Birds do it, bees do it....

We can't stop eating!

When you can sample a little bit of everything for under $5, we find ourselves eating tacos, tortas, tostadas, postres, chocolate, dulces, etc.

As much as I would like to enjoy a romantic dinner in a fancy restaurant with Eric, I don't want to spend $10 on a meal when I know we can eat just as well on the street. We will have sticker shock when we get back home and will need to readjust to American prices on everything.

The other night I had a craving for pizza. I just needed something other than Mexican food for a change. We asked around, actually we had to ask 4 different people and finally found Pizzeria Charlies. Not the best and we only finished 2 slices. The next day as we wandered the tourist zone, we found pizzeria restaurants everywhere. I guess we should have checked there first, because it took us at least an hour to find Pizzeria Charlies. It's true though....a Mexican would rather give the wrong answer than to say 'I don't know'.

We have 2 more nights in Oaxaca, our hotel is so awesome that we decided to spoil ourselves just a little longer. Will add photos to our next post. We then continue on to Mexico City to stay with friends of the family.

Adventures in bus travel

So we have mainly traveled by 1st class bus on our trip, and colectivos or combis in town. Each trip is completely different from the next. The bus from Tulum to Coba was only an hour, but the bathroom on board had no light and the various topes (huge speedbumps) make for an interesting trip in the bathroom, or as Eric likes to say, 'ride the lightning'. Our first long haul was from Tulum to Campeche. The driver had the a/c on FULL BLAST. I'm talking freezing cold. While in the humid weather a little bit of air conditioning is welcome, we weren't prepared for the ride and we both caught a little cold as a result. That and the fact that he seemed to be racing down the freeway in pouring rain had me worried that we would skid off the road. We also packed a headlamp for the bathroom. In this case though, the light worked, but there was no water in the faucet. The bus ride from Campeche to Palenque was a late night departure, super bumpy ride with potholes the size of cars. We dressed in layers like it was winter, but found that the driver did not blast the a/c. The ride from Palenque to San Cristobal will make you sick to your stomach because of all the turns. From San Cristobal to Oaxaca it was 1st class Deluxe, so they offered free beverages and the bathrooms were actually very nice....signs in English, a baby changing table, nicely scented, and automatic flush & faucet. However there was no a/c and it was a full bus, so body heat... you get the picture. Oh yes, and all buses show movies dubbed in Spanish. I watched The Butterfly Effect part 2 and a cool documentary on orangutans.

As for the colectivos, I found myself praying that there would be no oncoming cars when the driver decides to pass the car in front on a blind turn. But it's all good. Today we took a colectivo to the Tule tree, one of the largest in the world, and it was only 9 pesos for me and Eric. That is less than a dollar if you consider the current exchange rate is 12 pesos for every dollar.

Cañon del Sumidero

Yesterday we took a boat ride through Sumidero Canyon. Only $12 per person for 2 hours, it was a 30 minute ride on a colectivo to Tuxtla Gutierrez, then a $7 ride to the embarcadero. Saw lots of birds and crocodiles.













At one point, we were passing through a huge mass of litter (mainly plastic bottles and wood) in which a huge chunk of wood must have gotten stuck in the propeller.














While the boat driver was cursing in Spanish trying to get the thing unstuck, we slowly drifted towards the shore where there was a crocodile sunbathing. Great photo opportunity until we realized the driver wasn´t paying attention to where we were drifting and we got pretty close to the croc. Not within biting distance, but we were pretty close and it was pretty funny to see everyone slightly panicked.



Afterwards, we wandered the town of Chiapas en Curzo. We followed some mariachis and came upon a church which was adorned in beautiful colors. We are so lucky to have stumbled upon a festival and we met Mario, who invited us to partake in some of the food and even took us to the choir level of the church to view them hoisting the traditional offerings of bread and flowers to the ceiling of the church. These pictures and video are on Eric´s camera so we´ll have to post them another time, but it was so nice to be welcomed and shown what the customs are. I think there is a festival for every saint in Catholocism, and there are a lot of saints...therefore there are a lot of festivals!


Tonight we´re heading out on a 12 hour bus ride to Oaxaca. We spent the remainder of our day in San Cristobal at the mercado. So much to see and buy!! We´re bringing souvenirs and Christmas gifts for everyone. We can´t wait to show you the handcrafts that we´ve bought. Today I played a game of pogs with some Mayan boys. I love to hear them speak and laugh.

San Cristobal de las Casas

Before we left Palenque, we watched an interesting documentary (probably from the 60s or 70s) on the indigenous people of Chiapas. Gave us a good insight into their culture and their constant struggle with the PRI governing party of Mexico. Tired of the night buses, we took a day bus to San Cristobal de Las Casas. It is the most curvy road I have every been on in my life, and I was sick to my stomach. It was worth it though, because we arrived into San Cristobal in the early evening. And also because we were able to see much of what we saw in the documentary.


