Via Byway, My Way.

Journal entry Sunday, March 19th:

Surreal.  Barreling down a dusty, bumpy and windy logging road to the small co-op community of Carmelita.  It is pitch black except for the high beam, then low beam, of the Toyota pick up I am riding.  In the back I cling to the back of the tail, my legs scrunched by the packs, food and legs of Markus, Kirk, Adoniz, Julio, and four others we have picked up along the way, including one infant that the mother cradles in her free arm.  We fly through the night, the wind in my hair and the ocassional logging truck passing the other direction, whipping a huge dust cloud in our face, our eyes, and our air we breathe.  The ceiling above is pierced with thousands of shining twinkles of the heavens.  It takes us almost 3 hours along that road, from the setting sun to the chill of the night.  This is the way to do it.  Just surreal.  Is this a dream?  Am I actually doing this?  I’m in the middle of nowhere and no one really knows where I am.  I hope I make it back to the hotel with the pool, the ice cream, and a clean, hot shower.

– TRIP BEGINNINGS –

I met Markus my second week in Xela, and we got to talking about our plans of traveling after our schooling was over.  He had mentioned a hike that he read about to El Mirador, a hard to reach land of Mayan ruins just below the Mexican border.  That planted the seed.  A few weeks later, I was online to read more about this jungle trek to El Mirador.  My Lonely Planet guidebook had a little blurb about it, but I needed more info.  And what I found I wrote down, and the next day handed it to Markus for him to look into.  That was all it took.  We knew that at some point, we would hike El Mirador.

A local touring outfit offered a trip to El Mirador with free transportation included.  Not a bad deal, everything was all planned out.  But the dates were fast approaching, and the tour did not allow for any time to do any extra touring up to Flores and Tikal, the site of major Mayan ruins.  We bypassed that offer.  More weeks pass, I finish my studies and decide to go on hikes around the area.  I plan on doing a 6 day trek, when Markus informs me that he is going to El Mirador with Kirk, and that I should join them next week.

Next week?  In mid-March?  I was actually thinking of ending my trip with El Mirador, in May.  But he had already made the arrangements.  And I did not know it at the time, but March is the ideal time to hike it, because it is still the dry season when the conditions are ideal and there aren’t as many mosquitoes to fight with.  It was on.

Friday, March 17th.

I meet up with Kirk and Markus at school at 1pm, 3pm bus ride to Guatemala City.  Kirk and I find a comedor and order two hamburgers.  Instead, we get chicken patties.  The bus ride is long.  2 screaming, wailing babies.  Heavy traffic.  Slow going, especially getting stuck behind big rig trucks, clamoring up the steep mountain roads.  In the middle of my seat, there is some piece of metal that jabs into the small of my back, just above my ass.  And my chair won’t recline fully back and lock into position, it keeps wanting to spring forward into the sitting position.  It is hot.  Humid.  Can I get some air?  Kirk doesn’t look so good.  He informs us that the food in the comedor is not sitting well in his stomach.  As a matter of fact, he says his system has processed it.  He wanted to wait until we got into the city and bus station, but he needs to go now.  He disappears towards the back, where the bathroom waits.  He returns a minute later.  “It is locked,” he says matter of factly.  “There’s a lock on it.”  No lie.  There was actually a padlock on the bathroom.  Kirk would have to wait this one out.  Markus is hungry.  The bus is packed, people standing in the aisle.  It sure is hot.  And dark.  The sun sets.  My personal seat light above me doesn’t work.  It is now 4 hours on this bus.  We want off. 

At 7:20 our bus pulls into the final stop….a gas station?  Yep, the big yellow sign of Shell.  Everyone deboards, our bags below are tossed out to the ground.  At least the gas station has a bathroom.  Kirk is one of the first off, and he tells us to grab his bag.  We get our stuff, walk over to the food market, and we see Kirk standing there helpless.  Seems that just as he was heading to the only bathroom, some guy (not even on the bus, just some random customer) decides that he wants to use the bathroom.  So Kirk has to wait.  And he’s not happy.

Markus is hungry, and orders a sandwich from the deli.  Similar to a Subway set up.  I feel like I won’t find any other quality food, so I order as well.  After Kirk finally gets to use the bathroom, he orders a sandwich to go.  We have to get to the Lineas Dorias bus line, and our map in the guidebook shows that we are only a few blocks away.  But this seems to be a very seedy and sketchy side of town.  We decide to take the cab.

We arrive to the station, and buy tickets for the 9pm departure.  It is supposed to be an overnight luxury ride.  It is, kind of.  The seats are comfy, we have seat pockets in front of us.  A TV monitor is in front, and soon is playing “The Legend of Zorro” (English with Spanish subtitles).  Blankets are distributed.  And we even get a meal!  I choose a Pepsi, Kirk and Marcus get the bottled water.  I open up my stryrofoam box and find…. a small roll cut in the middle, filled with a sad looking hamburger patty with ketchup.  And there is a small bag of chips and a napkin.  I decide to eat it sooner than later, just in case the meat decides to go bad in the middle of the night.  It isn’t even warm.

I watch the flick, Markus and Kirk go to sleep.  It is near 11:30 when I try to get some rest.  But I can’t.  Not happening.  At 3am, we stop for a Fruit Inspection?  What?  Yeah, you heard right.  Still don’t know what that is about.  I try to resume any type of rest that resembles sleep.  And at 5:30am, we pull into Santa Elena.  If we want to go to Flores, we have to get a free shuttle.  But we don’t…our guide is supposed to be waiting for us at the bus station.

We get off the bus, collect our bags.  Even at 5:30 in the morning, there is a flurry of activity.  The locals know when these buses full of tourists comes.  Immediately we are greeted with people offering rides, hotels and tours to Tikal, El Mirador, and other sights.  Markus is the best at Spanish, and our de facto leader, since he made all the arrangements.  Kirk and I are really just along for the ride.

Markus has a cell phone.  And manages to call the guide.  We wait around the station, and finally around 6am we meet our guide.  Adoniz.  His wife Brenda is with him.  Their eldest son drives the pick up.  Introductions all around, then Markus explains what we want.  We’d like to leave our bags with them, take a bus to Tikal, explore the Mayan ruins for the morning, and come back in the afternoon back to Santa Elena, where they can pick us up and we make our way to Carmelita.  All is good.  We pile into the pick up, and they take us to the shuttle bus.  Some guy tells us that fare is 80Q per person, round trip.  We fork over 240Q.  Later I find out that the real price is only 50Q per person.  Ripped off.

We take the shuttle, arrive around 8am to Tikal.  Have breakfast at a local comedor.  Never mind the hair in my pancakes, or the smashed, dead bug inside the honey bottle (they don’t have syrup, only honey), or the dead bug that flows out of the squeeze bottle in a droplet of honey onto my plate.  We are here to have fun, explore, and enjoy the ruins.  We spend the day touring Tikal.  Pics of Tikal will be in a future post.

