After lunch I explored more of the town and found a cheaper hotel to move to for the night. After moving the bike it was time for more people watching i the plaza. One young lad selling newspapers asked what the thing I was typing on, so I told him it was a computadora and let him type his name into the editor. Oof course then he had to enter his age (8), and the names and ages of his two sisters. and then I had to enter my name and age. I asked him what he thought my age was and he said 20. Of course most travellers on this circuit are probably closer to that age than to my 37 years.
Even though we talked for almost an hour yesterday morning, we were sort of rushed by the guy waiting for the use of the phone and my need to get on the road. So after dinner I decided to try calling Noemi again. I had discovered that I could dial the Sprint toll-free number from the Mexican LadaTel machines after all. I had tried once before and it hadn't worked. who knows why. I may have done something wrong. At any rate this time it worked. That's good to know since you don't get charged the service fee lik you do if you make the call at one of the long distance "stores". Interestingly enough though, I got a Sprint operator who insisted that it wa not possible to charge such a call to either my Visa or American Express cards, despite the fact that a previous Sprint operator had placed such a call for me. However, for some reason, I can't call the Sprint # and then charge the call to either of my Visa or American Express cards. The PIN codes don't seem to be set up properly. Calling is never easy from Mexico!
Tomorrow it's on to the ruins at Palenque, with stops at La Cascadia de Agua Azul and the Misol-Ha Cascades. The guidebook says it is a 4-hour drive by car, and even knocking off an hour by bike, given that I want to stop at the other places Ii plan to get an early 6:30-7am start.
Monday September 9 (54930 miles)
Temp: 10:30am 100F 3pm 105F
Happy Birthday, Mike, from Chiapas!
Today's routr took me from the cool chiapan highlands back doen to the hot, humid, muggy lowlands. Agua Azul and Misol-Ha were both in the lower Chiapa hills before hitting the lowlying flatlands.
The waters at Agua Azul were running chocolate brown due to recent rains, so although it was 100+ in the sun, I declined to take a dip. However a few tourists and quite a few locals did venture in the waters. It took a bit over an hour to hike up along the numerous cascades to the plateau at the to and then return. The hike up was pleasant as most of it was shaded by the large trees and there were cool breezes and mists off the cascades. at the top there was a 3-person, hand powered tram that woiuld take you across the river for a small fee. I turned around at that point. Once again there were many stands lining the parking area and portions of the trail to the top, selling refreshments, food, crafts, and trinkets. Small children approachre you as you passed to buy their items.
Misol-ha was actually much nicer for swimming. There wasa a nice pool at th foot of a 100 foot waterfall which was nice and clear. Surrounded by jungle it was very picturesque. And the swim was a refreshing relief from the 105F temperatures.
Frequently along the roadsides there were small piles of brush being burned, and other spots the roadside would be burned for stretches of 50-100 yards. I think this was just the way the roadside was kept clear of the foliage, as this area consisted of scrubby jungle growth. Which remids mw, several days ago I passed one such burn which apparently had gotten out of control. When I passed, flames were 5-6 feet high in the brush on the left side of the road, and thick gray smoke was blowing across the road. I entered the smoke and it quickly got so thick I couldn't see more than 3 feet in front of me. Then it would clear for a moment and then get bad again. It went on like this for about 50 yards, the smoke stinging my eyes, and I could literally feel the heat of the flames through my Aerostich jacket. I could barely mak out the headlights of an oncoming truck. It was a bit scary. I was glad when I got through it.
Then on to the town of Palenque, about 5km from the ruins of the same name, where I got a room in the Hotel LaCroix, just off the town plaza, for 70 pesos. Since my jeans had gotten pretty muddy in the hike up along the Agua Azul Cascades, and since up till now I had only hand washed things, I decide to do a load of laundry. Supposedly there was a Lavanderia Automatica in town. I found it, but had forgotten that an automatic laundramat in Mexico usually just means it has automatic washing machines, not that it is self-service. My laundry would be ready at noon tomorrow.
