CHICHEN ITZA - THE LAST LAP

I have to confess that I was surprised to wake up with so little after effect from last night’s over indulgence but such small mercies are always welcome.  Mauricio came up trumps with his final upgrade, a brand new air conditioned van for an early start to Chichen Itza in order to beat the crowds.  I slept most of the way and need, I think, to pace myself more carefully after 8 weeks on the road in which some 10,000 miles have been covered.  We were one of the first groups into the site and Enrique, our guide produced an informational ‘tour de force’ that explained and reinforced our growing knowledge of Mayan/Aztec culture and filled in a few gaps as well. 

The number of traders was greater than ever here and most seemed almost resigned to not selling very much. 

The main pyramid was truly grand in scale and the astronomical knowledge applied in its construction was truly astounding, but only two sides have been reconstructed entirely as much of the stone has been lost.  Much of it was taken away to be used in construction elsewhere; yet another parallel with Europe. 

Enrique cleverly demonstrated that, human sacrifice apart, the structure of Mayan religion was little different to that of Christianity with Life, Heaven and an Underworld.

Back onto the van for the final push towards Playa del Carmen where this leg of the tour finishes and most of the group head off home or to other exotic destinations.  Playa is a typical beach resort with the noise and prices to match.  Mauricio organised a final meal at Frido’s where the prices were high, the food was excellent and the service slow.  Mexico were playing and beating Argentina in the Final of the Pan American Games so the waiters did have some excuse here.  From here we moved onto the Blue Parrott but at this point my nerve failed.  The sheer volume of the noise escaping from the place, the fact that girls got in free but men had to pay and the ‘pay $40 to drink as much as you like’ entrance offer seemed objectionable to me.  I’ve seen so much genuine poverty here that I simply didn’t want to be part of such conspicuous expenditure.  I ended up in a much quieter place near to the hotel and had a couple of tequilas before going to bed.

Up early, I set out for a walk along the beach where, in places evidence of the preparations for the non-arriving hurricane were still in place. 

A healthy breakfast and the purchase of a tank top that was actually made in Mexico completed the early activity before returning to the hotel to say farewell to departing friends.  The rest of the day is mine to chill in and perhaps catch up with the laundry.

PALENQUE TO MERIDA

Hurricane Rina has stalled our progress around Mexico so we have had to spend another night in Palenque.  Eventually the decision was made to take the night bus to Merida instead which gave us another day to kill.  Given the snail like quality of wi-fi in most places here the morning was taken up by loading photos onto this blog.  For the afternoon, Mauricio had organised access to a hotel out of town, located next to a river.  I opted to walk and 50 minutes later the allegedly 3 kilometres was accomplished.  On the way some photo opportunities presented themselves.  They don’t seem to clear road-kill here and leave the vultures to do the job.  However, dead dogs are too large for this method so we’ve seen quite a lot on our way around the country. 

Most of the land not left as forest seems to be largely pasture so that’s why the Mexican diet seems to have a lot of meat. 

Similarly, the quality of the roads seems to vary enormously but there does seem to be a major effort to improve them.  However, in many places the preparations for widening are evident but the bitumen surface is just a narrow strip that is shared by the traffic in both directions; potentially hazardous to say the least.  In places the surface has simply been removed and vehicles ride over the rough under-surface until the tarmac is laid.

The hotel, once I got there provided a pleasant interlude and we spent time swimming, reading and enjoying a leisurely lunch. 

Later in the afternoon Mexico played Costa Rica in the semi-final of the Copa America competition and we returned to the television lounge to drink beer and watch the game.  Back to the hotel and out again for an evening meal before loading up to walk to the bus station. 

This time I was lucky enough to have a front seat and the extra leg room helped me to enjoy a sort of sleep for most of the journey.  Arrival in Merida was right on time and we filled 4 taxis for the last lap to the hotel.  This proved to be a spacious elderly building with a large courtyard and entrance that is spacious and gloomy.  It has clearly seen better days and there is an overall air of decrepitude about the place.  Yet again, the showers seem incapable of delivering the most important ingredient; enough hot water to do the job properly.  Merida itself, is a bustling town of over a million inhabitants and an air to purpose mixed with delapidation.  I paid a flying visit to the post office in the morning and looked into the enormous cathedral; more European in style but with an enormous crucifix over the altar.  In the post office the lady on the counter was busily filling out an official form on a typewriter; I haven't seen one of these in action for years!