All I can say is WOW. This city is full of life. We stayed one night at Hotel Media Luna, owned by some Italians, and priced at $35-night.


We´ve since then moved to a budget hotel at $20-night. Today we wandered the mercados and then took a combi to a nearby village, San Juan Chamula.



Eric will probably describe in better detail than me, so I´ll let him blog about it in our next post. But we are very happy to be in San Cristobal.

Subcomandante Marcos gave a voice to the poorest of the poor, and perhaps in a unique way, brought tourism to this section of Mexico. While we were in the village of San Juan Chamula, we saw photos of the development going on, which fortunately benefits the local villages.

The city of San Cristobal is lively, the plaza is enjoyed by all, the accommodations fit all budgets, and the shopping in the mercados is endless. There are plenty of restaurants, bars and cafes. Last night I had a craving for pasta (needed a break from Mexican food) so we dined at a restaurant listed in our book. I couldn´t wait to leave though, as soon as the live band started playing Eric Clapton´s ´Tears in Heaven´. The place seemed to cater to the type of tourists that like to be surrounded by other tourists. We eat better at the local cocina economicos, at $1.50 per person.



I would gladly return to San Cristobal in a heartbeat though. Glancing at the news, it looks like we just missed an earthquake too. We´re both fine, stomach wise, and probably a little skinny too from all the walking. We´re just slightly sad knowing that our trip is soon coming to an end.

Tonight we´re going to enjoy a nice dinner and maybe an after-dinner tequila. Tomorrow we hope to travel to Tuxtla Gutierrez to catch a combi to Sumidero Canyon.

Campeche to Palenque

Sad to say, we were very disappointed in Campeche and its people. Everywhere we went we would get strange/rude looks from the locals. We figured it was either because they were curious of Eric´s eyes or because I´m a Mexicana with a gringo. We did catch a folkloric dance in the plaza on our final night but even the hostess made a mention of how the Campechanos need to be more proud of their state. So next time we leave a passport in Tulum, we will go back for it rather than wait in Campeche.



The bus ride from Campeche to Palenque was rough. The road had so many potholes that the driver drove extra slow and we arrived into Palenque at 4am. Safety first! We stayed 2 nights at Hotel Chablis. Our Lonely Planet book does not include a map of the town, but we found it far more exciting than Campeche. First off, Eric has a new favorite restaurant...TropiTacos. We ate there everyday. For lunch and dinner. Then in the plaza, we enjoyed the music of a marimba band. The people were far more friendlier as well, which made a huge difference.




We were quite impressed with the ruins at Palenque. Eric enjoyed a dip in the waterfalls, and I enjoyed chasing butterflies.



The ruins cover over 16 kilometers, so we didn´t see all of it, but got some great pictures.






Whether they are being rude to the locals or hoarding the markets, we´re finding the French tourists to be the most arrogant of all, and Eric and I have declared war on them. From here on, if we see them being disrespectful to the Mexicans we will give it right back to them. On the combi to the ruins, this group of French tourists climbed onboard and one of them proceeded to yell her conversation to her friends, which happened to be sitting behind me and Eric. She was basically yelling in our face. So while we were inside one of the pyramids Eric made sure to bump into her.

Yesterday I felt like this...

but we are back in business since my passport arrived. And the paletas de limon keep me happy. Our bus ticket to Palenque cost $23 each. We have decided to skip the hippy palapas and book a hotel. We are planning on staying just one night for the pyramids and Agua Azul before continuing on to San Cristobal de las Casas.

Leaving Campeche

We are finally leaving Campeche. My passport arrived today and we are anxious to get out of here. We made the most of our stay here though...visiting the pyramids at Edzna, the archaeological museum which displays the jade masks found at Calakmul, the mercado, the feria de San Francisco de



Campeche, and wandering the centro historico. A guide offered his services to us at Edzna and gave us some insight into the Maya culture. Well worth it. We considered a trek to Calakmul which is located in a biosphere reserve and is supposedly the best of the archaeological sites, but it would have been a 14 hour day with no bathrooms or water. On a side note, it seems that every tourist has the same book as we do...Lonely Planet YUCATAN guidebook. The food is delicious and our meals are usually under $5 for the both of us. Last night we were disappointed to find that the passport would not arrive until today so we treated ourselves to a hotel room at the larger hotel with pool, air conditioning, TV, and buffet breakfast. I stocked up on some Modelo Especial and proceeded to catch up on the political circus via CNN. We dont miss it at all but wîll be home in time for the elections.



I find the centro historico, though brightly painted, is full of traffic and gridlock. There is also a heavy police presence. As I mentioned before, I think they are gearing up for tourists to come but they are not quite ready yet.





