Vacation Continued: Back in Mexico Part 1

After crossing back into Mexico, we arrived in Chetumal and hopped a bus to Xpujil, a small town in southern Campeche. There is really nothing to see in Xpujil. It’s a town of about 5 blocks spread along the highway, no nice church, no pretty architecture, really nothing visually appealing at all, but it is the jump off point for a series of ruins and the national park called Calakmul. Town seemed even uglier as it started to rain while we were walking around looking for a hotel and then a dog decided to bite Kurt. He was fine (although I would not have been) and we were saved from the rain when we realized that as we exited the bus station we had actually passed the only 3 hotels in town (think small and poorly marked). In the morning we set out as early as possible to get to the 3 ruins we wanted to see before the only bus of the day to Tulum at 10:30. Since there is no public transport, we negotiated with a taxi to take us. We started out a little too early and upon arriving at the first ruin, Becan, discovered the gate was still locked. However, it was easy enough to slide around and the driver assured us that it was fine, “people do it all the time”.

After Becan, we went to Chicanna, famous for its door that looks like a monster’s mouth.

Then it was on to the ruins at Xpujil, pretty much right on the edge of town.

We got back with just enough time to cool down (the theme of this trip was hot, humid, and mosquitos), finish packing, and go to the bus station…..where we proceeded to wait for 3 hours for our bus. Buses in Mexico, especially 1^st class buses generally run on time, but not this time. This was our lovely view for 3 hours.

After the slight delay, we arrived in Tulum that night and then spent the next day camped out on the amazing beach. Well first we went to the ruins that share the same name as the town. The ruins themselves aren’t that spectacular, but their location, perched on cliffs about a white sand beach with the turquoise waters of the Caribbean below is pretty incredible. (I was here on my last trip to the Yucatan so the photos might look a little familiar). Then wandered down the beach looking for some shade, but not really wanting to pay for a palapa. We were lucky enough to find a great tree on the edge of the beach and had a nice, natural, cheap palapa all to ourselves. Well, all to ourselves until we noticed the two guys in the bushes and then the cop that kept driving by on his four wheeler. I can’t complain too much though, it was still free.

The next morning we went to the ruins of Coba, about 45 min away from Tulum. Coba has the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan and is a really spread out site set around 2 lakes. I think I have finally reached my end with ruins for now. I’ve been to over 30 different sets in Mexico and I’m getting to the same point that I am with churches….there has to be something really cool and unique to capture my attention….sad, but true.

We spent the rest of the afternoon back on the white sand beach with our only purchase of the trip. Kinda weird, but for 50 pesos (less than 5 usd), how can you pass up Obama flip flops??

Yucatan Peninsula Vacation: Part II

Day 4: Uxmal, Kabah, Ruta Puuc, and Progreso
Tueday was a ruined-filled day. I started off by visting 3 sets of ruins (Sayil, Labná, and Xlapak) that are collectively known as Ruta Puuc. While all fairly small, some of the temples have some really interesting details. As with Edzna, they were completely empty.

Kabah is a set of ruins located between Ruta Puuc and Uxmal and is famous for its wall of faces.
Then I finally visited Uxmal, which is the largest of the 5 and has 2 very large pyramids (again one of which you are still able to climb and from there can see many of the other ruins).

Then after a long day of ruins, I took the bus north of Merida to the beach town of Progreso, also home to the longest dock in Mexico (over 7km long).

Day 5: Chichen Itza, Centoes, Tulum
I headed to Chichen Itza on the 6:30 am bus from Merida, and while I was regretting the early hour, arriving in an empty Chichen Itza was definitely worth it. By the time I was headed out at 10:30, the place was filling with people and tour groups, but I had the place almost entirely to myself.

After the ruins, I caught a bus to Valladolid and from there headed a little bit outside of town to two underground cenotes. Because of the limestone geology in the yucantan Peninsula, there is virtually no surface water (no rivers), expect cenotes, which are basically pools of water. The two near Valladolid, also happen to be underground so you feel like you are swimming in a cave and generally, roots from the trees above reach through the ground and down into the centoe for their water source. Swimming was a welcome relief from the heat. After that, I hopped on a bus for Tulum, Quintana Roo, on the shores of the Caribbean Ocean.

Day 6: Rainy Tulum
Of course, the only planned beach day was the only day it stormed for the entire day. I went to the ruins at Tulum in the morning, and while the buildings are less impressive than some of the other Mayan ruins, their location, on rocky cliffs overlooking the white sand and turquoise waters of the Caribbean make them an amazing site.

Just after the ruins, a huge storm hit the area, and it pretty much continued raining all day. I ended up passing a good part of the day huddled under a palapa with other people at the hostel playing cards. The storm did break long enough to take a bike ride along the coast though.