Despite the broken night’s sleep a significant number of us opted to visit the Mayan ruins at Uxmal, and equipped with a Mauricio organised guide called Victor we set off in a van once everyone had had a chance to refresh themselves.  Mexico has certainly got these sites well organised now and the familiar double ticket entrance, one for the park area and the other for the actual site brought us to another wonderful collection of ancient buildings. 

Once the formally guided part of the tour was over we were free to roam and I wandered around the entire site, climbing the pyramids and trying to get up close the one of the many iguanas that seemed to inhabit every nook and cranny.  Unlike Palenque that is very much part of the jungle, this site rises above it as the Yucutan is a limestone plateau and is very flat. 

There seemed to be so many people desperately trying to sell various artefacts and textiles with little evident success.  “Almost free!!” keeps coming back to me.  The prices being asked are so low in comparison to what we so happily pay for other things.  The heat gradually became oppressive as the day wore on and, on the way back to the hotel we had some rain.  If this is all Hurricane Rina can do we don’t have too much to worry  about. 

The evening was spent in a Mexican restaurant where probably too much drink was taken but I didn’t disgrace myself on the pool table in the Mayan Bar where we ended up before retiring.  An excellent day.

PALENQUE - MAYAN RUINS

Palenque seems to be a town totally set up to service the archaeological site which is just 7 kilometres up the road.  In many ways the main street resembles lots of similar streets in Southern Europe right down to the waiter who was keen to demonstrate that his English was better than my Spanish when I went for my morning coffee.  Even at such an early hour the sounds of distinctly western music wafted out from the shops.

Given that there really isn’t much else to do here, the plan is for us to take the day to visit the ruins before taking the overnight bus to Merida.  This should give us more time there instead.  The bus leaves at 11pm so I’m hoping that the experience of the last trip won’t be repeated.  More time in Merida is a bonus but I need my sleep.  Given the air conditioning on these buses is so effective I plan to solve the boot problem by wearing them.

We set off to the ruins as a group this morning and were led around by an excellent guide, dispensed lots of information in an interesting and humorous manner.  The first part of the tour was through the jungle so we could appreciate the extent to which it has grown over what is a vast site.  The Mayan calendar started some 5,000 years ago when all the planets were in alignment.  This will next happen in 2012 so there is some speculation that the end of the world is nigh!  The pyramids, rising out of the jungle created a dramatic scenario and the precision with which some of the features were aligned to cast light through windows at the solstices and equinoxes seemed awesome in the truest sense.  All the structures are built on 9 levels; this represents the number of days it takes for seed maize to germinate once placed in the ground. 

Most of the buildings were coated with a thick layer of plaster that required a huge amount of wood to be burned in order to make the slaked lime necessary. 

This caused such deforestation that the rains failed for 9 consecutive years and the civilization collapsed around AD 900 in consequence.  It seems bizarre that a culture capable of placing the windows of separate buildings in such a way that a sunbeam on 21^st June, could shine through one and onto another, couldn’t see this coming. 

When our guide left us people went their separate ways and along with other hardy souls, I wandered around the remaining buildings before taking the footpath down towards the excellent museum.  The path was well maintained, picked it’s way through lots of ruins and gave a genuine jungle experience. 

Howler monkeys seemed to follow us down but I didn’t see one, although others were more fortunate.  At one point we rested by a very picturesque waterfall.

Mauricio has just knocked on the door to tell me that we are not taking the night bus now but will be staying here.  I’m glad I didn’t pack!  Apparently, we are waiting to see what Hurricane Rina is going to do.  We still have to hit Playa del Carmen by Friday as that is the end of the tour for some and the start of the next leg for others.  Poor Mauricio now has a real logistic headache.

TO PALENQUE

Arriving in Palenque we were confronted by two aspects of Mexican life from the outset.  Apparently 24^th October is United Nations Day and the local infants were being lined up in the street for a celebratory parade.  Arranged in cohorts to represent the continents, each child carried a flag to represent the various countries and various banners proclaiming peace and love. 

