February 2011 Mexico Trip - (2011 Trip Giveaway)

                                                                               

This was my annual group trip to visit numerous Maya ruin sites, and this particular trip to the state of Chiapas in Mexico was one of the most enjoyable trips I had ever taken. The group was as follows: Skip Caldwell and Cleta Polk from Colorado, Gaye Greenwald from New Jersey, Rip Phillips from Florida, myself from South Carolina, and the 2011 trip giveaway recipient; Julio Torres from Mexico City. Our transportation during the week-long trip was by a large 11-passenger van which we rented in Villahermosa, for $987 USD, and even though four people in our group did their share of driving during the week, Rip Phillips drove the majority of the time and I was glad that he was such a good driver.  

Day 1 - All I can say about this day was that it was very aggravating, long, and rather eventful. Finally, however, everyone managed to arrive to the city of Palenque, where we all checked into our rooms at Hotel Xibalba. I was glad to be there, so that I could relax a bit and allow my blood pressure to decline from it's high state which had continually built up throughout the long day of travel, from having to deal with one issue after another. The brochetas de pollo dinner at El Huachinago Felize Restaurant I had, was very good. Even though I've cut back tremendously on my drinking these days, a couple of cold beers were just the thing to help me relax as well. I was very happy to know that everyone had arrived there safely and we could start our week-long adventure as planned, the following day.

Day 2 - After a nice breakfast, we all loaded up into the rental van, and set out for the first site on our itinerary; the stunning Maya ruin site of Palenque. I was the only person in our group to have had the pleasure of visiting the site before, so not only was it a treat for the rest of those in our group to go there, but I was eager to once again enjoy the beauty of the magnificent site as well. I could tell that Julio Torres was a very happy man, to be fulfilling a life-long dream of visiting the site. Even though Julio is a very knowledgeable person about Maya history, this was his very first Maya ruin site to visit and I was happy to be there with him on such a special occasion. There was a large amount of fog at the site, which not only made it quite picturesque, but also made for an enjoyable visit to the site as well, since it is normally very hot and humid there.        

After visiting the site, we went to eat lunch in town at Restaurant La Cañada; one of the nicer restaurants in town. The food was good, but it was rather expensive. I had decided that we had enough time left in the day to visit one of the nearby waterfalls, which I knew to be very beautiful. We arrived at the entrance road that leads to Misol Ha Waterfalls and had to pay some men who stopped us before entering, for allowing our group to pass. The men were Zapatistas, and after paying them a small fee, we were allowed to pass for going onward to a guard station, to pay the official entrance fee for visiting the waterfall.

Everyone in the group really enjoyed the beautiful waterfalls and there were other people there as well, who were swimming in the pool of water below the falls. Once back in town, Julio and I had to go to a nearby pharmacy for buying some congestion medicine, since I had previously been a little under the weather before embarking on this particular journey, and was slightly still congested. Also, we found out that there was a bank in town which is open everyday, so it was nice to be able to exchange some dollars there on Sunday.

Day 3 - We drove 3 hours south on highway #199 to the town of Ocosingo, and then went a short distance further to visit the Maya ruin site of Tonina. I had wanted to visit this site on my previous trip to the area in 2005, but did not due to time restraints. I was anxious to finally be able to go there, since it is also where the last Long Count Date was found to be carved in the entire Maya World. The site was not very large, but there was a lot to see there. It was quite hot there too, which made climbing the structures and stairways more difficult than they already are. We toured the site for 2 1/2 hours and then drove south down the winding road through the Chiapas Mountains for the next 4 1/2 hours, finally arriving to the city of Comitan de Dominguez which is near the Guatemalan border.

Once there, we did not have very much trouble finding the Hotel Internacional where we would be staying for the next couple of nights. We did, however, have trouble driving the large van into the entrance of the hotel parking lot. It was an extremely tight squeeze! After everyone settled into their rooms, we decided to have dinner at Restaurante Los Portales nearby. The food there was reasonably priced and was very good as well. Afterwards, we toured the central plaza, where some vendors were selling all sorts of items, as part of the Festival of San Caralampios celebration.