Return on the shuttle bus back to Santa Elena.  We need money to pay the guides.  Flores seems more developed, so we ask to get dropped off there.  But no ATM.  We are hungry, so decide to splurge on the best restaurant there, La Luna (no relation to Xela´s Cafe La Luna). 

Steaks for Kirk and Markus, I get the cheaper burger and fries.

Afterwards, we make the obligatory Sarita stop for ice cream.  This is the first time in my life that I order a double scoop.  And thus begins my addiction for doublescoop ice creams.

We find a spot by the lake and try to lick and eat our ice cream quickly, as the hot sun melts the flavors onto our cone and onto our hands.

After our late lunch and dessert, we walk across the bridge and to Santa Elena, where we wait over an hour for our ride.  They take us to the ATMs, where we withdraw enough funds to cover the entire trip, and prepay all at once.  Then it is off to Carmelita…or so we think.

No, first we make a stop so Brenda can buy eggs.  Which takes 20 minutes.  We bake in the back of the pick up.  How could buying eggs take so long?  She finally returns, and we are on our way….but wait!  We make a stop so that the son can pick up a….truck tire?  A used truck tire for the pick up?  Yes, and he loads it until the back with us.  Now we can get on our way!  Think again.  We stop for gas.  And while they are filling, there is a little comotion, then concern.  Seems like there is a tank leak.  We are leaking gas.  Kirk is not cool with this.  But after further discovery, it seems like it is only a tube that has been severed…apparently gas theft is a problem, and someone stole gas a few nights before and damaged an intake tube.  Kirk assured us that it was not a major problem, and we were on our way.

The last 24 hours from Xela to the gas station didn’t seem to bode well for this little trip.  All the little things on the bus.  Getting ripped off.  The funny breakfast meal with the extras I didn’t ask for.  The waiting for the guides.  The extra stops.  Who were these guides, anyway?  What web site or link did I give Markus?  Markus made all the arrangements, and Kirk and I were just going with his judgement.  I don’t know about Markus, but Kirk and I had little seeds of doubt about how this whole experience would turn out.

The afternoon light is slowly fading away.  From the gas station, we truck it over to San Andreas, where our guides live and where we pick up all our gear and add Julio, the guy who takes care of the mules.

Kirk and Markus, riding in the back of the pick up to San Andreas, when we actually had room to spread out and stretch out our legs.

Packing up the pick up.  Eventually we would squeeze a total of 9 people back here, with all of our gear and all.  Adoniz is on the left, Julio on the right, securing our load with ropes.

Guard station to the National Park and forest.  Unfortunately, logging in some capacity is allowed by the government, so during our excursion to Carmelita, four or five of these trucks carrying those beautiful hardwood beahemoths would pass us in the opposite direction. 

We finally leave from San Andreas at around 6pm, and it is a short stop before we get to the gate.  We wait here for 15 minutes, don’t know why.  But whatever issues they have, it is resolved and we are on our way.  An hour and change later, it is completely dark as we pass by Cruises dos Agua, the very last pueblo with electricity.  Further on, we make a short 5 minute stop at San Miguel, a small village powered by generators.  We are stopped by the side of the road, right next to an evangelical church.  Through the open doors you can see the small congregation swaying back and forth, and then you hear the worst singing in the world belting out hymns that are way off tune and really quite embarrassing.  It is an amusing diversion before we climb back on the pick up truck, and continue on into the night.

Finally, 9pm we pull into Carmelita.  Again, no electricty.  We have our headlamps, and make our way into a small 2 room home.  It is the home of Adoniz’s uncle.  They quickly set up hammocks for us to sleep in, and prepare a simple and common meal of black beans, eggs, and tortillas to fill our stomachs before we go to bed.  At least we had some pineapple to go with the meal!

The home was completely dark except for our flashlights and headlamp.  I took this picture in the dark, and my flash flooded the room with light.

My hammock for the night.

The second room in the home, a small kitchen and table for eating.  Notice that container full of black beans.  There is the freshly cut pineapple, and in the background is the wood fired plancha used for grilling and cooking fresh tortillas.  The candle and my camera flash lights the small room.

We retire to our hammocks around 10:30.  We are tired and get pretty good sleep, ready for the adventures that we will soon begin early the next morning…

TO BE CONTINUED

Does that guy still anchor the desk at SNL?? It’s been too long since I last watched an episode, aside from those special theme clips they play every now and then. “The best of Chris Farley,” “Tribute to Phil Hartman,” “SNL’s Funniest Moments with People You’ve Never Heard from Again.”…

It’s been a very relaxing last few days hanging out in Isla Mujeres. Seems as if I’m retracing Mike’s steps from his visit to this part of the Yucatan…but instead of a moped, I ended up renting a mountain bike and spent most of the day leisurely cycling the island and finding little rocky bluffs and secluded shoreline to read my book, chapter by chapter, and then continue to another hidden or not-so-hidden spot and continue with my reading. I’m in the midst of a Dan Brown novel, “Angels & Demons”, and hopefully can get my hands on the next in line “The DaVinci Code” before i watch the movie. But finding English books down here has been a struggle; I have picked up another book or two along the way since Vallodolid to keep my occupied as I laze away in the sand on the beaches.

From my bike ride..

Rocky bluff.

Cool house resembling a seashell

Another vantage point, underneath a palapa and looking down at Garrafundo resort.

I can’t boast that I did any reading from this vantage point; but the guards to this hotel did at least allow me in to take a look around.

I spent most of the afternoon in the warm, shallow waters of the North Beach. Just sitting, wading, swimming, floating, thinking of nothing and of everything.

And what is hanging out at the beach without my obligatory sunset photo?

North Beach has many bar/restaurants, and they rent out every kind of relaxation apparatus imaginable–private cabana, palapa shade, lounge chairs, hammocks, regular chairs, even these mattresses.

 

I only spent one night in Cancun, but what a night it was!  I wasn’t entirely impressed with my choices of hostels, so I did what any backpacker would do…I splurged for one night, one night only at the Le Merida!

 

The pool alone justified the $280 per night cost of my room.  Pure bliss.

 

Another pool on the other side of the resort.

 

And just beyond, the endless expanse of the beach, where you sink your toes into the warm, soft sand and wait for the Carribbean the wash them over.

