Memories of Mexico.

Ayşe, Juan Jose, Julee, Francisco, Mark

Yes, Mexico is more than Cancun, Playa, Cabo, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Chichén-Itzá....and it's not like all violent, ugly place like Tijuana and Juarez. There are Spanish colonial towns and cities like Puebla, Oaxaca, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Campeche and Mérida - colorful, vibrant, full of history, culture and some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet.

Oaxaca

Adiós México.

After we took quick showers and changed out of our bathing suits into our street clothes, we headed out of the Akumal Dive shop and walked out to the town entrance where we had agreed to meet up with Artenio. Deep down inside, I was quietly hoping he would remember to show up since he was bringing our luggage with us. One taxi after another came by. No Artenio. My brother went off to check a nearby parking lot to see if maybe he was there waiting for us and no luck. Then, in the distance, I saw another taxi approaching. It pulled off into side parking area. I decided to check it out. It was Artenio!! I've never been so happy to see a taxi driver and he was happy to see me because I had fish in hand for him. I waved to my brother to come over. We piled into the cab and headed down the road towards Cancun airport. Of course, the conversation was mainly about the fishing trip we had just been on.

Akumal is about an hour's drive from the airport and along the way, we pass Playa del Carmen and Cancun. I can't believe how both places have changed since I was last here....starting with the fact that there's now a highway connecting Akumal to Cancun. Back then, we had to rent a Jeep to get around because the roads were not so good.

Bahía de Akumal.

When we got to Akumal Bay, from Yal-ku Lagoon, the first thing I wanted to do was find the CEA office. I wanted to book our spots on tonight's turtle watch because you have to make the reservations in purpose - they won't take requests over the phone.  The office was marked on our Akumal map.  We just had to find it.   Obviously, I had forgotten just how small a place Akumal is because well, there it was, smack dab in the center of the small clump of buildings that sit along the beachfront.

Creaciones de Gabi y Posada Luna del Sur.

My brother thinks it's a Hispanic/Latin thing because our chamber maid in Flores, Guatemala was also a whiz with towel creations.  Izabel was her name and she rolled our bath towels into what we thought was an armadillo and our face towels into a duck.

Of course, I'm a sucker for these sorts of things, more so cause I'm just curious how the towel is actually folded into the shape.

Reserva de la Biosfera Sian Ka'an.

We hadn't planned on going to Sian Ka'an. In fact today, we were suppose to have gone snorkeling with whale sharks but that got cancelled due to bad weather. So we started the day with no plan.

Las frutas.

To say that there's a lot of different kinds of fruits in Mexico is truly an understatement. I've never been in place that has this much variety and the Fruit Obsessed One aka my brother was in absolute heaven. Part of the reason for going on this trip during rainy season is because that is the height of fruit season and we hit the bounty!

Las tortugas bebé. Awww......

After the disappointment of not seeing a single nesting turtle last night, the sight of baby loggerhead turtles tonight made me forget about the missed opportunity. They were so, so cute.

Tonight, we had dinner at the Centro Ecologico Sian Ka'an (CESiaK) education center's dining room.  Dinner was pan fried grouper served with rice and veggies. The condiments were two salsas - one cilantro and the other habanero.  The grouper was exceptionally fresh fish and a bite of that topped with a bit of the cilantro was just divine. The best piece of fish I have had in ages!

Cenote X'keken.

Our Mexican tour officially ended today after our visit to Chichén-Itzá. The only thing left on the agenda was lunch. After that, my brother and I would get dropped off at our hotel in Tulum and Ayşe to her hotel in Cancun.

As we made our way towards Tulum, Francisco told us we had time to make one more stop. It wasn't on our itinerary but he thought we should go see it and so we went.

Las ruinas. Chichén-Itzá.

Today's highlight was our visit to the world famous Chichén-Itzá!  I was here 25 years ago - before the place was designated a World Heritage site and before gained notoriety by being on the new Seven Wonders of the World list.  Back then, it was sleepy place - barely anyone outside of Mexico knew anything about it.  But from what I from friends who have been to visit it in recent years, it's become one of the tourist hotspots for people coming to Cancun which is just a short drive away.

Mérida.

