Ok the last 7ish days follow... Enjoy.
March 20th, Campeche: a long day in the saddle
left no time for being a tourist but I drove along the Gulf coast all day today
and it was really pretty. I’m getting some tendinitis in my left hand from
pulling the clutch lever all day long… Topes.
March 21st, Visiting Campeche: my hands are a
little swollen and my 2nd & 3rd fingers on my left
hand are stiff; time for a day off the bike. I walked (no moto) around the historical
center of Campeche today; it had a high fortified wall all around it to protect
from raiding pirates during Spanish colonial times. There was a lot of
reconstruction happening to preserve and rebuild the original city center and it’s
apparent that the city is proud of its heritage. I met Jorge today; he just
started talking to the gringo J.
He lived in Texas for a long while and now lives here in Campeche with his son
and girlfriend. He took time out of his day to walk around with me and we had a
really nice time talking about life. He even sat down and shared a meal with
me. I keep being reminded that it’s our relationships and our experiences that
make our lives rich. Thanks Jorge; Mucho Gusto! One of the things I like best
about this trip is all the nice folks I meet and one of the things I like least
is continually saying good bye to them. But I keep making new friends and even if we only get to share a few hours they are truly making the trip precious.
the local fish market
the cathedral on the main square in the historical city center
the historical fortified city center was beautifully restored, lots of shops and restaurants and sculptures in the streets that were for pedestrians only
Jorge and I walked around the town for a while and along the top of one of the restored walls of Campeche then grabbed a bite to eat.
in some places all that is restored is the facade so it was interesting to peek behind from the top of the wall.
March 22nd to Chichen Itza: 170ish miles today
went by really quickly. It was almost entirely 4 lane divided highway, flat and
straight and not much to look at but I arrived at the hotel early afternoon and
got the last room J
lucky because it’s a busy weekend due to the equinox. Very few topes today too,
so my clutch hand got another “rest day”; It’s feeling much better today J. Plan is to get up
early see the archeological site and be finished as the tour buses begin to
arrive around lunch time.
Sunday March 23rd Visiting Chichen Itza and
on to Coba: the plan worked perfectly! I had the whole place to myself for the first 90 minutes. The vendors weren’t even set up yet but by the
time I left the crowds were building fast and I had seen the whole site by
11:AM. I got a lime sorbet (helado limon) and then returned to the Hotel in
time for checkout J got the bike loaded and drove 90min to Coba.
Found a nice little family run hotel ½ a kilometer from the "zona archeolgica" and will visit in the morning, same plan different site… I had a nice dinner of
grilled fish fajitas and a cold cervesa. Gracias Ricardo! Then sat on the
restaurant balcony and did file management, set up my next GPS route, found a
cheap hotel in Tulum and listened to the preacher across the street give his
sermon, Baptist? Assembly of God? He was VERY enthusiastic and there was lots
of music.
the ball court, ancient Aztec basketball
the feathered serpent was an important deity
note the severed head in the warriors hand
for the ASU fans, los diablos del sol
the "observatory". there were little windows that would align to Venus at certain times
there were lots of iguanas, I may have taken more photos of the lizards than the ruins
Itza-selfie
March
24th Visiting Coba and on to the coast, Tulum and Akumal: woke up
this morning and at breakfast I met two women from Belgium who were also on
their way to the Coba archaeological site, Ines and Natalia. We all went together and for the 1st 1 ½ hours had the place to ourselves. I
liked Coba because it was a much more intimate experience, you got to climb
some of the pyramids and you were much closer and the feeling of being in the
jungle was very “Indiana Jones”. We were there from 8 to 11 then returned to the
little hotel to pack. We had a light lunch and then said see you later with
plans to meet at the Zebra hotel in Tulum. It took me a little while to find a
hotel in Tulum because the hotel I intended to stay at was booked. But I found
a comfortable and inexpensive hotel quickly and then made my way to the beach.
