This trip included Shawn Hines Jr., Eduardo Gonzalez, Gaye Greenwald, myself, and Roberto Vieyra (The 2012 Trip Giveaway recipient).
Day 1 - Gaye, SJ and I met in Houston and all flew to Merida, arriving there very late that night. Once there, we met with the others at Hotel Margarita. Balta Castro and Nubia Balam met us too, considering they live in Merida. We all walked to a nearby restaurant and ate a late dinner. The hotel was very cheap but the rooms were basic, though.
Day 2 - We hired a taxi to take 3 of us to Uxmal. The others rode in Balta's car. After stopping at a convenience store for buying some items for a "make shift breakfast", we arrived to Uxmal and visited the site for a few hours. Afterwards, we rode past the village of Santa Elena to arrive to a locked gate entering the Maya ruins of Kiuic. We had a permission slip from INAH allowing us to visit the site, since Roberto works for INAH and he had received the permission slip before leaving Mexico City.
We walked past the locked gate and down the dirt road to the entrance of the site. While walking, it came a rain storm we all got soaked. After talking to the caretakers of the site, we visited the site for at least 3 hours.
Since it was so late when we left Kiuic, I made the decision for us to stay the night in Ticul at Hotel Plaza there. We ate dinner at Las Golondrina's and all of us either had pizza or pasta.
Day 3 - We ate breakfast in the market of Ticul and all of us had scrambled eggs with chaya and watermelon juice. We ate at the same stall as Dave Walter and I did in April 2007. I was sure of it because I recognized the man who served us (standing behind Eduardo & Roberto with the ball cap on).
After breakfast and exchanging some dollars to pesos at a money exchange center, we caught the next available bus to the town of Muna. We had to wait for over an hour for the next bus to Hopolchen. Once we arrived to Hopolchen, we found out that the next bus to Xpujil was 5 hours later. After eating a late lunch at one of the stalls in the market, Eduardo and Roberto went to the town square to try to find someone with a van who we could hire to take us to Xpujil as soon as possible.
We got lucky and found a colectivo driver that took us there for 1,700 pesos. We arrived to Xpujil an hour before the bus in Hopolchen was to leave Hopelchen! After checking into our hotel rooms above the bus station we crossed the street to eat at a restaurant that Gaye and I had eaten at before.
Day 4 - We hired two taxi drivers for taking us to visit the Maya ruins of Chicanna and Becan. We were lucky to see a spider monkey at Becan. Once back in Xpujil, we all caught the next available bus to Escarcega. It was raining when we arrive there and we all checked into our rooms at Hotel Maria Isabel. Since it was raining like it was, we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. The food was decent but they only had 3 or 4 choices to choose from. I also ate two hotdogs from a vendor nearby, too.
It rained all night!
Day 5 - After eating breakfast we caught the first available ADO bus to Palenque. Along the way, we stopped in the city of Emiliano Zapata and there is a stunning statue there at the entrance to the town. Finally, we all arrived to Palenque and checked into our rooms at Hotel Xibalba. We ate dinner Las Huachinango Feliz Restaurant beside the hotel. I had the garlic shrimp dish.
Day 6 - We visited the Maya ruins of Palenque as soon as the ruins opened for the day. We saw 2 black howler monkeys while there. After visiting the stunning, yet extremely humid site, Gaye, SJ and I caught the next available colectivo to town and ate lunch at a small restaurant that served roasted chicken. SJ and I had 1/2 chicken with sides. Afterwards, we caught the next available OCC bus to San Cristobal de Las Casas. It was a six hour bus ride through the mountains! FINALLY, we arrived to San Cristobal de Las Casas and checked into our rooms at Posada Media Luna. Since we were all very hungry, we decided to eat dinner at the one of the many restaurants around the corner at the market.
Day 7 - We met Alex Aranda with Cielo y Tierra Tours after breakfast. He drove us to San Juan Chamula, and once there, we were allowed to go into a home where the local Tzotzil Maya people were performing some ceremonial things tied to the holiday of honoring their patron saint San Juan Batista. We ate tortillas and black beans and also tried a home-made alcoholic drink called "pox". It was stout! Nearly all of the locals in Chamula know Alex and they all call him "chicken legs", for some reason.
Along with Alex, we walked into town to visit the cathedral. We were not allowed to take photos inside. It was very smoky inside the cathedral from burning candles and copal incense. There were probably around 500 people inside and some of them were drinking liquor, too! We toured the market outside and visited the town jail. A person never wants to go there, trust me!
After a few hours in Chamula we went to the nearby village of Zinacantan next. Once there, we stopped at a lady's house whose name was Maria. She was using a back-strap weaving technique to make a blanket in her yard. She offered us tortillas and beans inside her home. Also, we tried some pox mixed with jamaica, too. Before leaving, we bought some handcrafts from her.
After the tour had ended, we were sure to tell Alex how wonderful his services had been during the day. He's the best guide I've ever encountered in 9 years of traveling extensively throughout Latin America. After a nice dinner, Gaye, SJ and I went to zocalo and there was a rock band playing in the atrium there. They were very good, too!
Day 8 - We visited the Cathedral of Santo Domingo & the Cathedral of San Cristobal. Also, SJ and I visited the Amber Museum. After checking out of the hotel and walking 5 blocks to the bus station nearby, we caught the next available bus to Tuxtla Gutierrez. Once there, we checked into our hotel rooms at the Quality Inn that I had reserved for us using my Choice Privilege points for free.
I called Jesus Escobedo, a Facebook friend of mine, and he met us at the hotel for taking us to dinner in his truck. That truck has the most amazing paint job! First, we went to Mirimba Park and afterwards, we went to Las Pinchachas Restuarant. They served a mixed drink there in gourds called "pumpo" and when you rang the bell at your table, they would yell "Sale Pumpo" very loud and bring one of the gourds to your table for you. The drink consisted of lime juice, pineapple juice, vodka and crushed ice. They also had a dinner show that consisted of traditional Chiapaneco dancers. The dance show is every night at 9 pm and is absolutely amazing. We flew home the next day.
