Another World Wonder August 19, 2010

07.14.10

We arrived in Merida a little after 5am, and thankfully the owner of the hostel we wished to stay was awake, but no rooms available until nine. So we finished our slumber on the couches in the common room. We woke up, checked in, and ate some breakfast at a fancier Mexican version of Denny’s.

Merida is another very impressive city with large stone cathedrals and Yucatan state municipal buildings flanking a large plaza in the center. The heat and mosquitoes aren’t very welcome from the previous weeks of cool, bug-free climates, but its worth it.

I spoke at length with a patient fellow at the information office using my broken Spanish, which is more of an English/Spanish blend with the occasional German word when my brain confuses which foreign language I am speaking. He suggested a series of less visited Cenotes for us to go to just outside of town. The journey to these underground rivers was almost as fun as the Cenotes themselves.

We first had to walk across the city to the bus station and get tickets for the tiny town of Cozuma. Once let out at Cozuma a couple of guys on mototaxis greeted us, and for the extortionate price of 50 pesos ($4) he drove us two kilometers to the staging area.

Staging area? You may be asking. A small collection of thatch huts stood in the middle of nothing else where horses grazed in the fields and a handful of local tourists waited for their turn. For the next part of the journey we rode what are called Caballitos; small carriages pulled along two foot tracks by very skinny horses. Jessica and I fit in with two Mexican sisters and two adorable kids that I made faces at the entire journey.

The Caballito ride through the jungle felt a lot like Big Thunder Road at Disneyland as the horse strained slowly up tiny hills to gallop their way down; our iron caboose clicking and clanking rapidly down the tracks as me and the five year old boy screamed loudly. Being only one track, we had to get out and lift the car off to let others pass. An experience I doubt exists many other places on the planet, videos to be posted soon.

For the next three hours we partook on a beautiful Cenote adventure via horse-pulled train, descending into three different massive caverns filled with crystal clear, blue waters. What with all the mosquitoes, massive horse-flies, and muggy heat; the cool water was delicious, and the empty caves very peaceful.

On the return journey we were hit by a rather large lightning filled storm making the adventure just that much more epic. However, I did lose my shirt on the journey; by far the most upsetting thing that has happened on this trip yet.

When we arrived back at the staging area, transportation back to Merida was a bit difficult to come by, so we huddled under a straw hut with the large family and some British friends we made. As we waited for our ride to arrive, we were entertained by an irate male horse trying to mount a feisty mare and the owner trying to control him.

The ride back was much easier as the Mexican family got a van directly to Merida. We had a bad meal at a restaurant that actually made us miss Mexican food back in California, then we went to bed.

07.15.10

By 6am we were on a nearly empty hour long bus towards the ruins of Uxmal. We arrived forty minutes before it opened, and grabbed breakfast at the hotel nearby. Being the first people to set foot inside the ruins just as it opened was unbelievable. For an hour we had the place all to ourselves, with no kids running around yelling, and no one to get in our pictures. Just awesome.

We wandered the grounds for over an hour playing with the birds and iguanas, and taking in all the glory of Uxmal ruins.

Later in Merida we visited the governors palace and were in awe of the murals painted by Fernando Castro Pacheco who impressively captures the struggles of the Mayan people for the last few hundred years.

We topped off our day with some internet use, a nap, and in the evening watching some local music and colorful dancing at a street festival.

07.16.10

We slept in and were soon on a bus to Valladolid, only a little over two hours away. Our book said that a good, clean, and most importantly cheap hostel was run by somewhat of a local legend; Antonio Aguillar, the self-proclaimed “King of Baseball.” Our first stop in the city was knocking on his door to be greeted by a very elderly man in a rolling chair wearing nothing but a tight pair of white undies; a picture may have been too much to ask for; so you’ll have to use your imagination. His humble abode was decorated with baseball memorabilia, as he was once a champion baseball player in the Yucatan (didn’t even know they played baseball here). He gave us keys and directions to our room a few blocks down, where we dropped off our bags and hit the town.

A running theme so far on this trip is cute, colonial towns, this is not an exception. After some delicious lunch of chicken, avocado, and salsas, we headed for the cenote in the middle of the town. It weas a bit of a dissapointment after the incredible trip two days ago, but worth a quick dip. The rest of the day was spent being very lazy; purchasing some tequila, hanging out in the room, and ending the night with a terribly LONG dinner at a fancy hotel we were told would be delicious. Even compared to the far cheaper food at the food bazaar today, the meal we had was disappointing and took forever to come to our table, but the setting was nice.

We strolled by moonlight then off to dreamland.