Natalia, Ines & I had only another hour to visit and have a margarita then
parted companies. They were starting their little road-trip to Chichen Itza and
other Yucatan cities. Once again it was really nice to make some new friends and it made the visit to Coba a lot of fun.
Friday, march 28th Akumal to Bacalar:
I finally got in my snorkeling. I never did get to snorkel in Akumal bay,
instead I walked 2 minutes down from my hotel and snorkeled in Yul Ha bay/cove.
It’s a fresh water inlet into the ocean that is very protected from the ocean
currents and winds, so even though conditions were poor in Akumal bay they were
really quite good here. But, there were a lot of people because the
conditions everywhere else were poor. I still had a lot of fun and got the hang
of snorkeling… it’s not hard… and tried to use the go-pro in the water. (I shot some video clips and I think they turned out OK but I probably wont try to post them until I return. My little netbook just can't handle video processing) After,
I got cleaned up and packed and hit the road. Just 2 hours south to Bacalar.
Bacalar is interesting because it’s on a long narrow fresh water lake that is
fed by underground rivers. The water is a beautiful turquoise blue. Bacalar is
also very close to the border with Belize...
Me and Ines among the roots of a massive Banyan Tree named Ramon. The Banyan is a type of Fig tree that sends roots down from it's branches
Taking photos from the top of a smaller pyramid. It was so cool to be able to climb around these ancient structures in the jungle
there were two ball courts (Juegos de Pelota) at Coba
Ines & Natalia
Ixmoja pyramid, the largest at Coba
Natalia
Ines
We were 1/2 way up Ixmoja and taking a little break. We were definitely feeling the heat and humidity of the jungle but also enjoying the view.
March
25th Tulum ruins and world travelers: Today I was tired and slept in
a bit, got a little bite to eat and decided to go to the Tulum Ruins. This is a
relatively small but important Mayan complex and is so beautiful because it
sits on a bluff and cliff overlooking the white sandy beach. I took a
bunch of photos of the ruins and the iguanas and headed back to town and my
hotel. On the way, I saw a couple on a big BMW GS and then 200 yards later saw
3 more “adventure” motos at a little beachside campground so I stopped to say
hello. They are an Australian family Mom, Dad & 18 yr old son each on their
own bikes www.earth-roamers.blogspot.com. They shipped their bikes from Australia
to New Zealand to BC, then rode to Alaska, then turned south. They have been
traveling for 18 months! The other couple on the BMW turned around and joined
us. They were Indian but their home was in Houston Texas; they had been
traveling for 3 years, all over the world, and were almost home! We had a
spontaneous “horizons unlimited” meet www.horizonsunlimited.com on this tiny beach campsite in Tulum Mexico!
It was Amazing to listen to the stories of these seasoned travelers and to hear
how well traveling through Central America had gone for Nick and Kanchan http://www.rideoverland.com/.
In the evening I bumped into Nestor and Maria from Greece; they’re staying at
the same Hotel and we decided to have dinner together. It was another great
experience and I really enjoyed the conversations we had about motorcycles (of
course) and cultural differences and similarities. They were a vibrant couple
and were really fun to spend some hours with. What an incredibly
diverse/international city Tulum has turned out to be. And the beaches… They
are SO beautiful!
Tulum Ruins:
Many Many Iguanas
and a Coatimundi
Jeanette, Kanchan & Mike
Dad & Nick
Nestor & Maria from Greece. They have a Hammock business and they were here in Mexico doing product research www.lacasadehamacas.gr
Wed & Thurs March 26 & 27th Akumal: It
was a very short ride from Tulum north to Akumal. Akumal is renowned for its
amazing snorkeling… It remains to be seen because the winds are up and the
currents are strong so my planned guided snorkeling with the sea turtles
adventure was cancelled this morning. I’ll try again tomorrow. It’s OK; I had a
nice relaxing day walked along the beach and had a beer J
Half Moon Bay, Akumal
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