Category: Mexico

From Koba we drove to Tulum, there is a direct road. Had a reservation at El Jardin de Frida Hostel.Actually it was called bed & Tacos. We didn’t see any tacos there, but there was breakfast included and a little strange one/ In the morning we found a kitchen with lots of dirty dishes – self serve :-)…, and a lot of different veggies, fruits, eggs, all the product you may imagine that can be used to cook breakfast. And people were cooking, in full speed! Doing different fancy twists and turns on their pans. Single German men were especially particular what they were cooking and French ladies were more into making just juice, fruit salad and yogurt. But they set their table nicely. And of course – while cooking breakfast or eating – everyone is exchanging ideas what to see, what to do here, how to get from there to there. It is very convenient to stay in hostels in case you are not driving but using public transportation – you can get all the info about it and also companions for the trip. But we still had the car.

Our room was really big:

The hostel was owned by Mexicans. Which needs to be mentioned. because many of them are owned by foreigners. Like the hostel on Isla Mujeres is owned by Argentinians and therefore the order of things is a little different and and all the employees except janitors were Argentinians/ So here- Mexicans and I would say – a very good hostel! Rooms had two balconies each. This view was towards the yard:

This “Mushroom” house was seen from the other balcony:

And here are some room names on the doors:

And as it usually is – the hostel had a yard with different sculptures in it:

This time I already felt tired of pyramids and decided to skip the so called – picture perfect Tulum Pyramid, left it for the next visit. Just ate in the praised Fish restaurant across the street from the hostel, and drove to dip into one more cenote. This time cenotes here were outside. I man not bellow the surfaces, but like lakes – little openings in this white Yucatan limestone:

This one was called Casa cenote. We found out about it from the guy in hostel, there is so many of them to choose around…A really good place for people who prefer cenotes versus swimming in the open sea – like me! :-). The water in cenote sis so pleasant, the right temperature, very clear and blue and some people even dive there and look at their interesting floors and shapes, maybe some fish. Here is the alternative:

Winds, waves, what is attractive about that? And Andrei was tired of everything, so while I was swimming in the cenote. he was observing a family of racoons which surrounded him there while sitting on the bench and reading his i-pad:

So that was that, we checked some towns closer to the beach, saw how many villas are for sale…and how dangerous it is to have a villa there (hurricanes). The next day after breakfast I still had an hour to try two more cenotes. I have to tell that cenotes are not free. Each has facilities, some taken care of paths, definitely a rope or two stretched along them, I guess for making some water acrobatics or at least stopping for a rest. Here is a path to another cenote close by:

This is the last cenote I visited. They were peculiar in the sense that both were located on different sides of the highway…hard to cross, better to drive from one to the other, and they both belonged to the same ticket office :-).

So transparent… so clean…I wish we had more time here. I would suggest to stay at least 2 night sin Tulum – there is much to investigate. But we were heading towards Cancun and Isla Mujeres.

 

 

 

 

 

A good thing about Yucatan peninsula, maybe the best thing is that there are so many cenotes. So first thing in the morning we did what – ran to Zaci cenote that we already knew from last time – it is in the middle of Valladolid – engulfed into its super pleasant waters, refreshed and re energized ourselves and then drove towards Koba. Though the feeling was – isn’t it too many pyramids in a week? But I was eager to climb the tallest pyramid there, which I heard was still permitted. On the way the girls were walking to school:

We saw some ruins:

and some mansions with rabits:

It took us only 45 min to reach Koba. Andrei gave up, he already saw too many pyramids. But I didn’t , so went to see Koba alone:

Koba is in a jungle forest, unlike many others are in the open. It was a big Mayan city wit lots of structures, a very few of them are restored or preserved:

They would make sheds on remaining sculptures or reliefs. There is some rain there and plenty of humidity, so pyramids are dark form moss. And here is how Mayas built their arches and tunnels:

The paths there are straight and white. I heard guides telling that they made them white on purpose, for the climate is so hot and humid, poor pyramid builders could work only at night. So they would see better while walking on white paths. But i also noticed that there is almost no soil in those areas, mostly while little stones and rocks. So how could they make the roads that would not be white…

The distances between structures or pyramids are long. maybe it takes 20 min, to half hour to an hour to walk from one to another. Some rent bikes. Some enjoy walking. As every Maya city,. this one also had a stadium, a smaller one.but with prominent rings for their ball game , the prototype of football, where they pushed a ball into the ring with their shoulders, as if…

Some more pyramids on the way to my goal:

And here is the tallest one and the one which is permitted to climb!

