November 12-13, 2016
I rode from Tuxtla-Gutierrez to San Cristobal de las Casas the next day. I have been here before, so I didn't want to spend a lot of time here. It is a short ride, but the elevation climb meant more fog in the mountains. Oh joy!
A random parade happened while I was there. Here are some photos.
I did want to see the Mayan ruins of Palenque, so I arranged a bus tour through my hotel and booked 2 nights. The parking for my motorcycle was very secure, which influenced my decision. I could have ridden to Palenque, but the motorcycle would have been unattended. It turns out, that there are plenty of hotels in Palenque, so if you go, just stay there.
Have I talked about topes yet? There is no shortage of them in Mexico. They are speed bumps and they are everywhere. The ride from San Cristobal to Palenque is 135 miles. It takes 4 1/2 hours. Half of that time is spent stopping for topes. I am serious when I say there must be on average, 1 every 300 feet. The tour coach is following 2 or 3 other tour coaches and each one slows to 0 kph and eases over the tope on the front axle, then the back axle, then speeds as fast as it can go to the line of coaches waiting at the next tope. Needless to say, with stops for breakfast, lunch, 2 waterfalls, the ruins, and the ride back, my day began at 4:30 AM and ended at midnight. These topes play a big part in the rest of this story...
The motor coach driver went around to various hotels and hostels picking up people who were going on the tour. I was his first stop. We loaded around 6 or so girls from Spain, a couple girls from Brazil, a couple girls from Mexico, a girl from Germany, a guy from New Zealand, a Mexican pilot for AeroMexico on a long layover, and the Mexican driver. A full 14 passenger motor coach.
The ride that morning was pretty much in silence, as people tried to get some sleep on the way. We stopped for breakfast, and a few introductions were made. Everyone spoke Spanish better than me. Even Richard, the New Zealander, had taken Spanish lessons in Guatemala. Richard, the German girl, Lara, the Mexican pilot, Esias, all helped translate Spanish for me when I couldn't make out what was being said.
We stopped at some falls called Agua Azul.
Judge for yourself if you think they were blue. Agua Cafe would have been more like it. Apart from the color though, they were impressive. And I was told by a local that near the end of the dry season, when rain upstream hasn't muddied the waters, they really are an amazing blue.
Then we went to another falls that, although it didn't have the width or the volume, it was higher. You could also walk around behind the cascade through a grotto. That was pretty cool but wet.
Then on to the Mayan ruins at Palenque. I have been to Chichen Itza and Tulum. In some respects, they are better. But Palenque is huge. They have only excavated 2% of it and they allow you to climb on most of the ruins.
A tour guide got on the coach, propably the driver's cousin, and wanted to know how many people wanted a guided tour for, I think $120 pesos, about $6 US each. About 8 agreed. I said not unless it was in English. There were tours available in English for $1200 MXN per group. Since I would have been a group of one, I declined that as well.
Well, the tour guide said I could tag along for free anyway. I said since I would only understand half of what he said, I was willing to pay him half, which is what I did. Waiting for the tour to start, he asked where I was from. I told him Colorado, in the USA. He said he had a friend in New York and asked if I knew him. That's when I realized I had overpaid.
And it wasn't just me. Those who spoke Spanish and who had paid full price, said he couldn't answer any of their questions. He seemed more interested in talking about the plants and poisonous fungus that was growing in the jungle. Eventually everyone wandered off and explored the ruins on their own. I got more information from the signs that were in English anyway.
The park closed at 5 PM, and so those who weren't staying overnight in Palenque headed back to San Cristobal. It gets dark here early. I guess because of the lower latitude. Anyway, we began the long 4 1/2 hr drive to San Cristobal. Around twists, and over topes every 100 feet on average.
The tour operator I used was OTISA. On the way back, there were 2 OTISA coaches traveling together. We were in the second coach.
We came around a curve, and ahead of us was a full-size coach, like a Greyhound bus. It had stopped at a tope. But we could see people in front of it and the sides of it running around in the dark and using their cellphones as illumination.
I didn't think anything about it other than assume they were warning traffic of a stall or an accident ahead of the stopped bus. But our driver yelled something in Spanish and ducked. A collective gasp went out from all the passengers and they began hiding their purses.
I admit that I went to public school, but even this clueless gringo figured out that it was a highway robbery. I heard the word pistoles a few times, as one of the illuminated cell phones came running back to our two coaches. I didn't see a pistole, but I did see a machete in the headlights.
About that time, the front OTISA coach, which was sandwiched between the stopped bus and us, started backing up. Into us. Our driver quickly backed up too and then the two coaches went speeding around the big bus in the oncoming lane. I saw the cell phones go running off into the jungle.
About 10 km down the road we stopped, and several coaches behind us stopped, including the big bus that had been robbed. It turns out that at the tope, the highwaymen were able to detain the bus somehow, maybe aiming a pistol at the driver, or string a rope across the road, I don't know, and get onboard and rob 5 passengers before they headed back into the jungle. Our driver said in 15 years, it was the first time that had happened to him, although it had happened to others at his company. He said Sunday night, the Federales and the military don't patrol that road. Evidently, the robbers know this as well.
In any event, it caused a good deal of excitement on my tour that will be more memorable than any ruins. My advice to you if you go to Palenque, get a hotel in Palenque and don't travel back in the dark. I have amended rule #1 from don't ride in the dark to don't travel in the dark.
