In review, what did we learn from our trip?
We wanted to see how we would do at a place for a longer period of time on holidays. Determined that maybe a month was a bit much and there would have to be reasonable access to a beach. Lake Attilan was nice but the lake has no beaches and swimming is dicey due to pollution.
Progreso was has a nice beach but was extremely hot and bare.
We kind of concluded that maybe a 2 week trip to a place is as long as we can handle unless there is something of interest such as a lithography school or a guitar school. Sounds like Havana.
Don't think Lou would be interested in going back to anyplace we were at and I have little interest as well.
Loved the kids and home cut fries in Guatemala, enjoyed the people we met couchsurfing and in the overall the weather was good.
Next year, choices, Spain Portugal, Morrocco or Australia or a couple of shorter trips to Cuba. or then again maybe just stay home.
Sunday, 3 April 2016
Cancun to Detroit and home
On leaving Cancun we were again reminded of how sometimes accidents can be beneficial. An option for getting to the airport in Cancun is to take the ADO bus for 66 pesos each plus a 50 peso ride to the bus station for a total of 172 pesos compared to 350 pesos for a taxi direct. Takes about a half hour with light traffic. We checked out a taxi driver who offered to do it for 300 pesos so we set it up for 7:45 am next day pickup at the hotel. So this was about $6 dollars more than the bus scenario. Amazing how you can get into a penny wise mentality. Anyway next morning Iam in the shower when the hotel guy knocks on the door and tells us our taxi is here. We look at our watches and figure he is about an hour early. Communication problems we figure. I go out to talk to him and low and behold Cancun is an hour different than the time in Campeche. Rushing through our packing we jumped in the taxi and headed off to the airport. Arrived with lots of time but had we not taken the taxi man we may have missed our plane. Tipped the taxi man well. Remember, always check local time.
Straight forward flights fro Cancun. Luckily we went by the baggage carousel in Dallas. Here were our bag and guitar going around and around. Didn't think we had to do our own luggage transfer, in fact I think we were told they would be forwarded on. Took them to the baggage place and checked them on only to have the guitar go missing between Dallas and Los Angeles. Turns out the Department of homeland Defense wanted to inspect this funny shaped bag to keep us all safe. Ended up arriving midnight next day and delivered to Ben's.
After 5 days in Los Angeles visiting the kids we were off to Detroit . Landing here our plan was to take the shuttle bus to downtown and figure a way across to Windsor for our bus to Kitchener. We asked an employee at the airport where to catch the shuttle. He told us very adamantly that there wasn't one and we would have to take a Metro Taxi. He knew this because he works here and laughed when I mentioned the webpage for the bus schedule. Not fully believing him we went outside following the transportation signs. We found the Smart Bus stop and took the bus downtown. Cost us 50 cents each as seniors and took about an hour for the 25 km ride.Why the guy in the airport lied to us I don't know, Lou thinks he has a taxi.
So a long dumpy ride rougher than any in central America deposited us downtown Detroit armed with new information gleaned from a fellow bus traveler about something called the Tunnel Bus.
We jumped into a local breakfast diner as much to eat as to get out of the cold and see if we could discover where this Tunnel bus thing stopped.
having finished the option 3 breakfast for me and the option 1 for Lou we set off found and boarded the tunnel bus. The driver treated us to a free $4.50 each ride as his money machine wouldn't take Lou's money .
The tunnel bus takes you right to the Greyhound terminal. Spent an interesting hour reading the local real estate rag. You can buy a small older house in Windsor for well under a hundred thousand but after being in the bus station and the local Tim's, we can understand the prices better. Bus stations are so much different in Central America than here. So a 5 hour weight and off to Kitchener and a ride home to Elora with a friend. Fait accompli.
Straight forward flights fro Cancun. Luckily we went by the baggage carousel in Dallas. Here were our bag and guitar going around and around. Didn't think we had to do our own luggage transfer, in fact I think we were told they would be forwarded on. Took them to the baggage place and checked them on only to have the guitar go missing between Dallas and Los Angeles. Turns out the Department of homeland Defense wanted to inspect this funny shaped bag to keep us all safe. Ended up arriving midnight next day and delivered to Ben's.
After 5 days in Los Angeles visiting the kids we were off to Detroit . Landing here our plan was to take the shuttle bus to downtown and figure a way across to Windsor for our bus to Kitchener. We asked an employee at the airport where to catch the shuttle. He told us very adamantly that there wasn't one and we would have to take a Metro Taxi. He knew this because he works here and laughed when I mentioned the webpage for the bus schedule. Not fully believing him we went outside following the transportation signs. We found the Smart Bus stop and took the bus downtown. Cost us 50 cents each as seniors and took about an hour for the 25 km ride.Why the guy in the airport lied to us I don't know, Lou thinks he has a taxi.
So a long dumpy ride rougher than any in central America deposited us downtown Detroit armed with new information gleaned from a fellow bus traveler about something called the Tunnel Bus.