As you can see -there was a thick rope where people could hold on. Very good! it was scary climb it though from the bottom it doesn’t seem steep:

Flat jungle underneath, very few other pyramids seen around. And here the the temple on the top of it:

And then going down:

 

 

 

 

From Oxkutzcab we drove more than half of the day, with stops, until we reached Valladolid. There were those 2 cenotes -one across the road from the other, but their ticket offices are side by side – you have to be careful which window you are buying from – you may end up buying to the wrong cenote. I mean – the one you have already seen/ So we caught this catch in time and went to see the cenote Samui:

This cenote had no stalactites as Dzitnup, but had the roots of a tree extending all the way to the water and a bigger hole into the air. But I prefer Dzitnup. Here we had to descend down the stairs quite some flights, and as the water was the same – clear, pleasant and blue, the ambiance in Dzitnup is much better. Couple more of Samui:

That night we stayed in Valladolid in the same La Aurora hotel that we liked from last time:

And walked around the city till late at night. It is a very pleasant city, colonial streets, a big cathedral, a big Franciscan Monastery, lots of nice restaurants and shops. One of them is established in maybe a previous monastery:

and has its own outdoor chapel that is seen at the end of this passage way.

St. Mary is dressed in Maya clothes and the altar is made from little tiles and not little ceramic vases. A mango tree growing in the yard:

a Day of the Dead character greeting and offering you some vodka everyone at the souvenir store:

I even visited a small chocolate factory where they tell you stories of how chocolate was discovered and introduced to human usage. It used to be an energy drink for Maya kings, took a while until general population could get enough of it. The guide in that little museum was very informative and spoke good English, she told me how patriotic she was about her country and how good it was to live there, their social medical system and support for those who have no jobs. I wonder- why is the Right wing of US blaming Europe for its socialism, Mexico is so much closer and easier to be blamed :-).

The English speaking guide is in orange. the Spanish speaking guide is in Maya dress, both very beautiful girls, but both from different Indian tribes. The guide even explained how their face bone structure differs, so it would be easy for me to distinguish Maya and Acteks in the future … :-). I ended up buying their handmade chocolate.Sorry girls, i forgot your names…

 

 

 

 

Have to finish to describe the Mexico trip. It was a busy summer here, with lots of fruits, vegetables, usual high temperatures and drought. Then it was a busy September -October with guests. So the date on top the blog is definitely not the date when we were there. The right date is in the name of each posting.

Driving from Tikul we searched for a town with hotels. Oxkutzcab was the one. But the hotel we found on the internet didn’t appeal to us/ So we came back to where we entered the town and settled fast into a motel that looked a little strange, but had a very spacious room, bathroom, good tile work everywhere, big yard and a garage! That was the strange part. Here is the exit of the mote (the entrance was the same style picture but different wording):

Seems kind of normal. And here is the yard – each room has an entrance only through it’s two car garage:

Seems very innocent – flower bushes growing by each window, everything looks neat. But the requirement- to close the garage door once you drive in seemed unusual to us. And then we looked around our room and understood. There was a price list behind the door- prices were per hour…We payed as if we were supposed to stay in the room for 2 hours…obviously we stayed the whole night :-). But we were different customers. Gringos turistos….Otherwise – nobody can see anybody’s car, nobody knows who is closed in the room…Crazy. But that what life is. Evidently – a very intriguing life in that remote provincial town of Mexico… It was too late to change anything knowing that in Mexico there are very few hotels or motels to choose from once you are ways away from the beaten path. So we stayed, after checking the bed we had to ask to change our sheets, etc. Not so much fun. But woke up safe and sound and parted with very smiling pleasant owners. There was a cemetery on the way, so I couldn’t resist to walk there and take its pictures:

Mexicans are really into pruning their trees in nice shapes and forms. They seem to enjoy doing that.

