Tuxtla Guitierrez is the capital city of Chiapas. It is quite modern and has a wonderful zoo where you can actually roam about with many of the animals. ZOOMAT was founded by Doctor Miguel Alverez Tores to ensure the preservation of the native animals and plants enabling the local indigenious people access to thier heritage.

PumaTo get to the zoo it is easier to catch the Collectivo. This was an experience! The bus hurtles through narrow streets and stops suddenly for passengers at any time. In the mean time passengers, carring all sorts of goods and chattle, are packed in like sardines.

Leaving Tuxtla we climbed high into the mountains to San Christobal de la Casa. From there the road winds through lush mountains and valleys to Ocosingo and then onto Palenque. On the way there was evidence of the previous troubles in Chiapas with many signs and political posters warning this was Zapatista territory and you are under thier rules.

Local Transport - Chiapas

During the day Jules got an insect sting in her eye, for over eight hours it wept heavily and before gong to bed she took an anti-histamine. By the following morning it was puffed up like a balloon, she was a very sorry sight. Fortunately it went down very quickly the following day and all was well.

We were looking forward to camping again stopping at Maybells Campground, close to the ruins of Palenque. It was very dirty, full of a lot of drunken tourists and seemingly drugged out hippies. We stayed a few nights, to save some money, but it was quite an unsavoury experience.

Sugar Cane Hauler

Leaving the mountains of Chiapas behind the ride to Merida via Campeche was pleasant with long coastal roads. At the small town of Chable on the state boarder we crossed the toll bridge and found a small restaurant for lunch. We were a bit hesitant about eating there as it appeared empty and a little dirty, however when Grant is hungry, he must eat! So we ordered fish and a Milenesa and were greatly surprised by the quality of the food and the huge servings all for $US7.00! It was the best fish meal Grant had eaten in all of Mexico.

Upon arrival in bustling tropical Merida we found ourselves quite lost in the narrow streets around the Zocalo. Once again our street map (in our guide book) proved to be almost completely different to what is actually on offer. That is not quite true, because most Mexican towns are a maze of one way streets, so to get to where you want to be on the map you have to first work out which streets go in what direction. Oh so amusing!

Building in Central Plaza - Merida

We stopped to ask for directions only to be interviewed about our travels for a local radio station! In our broken Spanglish we managed to communicate our story, reving the engine of the bike, at the request of the interviewer, for artistic effect.

Merida is a lovely town though very busy Most of the cities population appear to spend their days crowding onto the narrow, hot one way streets, however, you can find solice in some of the many shaded parks.

We visited several museums, one being for modern art where we were treated to a free and delightful concert and the zocalo where dancers in thier white costumes performed.

After several days we headed off to Celestun to see the flamingos that were not in season! Oh well you get that! However the town was pleasant, but unfortunately inundated with flood waters from recent tropical storms. We found a cheap hotel with a million dollar view from our balconied room, situated right on the beach overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. That evening we had a huge feast of fish and chips whilst watching the sun set.

The Puuc region beckoned us where we found Muna and Santa Elena. Whilst in Muna Grant changed the front brake pads and bled the system and also changed a full set of sprockets and chain. We had put up with a clunking chain for over 10,000kms and it was very refreshing to ride the bike that felt new again.

Anna Maria runs the GL Hotel in Muna Centro. The rooms are very clean and spacious with Cable TV, fans or air con and offers safe parking for vehicles, all for $US15.00.

Santa Elena, 40kms from Muna, is another typical Yucatan small town with a massive Spanish church. This one is built on the foundations of an ancient Mayan pyramid with a facinating museum about the town and area. One of the most interesting exhibits is that of 4 mumified bodies of children exhumed from the floor of the church. They were discovered when maintenance on the flooring of the church was being undertaken.

Church - Santa Elena

Sacbe Bungalows offers camping and bungalows in a beautiful garden setting within walking distance of the town. Many Mayan sites are located near Santa Elena including Kabah where there is an enormous archway at the enterance to the sacbe (an ancient Mayan road or causeway) that ran to Uxmal (another Mayan City) and beyond.

Archway to the sacbe

On the steps of the Archway we were greeted by a beautiful iguana resting in the sun. He did not mind us being there and even posed for photos.

