phone message explaining a bunch of it that ended with “when all is done, why don’t you and your wife come on down some time and leave your wallet behind”. While, I figured that last part was a bit of an exaggeration, it did sound vaguely interesting. It became more interesting as I did a little research into the area. Mayan ruins. Snorkeling. A much slower pace along the Costa Maya than further north along the Mayan Riviera. Sounded like an interesting adventure. Then, my world became a roller coaster with the possibility of a move to Southern California and the rest of our life went on hold. When the whole SoCal thing dissipated, I turned to Ed and said “guess it’s time to look into that Mexican trip”. And here we are.

An adventure very differ-ent for us. Every day was

something new and the plans changed constantly.

Febraury 2: Travel from Madi-son to Memphis to Cancún

to Tulûm

Febraury 3: Exploring the ruins at Tulûm and travel to

Chetumal

Febraury 4: A museum in Che-tumal and visits to the ruins

at Dzibanché and Kohunlich

Febraury 5: Hanging around Bacalar & Xul-ha

Febraury 6: Snorkeling in Mahahual

Febraury 7: Hanging around Mahahaul, swim-

ming in the Cenote Azul and a concert at Maal-hu in Xul-ha

Febraury 8: Travel to Val-ladolid, checking out the

city, and the evening Light & Sound Show at Chitzen Itza

Febraury 9: From Valladolid to Cancún to Memphis to

Madison

Mexico: An Aventure in the Costa MayaFebruary 2-9, 2010

Every day, a new adventure

This entire adventure started last year when Ed was dealing with a customer that has a “dude ranchero” near Xul-ha, Quintana Roo, Mexico (not easy to find on a map but just south of Bacalar, a bit northwest of Chetumal (the capital of Quintana Roo), and not too far from the Belize border. After a few interesting adventures and encounters with Mexican Customs and the Mexican military (customs said the bows were weapons and the military begged to disagree), Jeff, the customer, left a

Day 1—Febraury 2: From Madison to Memphis to Cancún to Tulûm

First day of a new adventure and boy, I really was ready for an adventure. So, here we go.

Early to bed and early to rise gets a person through the lines bureaucracy-wise. Flight was scheduled to leave Madison at 0635 hrs which meant getting up around 0400 hrs and off to the airport by 0500 hrs. The two or so inches of snow were light and easy to clear off the car and navigate through; the line was short at the airport; TSA had their act together (although the two in front of me that just didn’t understand what a single layer of 3oz bottles or less in a quart bag really means); and the plane pretty much left the gate on time. Longest delay was the de-icing of the plane before take-off.

Flight to Memphis was cramped (they really are giving people less and less for their money) but uneventful. The flight from

Memphis left right on time with few idiots slowing the loading—always a plus—and we actually landed in Cancún a bit early. The temperature was about 60 degrees warmer than what we left 5 hours earlier and much more humid. I love snow though you can keep the ice and sub-zero temps a lot of the time and really don’t like heat & humidity but the change was interesting and, in general, welcome.

Immigration stamped everything without a word, we got the green light from Customs (relatively random on who they decide to search where you press a button and green light literally means “go” and red light means “take the time to get everything searched”. All the bags, including the bows that Ed brought down for the ranch (oh, yea, I probably should explain that part soon), made it through by the time we

Quintana Roo (Spanish pronunciation: [kin´tana ´ro]) is a state of Mexico, on the

eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It borders the States of Yucatán and

Campeche to the north and west, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the nation of

Belize to the south.

cleared Immigration. We hit the car rental counter quickly (almost faster than we would have thought possible since we didn’t even get a chance to check for an ATM machine) and got a personal escort to the curb for the shuttle to the car rental office. Pretty quick on the paperwork there, a look at a map of Cancún after checking the car over, and we were off. Missing the turn for Cancún and taking us south on the 307.

So, the plan was to just check out Cancún a bit, find some food, and drive the couple of hours to Tulûm and stay at a place that I found on the internet. And thus starts the first adventure. As stated above, we missed the turn for Cancún and started to head south earlier than expected. The first turn-around was quite a way down the highway and so we decided to forget about it and just continue south. We pulled into Puerto Morales which is a very low-keyed community, especially compared to Cancún, Cozemul or Playa de Carmen. We drove around most of the town checking it out but mostly trying to find an ATM. Finally, we stopped folks

that looked like either tourists or snow-birds and asked and they got us on track. We found the main square, a few ATMs, and some food.

The food was probably pricier than many of the taquerias but it was called Pelicanos and, for those friends in the SCA that know us, just had to be the place. The food was incredible. I got the quesadillas de camerones (shrimp) and Ed got a filet of fish with a local sauce that included fresh tomatoes, onions and peppers. For our first meal here, we really didn’t strike out. We sat on the terrace overlooking a beach where we could see pelicans, sandpipers, many kinds of gulls, and something that I think was some kind of swallow; the boats going in and out; and the waves lapping at the reef a bit off the shore. The Great Mayan Reef (Meso American Reef ) stretches from Cancún along the coast of the Yucatan Peninsul stretching past Belize and on towards Honduras, at almost 750 miles the world’s second longest reef. It was a bit cloudy and threatening rain but really quite

Day 1—Febraury 2: From Madison to Memphis to Cancún to Tulûm (cont)

pleasant. We thought about

stopping again but figured we wanted to get to Tulûm and find the hotel before dark. The traffic around Playa de Carmen was a bit busy but we had been warned about that. The 307 is the main road (and about the only one) that goes through the area and the landscape is a strange dichotomy of huge, expensive resorts or hurricane-ravaged landscape and small businesses that are still trying to come back to life (Hurricane Wilma hit the area in 2005, the strongest storm ever recorded, and stalled over the Yucatan.) The drive wasn’t exceedingly interesting nor was it too boring.

The adventure was just around the corner, though. We got to the area around Tulûm and tried to follow an almost non-existent map with even less-existent directions to find a hotel called “Green Tulûm” that I had booked through expedia.com. NEVER AGAIN!

(Later note: I let Expedia

know about the problem and although they could only apologize and say that the information is from the hotel and they are not responsible, they did say that they would follow it up with the hopes that others don’t have the bad experience that we had.)

