gas station (or bank for that matter) was 2 hours away in Chetumal. Wow, good thing we brought enough cash!
That afternoon, Angela’s keen eye spotted a small niche of a shop that was actually a woman cutting hair. We had both been talking about a haircut, and couldn’t pass up the price of 30 pesos – about $2.50US! The entire affair, two haircuts, payment, and many thanks, took about 15 minutes and we were back on the streets feeling fresh and sassy! It was so great! We marched our new selves to the other edge of town and into the small Xpujil ruins site. The trail dropped quickly into a thick jungle, and the path wandered up small hills, around sharp corners, and then suddenly opened up to a 40 foot pyramid. We both quickly scaled the steep walls and within minutes we had our poi in the air, never mind the cliff edge on the backside, dancing and spinning to music only we could hear.
As we continued along the pathway, the ruins grew in size and stature until we arrived at a glorious clearing in the jungle. A massive stone stage gave rise to three tall steeples that scraped the perfect blue sky. I had to inspect the structure from every possible angle, and Angela and I climbed wherever we could get a toehold! Ang did a photo shoot of me spinning my poi in the shadow of one of the impressive towers, and the smile captured in those pictures exposes the absolute joy I was feeling! Now living in Central America, I have become more fascinated and educated about the Mayan culture and the stone legacy they left behind. Both the style and the detailed carvings at the top of these narrow pyramids are very reminiscent of the ones seen at Xunantunich, near the Belize/Guatemala border. So although we were far from home, I felt a familiarity with the place. We climbed and spun poi until the sun started to set, and we began our walk home. On the way we picked up our laundry from the friendly woman with the big chickens and were delighted to find we now owned the whitest clothes we have seen! We stopped at a small taco stand to celebrate, and with my -6.1C degree Negro Modelos, I ate a most fabulous bubbling bowl of cheese and carne asada with homemade tortillas and lime. YUM!
The next day we woke up and gave in again to our guilty pleasure – Beverly Hills 90210 reruns on Soap Network. Lucky for us and Kelly and Donna, it didn’t interfere with our bus schedule! That morning we used the placemat map and pictures at the taco stand across the street to decide where we wanted to go next. We were drawn to the promise of theater productions and ruin light shows in the state capital city of Campeche, so we got a direct bus that afternoon.

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Comments

[higgins]

Wait, you are still traveling? Hasn\'t it been about 4 year since you worked? I can only imagine the fun you are having. Has anyone catapulted food that you caught in mid-air? You\'d have to come back to work for that sort of fun. I drove to the UP this summer and saw the exit for Peshtigo and thought fondly of my world traveler. Have fun. Tom