We spent several hours wandering the site and enjoying the solitude of this small rarely visited archeological site.

Statues - Kabah

Many of the towns in this area have enourmous Spanish Catholic churches which were often built from the building materials of ancient Mayan structures and were constructed by using thousands of Mayan slaves at the time of Spanish occupation.

Ticul

Heading towards Tulum, on the Carribean Sea, to celebrate Grants birthday, we found the main highway through Coba turned into one lane filled completely with potholes. Many trees and sections of forest are still flattened providing evidence of the hurricaines that devastated parts of the Yucatan Peninsula in the last 6 months and as such many tourists have stayed away causing a great deal of economic hardship for the locals.

Tulum turned out to be quite dissapointing, it was something like a surreal version of Disney Land, with very crass names for beach resorts like Dreams Six.

We stayed briefly in a slightly upmarket accomodations to what we have been use to, which made for a very nice respite.

Arriving in Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo, we were surprised to find a very modern city, with wide two way streets, traffic lights that work, no busses in the centre and an enourmous cosmopolitan shopping centre with cinema and English movies.

Chetumal has a laid back feel with out the fuss and scurry of the usual large Mexican towns. It was a great base to plan our trip to Calakmul, a major ancient Mayan city somewhat isolated and off the normal Ruta Maya circuits.

Our intention was to ride the 145km to Xpujil, the nearest town to the site, find a hotel and then travel the 240km round trip to the site in a day. After unsucessfully securing cheap accommodation we ended up heading into the biosphere to stay at Yaax Che Campground (Km 7 Calakmul Road) within 60 kms of the site.

We were not sure what to expect from Calakmul (Calak = Towers, Mul = two) as there is little published information on the site that has been steeped in secrecy and mystic for many years since its discovery. It has only recently been opened to the public and is now believed, by the working archeologists, to be the greatest ancient city of all Latin America, with more than 10,000 buildings and temples discovered to date.

The nearly 60 kilometre ride was beautiful. Thick jungle, tight corners on a narrow strip of black top. Butterflies fluttering through our path, peacocks running across the road, every now and then you can peer through the underbrush and see an obvious mound of rocks that would once have been a dwelling or small temple. It is an exciting ride.

Road to Calakmul

We paid our 33 Pesos each and went in through the gate. You seem to walk for miles seeing mounds of rubble covered with brush. Spider monkeys jump from tree to tree forraging for food. In the distance you hear all number of birds singing and Howler monkeys sounding thier eerie cry.

The site is wonderful. It is a beautiful nature park as well as holding some amazing buildings. It contains over 140 stellae detailing the names and dates of the ruling classes thus there is a clear record of the history of the city which was inhabitated for 14 centuries or more.

Stellae

We climbed to the top of Gran Acropolis, the largest of all the structures, breaching the canopy of the jungle below. After the steep climb we turned around and could see the tops of Buildings 2 and 3 rising up through the trees. The view is spectacular and you can see right to the horizon. You notice that all the surrounding areas is flat apart from mounds that used to be temples and a few mountains right off in the distance. From this vantage point you can see clear into Guatemala.

View from the Gran Acropolis

We sat up there for quite a while eating a mango and absorbing the atmosphere and energy, watching the howler monkeys down below jumping from tree to tree, and wondering about the people who used this place as their home.

In all we spent about 6 hours at the site before returning to our campsite both of us tired but feeling in awe of our days experience. We decided to eat in the small restaurant at the campsite and as we were the only customers staying in the campground we were given special service with the cook and her helper showing us through the traditional Mayan kitchen so we could watch the cooking in progress.

Making tortillas in the Mayan Kitchen

Calakmul was a wonderful end to nearly six months of travel in Mexico for Chetumal is the border to Belize our next country on the journey south.

BORDER CROSSING - EXIT MEXICO

A very simple affair but be warned: Corruption is rife at this crossing and we were conned out of 100 Pesos ($US10.00) for supposed services provided by the Immigration Official.

Note: There are no charges to exit Mexico for persons or vehicle!

After six months in Mexico without experiencing a trace of corruption it saddened us, however, shit happens!