We arrived in to Mérida in the late afternoon, after our visit to Uxmal.

It was pouring cats and dogs when we drove into town.  Some of the streets were flooded, turning them into small creeks.   Juan Jose took his time and care driving; we were in capable hands.

Las ruinas. Uxmal.

I had been looking forward to this day for months now, ever since I first started reading about Uxmal.  The ruins at Uxmal date back to before the 10th century AD.  In its heyday, Uxmal was one of the largest cities of the Yucatán peninsula with a population of about 25,000 Mayans.

Colores de México.

Clockwise from upper left:  Puebla, Oaxaca, Campeche, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Campeche, Campeche

One of the things that I will remember the most about this trip is just how colorful Mexico is and by color, I mean just that.  If a surface can be painted or somehow adorned with color, it is.  Start with the buildings, especially those in the Spanish Colonial towns like Puebla and Oaxaca. Pretty much every building is painted and sometimes in the most unusual of color combinations.  There is nothing drab or blah here.  No gray cinder block or brick or cement buildings.  No glass buildings.  A minimalist would not like it here.

Encanto colonial. Campeche.

By the time our trip calendar said we were going to be in Campeche, we had already visited three very beautiful Spanish colonial cities - Puebla, Oaxaca, and San Cristóbal de las Casas. I didn't have high expectations for Campeche. No doubt a UNESCO World Heritage but it's a fort city and so I expected a so-so place contained inside stone walls.  The old city is actually quite small; you can walk from one end to the other in about a half hour or so.

Las ruinas. Palenque.

After a relaxing swim in the hotel pool yesterday, followed by a wonderful dinner, a great night's rest and a hearty breakfast, I'm ready to hit the road this morning. The highlight of today's sightseeing was Palenque!

Tiempo en el Palenque.

We arrived into the town of Palenque about mid afternoon. Juan Jose pulled off the main road onto a driveway that led to the hotel. A very nice, new hotel. We checked into our rooms which were very comfortable. Our patio doors in our room opened up to the garden and I could see a swimming pool in the distance.

Las paradas del resto.

We traveled by car on this trip and we had a lot of long drives. That means a lot of road stops to stretch our legs and to go the toilet. Ordinarily, road side stops are nothing memorable but on this trip, we had several.

My favorite stop was on our way from San Cristóbal de las Casas to Agua Azul. It was about mid morning when we made our pit stop. I think poor Juan Jose needed a break from driving over a million and one speed bumps!

Topes y Oxchuc.

As described in the opening sentence of Moon Travel Guides, "Only a handful of the thousands of travelers who pass this vibrant Tzeltal Maya village ever stop."  We were one of those thousands and so Oxchuc was not a memorable visit for me especially since I saw it from the vantage point of a passenger in a car that was whizzing its way through town.

But, it does hold some memories and for this reason, deserves a small posting on my blog.....that and I really want to post up the videos I shot :-)

Las aguas. Agua Azul y Misol-ha.

We left San Cristóbal de las Casas this morning and by late morning had arrived at Agua Azul  (Blue Water) waterfalls, a small river that runs in an area that Mayan Tzeltal call "Water Mountains".  The river runs through an area that was declared a Mexican Federal Protected Forest and Wildlife Refuge in 1980 and a Biosphere Special Reserve several years later.

Artistas callejeros.

One of the most enjoyable things that we got to do on this trip was watch the street performers. A lot of entertainment for just a small tip!

Our first encounter was in Puebla. It was close to the end of the day. We were just returning from the street fair and as we neared the Cathedral, we could a small crowd gathered in the plaza adjoining the cathedral. There were a pair of clowns performing for the crowd. They were speaking in Spanish so I didn't catch anything of what they were saying but the crowd would break out in laughter every now and again so they must have been an entertaining pair. I was amused by their acrobatic moves.

Los insectos. Chapulines y hormigos.

Y es! I ate insects and if I might say so myself, they were quite tasty!!

It all started with the chapulines or fried grasshoppers in Cholula.  A common snack food in Oaxaca, I came across my first batch in Cholula.  We had just exited the grounds of the Great Pyramid when someone spotted a young boy with a bucket full of them.  10 pesos for a small tin's worth and they were mine for the munching!!