Lumberjack Update #9: Mexico & The Yucatan Peninsula

Hey everybody!

Our trip through Mexico was awesome, interesting, and worth every single peso! I just want to let you all know that Patrick and I made it safely back to Flagstaff yesterday—everything went without a hitch!

Let me continue where I left off in the Lumberjack Update #8. After our last night at San Felipes, a really short one, and equipped with a packed backpack we took the Open Road Tours Shuttle from Flag to Phoenix at 4:30am. From there we flew into Mexico City, got ripped off for the first time on the way to the bus terminal (welcome to the taxi mafia), and got on the bus to Oaxaca and left Mexico's unbelievable dirty (traffic, pollution) capital on the very same day.

In Oaxaca we visited the Monte Alban archeological site (the oldest one), which dates back around 500 BC. Then we got on the bus again to «enjoy» the 12-hour, meandering-through-the-mountains-of-Oaxaca night journey to San Cristobal de Las Casas, the capital of the Chiapas State and home of the Zapatistas, the armed left-wing peasant group with their leader Subcomandante Marco. Next destination was Palenque, which lies pretty much in the middle of the jungle—and yes; it was hot, humid, and sweaty. Wow, my first time in the forest of our mother earth. Just amazing, impressive, and overwhelming! We made Palenque our base for the next two days, did a one-day tour to Misol-Ha, Agua Clara, and Agua Azul (highlight number one) and, of course, didn't miss to visit the famous Palenque Maya Ruins before another bus took us to Campeche, which was added to the World Heritage Sites in 1999 by Unesco. In this pretty, clean, and lovely city we hit the beach for the first time... and also got sunburned (the only time though).

In the meantime, the first week passed by and ADO (the Mexican bus system's prime company) dropped us in Merida, the capital city of the Yucatan State. We stayed at the Nomadas Youth Hostel where we met our Hippie friend Norman and some more folks from Quebec (any comments?). Socializing was key and we really spent three nice days in hot, dirty, humid and polluted Merida. The trip to the Cenotes in Cuzama, some 45 minutes from the center, marked highlight number two: horse drawn wagons took us to three Cenotes—limestone sinkholes filled with crystal clear water, holding amazing formations for great swimming and jumping (17 and 35 feet!). The other day we visited the Uxmal ('oosh-MAHL') ruins and continued our historical journey through the Aztecan and Mayan culture. Thanks to my 18-peso Hamburgesa the last night in Merida wasn't that fun. Anyway, on the ride to Valladolid (the second big Mayan city on the Yucatan peninsula) I pretty much recovered and managed to keep up with the relaxing Mexican vacation atmosphere. The place we stayed was totally cool, chillin' and kind of remote: a serene garden in the back of the hostel, a hammock site and a kitchen. This quiet and remote city was the right place to lean back, drink some more Coronas and Dos XX, and do a mini bike tour to Cenote Dzitnup (unfortunately, we were too early and didn't catch the full beauty of the sunbeams). The trip to the most famous and best restored Mayan site in Chichen Itza was also worth the money (normally they charge cut throw admission fees!). Patrick took at least 30 pictures of his favorite El Castillo (Pyramid of Kukulcan) on that site... .

Finally, we reached Tulum and the Caribbean Sea! For the first time the Mexican bible, the Lonely Planet, wasn't much help at all. The town of Tulum, which consists of some twenty houses, a supermarket and other stores, is disconnected from the beaches and the hotels. After having bought some food, water, and other essentials we landed at the Cabanas El Mirador. Basically, this place is made up of a restaurant and two dozens of Cabanas (a simple wooden roof-thatched shelter). However, we slept in the hammocks we bought in Merida and enjoyed two nice days on the beach and evenings swinging back and forth in the typical Mexican way of sleeping. The Cabana's only light was a candle—an absolute cool experience.

We spent the remaining three days of our trip in the touristy city of Playa del Carmen where we got the cheapest lunches ever: 35 pesos! The rhythm was set: Sun, fun, and nothing to do—Swimming, dining, shopping, people watching and the like. BTW: I also got a chance to watch game 7 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs (NHL) between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers. They also showed the Formula One Grand Prix of Monte Carlo (Monaco). At the last evening and just shortly before we spent our last 38.10 pesos we accidentally ran into Anna, the Dutch girl who was doing a seven-month internship in Playa. We also got our Tequila shot and experienced a last ripe-off at one of the happy hour places and took the final shots with our cameras.

On Monday we flew out of Cancun and arrived safely in Phoenix and eventually in good old Flagstaff.

To sum it all up, it was a totally awesome, great, interesting and exciting vacation! Patrick and I really spent some 17 unforgettable days in the southeastern part of Mexico, shared many stories, laughs, and took millions of pictures. Just have a look at syz.imagealbum.ch.

Yes, you've reached the end of my e-mail! I hope this finds you all doing very well.

Take care & cu all soon,
Andreas

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