Chang Solo
It’s just me again, and because I haven’t really had to refill my social gas tank while hanging around people I already know. I’m in a recluse mode and taking the time to recharge at the hostel as I try to decide my whens, whats and wheres. I know that I want to go to Palenque, but with the bus times, and the hassle of having to catch a colectivo from the nearest town, and so forth, I find out that I can join a tour there and being dropped off there to continue onwards to Merida; initially thinking that I have to go to Palenque and backtrack to San Cristobal. Of course, I am bound to pay more in the end, but there are other stops included in the trip that I don’t mind seeing.
No place like Palenque
Let’s just jump right to it, if you’re going to Mexico to see some ruins, I think this is a must-go. Unlike Teotihuacan, where it’s in quite a desolate setting, Palenque is surrounded by greenery. And if you consider the price of going to some of the more popular ruins, such as the Chichen Itza, it’s also much more value for money. But before we get there, we stop by two spots, one with a large cascading waterfall, and the other is just a waterfall. They both claim to have swimming areas, but when I arrive there, the effort of changing in and out of bathers don’t seem to be worth it.
At the not-cascading-waterfall, the driver tells us that we have to eat at the restaurant. Our eyes roll, and sigh at this blatant scam, but we reluctantly take the menu and look for the cheapest thing on the menu that isn’t a made for gringos pasta dish. However, after a few minutes of waiting to be waited on, we decide to leave and no one seems to bat an eye. Scam avoided.
Eventually, we arrive at the main event, and the driver tells us we have x amount of time or time to be back. With very little knowledge of the language, I rely on the other tour attendees to tell me what was said. However, to be safe, I try to keep an eye out on them, even at a distance - just in case. When we get into the complex, we’re mostly wandering separately by ourselves. There is another Asian guy there, who also stayed at the same hostel in San Cristobal, but I sense a bit of a stand-offish attitude - he is also an American after all.
Despite being in such a beautifully lush environment, there is only so much there is to see. Then at some point, I look around and notice that I can no longer see anyone I recognise around. Granted, it’s a large place, but up until then, I could always see at least one person from the group. Then I check my watch and think “did the driver mean this time?”, and since I’ve already seen what I needed to see; I exit. Outside, I also can’t see anyone I know, and the our minivan isn’t there. This is usual though; when we are left at a place for an extended period of time, the driver usually drive somewhere to relax or sleep. I’m kind of worried, but I’m also about half an hour out earlier than what was agreed. As the clock ticks by, I see colectivos come and go, and I think that I could probably have done this trip myself, and finally, people I recognise are coming out as well.
Shit.
After getting dropped off at the nearest town, I still have hours before the bus leaves for Merida. Under the sun all day, I feel dirty and mucky, and in a dire need of a good wash. With some hope and optimism, I walk to a nearby hostel to ask if I can pay to use the shower. Bingo! As it turns out, they have an exact “package” for what I need - access to shower, a garden to chill in and wifi to pass the time.
It’s an overnight bus, just like my old backpacking days, trying to cut down on accommodation costs, but ever since I had a bad experience taking one from Los Angeles to San Jose, I swore never to do it again. But alas, the timing of this seemed to work too well for me not to.
The trip starts out ok, and I fall asleep. The long-haul buses in Mexico have mostly been top notch. However, I’m woken up with the stench of shit coming from the toilet in the back. The smell is sharp and unbearable, and I’m thankful I’m not one of the poor souls sitting next to the toilet. I cover my face with whatever clothes that I have with me, and dreading that it’s going to be the longest 6 hours of my life.
However, at that time, I’m already dead tired, and do fall back asleep again, then when I wake up a few hours later, I can no longer smell it. I’m not sure if the driver did something, or my nose has adapted to it. Needless to say though, I continue to breathe in with my nose, and never my mouth in that bus.
You can in Yucatán
The overnight bus arrives in Mérida, the capital city of the Yucatán state, sometime after 5am, so it’s way too early for me to check in, and when I turn up in front of the hostel, it’s locked, and knocking on the door yielded no answer. There isn’t much for me to do but to just sit outside and wait - as the sun rises, the morning traffic then starts to build up, and I feel like a hobo sitting outside with people whizzing pass me in their cars and buses. Finally, the cook and/or cleaner arrives for her shift and she lets me in. Of course, I still can’t check in, but luckily there’s a hammock in the courtyard, and after the sleep I just had, I doze off for a couple of hours.
It’s kind of a weird hostel - kinda small, and looking at the other people staying there, I can’t be bothered doing the whole “hostel introductory conversation” - “where are you from?”, “what do you do back at home?”, “how long are you here for?” and then acknowledging with “oh, cool”, and “that’s nice” when they answer. But actually, the weirdest thing about the hostel is that the toilet/shower had glass doors facing out to the courtyard that are about 80% opaque, which means that you can kind of see when someone’s on the toilet or in the showers.
I booked two nights at the hostel, just to see how it fares, and my decision is to move to another one closer to the town centre.
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Ruins. Ruins, who? Ruins my life.
On the second day, I look at hiring a car to drive to Uxmal (more ruins), which will also allow me to make stops along the way. But after figuring out the prices, it’s a bit more than I’m willing to spend, so instead, I go by the el cheapo bus. After visiting two other ruins sites, I had thought the prices will be similar, but soon find out that it’s way more than I had anticipated at over 400 Mexican pesos. There are 2 tickets you have to buy, but is essentially 1 ticket - you enter with one ticket, and 20 metres in, you present the other ticket. No ideas why.