 

Okay, I know I fooled absolutely nobody with my claim of staying one night at the Le Merida.  Blow 11 days budget on one night just because of the pool?  I’m not even sure I would have been lucky enough to get a room for ‘only’ $280, it just so happened that another place quoted me $280 and that was enough to dash that dream.  But it was fun to imagine, even for just a few minutes, how the other half lives.  That is, until the guards identified my haggared appearance, unkept big head hair, and dirty shirt.  Definitely out of place, not where I belong.  I even tried to play cool and coy and asked if they had a restaurant that I could eat breakfast in.  Not that I would even think about spending the $25 (dollars, not pesos) on a plate of eggs, bacon and toast.  No, had I the financial means, I wouldn’t have even been able to eat there.  The answer, more often that not, was a resounding “No.”  Because apparently, most of the hotels were either “All Inclusive” properties only for their guest, or they were Members Only.  But that’s okay, because just you wait, one day, ONE DAY, I’ll own all these resort properties on this coastal strip.  Maybe I’ll start with these ones below…

Last year THE hurricane, I forget which one, came in and damaged many many hotels, some to the point where it was a complete loss.  This hotel, like the Ritz Carlton just beyond, still had not reopened.

 

Others were just about ready.

 

And still others, the verdict is still out.

 

The beaches though are still beautiful.  But for $280 or more a night, I’d recommend going to Isla Mujeres instead.  The island is small and people get around on bikes, mopeds, or golf carts.  The main part of town near North Beach is easily walked on foot, and at night, just off the main plaza, they close off the street to create a pedestrian only zone.  It is here where you will find the heart of the nightlife, dining under the stars and surrounded by conversation, laughter, music, and endless promotions for 2 for 1 drink Happy Hour.  It is like a mini French Quarter where everyone comes to enjoy the evening. 

Sure, Isla Mujeres is a little touristy, but there is a reason why people come here.  They come to shop, dine, drink, play, relax, swim, explore, rest, lounge, sun, shade, reenergize, read, write, contemplate, escape, and define just what a vacation means to them.  Time manages to slip away and I am lost, intoxicated with doing nothing but enjoying the moment.

Alas, it is time to say goodbye to Isla Mujeres.  Soon I will be on the ferry back to Cancun, where I will climb aboard a bus destined for Playa del Carmen, and hope to lather, rinse, repeat in the joy of the Carribbean, Yucatan style.

I’m currently relaxing on the beach of Isla Mujeres, reading, of course, and enjoying the laid-back vibe of this beautiful place. So here is an entry I wrote a long time ago and never had a chance to post, which is just a good excuse to get back to my reading. If I feel so inspired I should have a new entry for this Friday…

Cafe La Luna deserves it’s own post. Located just 2 blocks from school, this cozy and long established cafe restaurant is THE place to go for hot chocolate, coffee and pastries. You can study here, socialize, or listen to some really good live music. The second time I went here an acoustic guitarist played.

Cafe La Luna serves different variations of hot chocolate and coffee, along with pastries, sandwiches and other nibbles.  The hot chocolate is simply rich, smooth and unforgettable.  Seriously, it’s like drinking a hot, melted bar of chocolate. I don’t know what they put into the chocolate drinks and I still can’t read most of the menu, so I just experiment and order the specials of the day and pick and choose from different categories. I haven’t been disappointed yet.

Hours, unfortunately, are limited. They close up shop at 9pm, even on weekends. Therefore, when we need a late night hang out, we go downstairs to a separate entrance to their sister venture, Vino y Queso. It’s La Luna’s cheese and wine bar. If we get there before 9pm, we can still order off of the La Luna menu.  One Friday after our school program/dinner, 8 of us converged downstairs for food, desserts, wine and cheese. Total bill?  Under $40 US!  This included 2 different bottles of red wine and a platter of four cheeses cut into cubes. 2 of us, me and a girl from Sweden, also ordered the special dish of the day. And 4 of us, including me of course, ordered dessert. My share of all my food and drink came to 53 quetzals, or just over $7.

The wine bar / cellar, downstairs from La Luna (but owned by the same people).

There is a second adjacent room that has a larger table for bigger groups, but the lighting is very dim and my pictures didn’t quite come out.

Finally, real food! This is the special of the day, which was just great!

My dessert from a Friday, a moist and rich cake with fresh strawberries. Mitzy had the apple strudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream…

This picture probably won’t come out, but it is all of us at the table.

It’s hotter than Orcish hell down here, but it’s better than rowing a slave galley.

This is really the first time I’ve had in a long time to post an update as to my whereabouts and what I’ve been up to…I’m hoping that this very very slow Internet connection that I’m dealing with won’t drive me too mad and up the wall!  For the past 10 days I’ve been mostly hiding out, hanging out, keeping a low profile…I need to somehow convince the US Embassy that I had no involvement with the CIA sting operation that I stumbled upon while taking a stroll through (unbeknownest to me) a major drug trafficking operation in the jungles of Monteguenox.  My hired guide was quick as lightening and we were able to get away, but the next day I found myself being questioned by Mexican authorities (I just played my “No hablo Español” gimmick–actually, it can’t be called a gimmick because I really don’t speak Spanish!–) at any rate, I then found myself in the company of our own US government officials trying to coax out of me things I didn’t see or hear.  And they let me go.  And I’ve been on the run ever since, keeping to my business, knowing that I am being followed and I know deep down inside that they will read this blog and hopefully know that I really have no idea what has transpired.

Paranoid?  Sure am. 

But not for the CIA conspiracy theory.  Guess I’ve been reading too much of late, which I’ll get to in a minute.  Nah, my paranoia stems from being attacked, attacked by invisible forces every sleepless night that now plague my waking hours.  I am in a fully heightened state of awareness that brinks on the paranoid, as my body burns, swells and throbs with the poisons of the hundreds of needles that prick the outlayer of my skin, leaving scarred marks for the rest of my life to remind me of my travels here in the Yucatan.

Mosquitos.  Ticks.  Fleas.  Bugs.  Insects.  Little unseen critters that attack me every single night!  I can’t see them.  But I hear them.  Buzzing and whirring, playing with my senses and freaking me out.  It’s like Edgar Allen Poe’s Tell- Tale Heart.  Am I going mad???  No, I have the proof.  All over my wrists and arms, and now my legs.  Little round protrusions on my skin, reddened, glowing, pulsating.  Yes I’m paranoid.  I’ve slept the last few nights fully clothed–socks, pants, long sleeved REI buttond-down trekker shirt, 99 cent gloves, a banana covering my neck, and a mosquito/insect net fully covering my head, which rests underneath my ballcap hat.  Did I mention that it is hotter than Orcish hell down here?  But ah, thinking of the luxuries of home make this current state a temporary one, one that will pass and one that I can laugh off at a later time. 

Obsession.  Not with some great food dish or drink I’ve discovered (good thing I haven’t found a Sarita ice cream shop down here).  Not with another extreme jungle hike or hardcore , must-do outdoor activity.  Nor obsession with a woman I met.  Nope.  The last 10 days I have been obsessed with devouring everything I can find written in English.  With reading.  In Merida, I came across a bookstore with paperback novels.  And left with 6 books.  Since then I’ve scored 4 more.  I’m now finishing my 7th book.  I’ve read Sci-Fi, Fantasy, international thrillers, fiction, an autobiography, travel memoirs, even a chick book.  I’m obsessed, what can I say?  But the setting is sooo perfect for just wasting the time away while lazing on a hammock, or propping my feet up by the sand while the water laps the sandy shore…

Before I forget, Happy May Day to you all!  It totally didn’t occur to me until, as I was walking to this super slow connection internet cafe, a police convoy stopped traffic in the street as a large parade of workers with signs swept by.  May Day, aka International Workers Day, unofficially recognized in the U.S., and as I recall a few years back, sometimes a spectacle when you get the more vocal demonstrators out there.