There are no giraffes living in Mexico, unless in a zoo. Why did this person want then on his or her tomb?..

Here is the evening view of the town wholesale market (it seemed) of citrus fruits:

An entrance to public toilets in town:

This is where we ate our dinner, it was tasty :-).

 

 

 

 

After visiting Museo Archeologico (in San Miguel Fuertes) in Campeche in the morning, we left it at noon, drove North on a wide new highway, still not a toll road for the woks were going on, and then turned towards Uxmal, passed it and reached Tikul. The first what we saw by the road were those Maya ruins:

 

With some sculptures and decorated walls, with a bunker type structure inside the walls:

And right there we saw this gallery and stopped to figure out what is it supposed to be. There were lots of seemingly old Maya statues and planks all over in the yard:

 

To tell the truth I was shocked- to steal the ancient artifacts from pyramids and to sell them so openly…But I was wrong. We met there the artist himself, his name is Lois Echeveverrio:

His calling is to copy as many of ancient Maya artifacts as possible and to make them look exactly as they look now in the museums. So all the sculptures in his yard are his work. And then inside the gallery there were shelve sand shelves of pots and plates and sculptures and even frescoes. He showed us a vase or a figurine in a book about Maya culture and then his creation – they looked exactly the same! Even the crevices or cracks in the pottery were in the same place and looked very old…it was amazing! Here is some of his art:

He said it takes him about two months to complete such and “ancient” vase and they are priced accordingly. The least expensive we saw there was $200, but I don’t consider it to be expensive having in mind their quality and the fact that collectors would not deprive some museums of their stuff, they can acquire the stuff at Louises gallery. He said that only him and his wife are making all those beautiful things.

Then we stopped for a little walk in Tikul’s center:

And here is the Town Hall and the main square, which are so similar in the small towns of Yucatan:

Because we still had some daylight, we drove some half and hour to Oxkutzkab where we found a very strange hotel…and slept there.

It is close to 70 km from Campeche to Edzna. We started late in the day, way after lunch and expected to reach the pyramids in an hour but it took a little more, the road is not so good. but what a bonus – we were in the whole pyramid complex ALONE! That is more one can expect. At first we thought maybe they are closed – only our car in the parking. So we stayed for the full 2 hours till they close at 5 pm. It was amazing! Here is a path from the parking that leads to the ancient city:

And here is what we saw once we got out of the forest, one after another ruins, pyramids, town squares started unfolding:

And again I mention -there was nobody except for one bird, a woodpecker, disturbing the silence.

The main pyramid is the most impressive. Though there was a sign telling not to climb the stairs, I have to confess – I couldn’t stop myself from this sin…On the other hand – there was nobody to see me climbing, except for Andrei. So I climbed, the stairs were not well restored, it was a little scary, but the most disturbing was the feeling that came from the very top of the pyramid, the temple. I guess I wasn’t worth yet to reach the top, the spirits who guard it didn’t want to let me in and I stopped:

This pic is done by Andrei from below, I am the little white dot on the stairs, close to the top, but not yet. And here are the views I saw from there:

Andrei is a little blue dot in the field or main square.

There were more pyramids to climb which was permitted, so I did some yoga on one of them, it was fantastic:

Some of the stones of these stairs have images, or glyphs:

A jaguar here. there is pretty ruined pyramid with some very elaborate sculpture work,but it is at the bottom of it. So you have to bend down very low to see the images of the gods of East and West:

Here is a new structure they are building, I mean – restoring. In makes me imagine how beautiful those pyramids looked freshly built, like a white city form a fairy tail.

In conclusion – the feeling is amazing, I already want to go back…

 

 

 

Campeche is on the other side of Yucatan peninsula, on the Gulf of Mexico coast, which i snot as attractive as the one in Florida. The color of the Gulf is grey there and you can see it best from the highway stretching by the water. The downtown is further from the sea and is not only enclosed in walls, but has forts on all four corners and several gates to enter the town as well as many orderly lined streets with orderly painted facades:

This street is #59 – no cars can park here: a photographer’s paradise!