We jumped into a local breakfast diner as much to eat as to get out of the cold and see if we could discover where this Tunnel bus thing stopped.
having finished the option 3 breakfast for me and the option 1 for Lou we set off found and boarded the tunnel bus. The driver treated us to a free $4.50 each ride as his money machine wouldn't take Lou's money .
The tunnel bus takes you right to the Greyhound terminal. Spent an interesting hour reading the local real estate rag. You can buy a small older house in Windsor for well under a hundred thousand but after being in the bus station and the local Tim's, we can understand the prices better. Bus stations are so much different in Central America than here. So a 5 hour weight and off to Kitchener and a ride home to Elora with a friend. Fait accompli.
Campeche,Progresso and Cancun
Entering Campeche came with with a beautiful view along the Gulf coast. It has a very modern fell to it especially coming from Palenque. The centre of the city is surrounded by the defensive old walls and is a World Heritage Site.
Overall Campeche is very clean and straight forward in layout. We took a room at a fairly new facility offering a small pool we only used once because of the rain. The room was nice until someone in the neighbourhood decided to provide very loud boom boom music to everyone late one evening till after midnight.
Originally thought that Campeche might offer a long term winter holiday location but the beach is quite far from downtown.
I had a couple of local dinner specialties here. One was a Queso Rellano. It consists of a thick piece of gouda cheese on the bottom with about 2 to 3 inches of mixed ground beef and pork then a 1/2 inch slab of gouda cheese and covered in a cheese sauce. You can add a tomato sauce if you want to include a vegetable. At least 300 calories per bite.
The next delicacy was Papas Fritas. It is basically mashed potatoes stuffed with pieces of pork or bacon and cheese wrapped up in a tin foil ball. Quite bland and calorie laden.
The bus from Campeche took us to Merida where we caught another bus for the 45 minute ride out of the city to Progreso on the Yucatan coast.
Progreso is a city of about 60000. We had heard a lot of good things about the city as an expat place. We did meet a lot of Canadians and Americans that were staying here for long periods of time.We stayed 9 days and I think that was about 7 days too long. It does have a beautiful beach, no undertow and shallow for kids. It is undergoing a transformation to it's economy due to the arrival and increase in cruise ship visits.
We couchsurfed 2 nights at the house of a 67 year old lady from Washington State.She has a nice house and was starting her plans for leaving on a month trip to Europe with her daughter and family stationed in Germany.
Progreso like most Mexican cities is almost devoid of trees. Way to much concrete, especially in the heat and blazing sun.
We rented an apartment overlooking the beach. It started getting busier as the week progressed towards the weekend and Semana Santa or Holy Week. Progreso fills up with a lot of celebrators from Merida and other areas looking for beach time. There are small carnvals with rides and games at all the little beach towns as well.
Moving on from Progreso was a bus back to Merida and then a 4 hour trip across the Yucatan into Quintana Roo and the city of Cancun. we had bought our ticket for the bus earlier in the week because of the increase demand that occurs during Semana Santa.
We arrived in Cancun under showers prepared to go souvenir shopping and with 2 days to kill before flying out to Dallas and then Los Angeles. Our hotel was almost brand new, about $30 us per night (Reasonable for Cancun), well located and staffed by really helpful and friendly people.
Overall Campeche is very clean and straight forward in layout. We took a room at a fairly new facility offering a small pool we only used once because of the rain. The room was nice until someone in the neighbourhood decided to provide very loud boom boom music to everyone late one evening till after midnight.
Originally thought that Campeche might offer a long term winter holiday location but the beach is quite far from downtown.
I had a couple of local dinner specialties here. One was a Queso Rellano. It consists of a thick piece of gouda cheese on the bottom with about 2 to 3 inches of mixed ground beef and pork then a 1/2 inch slab of gouda cheese and covered in a cheese sauce. You can add a tomato sauce if you want to include a vegetable. At least 300 calories per bite.
The next delicacy was Papas Fritas. It is basically mashed potatoes stuffed with pieces of pork or bacon and cheese wrapped up in a tin foil ball. Quite bland and calorie laden.
The bus from Campeche took us to Merida where we caught another bus for the 45 minute ride out of the city to Progreso on the Yucatan coast.
Progreso is a city of about 60000. We had heard a lot of good things about the city as an expat place. We did meet a lot of Canadians and Americans that were staying here for long periods of time.We stayed 9 days and I think that was about 7 days too long. It does have a beautiful beach, no undertow and shallow for kids. It is undergoing a transformation to it's economy due to the arrival and increase in cruise ship visits.
We couchsurfed 2 nights at the house of a 67 year old lady from Washington State.She has a nice house and was starting her plans for leaving on a month trip to Europe with her daughter and family stationed in Germany.
Progreso like most Mexican cities is almost devoid of trees. Way to much concrete, especially in the heat and blazing sun.