Oh, and also, if you haven’t had a chance to read some of the comments posted by my friend Mike, please take a look.  Because my so-called adventures pale in comparison to our beloved pall Dank, who seriously needs his own Blog, because his stories and experiences are not only unbelieveably true, they are Legendary.  This guy will be famous one day, and I think it is up to Mike and myself to see to it that his stories are published and known the world over.  Pure, utter entertainment, in the sense that this can’t be true, cannot be remotely possible, but Alas, it surely is.  I can’t wait to get home to hear the latest! 

This super slow connection is starting to get on my nerves, so I’ll try to make the rest of this update free of any further ramblings.  Below you will find how I’ve spent the last 10 days since my last post, when I was waiting for my 10pm bus to get me into Campeche at 3 in the morning.  Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how one looks at it, the bus was delayed and I didn’t get into Campeche until 5am.  I waited around until 7, then made the 45 minute hike to my hostel, and then fell in love with my surroundings…

– CAMPECHE –

The view from the balcony of Monkey Hostel, which overlooks the Parque Principal and the church.  Saturday and Sunday they block off the streets surrounding the square, and vendors come in selling pastries, food, gifts, etc. 

A similar view from the balcony in the evening.

Close to the square is this fountain that has cued music playing to the rise and fall of the waters.  And behind this, two clowns were entertaining kids and their parents with their balloon animals and tricks and jokes.

Another view of the church, Catedral de la Concepcion Inmaculada.

Campeche is a Unesco World Heritage site, located right on the Gulf of Mexico.  About an hour’s walk from the Parque Principal, is the Fuerte de San Miguel (colonial fortress), which houses a archaeological museum and has views of the city and the Gulf.

Another view from the Fort.  Campeche used to be a walled city, and some sections of the wall and bastions still exist today.  The best part was just hanging out in the Parque, or people watching from above on my balcony perch of the youth hostel.  This is also where I began my book reading obsession.

– MERIDA –

Another great colonial city, their Parque Principal is called Plaza Grande, about 3 times larger than the one in Campeche, with probably 10 times more people hanging out.  Surrounding by colonical buildings with park benches, trees and a serenade of hundreds of chirping birds, this place was just hopping, especially on the “Ciudad Domingo”, when the adjoining streets were all closed off and it was one big party of music, dancing, vendors, food and so many families and people.

The crowd gathers around this traditional Yucatan dancing troup and their live band.

Live music plays, the sounds drifting all the way to the Catedral de San Ildefonso on the other side of the park.

The Paseo de Montejo is a major car and walking boulevard that mimicks Paris’ Champs-Elysees.  This monument is one of many along the wide boulevard.

– PROGRESSO –

I took a day trip to Progresso, and spent my day reading my book in the shade of a palm tree.  Most of the palapas and beach side restaurants were filled with tourists off of a Carnival Cruise ship that was in port.

Another view of the beach.  Of course I was envious of those cruise ship passengers…couldn’t get my mind off of those lavish buffets!  Fortunately I had a small sandwich to keep my hunger pangs at bay.

– CELESTUN –

There is absolutely nothing to do in Celestun.  Except read and relax and enjoy the beach, which is exactly what I did.  I was practically the only person in my hostel, and my days would consist of getting up for a bowl of granola and yogurt, then walking across the street to the beach to a lounge chair and basically staying there all day.

When I needed to rest my eyes from all my reading, when I looked up, this is what I would see.

Of course I’d put my book down to enjoy the last light of the fading day, before returning to my hammock at the hostel and the artificial light of a lamp.

– RESERVA DE LA BIOSFERA RIA CELESTUN –

A speedboat tour of the wildlife sanctuary, primarily of a large flamingo colony.

Our boat.  It was me and a guy from Germany, two guys from Denmark, and our guide.

This is about as close as we could get to take pictures of the flamingos…if only I had a better zoom!  Still, it was pretty cool to capture the scene.

We continued our tour to a mangrove area, where the tree roots somehow seem to float above the water.

We moor our boat to the dock, then walk down this pathway to clear water swimming hole.

The swimming hole amongst the mangrove trees.

Afterwards, Steffen and I treated ourselves to a beautiful seafood meal a fabulous beachside restaurant.

– VALLADOLID –

For the last 4 days I have been hanging out in this small town, using it as a base for doing daytrips around the area.  It’s not quite as lovely as Campeche or Merida, but the hostel is exceptional and very comfortable for my low energy activities of doing nothing.

 The main plaza.  Just like in Campeche and Merida, this is the central place to people watch, take a stroll, or buy that ice cream from the bicycle vendor.  Last night was the day for Children, so the park was all dressed up for kids activities — games, music, an art area, etc.  What is truly hard for me to believe is how late people stay out.  On a Sunday night, at 11pm, the place was till packed with families and kids.  No school today or something??

– CHICHEN ITZA –

Mayan ruins, very well preserved.  The highlight is El Castillo, 25 meters high and actually the Mayan calendar formed in stone.  Hard to explain, just take my word for it.

El Castillo.  The pyramid is closed off, so no climbing atop those steps.  During the equinox, the lights and shadows of the sun reflect off the pyramid to create an effect of a creeping serpent.  They recreate this show every evening with artificial lights. 

Grupo De Las Mil Columnas.  These ruinds was pretty cool, as the columns contain carvings of warriors.  Another structure nearby “The Platform of Skulls”, is adorned with carved skulls and eagles tearing open the chests of men to eat their hearts.  Chichen Itza ruins are amazing because these people were so into serpents and warriors and human sacrifice, and there are hints and traces of this in almost every structure.

– CENOTE DZITNUP –

I rented a mountain bike and biked out to this cenote, which is an underground limestone cave filled with water.  When I arrived, it was just me and 6 other people to enjoy the cool, refreshing waters.  45 minutes later, and we had 30 more people join in.  I was still haunted from my swimming experience from Semuc Champey, so I didn’t stray too far into the outer reaches of the cave, prefering to dabble close to the rocks where I could actually stand. 

– COBA –

 All ruins have their own flavor and uniqueness, and this was certainly no different.  The site is large.  So large in fact, that it necessitates the use of renting a bicycle.  Sure, you can walk through the scorching heat with the mosquitoes, 1 km between each of the major sites, or you can rent a bike and pedal yourself.  Or you can go a step further, and hire someone to bike you around.  I elected to pedal myself.