All except the UK that is; the only union jacks I could see were part of the Australian and New Zealand flags.  As they processed around the Zocalo they passed an army truck with a machine gun mounted on the front which contained soldiers all carrying automatic rifles. 

Close by, were two different classes of police, also armed to the teeth.  I started to photograph them but got some dirty looks and decided it would be sensible not to upset a man with a machine gun.

The journey here was a somewhat hair-raising affair given the high number of hairpin bends with switchbacks thrown in as well as the numerous speed bumps that seem to guard all Mexican villages as well as those placed more randomly in the road.  This is perhaps unfair; they are there to slow vehicles down on these massively winding roads.  The vegetation seemed to change almost as soon as we left San Cristobal, with trees growing higher and more densely and soon we were clearly in Rainforest.  This is a significant change after some 6 weeks in desert or semi-desert.  Before long the small clearings were hosting banana and plantain crops, and by the time we reached Palenque, coconuts and oil palm were growing.  I also thought I saw sugar cane but this could be my imagination running away.  In many of the villages there were turkeys picking around in the dust along with the chickens; fine specimens some of them!  Although the forest was growing thickly in most places considerable clearance was in progress and from time to time, fires were still burning.

Our transport was a Mauricio organised upgrade that, being a private hire would give us the chance to visit two waterfalls on the way.  The public bus service would not be so accommodating.  The first stop was the ‘Cascades de Agua Azul’ – Blue Water - where a series of rapids made for attractive scenery and provided the opportunity for swimming that most of us took.

The path by the river was closed in by trees and if it weren’t for the many food and tourist directed stalls, one might imagine oneself to be in the forest.  The weather has been very rainy recently so we were lucky that the water had cleared sufficiently to make it evident that the name was appropriate.  The next one was Misol-Ha, an impressive smallish fall which it was possible to walk right behind. 

It was also possible to swim there but we weren’t able to as the hire for the bus ran out at five o’ clock.   Pity the driver who then had to make his way back to San Cristobal!

The Hotel Shalom proved to be basic in the sense that it provided only rooms and although smallish the beds were comfortable, the fan fanned and the shower emitted so much hot water that the cold had to be used as well.  This was a first!

SAN CRISTOBAL 2

The day started with a visit to the Cathedral, San Nicholas, which was imposing in the manner I’m becoming used to.  Part of the complex contained a much smaller church which was very simple in character.  However, the main cathedral had wonderful white painted columns and walls which together with a wooden ceiling, ameliorated the tendency towards over- elaboration in the ornamentation towards something more acceptable. 

Despite it being Sunday the streets were thronged with people and all the shops were open for business.  Somehow, I wasn’t expecting this.

A quick visit to some shops set a base level for prices in the artisan market that was my next point of call.  The market was set up around the Temple of Santa Domino where a Mass was in full swing with pretty much a full house.  So, not everyone was involved in trade.  The service was moving towards the communion when I got there and to my surprise, the Peace was accomplished largely by a serious shaking of hands; all very British in its way.

My transactions on the market reached a point where a price was agreed but I had insufficient money, so I got the girl to put the goods on one side and indicated that I would go to the bank for the money. 

Another task I’d set myself for the day was to photograph the colourful costumes and street traders in action so I was gone for quite some time.  When I returned and gave the girl the agreed sum of money, she gave me the most enormous smile, crossed herself with the sign of the cross and produced the item.  Even if the goods are actually worthless I feel that the money was well spent.  Most of the traders on the market were busy sewing, threading stuff and generally still finishing off the goods on sale, so I am happy that anything spent here went to authentic products and people who need the money.

The streets were full of women carrying textile products and soliciting for their sale.  The males tended to be more static, selling sweets or offering shoe-shining or other services.  One thing I’d not seen before was a little boy sitting by a set of bathroom scales.  To my surprise, I did see on man mount he scales and give the boy some money.

After a break, I headed up the road past the hotel towards the Temple of Guadaloupe, set high on a hill.  Within two blocks it became very quiet to the point where conversation inside the houses could be heard.  I’m becoming frustrated by my lack of Spanish but I am gradually hearing more and more and trying to speak it in shops.  It is disappointing how much of the meagre vocabulary learned in my Spanish Class two years ago seems to have evaporated.  It is significant to my mind, that the central area is actually so small in relation to the population of the city.  In England a city of 166,000 would have a much larger business area.  The temple, when I got here was very elaborate with patterned tiled floors and lots of flowers and statuary.  The altar was highly decorated and the painting of the Virgin behind the altar even had sequencing party lights flowing around it!  Outside, the views over the city were spectacular.