Since this was a fair size town, but not so big as to be a pain to get aroun on foot. I thought there might be a good chance I could find an auto-parts store to buy some feeler guages to replace the set which somehow disappeared from my tool roll. I found a set, ironically made in the USA, for 60 pesos. It's always funny to see how prices work out. 60 pesos is about 8 bucks, about what you would pay for such a set of feeler guages in the US. But the 60 pesos was also almost what I paid for my hotel room, which in the US woul be expensive for a set of feeler guages.
Happy Birthday Sweetie!
A storm moved in last night as I was going to bed around 10pm and it rained heavily on and off throughout the night, accompanied by thunder and lightening. This morning the skies were still a bit overcast, though patche of blue were showing through.
Got to the ruins as they opened at 8am. The mists were still rising off the surrounding jungle and the tour bus crowds had yet to arrive. The Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque is one of the more photographed pyramids in Mexico. Lush green lawns surrounded most of the ruins. Trails to several of the ruins led through the wet, dripping surrounding jungle. From within the temple at the top of the Temple of Inscriptions, 60-some steps led down to the tomb of Pakal, which was not discovered until the 1950s. Unless you're an amateur archaelogist and want to examine all the carving and mosaics in minute detail, a morning is adequate for exploring the site. By 11:30 I was walked out and it was getting hot, even in the shade. Up till then, it was not bad if you were in the shade, but walk around in the sun and you were soon drenched. Fortunately there were no mosquitos. In the parking lot, as I was getting my stuff together to leave, a family (mom, dad, and teenage son) from Marin California walked up and we talked for a while.
I headed back into the town of Palenque to gas up, pick up my laundry, and have some lunch before headed north towards Campiche. When I got to the laundry, they hadn't even started my laundry yet, despite having promised it as reflected by my receipt, by noon. She said to come back at 2pm. I said no, give me my things, and left, very much annoyed.
After lunch I left Palenque at about 12:30, with a planned destination of Ticul in the state of Yucatan. It would be a high mileage day, more than 250, but on the Yucatan Penninsula, most roads are very straight, and I was able to keep the needle at 65mph most of the way. From Palenque, the road headed north-northeast through country where most of the jungle had been cleared for cattle grazing. At the town of Escarcega, the road turned north till it hit the Gulf Coast at Champoton. From there the road more or less followed the coast to Campiche. A few areas along the coast there were small, narrow white sand beaches, but for the most part the beaches were rocky.
Due to confusion in a road construction area, I missed the turn-off to head inland to Ticul. and found myself approaching the old walled city of Campich on the Gulf Coast. It was late enough in the day that I decided to call it day, and with the aid of the Guidebook found a cheap hotel in the old sectio of town, down near the waterfront. I'm glad I missed the turn, since Campiche turned out to be a really nice old city, and even though it has a population of amost 180000, my hotel, the Hotel Castelmar, was near several of the old baluartes (bulwarks) which were part of the old wall which had surrounded the city. Only the baluartes stand today; the rest of the old wall itself has been torn down.
Two of the baluartes houswd small museums and another a small tropical garde and these were open till 8:30 at night so I had time to visit them and the Puerta del Mar (Sea Gate) which was the sole access to the city from the sea when the walls were standing. There was a warm breeze blowing in off the Gulf and I strolled along Avenida Ruiz Cortines, the street along the Gulf. It was dark, and the wide walkway, lined with benches seemed to be a favorit with joggers and couples enjoying the evening.
The plaza, originally just inside the old walls, was now several blocks from the waterfront. It too was full of school kids hanging out and couple strolling and sitting. Shoe-shine stands occupied the intersections of the main walkways through the plaza.
Wednesday September 11 (55316 miles)
Temp: 7am 80F
Walked up to the Plaza and had breakfast at the Cafe & Restaurante Campiche. Had a terrific local dish, Huevos Motulenos - a tortilla topped with beans, two fried eggs, ham and peas, the whole thing topped with salsa and with fried bananas on the sides. Delicious.