Templo 10.

Nohoch Mul (Big Mound), this pyramid rises 42 meters and is the tallest Mayan structure on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Catching my breath at the top.  Below in the left hand corner you can see Templo 10.  The ruins of Coba are not fully unearthed like those in Chichen Itza, so you really get the sense of how the jungle can take over the ruins before they are discovered and restored.

On the bike, I could not even imagine trying to walk the great distances between each major group of ruins.

A map of Coba.

– ONWARD –

So now it is Monday late morning, and I think I shall be heading off to Cancun this afternoon.  I’ve heard a lot about how ugly it is, so I may just be there a day before heading off to the beaches north and south of there.  Or I could stay here for another day and do what I have been doing, which again, has been keeping a low profile and just reading.  It is hotter than Orcish hell down here, but at least it’s better than rowing a slave galley (ie see http://www.thraxas.com/ for more info).

One final look at my hostel’s garden with hammocks….maybe I should stay another day…

As I’m still hanging out in the Yucatan of Mexico, here’s a look back at one of my favorite days in Guatemala!….

After my debacle with losing my glasses and enduring 11 hours on the bus to get back to Xela, I wanted to have a little fun so that I could laugh and smile once more.  Easy cure:  IRTRA’s Xocomil Water Park. 

My book says it is about a 45 minute bus ride south of Xela, but I should have known better.  On the chicken bus, with multiple stops, a detour along dirty backroads because of road re-construction (due to last fall’s Hurricane Stan), and more stops along the way, it took close to a maddening 2 hours!  Me being a thrill park junkie, I always want to be one of the first in the park so that I can avoid the crowds that come later.  Alas, I finally arrived, and here are the photos of what I consider one of the top waterparks in the world.  Okay, I haven’t been to every water park in the world, or even 5 in the U.S., but I can definitely say that Xocomil does it right with little touches all thoughout the park…lots of trees and green, clean walkways, plenty of water rides to suit all tastes, reasonable food for reasonable prices, and decor that rivals the detail of Disneyland.  The best example of this is on the lazy river innertube ride, where you float under the shades of tree canopies as you pass “ancient relics” of Mayan statues and ruins, complete with rain showers, waterfalls, and “scenes” of indigenous living.

Welcome to the Park!

The main entrance.

Guests enjoying the inner tubes as they pass different scenes.  I floated on my tube four times around the park, which lasts over 10 minutes to make a complete trip.

Entering “the canyon”

A guy tries to avoid the spray.

The hydrotubes!  With or without a raft, they have 2 that are completely encompassed in darkness so you have no idea where the turns and twists will take you.

I rode every ride at least twice, including this one that shoots you straight up, and back down for a smooth landing.

The fantastic wave pool.

Right before leaving the park, I had to get my daily fix of a Sarita ice cream cone, double scoop of vanilla and chocolate (I know, so plain and boring!), it is the one addiction I just can’t shake!  Yum yum yum.

So here are finally those pics from the Fat Tuesday Carnival celebration here in Xela, I think back at the end of February.  It is a pretty big deal here; Mitzi, Kathy and I checked it out in the early afternoon while it was still tame and peaceful.  When we returned, we had no idea what we were in store for…

The carnival features games, food and snack vendors, craftspeople, and rides–most of the rides are people-powered, like this merry-go-round that the ride operators push without any electricity.

Even this little ferris wheel is pushed by hand to make the ride go!!!

The event took place during the week, but the big night was Tuesday.  Covering an large area near the cemetery, there is one primary walking path where both sides are filled with vendors and stalls selling handmade crafts, candies, woven goods, dried fish, fried foods and more.  Another area contains the games (skill games, games of chance, foosball, videogames), while one end features those hand-cranked rides for the kids, and at the other end are the big rides for adults powered with electricity.

So on that Tuesday night, at 8pm it was Mitzi, Yuh Wen, Jennifer, Markus, Pablito and myself.  Joker and Martin found us a bit later and joined in the “fun.”  The big thing to do is to throw confetti at and on complete strangers within the Carnival.  Simple enough, you can purchase little plastic bags filled with shredded paper.  Or you can go a step further, and buy decorated egg shells that are filled with the paper.  In this scenario, you take the egg, sneak up behind someone, and SMASH it over their head!  We were game. 

Just confetti….

Yuh Wen contemplates buying more little egg shells to arm herself against the invading teens.

Harmless fun, right?  And it started that way.  Little kids would try to get us.  Pablito stands over 6 foot 5, so he was an ideal target.  We stuck together as a group, watching our backs because before we knew it, our whole group was targeted.  Easy reason too, we were the gringos. 

We made it past the food area, mostly intact.  But once we got to the main path of the vendors, things changed.  The egg shells of confetti changed.  Now, all of a sudden we had little kids and rambunctious teenagers throwing flour at us.  And then it was these same kids with dabs of silver paint on their hands, smothering our faces with the color.  This we were not aware of and didn’t sign up for, but yet here we were under attack!

Yuh Wen, Jennifer and Pablito have a moment to breathe.

Yuh Wen demonstrates how you are supposed to smash eggshell confetti on people’s heads, while I show off the little egg grenades.

The attacks increase, and Mitzi and Yuh Wen wisen up and flip their sweater hoods over their heads.

Our group was able to walk to the other end where the adult rides were.  Pablito and Jenny decided to ride the big ferris wheel, and Yuh Wen and I followed with some hesitation.  The ride was freakin’ scary!  Oh man, was it ever!!!  As you did the revolutions, you can hear this squeeking sound and you can see smoke coming from the mechanical generator or whatever engine is powering the ride.  And instead of a nice, relaxing ride, it is more like a thrill ride to see how fast it can go.  Was this thing going to break?  That’s not duct tape I see?  And what is up with the frayed cable wiring that secures our seat?  How strong, really, is the little pin that keeps the door closed shut?  We begin to slow down.  Thank goodness!  But wait….we are now moving slowly the opposite direction.  We go backwards!  And as fast as it can go.  I so hope this rickety ride holds up until we can get off of it!!!

Finally, we get off the ride.  Back on the ground.  Scary, but we made it.  We hear screams behind us.  And find the swinging boat ride in full swing.  We watch as the ride ends, and our eyes follow one girl that looks ghostly sick and is holding her hand to her mouth, obviously about to puke.  This was a ride that we had to go on!

Pablito and Jenny buy their ticket.  Martin is game too, with his broken foot in a soft cast and all.  I buy my ticket.  Yuh Wen and Mitzi decide to join the fun too.  Martin and I get the upper seat, and a little girl joins us.  Once the ride is loaded, we begin our swings.  Exhilirating!  Because it is sooo scary once again!  The ride operator has decided that the swing should go all the way around, even though it is not designed to do that!  So away we swing, harder, faster….the little girl next to me is screaming, “Por Favor, por favor”, I look over and her eyes are shut.  And her tiny legs are tightly wrapped around mine, as she clings for her life.  Once again I think to myself…is this ride going to break?  how much higher can this guy take it?  The ride lasts for many minutes, surely longer than what you would find at the Portland Rose Festival Fun Center.  I’m having a good time, partly out of fear, and partly because of the thrill of it all.  Mercifully it ends.  And we are all once again safely on the ground.