The size of the site is quite large, but I don’t know - I’ve seen so many ruins around the world, I’m getting numb to it like churches and cathedrals in Europe. Because I caught the bus, I have quite a bit of time to just wander around slowly to explore every inch of the place, and sit at the top of an old structure and enjoy the view.
On my way back to Mérida, I look up the price of the entrance fee to Chichén Itzá and find out it costs even more to enter. At least that’ll save me the effort of going there now!
Remember Graham and Mel from Guanajuato and then Mexico City? I meet up with them again! Graham meets up with me at the city centre and we grab some beer from a joint that I had lunch at a couple of days prior, where I noticed that they’re selling beers for cheap in big metal buckets. When I was there for lunch though, there was maybe a couple of tables that were occupied, but at night, it’s rammed, but we’re lucky enough to get a table. After some beers and cocktails, we end up at a food market called Mercado 60 for some food and drinks to cap off the night; all the while, being entertained by Mexicans salsa dancing - it seems like it’s a common and useful skill to have to lure a potential partner.
Too long in Tulum
It’s about this time that I am starting to get bored of Mexico; not that there’s anything in particular that’s wrong with it, but I need a change of scenary, a change of food, a change of culture - it’s been about 6 weeks by now. And in case you’re interested, it’s also about the end of February, with the impending doom looming just ahead of me.
Before I arrive in make my way to Tulum, I had been exchanging messages with Brayden on his plans around Tulum. He tells me that his birthday is coming up and that I must be there for it. This essentially means that I will end up spending more than a week there. Nevertheless, having been told what a great place it is, I can just spend my time to find some cenotes (swimming holes) and laze about.
The first hostel, Lum, is kind of modern and they hold excursions every day - they’ll arrange the transport, and it’s also a way for people to get to know each other. But I had already booked an AirBnB experience to visit some “hidden” cenotes. However, when I arrive at the meeting spot for it, and trying to message to the host of the tour, he tells me that there was a family emergency and that it’s been cancelled, but assures me that he will process a refund - he doesn’t, and had to go through dispute to get it back through AirBnB.
Taking cenotes
Instead, I decide to take the day off, and join the group the next day to visit an indoor cenote and walk though a cave with reflective pools with stalagtites and stalagmites (see above). The cave is lined with some coloured lights and spotlights - it’s a little tacky, but does give a nice glow to the rocks for the photos. After wandering through, we get changed into our swimsuits and don on a lifejacket as our guide take us through the maze inside. What I really wanted though, was just to swim, which we do get to do at the end.
On the next day, with my large DSLR and bathers to go to one of the bigger, more popular cenotes. There is a mix of swimmers, snorkellers and divers there, and I was tempted to use my deep sea diving license since like forever, but I will need a refresher and since it quite an expensive activity, I opt not to partake. Like the day before, I get dropped off on the side of the highway, and I make myself to the entrance. To enter, you have to decide which cenotes you want to visit, and whether or not you want to take it as part of the tour or not. And, if you want to use your fancy camera, that’ll be an extra fee - but this was an unrealistic amount that I can’t imagine anyone paying for it - I’ll just use my phone, thank you very much.
The tour includes entry fees, snorkel gear hire and transport. But me, being me, I purchase the ticket without the extra fees of a tour. And so I’m walking and walking down this dirt road further and further away from the highway, as cars, pickup trucks zoom pass me, while the sun beams down on me, with my rather useless camera weighing me down. This would have been the biggest benefit of signing up with a group.
Eventually, I arrive at Dos Ojos (two eyes) - one is a rather small pool, and the other is bigger. I spend some time at the closer, smaller pool, then moving onwards to the bigger one soon after. So far, I’m not particularly impressed; the water is cool and refreshing, and just what I’m looking for, but at the end of the day, they are just pools of, albeit fresh and clear, water.
The boys are back
When I get back into town, I collect my backpacks and move to a different hostel that Brayden had just gotten to earlier. Unlike Lum, Mama’s Home Hostel has an open communal space, but the place looks a bit more worn and cheap - the bathrooms are dirtier, and the water temperature also seems inconsistent. These are common occurrences at hostels, and it’s the atmosphere and social interaction that I care more about.
UPDATE: 03/12/2021
Somehow, for whatever reason, I have decided to finally finish this post, which had been in my draft for a year and half now, probably? Since then, I’ve travelled through parts of Europe twice, and am now sitting in an AirBnB room in Dubai - temporarily avoiding the winter cold in London. My recollection of the specific timeline of when things happen are getting fuzzier by the day, but I still remember most of it. So, I think I’ll just quickly summarise the remainder of the trip in Mexico and move onto the next part of my “planned year-long holiday”.
As I restart typing this up, it’s kind of surreal of what an amazing backpacker atmosphere I experienced in Mexico, compared to now, where it’s really hit and miss.
…continuing on…
The next day, Dr Finn, joins us at the hostel, and the 3 amigos are back together again! It is, or was, Brayden’s birthday so we head out for drinks that night with some people from the hostel. Just as my memory of what happened then is fading, it is made worse by the fact that we had a good time out drinking and dancing that night. In typical Joe fashion, I break out my party dance moves and easily impress the locals at the bar.
The next couple of days, in no particular order, consists of us going to a beach where it is super-windy, visiting a large outdoor cenote with a diving area and finally it’s time for me to leave the country and fly to Medellín in Colombia.
Wrap-up
Ever since I left Mexico, and subsequently Latin America, I’ve been itching to go back to the region. The lively culture, the backpacking atmosphere, the food, the weather, the people I met - they were all good memories. For someone who had no expectations of Mexico, it really became one of my favourite trips. And as an eBay review might say - highly recommended, happy to deal with. A++++.