I made my way back via a parallel street where one shop had a massive grill roasting chicken and loads of vegetables.  Authentic cuisine?

No.  Mexican Fast Food, with a queue as well although my photograph seems to have failed on this count. 

Elsewhere there were some restaurants too small to qualify as they had only two or three tables and only a hand painted or written sign to signify their purpose.

Another thing I’ve noticed on Mexico is the sheer amount of litter despite the many warning signs – ‘No Tirar Basuras’ and here in San Cristobal, people employed in clearing up the mess.

Back near the hotel I spotted Mauricio enjoying beer and joined him for one.  The arrival of Belinda and Hayley established that I’d missed a corner of the town so I set off for the Temple del Cerrito de San Cristobal, which sat even higher on a hill.  When I got there it was locked, but behind the church was a set of public exercise machines so the area is well used and one would think the church would be open. 

From this vantage point I spotted another imposing Blue and white painted church but, on getting there, I found this to be locked as well.  Clearly, locked churches are not an entirely European phenomena.

Back at the hotel I met the challenge of writing postcards when most of the available space is obliterated by the stamps and found a quiet place for supper before retiring early.  Tomorrow we head off to Palenque, where it will be both hot and humid.  Time to break out the bug spray!

SAN CRISTOBAL

Given our midday time of arrival it seemed a shame to waste the day and 8 of us set out to enjoy the pleasures of horse riding.  The first part of the journey was accomplished in the back of an open truck and we raced through the narrow streets, hanging on for dear life, to a rendezvous with the horses. 

My horse was somewhat more of a plodder than Kiowa, my indian pony, but he responded to the controls well enough although he kept trying to bit any other horse that got near the grey mare he was intent on following.  The only disappointment was that the route up through the mountains was entirely on a concrete road but the views were fantastic.  The land was much cultivated in relatively small plots with very tall maize being the dominant crop. 

In between, were lots of vegetable crops with cabbages looking to be the most recent addition, although I did see what looked like fresh planted sprouting broccoli as well.  There were lots of women and children looking after goats and sheep but I was advised not to photograph the older women in traditional costume and tried to do so as surreptitiously as possible.  Not much success with this!  Many of the women were busy doing stuff like carding wool as they sat with their charges. 

We finally arrived at the village of Chamula, which looked to be well off the beaten track although there were a considerable number of obvious tourists to be seen.  We spent some time exploring the street market but, on seating ourselves at one of the cafes, nobody seemed to be much bothered about serving us, so we left without refreshment.

Back in San Cristobel the town seemed very lively in the late afternoon with plenty of people about, masses of tourists and some excellent musicians in action just outside the hotel. 

Despite the bright sun, the breeze was now distinctly chilly and the altitude, 7,218 feet above sea level, was beginning to make itself felt.  By the time we went out for dinner I was wearing my thermal vest under a polo shirt as well as a fleece.  Dinner itself was taken in an Argentinian restaurant where massive lumps of meat were grilled over a charcoal fire.  Mine came medium rare as ordered and was better than anything experienced in the USA!

Entertainment followed in the form of a circus act and an excellent Mexican singer accompanied by a guitarist and double bass.  The circus act was run by an American girl, Sara, who was on a two year mission to combine circus as social work on a journey planned to end in Brazil.  Nice to find a young person so completely given over to idealistic motivation.  I wish her well.

A good night’s sleep and I rose to decide that my cashmere sweater finally had a use; it was very cold.

THE OVERNIGHT BUS

Given the prospect of a 12 hour overnight journey to San Cristobel I opted for a quiet day and didn’t join the various expeditions to the ruins of Monte Alban.  The itinerary includes lots more ruins!  Another good breakfast,  I set too with updating the blog before spending a happy hour on the terrace sunbathing with only the potted geraniums for company.  At 11.30 I ventured into one of the showers to find that not only did it produce a goodly stream of water but that some of it was hot as well!  Finally hair washing and shaving were accomplished.  It was a strange experience doing all this in a gloomy cell measuring about 3 metres by 1 and which contained a loo as well.  If it weren’t for the problem of keeping the paper dry it would be possible to multitask!