After replenishing my peso supply at an ATM machine I called Noemi to wish her a 1-day late Happy Birthday. I had tried the night before but got the answering machine. I also made a couple of phone calls to try to figure out the situation with Sprint and my Visa or American Express Cards. It seems th original information I had been given was incorrect; I could not call the Sprint toll-free number and then charge the call to either of those credit cards. I would need the Sprint account and PIN number, which I had signed u for before I left home, but had not arrived at the time I had left. With an luck that information will have been forwarded to my parent's address and I'll be able to get the information I need in a couple of days when they return from their vacation. Until then, my choices are paying TelMex's long distance rates which are expensive, or call collect via Sprint, but I can't use the latter to access my ISP with my modem. So no email until I get the Sprint info.
I checked out some of Campiche's old mansions before leaving in late morning On the way to Ticul, I stopped at two ruin sites, Kabah and Sayil. Both are in the area known as the Puuc Hills, or La Ruta Puuc, which includes 5 or 6 main archaeolgical sites, of which the largest, best preserved, and most well-known is Uxmal. The most notable ruin at Kabah is the Palace of Masks while Sayil is known for El Palacio. The area flourished from 600-900AD, with Uxmal probably being the major city in the area encompassing the satellite cities of Kabah, Sayil,Xlapak, and Labna.
In Ticul I experienced a "full" hotel for the first time. My first choice, Hotel Sierra Sosa, didn't have any more singles (for 40 pesos), only doubles for 60 pesos. Instead I headed for Hotel San Miguel a couple of blocks away where I got a room for the bargain price of 25 pesos. It was nicer than som rooms I paid 70 pesos for.
Ticul has motorcycles. And mopeds and scooters as weLl. All types, 2-stokes and 4-strokes, most of them older, and of makes I'm not familiar with. You frequently see women riding passenger sidesaddle on the back, Or entire families of 3 or 4 people crammed on one cycle. Women pilot them almost as much as men, though usually on the smaller cycles or scooters.
On my way into town, I was following the signs to the Pemex station, when I became lost in a maze of back streets. I saw a young guy on a '90 Suzuki 90 and I asked him "Donde es el Pemex estacion?" (Where is the Pemex station?) He looked at me as if I was speaking Russian. That's always a bit unnerving especially when it was such a basic question. So I rephrased it, and pointing to the bike's fuel tank, said "Gasolina". This he understood, and laughing her said "Vamos", and indicated to follow him. That little exchang will teach me to try to be eloquent in my use of Spanish. He led me through the streets until we arrived at the Pemex station. Then we did what motorcyclists do all over the world, we talked about our bikes. He instantl recognized mine as a BMW and chuckled at its clattering valves compared to his quiet water cooled engine.
Thursday September 12 (55460 miles)
Temp: 11:30am 90F in the shade
Went to the major site of Uxmal, and the lesser siter of Labna. Most of the lesser sites charge 10 pesos admission with free parking. Uxmal was the mos expensive to date with a parking fee of 5 pesos and admission fee of 30 pesos. I got to Uxmal a bit later than I wanted, at 8:30, and there were already 5 or 6 tour busses. When I left around noon there were at least twice that number. Some times I think I'm in Germany. German tourists are everywhere. For every tourist of a different nationality, there are probabl 15-20 Germans. Most are part of large tour groups, though there are also a lot of young Germans travelling in pairs or small groups. The two structure Uxmal is best known for are the Pyramid of the Magician and the Govenor's Palace.
After Uxmal I went tp Labna which has an arch which is better restored than the one I saw yesterday at Kabah. Labna also has a long, well restored stretch of the raised, limestone-paved Sacbe, or ceromonial road, which connected many of the cities in the Puuc Hills.
A common image seen throughout the ruins in the Puuc Hills is that of Chac, the rain God. Chac masks, with their long, curved, elaphant-like noses, adorn the corners and doorways of many buildings. Chac was of great importance, since the Puuc Hills are very dry, with few ready sources of water such as springs or rivers. The Mayans relied on what rainfall there was, and devised an elaborate system of lime-lined reservoirs and cisterns (chultunes) and natural depressions to capture and store the rainfall. Several good examples of chultunes can be seen at Labna. It is stilll somewhat of a mystery of how the mmaya survived in an area with so precious litttle water, and in fact one theorey as to why the region was ultimately abandoned is that there was a severe drought which forced the population to leave. another theory is that the rise to greatness of Chitza-It