I rode from Tuxtla-Gutierrez to San Cristobal de las Casas the next day. I have been here before, so I didn't want to spend a lot of time here. It is a short ride, but the elevation climb meant more fog in the mountains. Oh joy!
A random parade happened while I was there. Here are some photos.
I did want to see the Mayan ruins of Palenque, so I arranged a bus tour through my hotel and booked 2 nights. The parking for my motorcycle was very secure, which influenced my decision. I could have ridden to Palenque, but the motorcycle would have been unattended. It turns out, that there are plenty of hotels in Palenque, so if you go, just stay there.
Have I talked about topes yet? There is no shortage of them in Mexico. They are speed bumps and they are everywhere. The ride from San Cristobal to Palenque is 135 miles. It takes 4 1/2 hours. Half of that time is spent stopping for topes. I am serious when I say there must be on average, 1 every 300 feet. The tour coach is following 2 or 3 other tour coaches and each one slows to 0 kph and eases over the tope on the front axle, then the back axle, then speeds as fast as it can go to the line of coaches waiting at the next tope. Needless to say, with stops for breakfast, lunch, 2 waterfalls, the ruins, and the ride back, my day began at 4:30 AM and ended at midnight. These topes play a big part in the rest of this story...
The motor coach driver went around to various hotels and hostels picking up people who were going on the tour. I was his first stop. We loaded around 6 or so girls from Spain, a couple girls from Brazil, a couple girls from Mexico, a girl from Germany, a guy from New Zealand, a Mexican pilot for AeroMexico on a long layover, and the Mexican driver. A full 14 passenger motor coach.
The ride that morning was pretty much in silence, as people tried to get some sleep on the way. We stopped for breakfast, and a few introductions were made. Everyone spoke Spanish better than me. Even Richard, the New Zealander, had taken Spanish lessons in Guatemala. Richard, the German girl, Lara, the Mexican pilot, Esias, all helped translate Spanish for me when I couldn't make out what was being said.
We stopped at some falls called Agua Azul.
Then we went to another falls that, although it didn't have the width or the volume, it was higher. You could also walk around behind the cascade through a grotto. That was pretty cool but wet.
Then on to the Mayan ruins at Palenque. I have been to Chichen Itza and Tulum. In some respects, they are better. But Palenque is huge. They have only excavated 2% of it and they allow you to climb on most of the ruins.
A tour guide got on the coach, propably the driver's cousin, and wanted to know how many people wanted a guided tour for, I think $120 pesos, about $6 US each. About 8 agreed. I said not unless it was in English. There were tours available in English for $1200 MXN per group. Since I would have been a group of one, I declined that as well.
Well, the tour guide said I could tag along for free anyway. I said since I would only understand half of what he said, I was willing to pay him half, which is what I did. Waiting for the tour to start, he asked where I was from. I told him Colorado, in the USA. He said he had a friend in New York and asked if I knew him. That's when I realized I had overpaid.
And it wasn't just me. Those who spoke Spanish and who had paid full price, said he couldn't answer any of their questions. He seemed more interested in talking about the plants and poisonous fungus that was growing in the jungle. Eventually everyone wandered off and explored the ruins on their own. I got more information from the signs that were in English anyway.
Can you spot the howler monkey in the trees?
The park closed at 5 PM, and so those who weren't staying overnight in Palenque headed back to San Cristobal. It gets dark here early. I guess because of the lower latitude. Anyway, we began the long 4 1/2 hr drive to San Cristobal. Around twists, and over topes every 100 feet on average.
The tour operator I used was OTISA. On the way back, there were 2 OTISA coaches traveling together. We were in the second coach.
We came around a curve, and ahead of us was a full-size coach, like a Greyhound bus. It had stopped at a tope. But we could see people in front of it and the sides of it running around in the dark and using their cellphones as illumination.
I didn't think anything about it other than assume they were warning traffic of a stall or an accident ahead of the stopped bus. But our driver yelled something in Spanish and ducked. A collective gasp went out from all the passengers and they began hiding their purses.
I admit that I went to public school, but even this clueless gringo figured out that it was a highway robbery. I heard the word pistoles a few times, as one of the illuminated cell phones came running back to our two coaches. I didn't see a pistole, but I did see a machete in the headlights.
About that time, the front OTISA coach, which was sandwiched between the stopped bus and us, started backing up. Into us. Our driver quickly backed up too and then the two coaches went speeding around the big bus in the oncoming lane. I saw the cell phones go running off into the jungle.
About 10 km down the road we stopped, and several coaches behind us stopped, including the big bus that had been robbed. It turns out that at the tope, the highwaymen were able to detain the bus somehow, maybe aiming a pistol at the driver, or string a rope across the road, I don't know, and get onboard and rob 5 passengers before they headed back into the jungle. Our driver said in 15 years, it was the first time that had happened to him, although it had happened to others at his company. He said Sunday night, the Federales and the military don't patrol that road. Evidently, the robbers know this as well.
In any event, it caused a good deal of excitement on my tour that will be more memorable than any ruins. My advice to you if you go to Palenque, get a hotel in Palenque and don't travel back in the dark. I have amended rule #1 from don't ride in the dark to don't travel in the dark.
the scenaries look so goos how did you manage those awesome shots ukbesteessay service had also run a story on San Cristobal de las Casas as a perfect hiking location thanks for sharing the photos
ReplyDeletewhat a colourful parade with so much character in it. thank you for posting the happenings. it sure is refreshing to see all of that goes on in the world. keep us updated with more
ReplyDelete