07.17.10

So here we are again at the butt crack of dawn on a bus towards another set of ruins. These however are not just any old ruins, they mark Jessica and my third of seven wonders of the modern world. First the Coliseum of Rome, then the Taj Mahal of India, and now the ancient Mayan CHICHEN ITZA!!!

Again we were the first ones to the front gates, no other tourists willing to wake up so early to see the world wonder without other humans to bump elbows with. Three minutes past opening time we stood staring at the people behind the ticket booth. Every second ticking by in wait for them to finish getting ready for the day, until finally they stamped our tickets and let us through!

It ended up being a lot smaller than we expected it to be…

While most certainly strikingly beautiful, the great pyramid of Chichen Itza and the surrounding complexes ended up being a bit of a disappointment to be called a world wonder. The Great Wall of China and the Pyramids at Giza sure, but this was so tiny in comparison! Especially when compared to the unbelievably magnificent ruins of Angkor in Cambodia, which through some completely idiotic or bureaucratic nonsense is not on the list of world wonders! For shame world wonder board members, for shame!

There were even other ruins on this trip that were more impressive, and with much deeper historical significance; Tikal for instance, but here we are, and we are her to enjoy, so enjoy we did; for a number of hours.

By the time we were ready to leave, the flood gates had opened. Hundreds upon hundreds of people stacked in fancy buses straight from Cancun began trickling in. Tourists who bravely left their resorts for a true adventure being packed together with other white people.

We chatted with a really great couple from Oregon as we waited for our bus, and became fast friends on the way back to Valladolid. Back in town we all grabbed some lunch at the food bazaar, and chatted for a couple hours to then part ways and go back to our room for a shower and a nap.

Great minds truly do think alike as we picked a really nice looking place with live music for dinner and lo and behold, our new friends coincidently sitting down with some beers. The rest of the night involved lively conversation, lime soup, a dish wish FAR too much cheese, a good number of beers, and finally me on the toilet, popping a pepto, not happy about eating the cheese dish.

07.18.10

Again on the bus towards our final destination; Isla Mujeres. We had to disembark in Cancun, but not the “little America” part of Cancun, rather the actual city which was formed solely as a place to live for the workers who built and run the resort area.

A short taxi to Puerto Juarez, the dock where we loaded on a large boat to Isla Mujeres, the Island of Women. It is named for the stone statues of female gods found littering the shores by the Spanish.

Having spent a thousand bucks under our budget for this trip, we decided to splurge a bit on a nice room on this more resorty island. We picked a place online called Na Balam with rooms ranging around $50 a night; huge for us!

After a walk across the island and arrival at our hotel, we learned the website we checked prices was WAY wrong. More like $120 per room. The concierge recognized our concern and managed to drop the price down to $90, which after looking at their beautiful standard room, we agreed to.

Soon our friends Patrick and Jenni had arrived from Cancun; here on their honeymoon, and we toured the island in a rented golf cart, while our room was prepared.

It was great catching up with them after a long time, and much more fun than if we’d actually gone to their wedding! Our wedding gift was a massive bottle of blanco tequilla which we wasted no time getting in to. The island tour was made even more enjoyable.

We got back to the hotel and got a devastating piece of news. Our room had some issues, and no more cheaper rooms were available; so we were forced to settle with a free upgrade to the Luxury Suite complete with an infinity bath on the deck looking out over the flawless blue ocean; such a difficult life…

You can guess how we spent the rest of the day. Lots more drinking, lots of bathing; even bringing beers and tequila out a few hundred feet into the knee deep ocean and having an awesome time.

Jenni and Patrick didn’t want to return to their Cancun resort, so they checked into the room next to ours and the debauchery continued into the night.

07.19.10

Jess and I woke up to a complementary yoga class under a thatch roof with rain trickling all around. It should have been perfectly relaxing yoga, but the mosquitoes singled me out, making it impossible to soak into my sevasana.

The rest of the day was spent doing entirely nothing, and it was absolutely incredible. Tequila, sand, water, and sunburns is the only way I can describe it. The absolutely perfect way to end our unbelievable, yet hectic month of travel.

We said goodbye to Patrick and Jenni as they went back to their all-inclusive honeymoon resort in Cancun, and finished the day with a nice sunset and shrimp dinner surrounded by a fun, drunk, Mexican family!

07.20.10

Time to say goodbye to Central America… We checked out, had a tasty breakfast, hit the boat back to mainland and a taxi to the airport. A long layover in Atlanta, Georgia, and back into Oakland.

No muggings, no Dengue, Malaria or food poisoning, no fights, no stress; just a perfect one month journey through Central America and beautiful passport stamps from three new countries! Only a couple hundred more stamps to go before we collect them all!

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