Day 4 - For many years I had wanted to visit a couple of sites near the Guatemalan border, but since they are located in such a desolate area of Mexico, I had not done so before. On this day, however, I would finally get to visit those two sites, as well as another in the area which I did not know even existed. We first visited the Maya ruins of Tenam Puente, which was located very near to the city of Comitan de Dominguez.           

The site had a lot more structures than I had expected and consisted of numerous plazas and three different ball courts. It was overcast and windy on this day, and quite cool. After visiting this particular site, we drove onward to visit the nearby Maya ruins of Chinkultic, which was the 100th Maya ruin site that I had visited. The guards at the site would not allow us to take our backpacks or bags with us into the site, fearing that we would take pieces of ceramics and other artifacts from the site, as we left. It was not a bother to me, since I only really needed my camera and bottle of water, anyways. The site was situated between two large lakes and consisted of three different areas of structures. The main structure was located on the other side of a small river and was situated on top of a large hill, which overlooked the entire valley. It was a strenuous climb to reach the main structure, but was well worth the effort.

After leaving Chinkultic, we decided to go onward to visit another Maya ruin site nearby, which was unknown to me, even though Julio knew a lot about it. Once we arrived to the small village of El Lagartero, I could see why the site was named the same. There were a lot of beautiful streams which contained crystal clear water, as well as some small lakes. Being quite hungry at the time, we decided to eat lunch at one of the small restaurants in the village. The lady at the restaurant only offered three dishes; fish, shrimp and chicken. While we were waiting for our meals to be prepared, some of those in our group decided to watch two local women prepare home-made tamales. The two local women did not mind at all, to show those in our group how they made the tamales.

While we ate our lunch there were a lot of baby ducks, as well as chickens, walking all around our table as well as underneath it. After lunch, we had to drive down a small dirt road and cross many small streams along the way. A couple of those streams were pretty deep, and thankfully had a really hard bottom of bedrock. The Maya ruin site of El Lagartero is situated beside a small lake and the structures there are very different than I had ever seen before. The small site consisted of four pyramidal structures, as well as a ball court. Upon entering the site, I was fortunate enough to be able to see two blue-crested mot-mot birds, as I had arrived well in front of the others in our group.

Day 5 - I knew this would be a very long day of driving through an area of Chiapas that I had little information about. I was a little worried. It wasn't the fact that I felt unsafe to do so, but simply the lack of knowledge about the roads which we would be driving on, as well as the availability of gas stations along the route. After I had asked Julio to call a friend of ours who lives in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Jesus Escobedo assured Julio and I that the road was fine, and the only warning he gave us was to make sure we filled the van with gas before we left Comitan de Dominguez and to expect a lot of topes (speed bumps) along the way. The long drive was very scenic and we stopped the van and all got out to take photos, once we arrived to the bridge that crosses the Lacantun River. The water in the river was turqouise blue. It was absolutely amazing to look at, for I had never seen water colored such as this in a fresh water river before.

Once we arrived to the village of Chajula, which is located along highway #307, I wanted to take a short cut through some villages to hopefully shorten our driving time for the day. Even though the road was merely dirt and contained a lot of sections which were washed out by recent flooding, at times, I was glad I made the decision for taking the short cut as we did. It made a difference in driving time and we easily made it to the city of Benemeritos de las Americas so we could refill the van with gas as needed. After refilling the van with gas and buying some soft drinks and snacks, we went onward to visit the Maya ruins of Bonampak to see the beautiful 1,200 year old murals that are there, which completely cover the interior walls and ceilings of three of the structures at the site. Before arriving there, we had to stop at the fifth military check point for the day, and the soldiers made all of the men in our group get out of the van, put our hands on the side of the van, and spread our legs. They were searching for drugs and weapons, so they frisked all of us. 

While at the site, I noticed a large flock of parrots which flew over the main plaza. They were squawking as usual and I could hear them coming from at least 1/4 of a mile away. Another pleasant surprise which I encountered while at the site, was meeting one of my Facebook friends; Luis Adrian Rojas from Monterrey, Mexico. He was part of another tour group that was also visiting the site on this day. It was quite a coincidence to meet him at Bonampak, for the first time in my life. As I had encountered during some of my previous adventures, I never know who I am going to run across, while there. Julio had never met him in person before either, but knew him quite well from Facebook also. 