We drove all over the place, tried to ask for directions a few times and kept getting various suggestions, and even offered to pay one place to call for us (our command of the Spanish language is poor at best) and got another set of directions. When those proved to not work for us and it was after dark and the skies decided to open up in a drenching shower (that lasted all of about five minutes), we decided that it was a $90 object-lesson and went back to the nice place that tried to call for us. The room here is $40 and has two beds, an air conditioner, a fan, a mostly working shower, an almost working toilet, and is incredibly quiet. By 2000 hrs, we had had something cold to drink,

Quintana Roo was granted statehood within the United Mexican States on

October 8, 1974. It is the Mexican Republic’s youngest state. Around the

same time Cancún, Isla Mujeres, and Cozumel were developed as tourist

destinations

shared an ice cream bar, and we were both showered and more comfortable. I started writing and Ed started snoring. It’s a bit musty but mostly bug-free and quiet. Who could ask for anything more, as the song says.

Oh, yea, and we’re less than 200 yards to the entrance to the Tulûm ruins which is the way that the adventure will begin on the morrow.

Day 2—3 February 2010: Tulûm to Chetumal

Well, the thought of large bugs in the hotel room last night didn’t make my sleep come easily but I did sleep and didn’t feel any of them. Note to self: “Just get used to bugs in a rain forest, Sue, deal with it.” Ed just laughs at me. He slept soundly and I slept well enough so we were refreshed not too long after the break of day. It really had worked out okay that we didn’t find the hotel that we had a reservation at. Just cost us a bit more than it should have.

Mostly packed and to breakfast by 0730 hrs, we enjoyed a nice breakfast (he had eggs with cheese and salsa and beans & I had some simple cheese quesadillas with guacamole). Ed took one sip of his coffee and said “gotta get beans to take home”. It was tasty and filling and a good way to start the day.

We got the car packed up and started to walk down the road to the ruins of Tulûm. The area opens at 0800 hrs and from what we had read this was the best time to go. It wasn’t

very crowded yet and cooler than it would be later (pretty much true any day of the year). The shops were just barely opening up (a bunch of places that sell kitschy stuff to the touristas) and the tour guides barely had finished their coffee. We were approached by a guide who offered to take us up to the ruins and give us a personal tour for $40US for the two of us. This included the price of admission (about $4US each) and the guide didn’t seem to expect a tip though that might have been a faux pas on our part.

Our guide’s name was Guido although he looked of Mayan ancestry. I asked him if he was Mayan and he said his father was and his mother’s family had come from Sicily in 1928—hence the name Guido. He had been a guide for about 7 years but had worked at the ruins most all of his life (my guess is he is in his late 50s). He knew the area and the stories and was fantastic at finding us iguanas, a coatimundi and even a beautiful green

In the 1517 when Juan de Grijalva saw Tulûm from his ship, he described it as a city so large that “Seville seemed to us neither larger nor better”. Eye witness

accounts speak of the white walled city with lavish painted reliefs in bright reds

and blue . . .

garden snake. We had a great tour for about 2 hours and enjoyed the time very much. We learned about the temples and the houses and quite a bit of the history. There was a mother & daughter there from Alaska who ended up getting a lot of benefit from our guide by being close to us at some very opportune times.

It was very hot from doing a lot of climbing but since Tulûm is right on the sea there was often a very pleasant breeze. It was getting very crowded by the time we left the site. I’m really glad we got there as early as we did.

We stopped off in the town to get some money and then headed south. It felt like a really long drive but maybe that is because I found the terrain somewhat boring. Good thing Ed was doing all the driving since I napped from time to time. There are topes (speed bumps) all over the place, mostly in town but near police checkpoints (very, very common all through our travels) and bus stops, which make the trip seem longer since you have to slow down so much. Oftimes there were women or children selling cold drinks or fresh fruit at these places. We picked up a simple sandwich and some

mango juice at a bathroom stop from a woman who just came up to us in the parking lot. It was simple and tasty and didn’t cost us much. We bought some pineapple at one of the topes (had to be about half a pineapple, cleaned and sliced, with an interesting bag of spices to put on it—salt & spicy pepper & who knows what else) for $10.00M (about $.80US). MMmmmmm. Very tasty. We also stopped to pick up a cheap cellphone just in case of emergencies.

It should have been about a two hour drive from Tulûm to Jeff’s ranchero but I’m pretty sure it took us a bit more than that. Didn’t really look at a clock when we got there. We found the ranch without too much trouble and Jeff was very welcoming. He’s got a nice place he’s developing. We had something cold to drink (they both had cervesa [beer] and I had a mineral water and we talked for a bit. Jeff & Ed talked about bows and he showed us around. They’ve got a nice restaurant as well as horses for riding plus they’re cultivating a few crops like mangos and habenero peppers. Jeff’s been putting a lot of

Day 2—3 February 2010: Tulûm to Chetumal (cont)

Map of Tulûm

work into the place and it shows. He doesn’t want to push it too hard too fast but he does want it to be something special. He’s only opened on weekends at this time and people have to call at least a day ahead to ride horses.

We went back and forth a few times about ideas on where we were going to stay tonight, how we were going to get there, and what we were going to do tomorrow (at least). It changed a couple of times but it was finally decided that we’d stay in hotel in Chetumal right on the Bay owned by a neighbor of Jeff’s. We followed Jeff into town and found the Noor Hotel (http://www.yucatantravel.com/hotels/chetumal/index.html) which is really a nice, newish place right on the Bay (we could see Belize from our hotel window). We checked in and followed Jeff to his house after dropping our bags in the room. (He lives in town with his wife, Brenda, and kids, Marshall age 9 & Shelby age 7, where Brenda spends the week busy with school and

activities for the kids and shuttling them around and preparing for the weekend of cooking.) They have a very nice, large house.

Again, there was lot of back and forth about what to do about dinner and such tonight with the decision finally that Jeff would escort us back to our hotel and then show us a nice restaurant not too far from there. He dropped us off and headed home. The place was called Botano’s and was right on the Bay although once it was dark we didn’t see much but there was a nice breeze all through dinner. We shared a cocktail of shrimp, octopus and squid in kind of a sweet red sauce; chips served with pica de gallo, onions mixed with clitantro, a couple of hot sauces, lime, and a really great white sauce that was very garlicky (wish I knew what it was and how to get more) (later note: Brenda told me that the Mexicans use something called Crema which is the Mexican version of Creme Fraiche in France and Clotted Cream in England. and used in a lot of dishes);

The buildings that are visible on the site date from the Post-Classic period, around 1200 to

1500 A.D., and the city of Tulûm was functioning at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. The

name Tulûm means wall, referring to the fact that Tulum was a walled city, protected on one side by

steep cliffs facing the sea and on the other by a wall of about 12 feet in height.

and a very flavorful piece of beef that was served with beans, guacamole, and fresh tortillas. We shouldn’t have ordered the bigger of the two cocktails because we stuffed ourselves and still had food leftover.