By midday I was out and about and visited the cathedral which was bedecked with massive floral decorations of stargazer lilies.  This was to celebrate Our Lady of the Rosary. 

Elsewhere preparations were in swing for celebrating la dia de los Muertes – the day of the dead. 

This is an important public holiday following Halloween in Mexico.  Skulls and skeletons are a common image here and the roots lie deep in Aztec culture rather than Christianity.  A bit like Christmas, really!

A little bit of business on the market and I was ready for lunch, which was taken at a café on the Zocalo.    As soon as I sat down the traders and beggars arrived and before long ‘pan pipe’ man arrived as well though I doubt this had anything to do with my presence.  He started up with Wimawey before moving onto the Beatles selection and finishing with something I didn’t recognise but may have been more vernacular.

Back at the hotel the combination of heat and the decorative waterfall had stimulated the mosquitos into action and I have the bites to prove it.  Managed to make a successful Skype call to Chris who got a scan of the terrace to add interest to the call.  Nice to know the technology actually works.  Meanwhile I spotted a tiny humming bird on the terrace but it had vanished by the time I got the camera ready.  We set off to Mauricio’s special restaurant where the food was excellent but conversation was somewhat hindered by a car race through and around the streets of the town.  Given the level of Risk Awaredness in the UK it was strange to see narrow streets with cars racing through accompanied by the wailing sirens of the police escorts!

Finally we loaded up for the long walk to the bus station which proved to be amazingly busy; many of the Mexican long route buses run overnight. 

We left on time but the continual winding back and forth as we climbed up into the mountains made me give up on the Kindle.  Around midnight we came to a dead stop which lasted for nearly three hours.  Various ambulances, breakdown trucks and others went up the hill past us but very little came down.  Eventually we got going to find a huge truck being hoisted by the heavy equipment.  It must have rolled over but given the low speeds caused by the nature of the road it is impossible to speculate why it happened.  So, our 8am arrival became an 11am arrival and decidedly weary, we made the longish walk to the Hotel San Martin, which proved to be the best we’ve stayed in so far in terms of amenity.

OAXACA EXPLORED

The day started with a delicious breakfast in the hotel.  Granola Completa turned out to be granola coated with natural yoghurt and heaps of freshly sliced fruit.  Washed down with fresh coffee I was set up for the day.  Driving out of the town we had to negotiate the windscreen washers who appeared at major road junctions. 

Our first stop was at Santamaria del Tule where we saw the Arbor del Tule, a Montezuma cypress (Sabino) called Ahuehete in the local tongue.  It has the largest girth of any tree in the world measuring over 50 metres. 

The tree was set in a charming churchyard adjacent to an equally well kept garden, alive with colour, especially the flamboya tree with it`s vibrant orange flowers and with roses still in bloom.

From here we moved to Mitla, which was a centre for Zapotec culture in the area and is an important architectural site.  I thought that Mexico was basically Aztecs in the north and Mayas further south but apparently it is far more complicated than that.  The Aztecs were a wartlike group who arrived in the area comparatively late and took over vast swathes of Mexico.  So, when we read about the exploits of Cortez conquering the country with 500 men the truth is that he had a lot of help from the many (62) disaffected indigenous groups.  The ruins here were a palace and a tomb decorated with designs that consisted of tiny stone shapes, cut separately and assembled on the walls like a jig-saw, without cement. 

The benefit of this system is that it proved earthquake proof as the stone blocks and the relief designs could move during such an event.  So here we have evidence of earthquake-proof design from 2000 years ago! 

The place was taken over by the Aztecs in the C15 century so their influence didn’t last long and today Mitla remains a centre of Zapotec culture with a population only a little larger than it was in 200 AD.  As is the case in many such sites a Christian church, San Pablo, has been built over the top of the Zapotec buildings.  There was a service in the church, well attended which started with a procession bringing in fresh flowers accompanied by guitar music and singing.  The service was conducted in Spanish.