We leave tonight on a bus for Palenque. That will be our last mosquito stop before we continue to a higher altitude and colder weather....I cant wait. My legs and my back are full of bites. Eric...nada. I found some mosquito coils called {Mosquito Killer] and I will show no mercy.

The 3 Cs: Coba, Cenotes, Campeche

I haven´t been writing notes like Eric so I´m working from memory here. Coba was simply amazing. Great to be traveling in the off season because it felt like we had the place all to ourselves. We rented bicycles for $3 and explored the surrounding area. The ball court is well preserved and the giant pyramid gives awesome views of the Yucatan peninsula. Climbing the pyramid, it was hot. VERY hot. And as soon as we reached the top, a great wind came and cooled us off. The Mayan gods must be pleased with us. It´s funny to watch the group tours because they don´t get much time to explore before they are shuffled back to the bus.










We also biked to the Gran Cenote in which Eric was the brave one to venture further into the caves. I got spooked while underwater just looking at how deep the caves go. There was a man near the bathrooms that was sitting in his speedos at a table, all alone....with a fly swatter. My gut told me that something was a little off, and I wonder if that is how he spends his days, but Eric was amused. I exchanged a few words because he had a cute red daschund, but I´m still convinced he was a weirdo.



The overnight bus to Campeche had the air conditioning on full blast, and we were freezing even though we both wore pants and sweatshirts. Didn´t get much sleep and arrived into Campeche at 4am. Oh yes, and en route realized that I had left my passport in Tulum. We arrived to our hostel which is located in a 15th century building. We had a ceiling fan and a floor fan and it was still pretty muggy in our private room. But we were glad that we booked a private room and not the shared room with 6 bunkbeds. My passport is being sent via DHL but it put a slight snarl in our plans. We are staying more nights in Campeche than had previously planned, but at least there aren´t as many mosquitos here. Campeche seems to be gearing up for a great influx of tourists in the near future. I give it another 5 years or so. The centro historico is brightly painted and is bordered by the remaining fort walls. We lunched at the mercado and as a result, Montezuma has taken revenge on Eric. Luckily, we have antibiotics from the travel clinic in San Francisco and have relocated to a hotel room with air conditioning.

the latest update

Its my turn to update this travel blog we got running, and I am making good on the promise to Lisa to throw something up.
The night before we left Playa del Carmen, we wandered out a ways to escape the Avenida quinta (5th) and all of the tourist trap restaurants with their inflated prices and less than authentic Mexican food that is their norm. I am just not into the hard sell, we wanted to make our own choices instead of getting roped in. We found a great spot and ordered the barbeque for two. The sheer amount of meat that sat on the small grill that was placed on our table was staggering. There was chicken, pork, steak, grilled cactus, guacamole, salsa, chips, tortillas, some other vegetables, and even other items I am forgetting. It was bloody massive, enough for at least three dinners for the both of us, maybe a fourth. The heat and humidity have put a serious reduction on my appetite, and I have been careful since the first two nights to make sure that I order smaller amounts. A shame that we had to toss the bulk of that meat overload the next day. Sitting at that table with a hot grill had me pouring sweat like you wouldn´t believe.
After Playa, we took a bus to Tulum, which is a really special place. It was incorporated officially as a city only 3 months ago. Still pretty small and less touristed as of yet, more in line with what we were looking for.
We stayed for five days at the Posada de Los Mapaches (The Racoons Guesthouse) with Chello and her son Joaquin. They were the most gracious and wonderful people that you could possibly ask for, and they took great care of us while we were there. Breakfast was included in the price of the stay, and Chello turned out some A-mazing morning meals. Also included was bicycle rentals, which was the perfect way to get around town. We went to the ruins in Tulum, which is right across from Los Mapaches. Here is an iguana hanging out at the ruins. You can swim in the ocean (Carribean) at the ruins after having a look around. Warm and clear blue water, a great way to cap off the visit.
Lisa was excited to swim with the giant tortises in Akumal, and we snorkeled around for a few hours with the tortugas. It was a really a really cool experience which I would repeat in a second. Have to show pictures later because we used an underwater disposable camera that we will develop.
We went to a night mercado for 3 different nights at a week long Mayan festival that we just happened to be in town for. They had a bloodless bullfight with a small bull in a fenced in area where we met a charecter named Angel. He was a real talker and pretty damn entertaining. We came back the next night for a dance that went on every night till 4 in the morning with a band playing for the local folks. We met up again with Angel, which was a great "in" to the whole scene, and made for a dynamic where we were more accepted where everyone pretty well knew each other or knew of each other. I was wondering how my dance moves would go off, for the fact that I dont have a lot of experience with Salsa, Cumbia and the like. I am pretty well relegated to Techno and House music when it comes to the dance floor. Angels friend from the pueblo started talking to me and we had this great conversation that was composed entirely of me speaking only spanish and him speaking only in english. He paid me a great compliment when he told me that I dance very well, like a Latin boy, not like a Gabacho (white boy with no soul). I asked him was he serious, and he wasnt playin´, he said I watched you move and I can tell you really feel the music.
The mosquitoes in Mexico have been raining hell down on Lisa at the rate of about one bite per minute. Repellent doesent seem to do the trick. I saw the biggest mosquito I have ever seen in my life at Los Mapaches, and I had to finish him with a slap to the wall.
We also went to the ruins at Coba, and climbed the temple. Really amazing.
We also visited the Gran Cenote, which is an underwater limestone cave with crazy stalamites and tites. We rented snorkel gear here as well and went around. Pretty spooky confined cave spaces that is a little disorienting until you get used to it.
I went to the dentist on 3 seperate visits in Tulum. Not what you might picutre on the agenda for a vaction, but here in Mexico they have such a thing as AFFORDABLE dental and medical care. I could have either stayed in the US and paid only to have my teeth fixed, or Lisa and I could take a vacation and have the work done on the side. We got a referral to a great dentist and a truly great doctor named Alfredo. He and his wife own a practice in Tulum, and he did some great work for me. The approach to dental and medical here is a lot different, and you dont have the scum sucking insurance companies who put all of their work into EXCLUDING you from the care that you actually need. I will bring more heat on that subject later.
We had a little bit of a sad goodbye in Tulum when we said farewell to Chello and Joaquin,
and now we are in beautiful Campeche at the Hostel del Parroquia. We almost have the whole place to our selves due to the fact that is is low season. I don´t mind the rain once in a while that makes the hot weather a lot more bearable.
I will let Lisa take over for the Campeche segment, and sign off for now.