We didn’t have any trouble finding the hotel again. First thing was to strip off the soggy, damp clothes (mostly from the heat and humidity) and jump into the pool which is just outside our door. Very chilly but felt good. Not deep or long but nice enough to walk in and cool down. After a shower and reading for a bit, Ed is already asleep. And I have to admit it’s not even 2200

hrs and my eyes are closing fast.

Tomorrow Jeff will pick us up in the morning and take us back to his house for breakfast. Then, our plan is for the Museum of Mayan Culture here in Chetumal and off to see more ruins. I can’t wait!

Day 3—4 February: Chetumal to Dzibanché to Kohunlich to Bacalar

It definitely has been a full day and mostly lived up to the expectations I had.

We were up early and Jeff met us at the hotel. Things had changed since last night and he had paying customers coming to the rancho today so he was going to have to take off. However, instead of breakfast at his house with his wife as we had talked about last night, he took us downtown near the Museum of Mayan Culture to have breakfast. He had some juice with us and paid for breakfast but had to take off after he helped us order. Ed had mole which was two large pieces of chicken with rice and a lot of sauce and I had eggs scrambled with chorizo & cheese. I also ordered a fruit salad which was tasty but not remarkable (bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe & mango). We both ordered juices that were out of the ordinary, though. His was bright red and had carrot, beet & orange juices in it and mine was kind of an algae-green which had a bunch of veggies, all

I remember is spinach, carrot & beet, and some fruit juices.

We enjoyed our breakfast after saying good-bye to Jeff, who had also helped us figure out the cellphone a bit, and then wandered around until the museum opened at 0900 hrs. The restaurant that we were at was part of a large complex Mercado/market which was a combination of specialty food shops like a butchers market and flea market. I think you could have purchased just about anything there if you had wanted to. We also wandered through the Fine Arts Center nearby. We didn’t really figure out all of its functions but they had a large open air stage and a lot of doors that probably led to classrooms of some kind.

It wasn’t long before the museum opened and we went in. First off, the cool darkness was very welcome from the already sweltering, humidity of the day. It didn’t take long to see the atmosphere of trees surrounding us and hearing the wonderful symphony of the rain forest. We

The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica.

Mayan history starts in the Yucatán around 2600 B.C., Mayan history rose to prominence

around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras,

El Salvador, and northern Belize.

wandered through a very comprehensive history of Yucatan and the Mayan people through models and text and a few authentic artifacts. I think that most were copies but it didn’t matter. They were good copies and covered things very well. This museum is well worth the visit for anyone in the area.

It helps to understand the region by reading what is on the wall of the museum as you reach the second level:

“¡ay! ¡Entristez camonos por que llegaron! Del oriente vinieron quando llegaron a esta tierra los barbudos, los extranjeros de la tierra, los hombres rubicundos.”

“Oh! Let us grieve for they have arrived! From the east they came, the bearded men, the strangers from the land, the blonde men arrived in these lands.”

The first thing that didn’t go quite as we planned on this day was trying to get some money. We went to a currency exchange but they only took US dollars and we hadn’t brought that many with us. So, we changed some and were given directions to a bank. Only a couple of blocks away was a bank but their ATM wasn’t working. Ed waited in line for a while and realized he needed his passport so came

back to the car. Passport in hand, he went back and then returned to say that the card he was using had my name on it so they needed me and my passport. Interesting slapstick routine we had going. I think it took us an hour to have as many pesos as we figured we might need for the rest of our stay here. (Credit cards are used rarely, especially the kinds of places we have been ending up.)

We didn’t get lost going out of town but had a blip when Ed thought we should go to the rancho and drop off our bags and I asked why. Besides the fact that the idea had come up last night I hadn’t figured out the need yet. Things seem pretty safe around this neck of Mexico. I didn’t think we needed to use up another hour of daylight doing that and he agreed though it was after our main turn. We found a turnaround and headed back to the highway that would take us out to the ruins we wanted to see.

Why is it, that when you are going to a place you’ve never been before that it seems to take twice as long, or more, to get there than it does to get back to where you started? ‘Twas

Day 3—4 February: Chetumal to Dzibanché to Kohunlich to Bacalar (cont)

the story of our day. The drive was supposed to

be about 45 kilometers but it seemed to be an endless road, even when we took the exit off the highway to get to Dzibanché. It was another 22k off the road to get to the ticket office and the ruins. Dzibanché has another set close by, Kinichná, but we ended up only going through Dzibanché. Ed got to climb an impressive pyramid to the top (probably about 60 feet) and I sent my camera up with him. There really was no way I could climb that (each step has to be about 12-16 inches high). I did well today but that would have dropped me badly. We were the only ones visiting this site at that time and it was awesome to consider that the Mayans had lived and walked there about 1500-1700 years ago. (In comparison, Tulûm had been occupied up until

about 1500AD.)Unfortunately, I was not

dealing with the heat well enough although all my joints were allowing me to walk places well, and I started to cramp up a bit. Since we were almost out of the water we’d brought from the car and I knew there was more back there, I headed back and got the AC turned on. With some water and feeling cooler I was feeling better. I realized, though, that we’d never make it to Kohunlich if we tried to see Kinichná as well. I’m suspecting we chose right from what I can tell by reading the tour books.

Kohunlich is one of the reasons I had thought this trip might be fun. It was one of the places I had found on the internet and what I had read had fascinated me. I’m suspecting we might have been better off not doing the museum and the ruins on the same

day but it was too late for that. All three sets are about the same age, dating from about 300-500AD, but Kohunlich has the Temple of Los Mascarones (the Temple of the Masks) and it was as impressive as I had expected it to be. There are four masks carved into the temple that represent the ages of the sun. They face the east where they will be the first to see the rising sun. I wish I could have gotten closer but it didn’t matter. It was definitely worth the time.