After leaving the site, we only had to drive through one more military check point station, before arriving to the village of 'Once de Julio', where we would lodge for the next two nights at the ranch of Willy Fonseca; Vallescondido. Arriving there just before dark, Willy was happily waiting for us when we pulled into his driveway. He showed everyone in our group to their cabins, and after we showered and rested up as needed, we were treated to a wonderful dinner prepared by two of his workers. 

Day 6 - Most of those in our group enjoyed the buffet-style breakfast at Willy's restaurant across the road from his ranch. While at the restaurant, Willy had asked me which sites we had planned to visit for the day. I told him I wanted to visit a couple of sites in the area, and he told me that he had nothing to do for the day and would come along with us, if we didn't mind. Heck, he even offered to drive the van, which I had no problem with agreeing to. He asked me to wait for a few minutes while he and the cooks at his restaurant made some sandwiches for our lunch later in the day. After arriving to the town of Frontera Corozal and paying the mandatory fees as needed, we parked at the designated area along-side the Usumacinta River and loaded up into one of the lanchas, to take the trip down river to visit the Maya ruins of Yaxchilan. Along the way, we were thrilled to see a scarlet macaw which was flying above, and also a crocodile basking in the sun on a fallen log.                       

We toured the site for around 2 hours and then made the boat trip back to Frontera Corozal as needed, while we ate our lunch along the way. Once back at Frontera Corozal, we drove onward to the village of Plan de Ayutla, where we had to pay a man for being granted access to visit the desolate Maya ruin site of Sak Tzi, which is located on a cattle ranch nearby. The site was very nice and was surprisingly restored more than I expected. When we headed back towards Willy's ranch, he wanted to show us some waterfalls nearby. I had no idea where he was taking us, but when we arrived to the waterfalls of Las Golondrinas, I was glad we stopped to visit them. The waterfalls are very nice and people are allowed to swim in the numerous pools there as well. Once back at Willy's ranch, we were treated to another very nice dinner. It was also a pleasure to meet Willy's son; Cesar, who was very helpful with anything we might need at times.

Day 7 - After breakfast at Willy's restaurant, again, Willy asked me what our plans were for the day. I told him that the only plans that I had were to drive back to Villahermosa, for turning in the rental van. He asked me if we were interested in visiting a couple of Maya ruin sites along the way, and if so, he would gladly come along with us. He told me that he needed to go to Palenque anyway. Willy first took us to the Maya ruin site of Chinikiha, where the Chilean archaeologist; Rodrigo Liendo Stuardo was currently digging, with the help of some Italian students. I never knew the site even existed, but of course Julio knew about it. The site was nothing more than pasture land, but the students showed us some of the artifacts they had uncovered while digging in the area.

We left there and went onward to visit the Maya ruins of Pomona, which is located in the state of Tabasco and is a very nice site to visit, even though it is extremely small. While we were at the site, I did see a chocolate falcon behind the pyramidal structure there, which I wasn't able to get a good photo of while it was perched in a tree. The nicest thing about this particular site, in my opinion, was the museum. It contained a large amount of artifacts from the site and the building was very nice as well. Willy drove us back to the city of Palenque and we decided to have lunch there at the Maya Restaurant. The food was good and was reasonably priced as well. After lunch, Willy departed for the bus station to go back to his ranch. Meanwhile, we dropped Skip and Cleta off at their hotel, while the rest in our group drove back to Villahermosa for turning in the rental van and checking into our rooms as needed at the Hilton Hotel.

I can't say enough good things about Willy Fonseca. While we were staying at his ranch, there was hardly anything he would not provide for us, if he had the ability to do so. Willy's son, Cesar, was very helpful as well and he can also understand and speak a decent amount of English. The cabins were very clean and nicely decorated. While we were there, the price for lodging per night was 1,350 MXN. Also, the buffet-style breakfast cost 80 MXN and dinner was 150 MXN per person. One other thing I would like to add is that Willy has wireless internet at his ranch. Vallescondido is located at km. 61 on highway #307 in the village of 11 de Julio. Contact info for Willy Fonseca - email: busil_h@hotmail.com  & cell # (011) 52 916 100 0399