We stayed for 2 nights in a perpendicular street Calle 12 ,close to this church and we could park in front of our hotel “Lopez” . A very nice hotel! As everywhere in Mexican cities – you don’t know what to expect before you enter the building and go deeper and deeper into it. So here are the inside spaces or lobbies of Hotel Lopez:

And here is the hotel pool where I didn’t swim…Till this time I feel I haven’t accomplished something in Campeche…

And here is another hotel where we didn’t stay. Our American friends pointed it to us to visit for some pictures – it is built over some old monastery ruins with appreciation to the past and incorporating them into its gardens and pools:

So one can swim in among the old rooms…Personally I don’t find it attractive – to me it seems like a flooded house, like misery. But they think it is wow! and therefore their prices are around $500 a night .This hotel is on Calle 59 at the very East side of it, by the city wall.

Campeche has many museums, enough for me to wander around for 2 days. One of them:

In the very central square, by the Cathedral:

there is a rich man’s house-museum: Casa Seis (facing the cathedral on Calle 57):

It is always nice to see how rich people lived or live 🙂

What was nice about the stay in Campeche – they have lots of music and dance concerts in the Man square. Also – the restaurants are good. There is a choice for different tastes. We even found a vegetarian cafe close by in the center, owned by a German yogi-woman. But she was much more interested in yoga than cooking. so it took as a while to catch when they are open and not lazy to cook and serve food :-).

Before leaving Campeche we drove on the very beautiful seaside highway south to Fuerte de San Miguel – a Fort still in the boundaries of Campeche. There a museum of ancient Maya art there, it pleased us to see how talented those people were:

Just to show how cute their glyphs are. The Stellas are brought from one of the archeological sites.

I am not sure if it is ethical to show a dead person in his burial attire…

They used to cover the mummies of their kings with a mask of blue jade.

The museum halls are in this fort around the inner garden.

 

 

 

 

After a good breakfast at Pickled Onion, where they they really pickle onions, we drove to Uxmal Archeological site. It is a big site, like Chichen Itza, but much more beautiful! So if you have limited time to visit Maya pyramids – this is the one I would highly advice to visit, never Chichen. Though it is not so close to Cancun, but it is pretty close to Merida. We never drove more than 230 km per day, and most of the days we drove less than 200km. So the distances and not long there. sometimes the roads are not perfect. though I have to say – they are rebuilding so many roads that in a year or two this who peninsula will look like a perfect traveling destination. When asked if we felt safe during the trip – what could I say seeing French people driving on bikes with their babies attached in bike-cradles through the wilderness of Yucatan…And we felt safe, only had to slow down at military check points, which are arranged evidently because of drug wars still going in the North of Mexico. Also – saw some police or army trucks fully loaded with armed solders. But other than that we saw or heard or felt nothing scary. So here is the first view of of the main pyramid of Uxmal:

Because the pyramid is of an interesting form, here is the side view:

Can you see how steep it is? It was not permitted to climb up, but at least we could walk close by (unlike at Chichen where every building is fenced ). Also – the location is not flat. so some structures are higher, some lower, which makes for a very cozy anchient city setting:

Their stadium is seen here – where ancient Mayas played some kind of game similar to football, but they couldn’t touch the ball with hands, only their bodies, shoulders and had to push it into a stone ring hanging on the side of the field wall. A very hard and brutal game as we understood.

This little pyramid was built for the Kings’ mother-in .law. The special about it- it was permitted to climb it!

Evidently, everything the discoverers found of ancient cities was in ruins and overgrown by jungle. So all the nicer buildings or parts of them are diligently restored, with so much work sill waiting.