Again, I was really hot and starting to cramp up. We were almost out of water and soon were. Plus, we hadn’t eaten a thing since breakfast. I was moving but not totally functional. Los Mascarones was at the top of a steep hill and I’m not sure I would have made it up there if we hadn’t ended up approaching it from the back. I made it back to the car so I could sit. Once Ed got back and got the AC cranked up, that helped. Eventually, we found some water and potato chips (for the salt) and then some tamales from a roadside stand and were able to make it back to the ranchero.

Jeff hadn’t been able to connect with any of his connections in Bacalar but he made a bunch of calls and finally just suggested we drive up here. Bacalar is known as the Lake of the Seven Colours and we just were able to view those colours before the sun set as we got a room that has a balcony on the lake.

We found the Laguna Bacalar. There is a great breeze here and the rooms were reasonably priced ($60 for just an overhead fan or $75 for a room with an overhead fan & AC—I said I wanted the AC though it turned out to be overkill during the night). We showered and changed and decided to have dinner at the hotel. Ed had a very tasty fish filet that was steamed in a banana leaf and tinfoil, smothered in onions & peppers and I had their house special spaghetti that turned out to have chicken and an incredibly rich cream sauce (I think it was mostly butter & crema with a bit of rich cheese mixed in) which I wanted to lick off the plate.

Unfortunately, the room does not have grounded outlets so I can’t plug in my netbook and I’m running low on my battery. We are sitting on our porch, listening to the waves lap upon the shore while I write the travelogue and he reads. Guess I’m going to read now, too.

Not sure what tomorrow holds yet. I know what we’ve talked about doing but we’ll see if it happens. For now, I’ll say buenos noches.

Day 4—5 February: Bacalar/Xul-ha

I think that I will name Bacalar, Quintana Roo, Mexico “the land where time stood still”. And we liked it that way. There is a clock on the side of the tower above the office of the Laguna Bacalar, the hotel we stayed at last night (and again tonight), that I noticed at 1815 hrs last night. A couple of hours later it was still 1815 hrs. This morning it was either 1815 or 0615. No matter what, the clock didn’t record time and thus it was with our lives today.

My day started a lot earlier than Ed’s. I cannot say I was exactly up with the sun since it was a little overcast but as the sky lightened I was out to observe it. I listened to the birds and watched the world brighten (and get hotter very quickly) and took a few pictures. Ed finally awoke and informed me that there was no rush to breakfast since the restaurant didn’t open until 0800 hrs. It was after 0730 at the time so no big deal. We watched the world for a bit and then went to the hotel’s restaurant again.

I ordered something called chilaquiles which turned out to be kind of a nacho-like dish. Tortilla chips were smothered in a red sauce, a bit of a crema, and cheese. It was a very tasty combination. Ed ordered the Breakfast Maya-style, not knowing what to expect, which turned out to be tortillas, covered with frijoles, eggs, cheese, a sauce that was either mole or similar to mole, ham and peas. It was served with toast (Wonder-style bread) and juice. I made a mistake and ordered some fruit salad which was a huge plate of mango, banana, watermelon & cantaloupe smothered in yoghurt & granola. Okay, tooooo much food but wasn’t going to trust us to remember to have lunch.

Ed had tried to get the computer to log-on from the office since there was no signal in the room but had trouble. When I tried later, I couldn’t even find a connection any longer and it looked like he had changed the settings. Neither one of us figured out what was going on

then. When I logged on a bit ago, everything popped up and into place where it belongs. I can log on with a strong connection. Funny thing is, I’d rather write this travelogue and then head to bed than to check my email or Facebook. Doesn’t sound much like me, eh? I’m definitely in a different headspace down here.

I was already hot so I jumped into the pool, which is right next to the restaurant, and swam for a bit. Then Ed decided he wanted to try his new snorkel stuff so we hiked down the stairs to the lake and swam for a bit down there. I played just a bit with the camera in the waterproof case but his mask didn’t really fit and I hadn’t gotten any of my own equipment. We had fun, though, and were nicely cooled off after doing it.

We then figured we’d head over to the Fort of San Felipe in the town of Bacalar, then to the rancho and finally to the Cenote Azul (blue cenote [sinkhole]) but only part of that happened. We went to the 17th c. fort (finished in

1729) that was built by the Spanish to protect them from the attacks of English, French and Dutch pirates continued during century XVIII since these wanted to control the traffic of the dye wood, on the other hand followed the attacks of Mayan rebels. There is a nice museum within the walls of the fort and it was a fun, though hot, excursion.

Determined not to do what we did yesterday, we stopped by the hotel for a bite to eat (as well as pick up the marshmallows we’d brought for Jeff & Brenda—seems that nice, puffy marshmallow that are good for campfires and near impossible to get down here) and took a dip in the pool while waiting for our food. We split burritas, which turned out to be ham & cheese in a tortilla with a bit of red & white sauce spread on the outside, and an order of beans and an order of rice. Too much food again but like I said we didn’t want to repeat yesterday when I was not doing well after

Bacalar was a city of the Maya civiliza-tion in Pre-Columbian times. This was

the first city in the region which the Spanish Conquistadores succeeded in

taking and holding in 1543. In 1545 Gaspar Pacheco established the Spanish town here with the name Salamanca de Bacalar. The region of the southern half of what is now Quintana Roo was gov-erned from Bacalar, answerable to the Captain General of Yucatán in Mérida.

Day 4—5 February: Bacalar/Xul-ha (cont)

the heat of the day and no food at all.

Okay, so the plan was to go to the cenote to swim after a bit of time at the ranch. That plan dissolved quickly and neither of us was going to complain. Brenda, Jeff’s wife, and Shelby & Marshall, their kids, showed up not long after we did. Brenda had some prep to do for a surprise party she was planning for Jeff for tomorrow (which he had just learned about) and I ended up helping her a bit by peeling shrimp with a couple of their staff (there was about 3 kilos of fresh shrimp to peel) while Brenda did other things that including making a huge batch of cream puffs. While I was doing that, Ed went out to teach the kids some archery.

Jeff had decided that we were going out to dinner and what an experience that was. He has a friend, Yvon, who is Quebeçois but has been living down here for over 10 years (8 years in Playa de Carmen and 2 in Xul-ha). Ivan

in bacon that was served with a mango sauce. Ed and I shared some flan and a shot of tequila for dessert. The food and the music were intoxicating enough without the alcohol, though. It was a magical evening.