Next stop was a local artisan weaver, who showed us how the local rugs and various textile products are produced.  Here the art of using natural fibres and dyes has been preserved and we got a sense of how skilful and time-consuming the whole process must be.  By now we were ready for lunch and stopped at a roadside restaurant where a massive buffet was available for a ridiculously low price.  I showed great discipline and restricted myself to a salad.

Despite the quantity of food eaten our next destination was the Petrified Waterfalls at Hierve El Agua, high in the mountains and accessible only by a tortuous road and finally an even more bendy and bone-shaking final section.  Somewhat queasy, it was a relief to dismount into the now bright sunshine. 

Having explored the top of the area I set out with Tara and Isabell to walk down to the bottom of the falls, an expedition that consumed the rest of the available time.  Still, we got some good photos and I enjoyed a chance to stretch my legs properly on a rugged path.  The falls themselves are formed when calcium rich spring water flows out of the ground and evaporates, thus leaving a calcium rich deposit behind.

The final stop of the day was at a Mescal factory where the entire process of producing the spirit in the traditional way was demonstrated.  Then of course, we had to sample the produce and found out that as it is aged for longer, the more drinkable it becomes!  Tequila is actually a form of Mescal, the main difference being in the species of Algarve plant used in its manufacture.  Most tequila available today is made by an industrial process.  What we had here was the real thing.

After all this we arrived back rather late and plans for a group meal were scrapped.  Many of us settled for a baguette or sandwich at the place next to the hotel.  Everything was excellent but we had to wait nearly an hour, so an early night was taken by most.

OFF TO OAXACA

One advantage of rising in the dark is that I was about the first to shower in the whole hotel.  Not much of a shower, but at least I got wet this time.  Everyone was assembled on time and taxis arrived to transport us to the bus station which seemed more on the lines of a small airport than any bus station I’ve been to in the UK.  There was even a security gate to pass through and a man with a metal detector device that was waved perfunctorily over each passenger as they passed through.  It can’t have been switched on as my bag and pockets contained enough metal to manufacture a small arsenal.  Each bag was stowed in the luggage case and a ticket issued to reclaim it.  By small miracle mine contained virtually all my stuff, including this computer. 

The seats proved comfortable and seemed broader than the norm in British coaches but as the journey progressed, the toilet became progressively more disgusting.  Doubtless this is why UK drivers discourage passengers from using them.

Of the journey there is not much to report, mainly because I had an inside seat and the cloud was very low.  There were a lot of mountains and the road clung to the side of a deep ravine for a lot of the way but cloud and rain obscured the view.  It looked pretty arid for much of the way and there were certainly a lot of cactus plants.  At one point the cloud lifted and the view out reminded me of the Blue Mountains in Australia; a similar blend of orange, greens and blues.  There was clear evidence of tectonic activity as many of the rock layers were folded and contorted.

Our hotel, Casa Arnel was on a side street some way from the centre but still within comfortable walking distance. 

Built around a flourishing vegetated courtyard it is a charming place with a terrace outside for eating and a sun terrace above.  The rooms are small but comfortable, most of us got singles this time but the delivery of water seems distinctly idiosyncratic.  Some claim to have had warm showers but the majority are still waiting for such pleasure.  Baggage stowed we walked to the Zocalo, past another cathedral and bustling streets to the market where lunch was enjoyed. 

I had Tlayudu, Oaxacan pizza as I later found out which consisted of a piece of pork, a piece of beef and some choritzo in a sauce with lettuce on a crispy tortilla base. 

It was delicious. All the time we were eating street traders tried to sell us stuff but they did leave when told “No.”  

We were even targeted by a musician playing guitar, who knocked out a couple of Beatles numbers on the pan pipes before asking for a contribution to his funds.

We were then free to explore on foot before returning to freshen up for dinner, which is when many of us found out about the showers.  There is a theory that Mauricio returned first and captured most of the hot water!  Dinner was taken at a place in town where Wednesday was ‘two for the price of one’ night.  This translated into two cocktails for £2 and beers at 50p each.  A lively party was going on upstairs and we stayed for quite a while!  Even when the bill came the deal was “Pay what we ask and everyone gets a free drink”.  We paid.  The waitress, who had worked very hard, must have been pleased with her tip.  Tired, and somewhat under the influence of alcohol, most of us made it to bed after midnight.