After the ride, with new victims on the swinging boat…

We decide to walk back through the vendor zone, and we come under attack once again.  This time there are less people wandering around, so we can tell who is and who isn’t scheming against us.  We make it to the food area, where Jenny and Mitzi get pizza, and I am craving my churros…

Churros are basically a big, fat, long doughy fried donut, sprinkled with sugar and served in a little bag.

If only I had some hot chocolate to dip this in!!

While we are stationary and eating, however, we see a big group of 12-15 teens nearby.  They are obviously all waiting for us.  With their eggs, their paint, their flour.  Suddenly, they run towards us.  A big wave of them, surrounding us and pelting us.  Half of our group runs the other way, including poor Martin in his soft foot cast.  I am on the receiving end as well, but not as bad as some of the others…could it be that maybe, just maybe I look a little Central American with my black hair and dark skin?

More chasing ensues, and things get a little out of hand.  Jenny is fighting mad, as she says that some guy stuck his tongue in her ear.  Yuh Wen, unfortunately, gets a real egg cracked over her head, and the egg whites and yolk run down her hair and face.  Things are now more physical, and these kids are bigger, faster, and more menacing because of the gang mentality…there are just too many of them, all in groups, all lying in wait, all targeting us.

Time to go.  We hightail it out of the Carnival area, and assess our damage…

Group shot, we survived!

Pablito takes off his jacket and shakes off the flour as the dust coats the air…

Moral of the story….when in Central America, if you find yourself at Carnival during Fat Tuesday, AND you are with a bunch of gringos….dress appropriately and know that you WILL need to take a shower later on.

Here is the photo trip report from my hike up to the highest point in Central America, Volcan Tajumulco at 4220 meters above sea level.  As you may recall, it was a difficult hike, not so much because of the hike itself, but because of my weakened condition of food poisoning from the night before.  Plus the breakfast combination of black beans, eggs, tortillas and platanos with cream only created additional havoc on my stomach. 

At around 8:30am we took another chicken bus to the trailhead–as the bus was very crowded, half of our group had to stand for the 90 minute ride.  I was able to get a seat, which helped but the twisty, bumpy and winding road just amplified the nausea and sickness that I was fighting.  I still don’t know how I managed to get up the mountain — I credit the guides for taking it nice and slow and for helping me out as much as possible, even offering to carry my fully loaded pack to our base camp.  Once again my stubborness sets in–30 minutes prior to our basecamp, we all collect and carry firewood, of which I take a pretty decent size and strap to my pack.  We started around 10am, and arrived to basecamp at 4pm, where I then spent the next 12 hours huddled inside a tent, fighting coldsweats and then feeling very very hot, on and off throughout the evening.  On with the photos!!

 

Trailhead, 30 hikers strong putting on our sunblock.

Hiking the dusty trail with views all around.

It’s a steep, slow climb.  What is funny is that we pass a group of locals heading down the mountain, sporting dressy shoes and regular clothing.  Our group with all of our fancy gear and packs must be amusing to the locals that go up the mountain on a regular basis.

Long stretches of land with sheep in the distance.

Views from the trail.

Another view from one of our frequent breaks.

Hiking up to basecamp.

From our basecamp, the view is impressive.

And another view from basecamp.

I hiked the summit, or rather climbed and rested, climbed and rested, and here are the beginnings of the dawn.

Clouds meet up with the horizon.

The sun begins to peek.

Sun rising.

Fellow hikers enjoy the spectacle.

I’m so cold and still sick, the smile hides my pain!

Hiking back down with the shadow of the mountain creating a cool effect.

The group heads down the summit and towards basecamp.  We take a different route back to camp, so there is not much climbing down.

Hiking in the shadows.

Continuing the hike down.

Enjoying the view from basecamp.  We have breakfast of oatmeal with granola, cinnamon and sugar.  It is the first real food I have eaten for the past 24 hours.

Back down down down the mountain from basecamp.

Another view hiking down.  We managed to lose one hiker for about 45 minutes.  I was the third to last hiker, and I waited for the other 2 as the main group went ahead.  When only one showed up, we waited for 10 minutes and called out for him, to no avail.  So we caught up with the main group, explained the situation, and then the 3 guides headed back up the trail where they managed to locate him.  To this day I still don’t know what happened–he didn’t seem injured or anything, so I suppose he just lost his way on the trail.

We reach the dusty road, and the winds smother us in clouds of dust as each step results in a big PUFF of brown.  I wear my bandana over my face to offer some sort of shield from inhaling all the dirt.

Almost back to the main road, where we will catch another crowded chicken bus back to San Marcos, and then another chicken bus back to Xela.  The bus back to San Marcos was the fullest I have ever been in.  It was hot, sweaty, packed, uncomfortable and quite the unpleasant experience, as you really couldn’t move your position or feet for much of the ride back.  Once in San Marcos, we had a very late lunch at that same comedor which consisted of tortillas, mashed potatoes, pasta, and a little bit of veggies.  Oh yeah, black beans too.

Bags off the buses!!  And then a 30 minute hike back to headquarters, where we check in our borrowed gear and head on in our separate ways.  It is only then do I feel like I’m getting back to normal.

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Short Attention Span Theater

April 20th, 2006

So I’ve been lucky enough to find an Internet Cafe here in Palenque to hold me over until my 10pm “overnight” bus to Campeche.  I say “overnight” because I’ll actually arrive around 3am, and since I don’t want to linger around in the streets of the town at that early morning, I’ll probably just hang out at the bus station and try to stay awake until the morning light comes and I can safely walk the 20 blocks to the hostel.

I’m glad to be heading out of Palenque…the place I stayed at last night, El Campan, is about 4 miles outside of town and is kind of a hippie place with palapas and cabanas in the woods.  My little hut had wire screen windows, and creepie crawlies everywhere, because my hut had the windows with a few tears here and there.  And where was my toilet paper (TP isn’t in the bathrooms, you either have to buy your own or they’ll leave you a roll in your “room”)…I was able to steal some at a restaurant across the road, I’m not ashame to admit that because they own the restaurant too.  So on with the pics, short attention span theater style!

 

My cabana is the one on the right.  It was soo hot during the entire night, and when I woke up in the morning my bed sheet was covered with insects and debris that fell from the trees above.

 

Another view.  El Campan has about 6 properties all adjacent to one another, and each has about 10 cabanas to rent out.  It’s like camping out at the Oregon Country Fair in Veneta, OR. 