We had been considering driving north earlier than Monday before all of the late afternoon stuff started with the idea that we might go see a different part of the Yucatan. But we had so much fun, who knows. Right now, it’s looking like we’re going to go to Mahahual tomorrow to try

is a classical guitarist. Jeff has another friend, Concho, who owns this awesome restaurant in Xul-ha called Muul-ha. The restaurant is across a wooden, hanging bridge from Yvon’s place. And yes, I did make it across and back again. Concho is a wonderful guitarist, too, and sings wonderfully. He probably knows about every Mexican folk song there is. We also found out that Jeff sings & plays, too. He does a kind of folk/blues mix. So, we ended up at Concho’s restaurant with the three of them playing and singing. Sometimes together. Sometimes taking turns. The food was awesome (Ed & Jeff and Caldo de Mariscos that had shrimp, conch, crab & octopus in it). The kids shared Ceviche Mixto (mixed shrimp, octopus, and fish that is cooked by marinating it in lime juice and spices) though they had plenty to share with us. I had shrimp that was stuffed with cheese and wrapped

our hand at snorkeling and maybe make it back for Jeff’s “surprise” birthday party. Or we might stay in Mahahual and come back this way on Sunday. Yvon is giving a concert Sunday afternoon with a couple of his friends who sing classical stuff so it will be a mixed bag. Sounds like a pretty amazing time.

So, who really knows what to expect tomorrow. All I know is that time stood still today and we aren’t complaining in the least.

Laguna Bacalar is the second largest freshwater lake in Mexico, 35 miles long and a compelling natural wonder with equal helpings of jungles, beaches and

pure water. Yet, it is surprisingly (for now) unspoiled and untouched by over-

eager developers and tourists

Day 5—6 February: Bacalar to Mahahual

I think the theme for the day is “I came, I saw, I swam”.

We got up with the sun this morning and packed up. We decided not to wait for Jeff to call but called him after we checked out and had packed the car. While waiting for our breakfast (we shared the chilaquiles but with an egg this time, some fresh orange juice and coffee for Ed), we got directions on how to get to a place that was owned by some customers/students of Jeff’s. They are from Minnesota and own a place about 9k up the coast from Mahahual (a community known mostly for their scuba but just starting to figure out how to cater to the cruise ship trade).

The drive to Mahahual is uninspiring and takes about an hour and a half. Jeff’s directions were good and we found the place in good time. It was probably too good since

some guests were just leaving and check-in really wasn’t until 1400 hrs. We met Maureen, one of the owners, and she showed us the room anyway. Joe, her husband, was out fishing but she said that if we wandered into town for a bit, everything would be ready for us when we got back.

We first drove through the area that is set up for the cruise ships but luckily none of them were in port today. It meant that no shops were open and that the streets were dead. It’s still looking like they want to really set it up well for the tourists but it’s not totally there yet. We stopped near a lighthouse that you come to just before the turn to go to the town that had a little food stand & bar and were told that the swimming was free and they could rent us a kayak or snorkeling equipment if we wanted. We went

out for a bit and tried out Ed’s mask & snorkel. My feet have become awfully soft over the years and the rocks felt really nasty but the only shoes made for water were my crocs and they weren’t going to give me good footing. So, I dealt with the rocks. It was fun, though, finally getting into the Caribbean.

We wandered through town next and found a little beachfront restaurant called Blue Laguna owned by an Italian woman. We shared some shrimp tacos & guacamole with chips and enjoyed them with a couple of fresh fruit smoothies (mine was pineapple with orange juice and Ed’s was mango & banana with orange juice). Everything was tasty and hit the spot nicely.

We went back to Joe & Maureen’s and met Joe. He showed where the gear was that we could borrow and we got our stuff into the room. We relaxed for a bit, Ed snoozing and me enjoying a very friendly cat. Finally, we made sorted through the gear and made it into the sea.

Okay, I’m not really good at this. It was better when I used Ed’s gear and let him readjust the borrowed stuff for himself but at first it was

really hard for me. It was also hard since none of the flippers fit me but at least the diving shoes did so I had good footing in the water. We did make it quite a ways out but not all the way to the reef. I good a huge amount of water in at one time when I floundered and it was making me nauseous. I finally had to give up and Ed knows that if any diver gets tired you both go in. I was also more tired than I felt. The water was pretty calm and clear and I was disappointed in myself. But it took a lot out of me.

After showering in a really nice shower (this house is gorgeous and the room excellent), I ended up crashing for about an hour and a half. It was almost 1800 hrs when I started feeling human again. We dressed and wandered back into Mahahual. We walked through town (the area right next to the beach is closed to traffic for much of the town) and found finally found a restaurant called Robicánte which was owned by an American named Steve. Dinner was pretty good. Not the best we’ve had since we’ve been here but tasty. I had a lobster tail with

Not too many years ago Mahahual (also spelled Majahual) was nothing more than

a few palapas on the beach and an outpost for the Mexican Navy. Then the cruise ship industry took an interest in Mahahual’s un-developed coastline and built a deep water pier for their boats. It didn’t take long for an

entire town to spring up.

Day 5—6 February: Bacalar to Mahahual (cont)

garlic & butter (it was a bit overcooked and when I mentioned this to the owner he said they usually err on the side of caution with the lobster since they are worried about the way the food is handled by the locals before the restaurant gets it) and Ed had a fillet of fish with garlic & herbs. Mango juice mixed with mineral water for me and limeade for himself topped off the meal. The best part about it was it was right on the beach, literally, with torches in sand for the illumination.

We spoke with the owner a bit and then fell into conversation with a very interesting Pole named Adam and his Mexican girlfriend Monika. Adam’s been in Mexico for a couple of years but had been in New York for about 25. He’s about my age. Monika is from Chetamul and a bit younger than he is. His English was excellent and hers was about as good as my Spanish. The conversation was so good that he bought us a drink (me a Coke light and Ed

a mango juice) and we talked for an hour or so about a lot of different things.

It was a very dark road (we missed our turn off twice) to get back to where we’re staying. The stars are incredible out here. We’re up on the roof (3rd floor) and the only sounds we can hear are the sounds of the waves pounding/lapping at the shore and the bugs of the night. There was a generator going for a while but it just turned off. The only light is from the stars and my netbook and I think it’s time to finish this and close it down.

