Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Part of that is my computer (my one-year-old expensive as anything Toshiba) is kind of broken and likes to turn off after 5 minutes of use. Yuck, huh?
However, all was made better (or at least momentarily ignored) by Spencer and my trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. We researched for months to come up with an amazing itinerary, but the great thing was, we only booked our first few and last nights, so we were totally flexible in between.
We flew into Cancun and rented a small SUV (we knew some of the roads were going to be bumpy) and drove to Playa del Carmen, where we had an awesome, super cheap taco stand lunch. Then we drove to our hotel at Xpu-Ha (pronounce Shpoo Ha) and plopped ourselves beach-side. The hotel was a big yoga-hippie place with slow service but we had a nice time walking on the beach and surveying the damage from the recent hurricanes.
The next day we went to Tulum, a Mayan site on the ocean, and walked around and stared at all the huge iguanas sunning themselves. Then we went snorkeling in a fake-looking real lagoon with crazy art statues. We saw lots of fish (I even touched one!) but the only really amazing thing was a 3 foot long parrot fish (it was sooo big.) We ate that night at a hotel/restaurant called Que Onda which served fresh pasta poolside, mangy dogs included.
The next morning we woke up early (actually we woke up early every morning, which was great) and drove about 5 hours to Xpuhil (Shpoo Heel), where Calakmul is. On the way we tried to find cenotes (underground swimming holes) and got lost, literally, in El Mundo Maya (the Mayan world). Then we visited Laguna Bacalar, which is a freshwater lake but looks like the Caribbean. We finally reached Xpuhil and our lovely Hotel Calakmul at night. They only spoke Spanish which was fun and mostly understood. We had our best meals here, across the street at a tiny little mobile restaurant. There were no prices listed, so we bet on how much it would be for dinner... it ended up being $3 per person for three dishes and fresh orange juice! We liked it so much we came back two more times... Unfortunately not all the food was as good or as cheap but we had pretty good luck with it anyway.
The second day in Xpuhil we drove two hours to Calakmul, one of the largest Mayan sites (with the largest Mayan building, a huge pyramid). It was a long drive but we got word to go early to catch wildlife, and we ended up seeing peacocks, another big ugly bird, a monkey and a turtle which we rescued from the road. The ruins themselves were really cool although we spent half the day hiding from hitch-hikers we didn't want to pick up but eventually must have gotten a ride... The buildings were far apart and massive so it was a long, hard day but definitely worth it. (The two hour drive back, though, was tough, but you can see another archaelogical site, Chicanna, from the road.)
Up and at 'em early the next day with another ruin, Becan, which had a moat. By far the best part of the site was a sign that sincerely told us Mayans did not get helped by aliens when building their cities. We had a nice laugh at that one. The detailing on this site was better preserved than Tulum or Calakmul and we even saw a huge ceremonial mask carved into a building. Most of the sites' artefacts were taken away to museums so this was a nice surprise. Another long drive away was Campeche, a cute-as-can-be town on the ocean (still, no dolphins!) where we shopped, visited the Baluartes (Bulwarks, part of the old city walls), and had a nice long meal at the best place in town (really, the best part was the view over the gorgeous, lighted square). We waited for the promised music but it never came and we retired early, as we had another long drive to...
Uxmal, which marked the first major getting lost of the trip (I have to say, Mexican road signs leave much to be desired) but we managed to crisscross along the roads until we got there, with two hours til closing. This was my favorite site because it was big, had nice big buildings and had some really lovely walls and decorations intact. Plus, they let you walk around and into a lot of the buildings, which gave me a good sense of the size and maybe even how people lived. The best part, I have to say, was the armadillo we saw. Second best was a pyramid hid deep in the woods off the main path we stumbled on. Most people's favorite part is the carved penises with the sign, "Do not sit." We also saw some beautiful birds including woodpeckers and some other ones I don't know the names of.
After Uxmal we went to Merida, at which point I was feeling muy under the weather and we chilled out for the night. The next morning we walked around the very busy city, shopped for gifts and fresh fruit (only peeled!) and went of to Chichen Itza, probably the most famous of the Mayan sites on the Peninsula. Ironically it wasn't my favorite, nor Spencer's, because it was so over-touristed, and you couldn't climb any of the pyramids or go into any buildings. Even the very famous Warrior statue was roped off and could only be seen from about 50 feet away. We saw a sound and light show there at night which was pretty and informative but a little campy. Mexican audio technology- really not so great. But it was cool to see the buildings at night (and watch Mexican teenagers make out while mangy dogs run across the Mayan square). We spent the night at a funky hotel nearby that had a "naturally healing" pool (I don't feel any different despite my attempts to "channel" my "chi") and we had a simple meal of soup (and beer, naturally!) at the hotel bar.
Next morning... off to a small town called Valladolid via a cenote (we finally found one!) where we were accosted by children who said they would watch our car if we paid them but then had no answer when we saw them in the swimming area (definitely not by our car.) Well, we had to get conned at some point, right? In Valladolid, we shopped at a local market and had a nice lunch at a taco counter. While in Mexico, we ate these regional dishes: tacos, chilaquiles, salbutes, sopes, tostados, burritas (with an a, apparently) and a couple of other things I can't remember. I was stoked about the sopes, one of my favorite things in the whole world (fresh corn tortilla, beans, meat, cheese, avocado, tomato and green salsa) but it was miraculously topped by salbutes, which have beans IN the middle of two thin tortillas, then FRIED. It was like the food had my name on it. SOOOO good.
Then off to Cancun where we had a snack at "the oldest restaurant in Cancun" (founded in 1977) and went shopping at a tourist market. We quickly got sick of the vendors yelling at us and taking everything we wanted to look at off the shelves to show us, when we really just wanted to look. However we were amused when we were called "honeymooners" for the third time on the trip. Afterwards, we found our funky, all-white hotel, rested and packed and then got all dressed up and had an amazing dinner (care of my mama) at Habichuela. We had a Mexican rose wine, I had steak tips in a pate and port sauce, while Spencer had a lobster. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time and definitely the best service I've ever had. However, it was bested by the local carnival we stumbled on to, where we walked around, smooched like Mexican teenagers, dance in the square, listened to music and bought some final gifts. It couldn't have been a better night, and it couldn't have ended a better vacation.
Visit the gallery for some pictures!