 

Looking into my cabana.  I fell asleep to the serenade of all the jungle sounds, including howling monkeys, thousands of insects, some chirping bird that apparently lives amongst the leaves of my cabana, and the breeze when it decided to give me a little breath of coool.

 

Today I signed up for a tour to take in 3 of the area’s attractions….the Palenque archeological ruins, Misol-Ha waterfall, and Aqua Azul river.

 

This photo was taken from the top of Templo de la Cruz, looking towards Templo de las Inscripciones, and to the right is El Palacio.

 

Templo de la Cruz.

 

Looking down from Templo de la Cruz to Templo del Sol.

 

 

Templo del Conde.

 

After 4 hours at the site, it was time to move on to Misol-Ha waterfall, where time did not permit a swim, but did give me time to go behind the falls and up to the cave.

From the front….

 

 

And from behind the falls.

 

From the cave, and you can see all the peeps trying to make their way to where I stand.

 

Now, on towards Agua Azul…but first let’s see if I make it there in one piece.  So I’m in the front seat, there are 8 other passengers taking up the seats behind me.  It is about an hour drive along narrow, winding roads with a pretty steep drop on the right hand side.  And my driver is sleepy!  All the signs are there, I know because I have done the exact same thing…

– turning up the music and trying to sing along to it.

– rolling down the window, even though the AC is on, and letting in all that HOT air! 

– she had a small handtowel that she kept bringing to her mouth and wiping her face…not because of sweat, but because it was her way of trying to stay awake.

– she kept fidgeting around, shuffling in her seat, dropping things on the floor and then trying to search with her free hand….all methods to stay awake.

– and then the obligatory slap slap slap of her hand to her cheeks, and then hitting her let with her fist…stay awake, stay awake, I watch her heavy eyes and her concentration wane.  But in the end, one hour was just enough, we arrived safely and she could have a 3 hour nap.

 

Agua Azul is probably the most beautiful swimming spot I’ve ever encountered, even besting Semuc Champey from 3 weeks ago.   The wide river creates great shallow pools for swimming and snorkeling, with little rope swings sprinkled about and so many families, young and old alike, playing in the water.  Along the bank is a walking path filled with comedor restaurants and vendors selling fruits, empanadas, souvenirs, refrescos and more.  The cool thing about the river is that it is not just confined to one area for swimming.  I walked upstream a good 30 minutes and all along were little prime spots for swimming or relaxing in the water or resting under a small waterfall.  Agua Azul is one that you’ll have to put on your “must visit” list for Mexico!  Assorted pics below…

 

 

 

I’ll wrap up this post with a few more points of “Sounded Like a Good Idea, But”

– Having a roasted corn on the cob in San Cristobal.  But the one I got must have been the one that was roasting for a full week, those kernels were so hard and I could only eat half of the cob before I had to give up.

– Being all tropical and buying a fresh whole coconut at Agua Azul, where the vendor cuts a little hole, slips a straw into it and you can just sip sip sip and enjoy some coconut juice.  But after only a few sips, it just didn’t taste good and it gave me some stomach pains later on.

– Saving my Propel water for an opportune time.  Propel is like Gatorade in a cool little plastic bottle, this whole time it has been untouched until last night when I was out of water and I broke the plastic seal and took a few sips.  Good stuff!  But this morning I packed it wrong, and before I knew it, all the liquid spilled out and all over my pack inside the van.  Bye bye Propel, I should have drank it a long long time ago instead of see it waste away this morning.

– Horseback riding while I’m trying to recover from being sick.  Yeah, I already went over this in my previous post, but I can still feel my body crashing up and down in the saddle and not enjoying myself one bit.  I think my horse had it out for me.

That’s all for now, off to the bus station and I hope I don’t get harrassed!  I could always use my fake Asian accent/language, that always seems to throw them off.  Have a nice Friday and weekend everyone!

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Lighting Strikes Twice, Still Sick, Scenes from San Cristobal, and Much More…

April 18th, 2006

I have one hour of internet time, so I’m going to see just how much I can churn out in that amount of time.  It is Tuesday night and I have an early wake up tomorrow morning to catch my bus to….Las Vegas, Nevada!  Yeah, I totally agree with Jonas and Rene, so it’s on to Sin City, bay-bee!  Well, maybe I’ll need to hold off on that for just another 2 months or so.

But I’m heading off to Palenque, about 5 hours away, and site of some Mayan ruins and a “legendary” traveler’s hangout town called El Panchan.  Hopefully I’ll be able to recover there from my sore throat, my cough, and now this—runny nose and sneezing sneezing sneezing.  Is it already allergy season?  Not only that, I have a headache and I’ve been pretty tired of late.  So I am hopeful that a change of scenery and pace is all that my body will need to re-energize for the road ahead! 

As I mentioned in my previous post, San Cristobal rocks!  So much to see and do, and so much to not see and not do…a great place to just hang out, people watch, and forget about the time on your clock.  Which is why I ended up staying a week here.  On now to a photo review of my time in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.

 

Thursday I spent the late morning speeding down Sumidero Canyon in a high speed boat, and then ate lunch at a cool little town next to the river.

 

I ended up eating at a street stall and had my first Mexican style hamburger with its super thin patty on a huge bun, cut into portions like a pizza.

 

Back in town in the main cathedral square, I got a kick out of these Japanese travelers trying to make some extra dough for their journeys by selling their Japanese writing skills to the hoards of Mexican families vacationing in San Cristobal.  If I had a sign that advertised “I will write your name in English for $50”, I seriously doubt that I would have any takers.

 

Holy Thursday saw the night of the Last Supper, and then the beginning of his passion.  In this scene enacted close to midnight, the Roman soldiers take watch of the prisoners over their campfire.

 

Some of the streets were closed down so that they could be decorated with elaborate religious displays.  The ground is covered with a colored  cedar dust, and later that evening the Silent March will walk through all this handiwork.

 

Good Friday.  Jesus is sentenced and led out of his cage while the soldiers look on.

 

Jesus carrying the cross through the streets.

 

The guy portraying Jesus really went all out, stumbling and falling and taking vicious whips to the back from the guards.  This procession lasted almost 3 hours as he made his way around the city, and finally back to the church where it began.

 

Here he is hoisted up to the cross.

 

They were up there for about 15 minutes as the actors and voice-over speaker finished off the scene.

 

Finally, he is let down and into the arms of the grieving.

 

Later that night, I waited almost 3 hours to watch the Silent March walk all over those cedar dust scenes.  Luckily I sat close to 2 Canadians that kept me entertained as I recovered from eating too much at a buffet.  Yeah, big surprise there, huh?

 

The Silent March.  Here’s Jesus being carried on his cross.

 

Saturday I took a day tour to two villages outside San Cristobal.  This church is in Chamula, where it is forbidden to take pictures inside the church or of any of the townspeople because they believe taking a photo takes away their spirit and soul.  Our tour guide also explained the whole exorcism thing with the egg that Mitzi wrote about.