We rented an apartment overlooking the beach. It started getting busier as the week progressed towards the weekend and Semana Santa or Holy Week. Progreso fills up with a lot of celebrators from Merida and other areas looking for beach time. There are small carnvals with rides and games at all the little beach towns as well.
Moving on from Progreso was a bus back to Merida and then a 4 hour trip across the Yucatan into Quintana Roo and the city of Cancun. we had bought our ticket for the bus earlier in the week because of the increase demand that occurs during Semana Santa.
We arrived in Cancun under showers prepared to go souvenir shopping and with 2 days to kill before flying out to Dallas and then Los Angeles. Our hotel was almost brand new, about $30 us per night (Reasonable for Cancun), well located and staffed by really helpful and friendly people.
Saturday, 2 April 2016
Three Mayan Cities, Palenque, Yaxchilan and Bonampak
The words for Palenque are all superlatives, amazing, spectacular, stupendous. Lots of climbing and was extremely hot. Wasn't as busy as I thought it would be and there was lots of access to the buildings.Best 5 dollars for entrance fee you can spend. I think we did around 3.5 hours then catching a 30 cent ride back to the hotel. Taxis, shuttles and buses are all pretty cheap in Mexico.
Across the road there was a very good restaurant we visited for supper and arranged our trip to Yaxchilan and Bonampak for the next day.
Yaxchilan and Bonampak required a 2.5 hour shuttle ride south from Palenque. Yaxchilan is the first and to get to it requires a ride by motor boat down the Usumacinta River . This is also the Guatemala/Mexican border.
Leaving Palenque we decide to shorten the bus trip by stopping after 5 hours at Campeche rather than going the further 4 hours to Merida.
Across the road there was a very good restaurant we visited for supper and arranged our trip to Yaxchilan and Bonampak for the next day.
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| our room in the jungle |
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| one of many pyramids |
Yaxchilan and Bonampak required a 2.5 hour shuttle ride south from Palenque. Yaxchilan is the first and to get to it requires a ride by motor boat down the Usumacinta River . This is also the Guatemala/Mexican border.
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Yaxchilan has a completely different feel to it than Palenque. It is more in the jungle and feels like a quaint more hospitable place. Like Palenque it was a major Mayan centre.
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From here it was a half hour ride to the next ruins Bonampakwhich at one time had been an ally ofYaxchilan . Bonampak is know for the frescoes that have survived in a few of the buildings. This as well as the construction of the ceilings here and in other ruins reminded me of the pyramids and temples in Egypt
Leaving Palenque we decide to shorten the bus trip by stopping after 5 hours at Campeche rather than going the further 4 hours to Merida.
Guatemala to Palenque
Pretty uneventful at the border leaving Guatemala. No attempted shakedowns or scams.Lou had some gramma time on the bus to the border. Kids here in Guatemala are the nicest we have ever encountered. Probably because they are are not overstimulated and need to be constantly entertained.
Comitan De Dominguez is an unremarkable city of around 100000 people. We stayed with a young CS host named Karen. Lives with her mom and grandmother. We spent a night here and left for our next stop San Cristobal De Las Casas. Comitan had a nice church. Always get a kick out of the stuff you can find inside.
San Cristobal is a very pretty town. Lots of churches, restaurants, hostals. We spent 2 nights here and loved the cobbled stone streets and buildings. It is a very touristy place. The hotel we stayed at was about 15 dollars a night with breakfast included, hot water and private bathroom.It was owned by a Quebecer and his Mexican wife. San Cristobal has 5 major churches. One has a famous Black Christ. The Pope was here about a month before us. SC is in the state of Chiapas which is probably the state with the highest percentage of indigenious people. They are protests and rebellions here frequently. When we left by bus for Palenque which is normally a 4to 5 hour ride it took us over 9 hours because earlier that morning some Chiapas rebels stopped and burnt a bus blocking the main road forcing a long detour.
The ride to Palenque was long and tiring. We arrived at night so grabbed a cab and took off for our hotel. We had chosen one just at the entrance to the park in the jungle. Was an okay rom with a bored staff. Woke up in the morning to the howler monkeys. They make an unbelievable amount of noise.
Today we were off to the major site of Mayan ruins, Palenque.
So arriving at the border left us a small distance to Mexico. Choices were taxi or shuttles. We started to walk to find the best alternative and soon found ourselves at the edge of town. About 5 miles walking later we found the Mexican border. Nobody would stop to pick you up in the no man's land between the 2 countries.Crossing the border by foot was straight forward and 10 minutes later we were on a shuttle to Comitan de Dominguez .
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| I got to hang with the boys |
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| Lou found her spot |
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| Kids play for hours waiting on parents |
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| This little girl was here all day |
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| Lou trying a new version of Flan |
The ride to Palenque was long and tiring. We arrived at night so grabbed a cab and took off for our hotel. We had chosen one just at the entrance to the park in the jungle. Was an okay rom with a bored staff. Woke up in the morning to the howler monkeys. They make an unbelievable amount of noise.
Today we were off to the major site of Mayan ruins, Palenque.
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