Playa del Carmen

We arrived into Mexico City around 5am....exhausted. The flight was under 4 hours, and we were very disappointed to find a full flight. Instead, the Mexico City airport was where Eric was able to catch some sleep. The entire airport shut down before our flight to Cancun could depart. We were sitting on the runway for maybe an hour? This blanket of fog just covered the entire airport and brought every plane to a standstill. I looked out the window and I couldn't see past the wing.



We arrived into Cancun and paid $8 each for 1st class bus transfers on ADO/Riviera to Playa del Carmen. The amount of development going on here is sad. There is track housing everywhere. And 2 Starbucks. We are very happy with our hotel room. They upgraded us automatically from the Moongate Hotel to its sister property Hotel Tucan. Larger room, A/C, lovely patio overlooking the pool. We paid $35/night for the room.















We quickly settled in and headed straight for the beach. The picture says a thousand words.
















We strolled Avenida 5 for some food, but too touristy. So we headed off the main strip and found a taco stand. 6 tacos and 2 drinks later and we had only spent $4. We went back to the room to sleep more because we are jet lagged, then headed out for a nice dinner. We found El Oasis, with excellent service from Alejandro, and fabulous seafood. I looked over to the table next to us, only to find some people I know from San Francisco. Small world!



















After dinner we headed back to the room and more or less slept ALL night until this morning. Lucky for me, the air conditioner is so loud that my snoring doesn't keep Eric awake. Hmmmm....perhaps should invest in one back home?

Today we are at a cafe, enjoying some coffee and free internet before we head back to the beach. Hope you enjoy reading our blog and we'll post more soon, it will be Eric's turn next time.

We'll be at SFO by this time tomorrow

The Sharp/Rae wedding was a success. Some guests didn't know that Neil is my friend, so they were wondering why the DJ was crying. It was a very touching ceremony though. Bargetto Winery in Soquel. Did not have an empty dance floor at any time during the night....Success!!! considering I was working with a major malfunction on the brand new cd mixer I had just purchased on Thursday. Of the 2 cd players, only one would play mixed cds. This left me in a tight spot since most of the requested music had been purchased the night before on itunes.

I also purchased new disco lighting for the dance floor but forgot to turn it on during the evening. When I finally did it got the crowd worked up. I think Neil & Darcie were very satisfied with the music. Darcie spent quite a bit of time on the dance floor. Neil, not so much. But he told me that he has been dancing to techno for so long that he's forgotten how to dance to regular music. The mother/son dance was a waltz as Neil's family is from a town outside of Frankfurt, Germany. It looked like Neil hadn't danced one of those since he was a youngster. Isn't a waltz count like 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3 with the emphasis on 1? So I told him to give me a signal when he could no longer waltz because the song was 7 minutes long. I got the signal after about 1 1/2 minutes of .....we'll say a good effort.

I am packed, my room is empty, the storage units are filled to capacity... just need to vacuum, sweep, mop.