This house is a duplex that they rent out half of it plus a room (the room we’re in) and live in the rest. It’s incredible. Very nicely finished. Very secluded. I like it here.

Hurricane Dean hit in 2007 and dealt a devastating blow that has taken three years to overcome. Now Mahahual is on the move again with a much improved beach front, a new malecón paved pedestrian walkway for strolls right in front of the beach, and a totally improved

tourist zone that still retains the flavor of its Mexican Caribbean roots. The center of town is actually quite small but beaches stretch north to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve and south to the coastal

town of Xcalak, last stop before Belize,

Day 6—7 February: Mahahual to Chtumal

Well, the lungful of sea water the day before really did take a lot out of me. Slept good but definitely wasn’t ready for trying any more snorkeling. I was glad that Ed felt the same way. It was a beautiful morning, though, so we read for a bit on the veranda, just enjoying the cool breeze coming off of the sea and a bit of sun. Joe & Maureen’s place is great but it’s not set up as a B&B so we eventually needed to go find some food. They do have a duplex unit that can be rented that has a kitchen and all, and for a longer stay that would be great. It would be especially perfect if someone enjoys scuba and/or snorkeling or fishing and totally getting away from it all. If anyone is interested, let me know and I’ll get you Joe’s email address. Even a hammock on roof or on the beach doesn’t sound like a bad place to stay there. Just hope for a breeze to keep the mosquitoes off of you!

We did have to leave that paradise, though, eventually to go find some food and made

our good-byes and paid our tab. Awfully nice accommodations for about $60US/night. We wandered back into Mahahual and stopped at a place just on a whim. Had the same chilaquiles (sort of ) that we’d had in Bacalar but it was much better. We had some cheese empandas first and they were excellent and then this huge plate of tortilla chips smothered in red sauce, onions, sour cream and cheese and topped with two perfectly done eggs. Mmmmm. I had tamarind juice to drink and Ed had coffee. (The majority of coffee he’s found here is instant but it seems a cut above what we have back in the states for instant. He says he’ll look for some when we get home.

We wandered down the Maracone? (walkway by the sea) which is lined with restaurants, a few shops and lots of construction. (Seems to be a lot of construction everywhere down here. According to Jeff, people begin building as soon as they have the

money but that might only be enough for a foundation. They’ll make due with tin roofing or anything they can find for walls until they can afford cement block, etc. It takes a long time to earn enough to finish building when the minimum wage is 40 pesos a day [less than $4US].)

We drove back to the rancho after the walk. Driving down here is a bit of an adventure. The main roads are pretty good but every chance they get they put topes (speed bumps) around. Most of these are in a village or town but some are near bus stops or even just stands selling everything from fresh cut pineapple or jicama to tamles or tortillas. Sometimes cold drinks or coconuts. Depends on where you are and what they have. A bag of fresh cut pineapple or jicama is 10 pesos (about $.80US) and is usually sold with a small packet of ground chilis, usually habenero mixed with salt that can be sprinkled on it or used to dip the fruit or vegetable in. The jicama also comes with a cut lime [limes are everywhere, too]. This stuff all tastes so wonderful on a hot day.

On our way back to the rancho, we stopped by the Cenote Azul which is about

92 meters deep around the edge and at least 150 deep in the middle (it seems no one has ever gone deep enough to actually measure it). It has an elliptical shape is 200-300 meters across, depending on where one measures. It is a huge shaft in the limestone plate that makes up much of the Yucatán peninsula, and is filled with brilliant blue water. It is surrounded by thick jungle (at its banks the water disappears into the trees) except for an area cut out for the open-air restaurant where we went for a swim from. We got down to the water and for a while I didn’t see that it would be easy for me to climb out once I was in (the ladder is all pipe and very close to the rocks plus covered with algae—very slick and difficult to get purchase on) so I dangled my feet in the water while Ed swam for a bit. It was nice but not quite right. I’ve gotten stronger over the past two years but not quite that strong. We were about to leave when I noticed the way a rope was tied to the side near a bit of a rock ledge that made a natural step. The rope went across the whole cenote as a diving line of a sort. I realized

Founded in 1898, and located on the shores of the bay of the same name, Chetumal

(“place of abundant red cedar”, in Maya) is the capital of Quintana Roo. The city is

attractive and its location on the main road south from Yucatan to Belize makes it a

place many travelers end up spending some time in.

Day 6—7 February: Mahahual to Chtumal (cont)

that I could use the rope to pull me out when the time came so I stripped off my shirt back to my bathing suit and slipped in. It was wonderful. We swam around for a while, let the sun dry off most of the water, picked up something cold to drink and continued on to the rancho where we could change and hang out until the concert (which we had been told would be at 1500 hrs. Turned out that it was supposed to be at 1700rs and was more like 1800 hrs by the time it really got going.

The weekends are the busy time at the rancho. Jeff & Brenda have a restaurant that specializes in ribs and less Mexican fare (something different for the locals) and it’s currently only open on weekends. They have about 50 horses and offer horseback riding lessons and trail rides.

We met Karen & Karen, two Quebeçois who were going to be performing with Yvon that night (the concert we’d decided to come back for). We shared a plate of ribs served with rice & beans, had some 50 year-old tequila that someone had brought Jeff the night before for his 50th birthday, and just kicked back watching a quiet bustle around us. The tequila along with the snorkeling the day before and the drive today took its toll though and I said I was going to go nap in the car. Instead, I was shown a hammock, turned on my MP3 player and stuck the ear-buds in and escaped all worlds for an hour or so.

Jeff & Brenda were still busy with customers so about 1700 hrs we figured we could find our own way to Muul Hal (the restaurant) in Xul-ha. Not too much later and without getting lost, we

were greeted like old friends or long-time customers by Concho. The concert didn’t start for another hour or so but it was worth the wait/ Yvon is an incredibly good classical guitarist. One of the Karens is a classical singer with a good solid operatic soprano. The other Karen is a good jazz alto. There were songs in French, English, one in Dutch, and a number of traditional Spanish songs over the course of the next hour and a half. Ed and I shared a bowl of Caldo de Maricos (seafood soup) and chips and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We were falling down on our feet when it was time to leave. Jeff & Brenda had offered us a room at their place for the night which was very nice of them. They were now comfortable enough with us and us with them

that we now have a room waiting for us anytime we want to go to Chetumal again. Their house is huge and they have quite the menagerie (a golden named Pablo, seems to be a very common breed in the area and there are dogs EVERYWHERE; 2 bunnies, 2 cockatiels, and 5 budgies not to mention a spider monkey at the ranch and one of Pablo’s pups, a skinny young dog named Brendan). The room was nice and has its own bathroom. We got some sheets & towels from Brenda, took a quick shower, and were asleep before our heads hit the pillows. (I’m actually writing this one while on the road since I was too tired to write before we crashed.)

