Mexico, Carnivals and Ruins

Crossing the border would have been a delight if it were not for the fact that the sore throat I had had for a couple the of days was now turning into a cold. The process to get out of Guatemala took about ten minutes then the whole entrance into Mexico was dealt with at two buildings next to each other. Firstly immigration, and no suspition and questioning here 6 months! Come on in and enjoy yourself. Then next door to the Benjercito to import the bike. After paying about $40 it was all done and we were on our way again. Ben had a smile on his face. It was like he was in his second home.


Ben was in his second home and I had the next two months

We covered the next 200km through to San Cristobal at a very steady pace, one because there was a lot of federal police cars about and secondly because of the “topes”. This is what the Mexicans call speed humps, and boy are there a lot of them. Most of them are marked and signposted, but there are a few that take you by surprise and you hit them fairly hard. I had visions of the top box going down the road again!!

As soonas we found a hotel, I went off to find a pharmacy, and Ben went off to find somewhere that would weld is side stand that was starting to break at a weld. Dosed up with flu powder and cough medicine I slept for the next 14 hours.


Small Mexican streets and good food in San Cristobal


The Church in San Cristobal

I felt better the next day and after catching up to see how Ben was doing (by now he was doing an oil and filter change as well) we messed about until early evening and then walked into town to see what was happening. Mexican beer and Tequila (the good stuff) followed by some authentic Mexican food was what was happening, good stuff.

Early Thursday morning Ben and I parted company. A big thank you to him for making my journey through the borders in central America a lot easier, and for being generally good company. He was on his own timetable to get home to Ontario by the beginning of April, and he wanted to see Mexico City. I on the other hand now have two months in Mexico and don’t want to go anywhere near Mexico City!

I started heading north over the hills towards Palenque. More small roads through a lot of small villages with an awful lot of TOPES!! Frustrating riding is not the word.

I found a little hotel in the back streets of the town and the next day got up early to go to see the Mayan ruins just outside of town. Another surprise. Having not read anything about this, I was just going on what I was told, that I ought to go to see them. I now rank then up there with Machu Pichu!! It was a superb morning. Getting there just as it opened, the monkeys were still howling in the jungle that surrounds the ruined city, and the mist was still clearing. The best thing was that the tourist busses hadn’t arrived yet! As the morning wore on the temperature started to rise walking through the jungle became a very sweaty experience, but even though there were more people at the site there were still times when you felt you were the only person there. By lunchtime I was back in town for a meal of Quesadillas with some very hot chilli sauce, and then still time to get the bike washed at the local car wash.


Palenque, early morning mist and Howler monkeys


Just sitting on top of the main palace and getting a feeling for the place


Some parts are still in the jungle


Some of the intricate carvings that have been moved to the museum

I then started to head north into the Yucatan Peninsular going up the west coast to Campeche. The road becomes a major highway and the incidence of topes becomes less, which makes riding more pleasurable. I had been heading for a smaller town just before Campeche but had decided to push on a little further. After finding a nice hotel, I walked down to the seafront only to find the whole seafront road was being prepared for a carnival that night, so much for a quiet night!! Later I went down to see the parade along with thousands of others whole had come from all around the surrounding countryside for what was obviously one of the biggest events of the year.



Getting ready for Carnival


A beautiful sunset


Carnival in full swing


Hours of fun for all

Sunday morning and I was heading for the Caribbean coast further up and around the top of the peninsular. Dark clouds were hanging over the main city of Merida and as I skirted the city a heavy shower managed to wet everything but only to the point where it cooled me down for half an hour. Further east I started to see signs for Chichen Itza, which were ringing bells but I couldn’t remember why. Buy the time I got there more very black clouds were in front of me and the archaeological ruins signs gave me another reason to stop early.

Monday was split into two parts. An early walk of only 20 minutes got me to the ruins as they opened. This time there was already two coach loads there. This is a major tour destination from the resorts all the way down the east coast from Cancun so very early is the only way to beat the crowds. While the central temple building is very impressive here I was disappointed that all the buildings are roped off, so although you get a good view you don’t get the feel of the place as much as in Palenque. By the time I left three hours later the place and all the little stalls selling the souvenirs was in full swing, the temperature and humidity was also starting to get pretty high from all the rain the day before. Part two came later that evening when at 19.00 there was a sound and light show put on in the ruins. This is much less attended as most of the buses have already headed back to the coast.


The main temple at Chichen Itza


Intricate carvings on some of the buildings

By Tuesday clear blue skies saw me on my way along the back roads towards the Caribbean coast.