 

We also visited Zincantal (I’m going on memory regarding the spelling, so I could be wrong) and to a weaving co-op where we sampled their 36% alcohol “Punche” and watched the weaving process.

 

Sunday I walked around town and of course celebrated Easter with my bullfight.  There was a used bookfair in the cathedral square and was hoping that I could score a cheap, used book to read.  Aside from Danielle Steele novels, there wasn’t much else in the way of English language books.  I did find this gem, but for $15 US I thought his asking price was a bit too high.

 

I did go horseback riding, which seemed like a good idea at the time.  I was sick and figured that riding a horse would be easy.  WRONG!  10 minutes into the 4 hour ride, I wanted off.  I forgot just how beat up you get “riding” a horse.  I am still sore and stiff and suffering from the after effects of my body being bounced up and down, up and down, up and down.  My ass hurts as do all the rest of my muscles in my body. 

 

Church on the hill with a nice view over the city.

 

A shot of the Spring Fair midway as the sun sets.  I was too sore to try any of the amusement rides.

 

A half-ripped poster for the wrestling event!

 

Live, at the match!  Where lightening strikes twice and where I’ll need to continue this story next time….

 

The main cathedral and the center of all the action.  Surrounding my pedestrian-only shopping arcades, the government building, Parque Central and more, this is the place to just relax and enjoy everything happening around you.  The place hops well past midnight as nightclubs and late-night cafes cater to the night owls.

 

Alas, my hour is up!  Didn’t get a chance to tell my story of what happened to me at the wrestling event, so hopefully I’ll have time in my next update.  I’m not proofreading this post so that’s that, adios to San Cristobal!

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Onward Not! Another day or two in San Cristobal

April 17th, 2006

Thanks for all your public and private email comments on where I should end up going next.  I should be well on my way to my next destination at this time, but I have decided to stay another day longer here in San Cristobal, Mexico.  There can only be one thing that would change my plans to stay longer.  No, it isn’t because I’m sick.  (And yes, I am sick–not food poisoning sick, but the sore throat/hacking cough sick where it hurts to swallow and thus I can’t sleep at night).  And no, it’s not because of some Latina girl I met.  Nor is it that I’ve discovered some hardcore hiking tour through the outer reaches of the jungle.  Nope, it’s none of those.  The only reason why I am staying another day is because of the BEST reason to stay…AAA Lucha Libre!  What is that you ask??  Basically, it is Mexican style wrestling!  It is THE best wrestling out there because of the masks, gravity defying aerial moves and the good guys versus the bad guys.  I definitely have to check this out!

Coming to San Cristobal last week was a major hassle, especially at the border where I got ripped off on my money exchange and then had to scramble on figuring out the transportation.  It was an all day ordeal, and took about 12 hours total.  But it was all very much worth it.  San Cristobal is a favorite destination in Mexico for a lot of people, and it is easy to see why.

The celebrations for Holy Week (Semana Santa) also coincide with San Cristobal’s Feria Festival, aka Spring Festival.  It is a huge celebration with parades, music, special events, expositions and more.  They even have their own “Queen of Rosaria” like Portland’s Rose Festival, complete with midway and amusement rides.  There are people everywhere and the main plaza and parque central and always packed with people, walking vendors, food booths and so much more.  And with events happening everyday for the next week, what better way to celebrate Easter yesterday than with the traditional sport of bull fighting?

This was my first bullfight, I know of it and have seen some clips via Bugs Bunny cartoons and other shows.  So here’s the very quick rundown in layman’s terms, since I don’t know all the fancy tradition that goes with it or the terms and jargon that make up the sport.

So basically you have an outdoor circular arena, that in my estimate, holds about 5000-6000 people.  Last night’s card had a series of 6 or 7 bullfights, and it begins with all the matadors coming out to greet the crowd.

 

After they leave, they release the first bull into the ring, where it charges around and a team of secondary matadors (I don’t know what you call them, so I’ll call them the JV team) warms up the bull with their pink and yellow colored capes.  They each take an individual turn, as shown below.  This goes on for about 5 minutes or so.

When the matador has the bull do a successful pass under the cape, the crowd shouts “OLE!”  And if you happen to start chanting “Toro! Toro! Toro!” you will be quickly hushed (no, I didn’t do this, but there was a rowdy group just a section below me that tried that and the crowd turned on them pretty quickly).

After warms up, the horse-mounted spearman comes out to soften up the bull.  Not a pretty site…he comes up to the bull and basically plunges a long spear into the bull’s spine.  The bull won’t like this of course, so he’ll charge the horse.  I’m pretty sure that the horse has some protective plating underneath the costume, but just in case, there is always a secondary back-up horseman waiting on the opposite side.  In this picture below, the horseman struggles from keeping the bull from toppling him and the horse over.

 

Now that the bull has been softened up, the main matador comes in with his series of colored handspears.  He has one in each hand, taunts the bull, then charges the bull and at the last minute, strikes both into the bull’s back.  This happens for a total of 3 times, and the goal is to have all 6 handspears dangling from the back of the bull.  Is there blood?  Yep, it’s not a pretty site.  Here are some pics of what I have just described.

This matador begins his charge with his first set.

 

This pic is of a different match and different matador successfully spearing the bull.

 

After all 6 spears are in place (usually not though, some fall out), the matador takes his red cape and sword and makes the bull do the “Ole” thing for about 7-10 minutes.  The live music band is playing and the crowd cheers and shouts “Ole.” 

Finally, the matador signals for the band to stop playing the music.  The crowd goes silent and they shush anyone who is still making noise.  The matador changes his sword, and with the bull badly beaten, tired and bloodied, the matador makes his strike.  Ideally with one deep blow into the back, where the bull will stagger and fall.  To end the misery, the “death matador” comes out with his short dagger, and quickly plunges in into the mammal’s skull, where you see it quickly lose all movement and it falls to the earth lifeless.  No graphic pictures to show for this moment, I think you get the picture. 

Coming into the bullfight, I wasn’t quite sure of the whole killing thing.  It was pretty shocking to witness this the first few times, and of course you feel sorry for the bull.  At the same token, bullfighting has a very long and rich tradition in Mexico and Spain and I really can’t denounce this “sport” or join PETA in a protest.  However, I will say that this is probably the last bullfight I’ll attend, because when it comes down to it, I was bored after a little while.  But that’s just me.

So tonight I’m heading back to the El Toro arena for my wrestling, and then tomorrow it will probably be on to the Palenque Mayan ruins or maybe I’ll change my mind last minute and go to Oaxaca.  I just hope by tomorrow I’ll be over this nasty cough and sore throat, and that my headache will go away.  Check back on Wednesday where I hope to have pics posted of the San Critobal Holy Week Crucifixion march re-enactment, an annual event that the whole city turns out for.

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