Two hurricanes in the 1940s leveled the entire town; Chetumal was devastated a

third time in 1955 by Hurricane Janet. After this, the town was rebuilt with more solid

construction, with concrete blocks replacing wood as the usual material.

Day 7—8 February: Chetumal to Valladolid

The day might have started faster but we found out that talking to Jeff and Brenda was something we didn’t end easily. Despite the fact that I was up at 0600 hrs and Ed was not far behind me, we still didn’t get out as early as we had hoped. We didn’t hit the road to Valladolid until nearly 0900 hrs but the conversation was too good to pass up. We left with a promise that our room was always there when we wanted to come down again. Once we had all gotten to know each other, we were very comfortable and knew that it would work out.

We found our way out of Chetumal without too much difficulty and were soon on the 307 heading north once again. Just before we got to Felipe Carrillo Puerto, which was where we were going to veer off the main road, I needed to go to the bathroom and there was a roadside store with bano written large on the walls of a small structure. One thing I’ve found to be a pleasant surprise is the

cleanliness of the banos. They often don’t have seats and you often have to pay 5 pesos (about $.04) for the paper—and they don’t always flush the paper down—but they’re clean.

Ed had a cup of coffee and we each got a package of cookies to tide us over, but they must have seen us coming because they had these neat little bows with a set of arrows, all different, with stone arrowheads, also all different. Very much for the tourista and more likely Aztec than Mayan but still very neat. We should have bargained for the set (it was $300M or about $24US for the set which was more than we paid for any other souvenir) but they were just the right thing for Ed.

Once we got through Felipe Carrillo Puerto—and getting through to the right road was interesting (signage leaves something to be desired for a non-n a t i v e ) — w e f o u n d ourselves on a two-lane blacktop. No wide bicycle lanes/shoulders like the 307 has (the 307 was built up greatly over the past

couple of years for all of the visitors to the Mayan Riviera and Costa Maya areas) but it was in excellent repair. We went through quite a few small villages each with its own set of topes, dogs, bikes, kids, etc., and crossed the state border from Quintana Roo to Yucatan before finding the city of Valladolid around 1400 hrs.

The city is about 46,000 (3rd largest in the state of the Yucatan) and very noisy after the past six days. On March 24, 1545, Valladolid was relocated to its current location from a location that was closer to the coast when early Spanish settlers complained about the mosquitoes and humidity and built atop a Maya town called Zaci or Zaci-Val, whose buildings were dismantled to reuse the stones to build the Spanish colonial town. They are refurbishing the historic center of the city back to what it would have been like in Colonial times.

It didn’t take us long to find the main square and one of the hotels (Hotel Maria de la Luz) written up in our little tour book. The room offered was clean and very economical ($480M [less than $40US] for the room and another $50M [$4US] each for a breakfast

buffet the next morning and had off-street parking included.

After checking in, we wandered down the street to find some lunch. There was a nice place on one corner of the main square that had a table between two doorways so we got a nice breeze. It was warm, though not as warm as our first few days had been, and the the cross-breeze was nice. Ed had something called papadzules (eggs and pumpkin seeds wrapped in tortillas smothered in tomato sauce) and I had poc chuc (grilled pork with onions). It was good though we’ve had better meals this trip. The shining moment of the meal was a liqueur made of honey, anise and a local flower called Xtabentún. Before the end of the day we found a bottle to take home.

We wandered a bit more, checking to see if there was a night tour to see the light show at Chitzen Itza (the place was closed like so many places are in the high heat of the afternoon), into the Cathedral of San Gervasio (built by the Franciscans in 1570) and into a small museum that seemed to have a lot of interesting information

Valladolid is home to some very important history. The Caste War began here in 1847, and also the first signs of

the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Valladolid had a population of 15,000 in

1840 and 45,868 in 2005.

Day 7—8 February: Chetumal to Valladolid (cont)

if we had understood more Spanish (nothing in translation, though).

We went back to the hotel to get our bags into the room and discovered that we were staying in another place that didn’t have grounded outlets. (Note to self, bring an adaptor the next time for the netbook). I didn’t care so much about checking email but it does mean that I’m now writing this travelogue out longhand and will need to transcribe it when I get home. We had hoped that there was an adaptor in the hotel’s lost & found but no luck. We also found out that the night tour to Chitzen Itza would be out of our price range (no one else had booked it so it was going to have to be a private car and they priced it at $7100M [$568US] most likely so they wouldn’t have to do it) but we decided to drive out there on our own. After all, when else might we visit this area again with so many other places in the world to discover?

It was a bit of an adventure to get the car out of the

parking lot, including a small scrape with the gate at the opening of the drive (a very good reason to go for the insurance that is offered when you rent a car in a foreign country) and then a bit more of an adventure to navigate out of town during rush hour but we were soon on our way to Chitzen Itza.

The road was well-maintained and well-marked with lines and reflectors but much narrower than the road from Cancún to Chetumal. No bike lanes again but that didn’t mean that there weren’t bikes or pedestrians or dogs (there are dogs everywhere we traveled—very few on leash—all seemingly under-nourished and unlikely spayed or neutered) or goats and a bunch of small town with topes as well. But as I’ve said before, driving in Mexico is always an adventure and the road was in good repair and well-marked and we gave ourselves about an hour and a quarter to go the 25k (which was cutting it

really close).We got to the site with

about ten minutes to spare for the show that started at 1900 hrs. It seemed to take forever to get our tickets but there was only one cashier and he was dealing with headset rental as well. The evening show is a light and sound show with an extensive narration. We chose not to rent the headset (another $39M [$3.15US] on top of the $44M [$3.50US]/each admission (and $22M [$1.75US] for parking) which was a big mistake. If we ever do it again or anyone asks us, we recommend that the headset be rented.