This is the highest pyramid we could climb there. There was usually a temple on each pyramid where their priests held their rituals, some of them being very cruel. I hope little Mayas didn’t have to climb those stairs very often/ because as I noticed earlier – the steps are very high and narrow, and t is a little scary to climb it:

The views from above:

There were several courts or squares making that city and buildings surrounding them. They were decorated elaborately in their time and even what remained now pleased the eye:

There is a way to know more about each building besides reading before the trip- To hire a guide, of which many are waiting by the entrances to those sites, speaking different languages. The cost is something around $40 for the whole excursion, as long as it takes. So it is more feasible to be with a small group. On the other hand – I didn’t even want to know too many facts about Maya history, for some are gruesome, some maybe noble, but…most of them travel to that drawer in ones memory box that is never opened…I just wanted to enjoy the city planning, the architecture, the masonry, the sculpture and feel the atmosphere, maybe even the energy.

Sadly, but this two headed lion is not just for beauty. Girls to be sacrificed were on it -saw it in paintings in museums…

What a nice way to make stairs! Or maybe they were seats for sports spectators. The rhythm…

The main inhabitants of the abandoned cities – iguanas. They are everywhere, heating their bodies in the sun, eating plants and catching bugs, not afraid of us almost at all.

The last glimpse to the main pyramid from its back and we are off through the modern entrance-visitors center:

After looking through the pictures I am still amazed at their grandeur! While being there – it was so hot and humid (even in February), so the feelings for their beauty or energy are a little dulled. And you never stop marveling- who could build them? No, the theory that aliens helped ancient Mayas to build them is pure fiction. However our waiter said his grandpa met a tiny Jungle person at night – one of who were supposed to really help Mayas in their ordeal. Their version of Snow man, just very tiny. But when Mayas say tiny – he must be really tiny. But with strong stature and strong hands to carry stones. Who knows…

 

 

Santa Elena is a small town past Kabah and some 30 km before you reach Uxmal. Just a place to sleep. Actually, we didn’t even see the town, because the B&B – The Pickled Onion – was right on the road. Owned and run by a British lady it is charming. She bought an almost bare hilltop, brought a lot of soil and planted nice surroundings, while building several cottages in Maya style. They are supposed to be efficient in holding heat or cold depending on the time of year:

A beautiful doctor from France that I got acquainted in The Pickled Onion.

The good features about this B&B are -the pool, nice gardens, nice tastily built and furnished cottages, a good restaurant with waiters who speak English! There is also a labyrinth for meditation:

And the owner can offer a massage:

As usual in Mexico – the tile and stone work is attractive:

Only one shortcoming – being so remote the internet is with glitches. Though the owner got our e-mails, my high -tech husband couldn’t connect to the world. Therefore we couldn’t stay there longer than one night:

This is a road from the town Oxkutzcab through Kabah -the pyramid to Uxmal A.C. It is narrow, winding, but very beautiful as most of the roads there. I am not sure what Puuk means. but the road is worth driving because of several Archeological sites along it. Those sites are ancient Maya cities with pyramids, palaces and other constructions, claimed from the overgrowing jungle. Those particular sites are nice because there are off the beaten path. Very few tourists and the tickets are cheap. This is the first palace we saw once we walked through a park like forest in Sayil:

Oranges…

The rain god.

This is another example how Yucatan people like to paint – the trees are whitewashed…

This is what they found when they discovered their archeological sites…Then they took those stones. looked how they fit together and restored some of the structures based on the pictures.

The famous Maya arch -made with the same small blocks, no wood or large slabs involved.

The paths or roads between structures are wide and usually white (not brown like this one) – it is a very hot a humid climate. so the builders usually worked at night, the white roads helped. Also – the stones there are usually white, so no choice :-).

You can see clearly the part of the stairs that are restored and the part that is not.

The view from the top. To tell the truth – those stairs once you climbing them – are pretty scary. They have very narrow steps and very tall ones, I wonder how those tiny people managed to walk up and down while I with my long legs had a hard time… 🙁

Then we stopped at X-Lapak and Labna (some 10-20 km appart):

Here are more sites yet to be restored. Interesting how nature claims its lots very fast…

It was already too late or we were too saturated with archeology that we didn’t go into Kabah Arch. site/ but saw the main pyramid from the road and that was enough for that day.