I’m sure that with more time, the whole tour of the ruins would have been interesting but with as little time as we had, I’m glad we did it this way. We saw the Castillo (the large pyramid) as well as four other parts lit up in various ways. There was music and the sounds of the rain forest added to the dark of night. There was a nice cool breeze and the crowds weren’t nearly what they probably are during the day. The whole idea was to feel what it might have been like when the Maya were there. It was a nice 45 minute show and I can now say I’ve been to Chitzen Itza.

We got bombarded by hucksters as we were leaving, something we hadn’t had to deal with anywhere else on this trip (we were the last car out of the parking log). One of them used a line that often gets my attention just because I’m so amused by it—“Almost Free!” He had wooden masks and I really like one that seemed to encompass a lot of what is Mayan—jaguar, snake and broad face—in plain, not painted, wood. This would be my main souvenir. Ed ran back to get a smaller version of it for our neighbors who were going to help make sure the dogs got walked, the garbage was put out, and the snow shoveled to help out our critter/house sitter.

The drive back was uneventful and we had to work a little more to find the secondary parking lot for the hotel but that was soon done and we could enjoy our last night in Mexico. The square and cathedral were all lit up and it was so beautiful. There was a cacophony of sound, though, since it seems that every bird in town (or maybe the region) descends upon the trees in the square every

Chichen Itza has been widely studied, and excavated and restored more than any of

the other Mayan cities. Yet its history is still clouded in mystery and there are many

contradicting theories and legends. It was recently voted as one of the new 7 Wonders

of the World

Day 7—8 February: Chetumal to Valladolid (cont)

Day 8—9 February: Valladolid to Cancún to Memphis to Madison

night.We wandered around,

more than slightly exhausted, looking for a place that was still serving food. We found the best gift store yet with very fine art way out of our price range. But they had Xtabentún (the honey/anise liqueur we liked so much) so we bought the large (700ml) bottle. The only food they served, though, was fundido (cheese fondue) which wasn’t quite what we were looking for. Two other places were ruled out because the music was so loud we couldn’t hear ourselves think. The restaurant in our hotel closed minutes before

we got there so we ended up at the fanciest hotel/restaurant in town. By this time, I had almost no appetite and could barely keep my eyes open. Ed ordered the Longaniza (a spicy, dry sausage) and I had the Sopa de Lima (lime soup—a chicken broth seasoned with lime & pepper with chicken and tortilla strips). Both are local specialties. I thought the soup was tasty and just what I wanted but Ed was a little disappointed in the sausage though he ate most of it.

It was around 2300 hrs when we hit the room, showered and collapsed. Definitely a long, full last day of a fun trip.

I was up early again and took another shower at 0600 hrs. Ed slept through that and most of my unpacking, rearranging and packing. Though I left some of the packing for him since I figured he knew how he wanted to wrap the bow & arrows better than I did (and if they broke it wouldn’t be my fault). It was about 0715 hrs by the time we went down to breakfast. The hotel does a very nice buffet that included fresh fruits and bread, juices, two kinds of sausage, tamales, three kinds of scrambled eggs, stewed chicken, frijoles as well as hotcakes and French toast (which we didn’t even bother with). Everything was well prepared and tasty. It was a great way to start the day.

We checked out and walked the luggage the couple of blocks to the car. The birds were still noisy but not nearly what they’d been last night.

On our way out of town, I suggested we check out the XVIth c Church and ex-Convent of San Bernardino.

We were both glad we did. It was built above a cenote in 1552 by the Fransiscans and survived the War of the Castes in 1847 when it was used as a fortress. The building is beautiful and there are very nice gardens, cloisters and even remains of the original frescos near the altar. We wandered around a bit and finally started out of town around 0900 hrs.

We thought we had given ourselves plenty of time but it seemed to be the longest 153k drive we’ve ever taken. It took us about 2 ½ hours to get to Cancún and at least another thirty minutes to find the airport and the rental office. A few missed turns and we finally were able to get out of the car and go through all the rigmarole of checking in, going through security, etc. Everything went smoothly until we got on the plane. Seems that one of the landing lights was broken and it took about an hour to figure out if it

The history of the Templo de San Bernardino de Siena, and Ex-convent of Sisal began in

1552 the Franciscans started to build in this area a very modest building but it was set on fire twice due to the Mayans revolts. In that

year the actual church and convent started to be built by Juan de Merida, a former soldier.

The construction ended in 1560, however the construction of the convent took longer.

Day 8—9 February: Valladolid to Cancún to Memphis to Madison

(cont)

Final Observations

Pictures

needed to be fixed or just rigged so it wouldn’t be a problem and to fill out the paperwork.

Despite the fact that we left Cancún an hour late, the flight to Memphis was uneventful (just a bit rough). We smoothly zipped through Immigration, picked up our bags, went through Customs, dropped off our bags again, and double-timed it through the airport to find our gate. Good thing we originally

had almost 2 ½ hours to change planes. We had about 45 minutes by the time we made it to the gate. Ed found us some decent Memphis barbecue; we ate quickly, and were on the plane quickly. Again, the fates were kind to us and, despite a snowstorm in Madison, we left on time. No glitches on that flight or in getting our bags or catching a taxi and we were home, being licked by the dogs, by 2100 hrs.

This was a great trip though so much different than most of the travel we have done in the past couple of years. It was closer to travel that we have done here in the States like when we decided to go see the Grand Canyon—rented a car and took some guesses on things we wanted to see based on things we had heard and read.

There seem to be advantages to both ways of traveling. An organized tour is more expensive but there is less wasted time and less guessing if what we are doing will be worth our time. But it is more regimented, timewise, and there is less chance of an interesting adventure. The way this trip turned out is a lot more chaotic and sometimes a bit scary about timing but we had a great chance to meet a lot of neat people, hear some great music, and experience more of what life along the Costa Maya is really like.

We had a chance to relax and experience a lot of history all in the same trip. Seems to be something that worked well for us.

When development was started on Jan. 23, 1970, Isla Cancún had only three residents, caretakers of the coconut plantation of Don José de Jesús Lima Gutiérrez, who lived on

Isla Mujeres, and there were only 117 people living in nearby Puerto Juárez, a fishing

village and military base. In 2005, the population was around 572,973.

Click on the links below to access our photos.

• Cancun to Tulum• Tulum to Chetumal• Chetumal to Bacalar• Bacalar/Xul-ha• Bacalar to Mahahual• Bacalar/Xul-ha again• Valladolid