YUCATÁN BY BICYCLE

Buses and Colectivo Taxis

2011-11-14T10:25:00.002-06:00

You haven’t seen the real Yucatán until you bike and bus it!
This is a chapter from Yucatán's Magic - Mérida Side Trips: Treasures of Mayab, by John M. Grimsrud.
Buses and Bus Terminals of Mérida, Yucatán
The intention of this chapter is to assist those adventurers and bicyclers who wish to incorporate bus/taxi transport into their travel adventures in and out of Mérida.
First class and luxury buses will definitely get you there fast and efficiently, but for fun, excitement, and adventure, second class will take you to the places that tourists miss most. They travel to the out of the way villages where you will meet the people that live there. Second class buses stop on demand, and take longer than first class buses, and they are perfect for eccentric penny pinchers.
The following information does not give a complete list of all the destinations that the numerous Mérida bus companies service. However, that current information can be found by visiting the websites or calling the phone numbers below.
Not all buses have space for full-sized bicycles. Folding bicycles that are folded are best because they will go on or in all buses and colectivo taxis (vans), and even if there is no storage space below or luggage rack on top, many will accommodate your bicycle inside. You might have to buy an extra seat for the displaced space.
Full-sized bikes usually can be stowed below in the baggage compartment on first class buses and on the second class bus lines of Mayab and Orienté. There is sometimes a charge for a bicycle. On second class buses, the driver decides if you pay and on first class buses, the baggage handler will decide if there is an additional fee for a bicycle in the luggage compartment.

CAME bus terminal - Centro de autobuses Mérida
Calle 70 between Calle 69 and 71
Downtown Mérida
Tel. 999-924-8391, 923-4440, 923-4443
Lines: ADO, ADO-GL and Platino
www.ado.com.mx

CAME bus terminal - Centro de autobuses Mérida.

The Platino buses are fabulous; they have extra wide fully reclining luxury seats, his and hers rest rooms, and a wet bar with coffee, tea, bottled water, and soft drinks included. A kit containing ear plugs, ear phones, eye covers, plus a pillow and blanket are standard equipment. Many people ride these buses though the night and save the price of a hotel room.
Destinations: Cancún, Campeche, Ciudad Del Carmen, Cordoba, Playa del Carmen, Chetumal, Tulum, Veracruz, Minatitlán, E. Zapata, Palenque, Puebla, México City, Valladolid, Ocosingo, Tuxtla-Gtz, Chichén Itzá, San Cristobal de las Casas. New: Corozal, Orangewalk Town and Belize City, Belize.
ADO operates most of the first class buses, which include Platino and GL. They have the best quality and set the standard for all Mexican buses. You will always see these buses professionally driven, and in good condition.

Mérida Fiesta Americana
Across Calle 60 from the Hotel Fiesta Americana in Plaza Bonita
Calle 60 and Av. Colón
Tel. 999-925-0910
Lines: ADO-GL, Platino plus Cancún Airport van
Destinations: Cancún, Cancún Airport, and Villahermosa.

Mérida Alta Brisas
Alta Brisas Mall
Avenida Racho Correa
Near Star Medica
Lines: ADO-GL, Platino plus Cancún Airport van
Destinations: Cancún, Cancún Airport.

TAME – Terminal de Autobuses Mérida
Calle 69 between Calles 68 and 70
Downtown

TAME bus terminal - Terminal de Autobuses Mérida.

This is where you will find what is called the economical buses, plus the first class bus to Chetumal, Clase Europea. It leaves from this terminal at 10 a.m., 4 p.m, 10:30 p.m., and midnight. The trip takes 5 ½ hours. The Clase Europea bus has toilets, but most of the buses leaving from this terminal do not.
TAME is also where you will find; OCC, Mayab, ATS, Oriente, and TRT bus lines. This is where you find the Mayab buses that go to Ticul, Oxkutzcab and Tekax.
Buses from here run to the Caribbean coast, all over Yucatán, Campeche and Tabasco. Here you find the buses to Uxmal and Holbox. Also, you can buy tickets here for all the ADO buses, although they leave from the CAME terminal, which is around the corner on Calle 70.

Terminal Autobuses del Noreste, Oriente and Lus
Calle 67 between Calle 50 and 52
Near the corner with Calle 50
Tel. 999 924 6355 and 923 0548

Terminal Autobuses del Noreste, Oriente and Lus.

These buses are all second class, meaning that they have no on-board toilet facilities, and stop anywhere on demand.
This is the best terminal to use for day trips that will take you off the main roads to quaint villages and old haciendas. Buses from this station run to the beautiful Mayan ruins of Mayapán. If you buy a ticket to Mayapán, make sure you specify the ruins of Mayapán (ruinas de Mayapán or zona archeologica de Mayapán) or you may end up in the village of Mayapán many kilometers from the archeological site of the same name.
Folding bicycles are no charge, but, they have a tight fit in the small luggage compartments under these buses.
The Autobuses del Noreste ticket counter also sells ADO tickets to all destinations in Mexico.
Three bus lines are here, Noreste, Oriente and Lus.
Destinations from Mérida on Noreste line and Oriente are Motul, Izamal, Espita, Dzidzantún, Dzilám Gonzales, Dzilám de Bravo, Buctzotz, Tizimín, Rio Lagartos, San Felipe, Kantunikin, Valladolid, and Cancún, and more.
From Mérida on the Lus line; Acanceh, Teabo, Tecoh, Chumayel, Tekit, Mamá, Maní, Oxkutzcab, Peto, Cuzamá, Homún and Huhí, and more.

Terminal del Centro - Centro Autobuses
Calle 65 between 46 and 48
Next to Casa del Pueblo in downtown Mérida.
Tel. 923 9962, 923 9941 extension 15

Terminal del Centro - Centro Autobuses.

Destinations from Mérida on Centro Autobuses: These buses head towards Valladolid and Cancun with many stops along the way, including Tixkokob, and Izamal. Centro also has buses to Motul.
These second class buses have no on-board toilet facilities, and make frequent stops. The equipment is well maintained, and their departures are frequent.

Autoprogreso - Progreso Bus Terminal
Calle 62 No. 524 between Calle 65 and 67
Downtown Mérida Tel. 999-928-3965

Autoprogreso - Progreso Bus Terminal.

Autoprogreso has comfortable, air-conditioned buses that depart about every 20 minutes between 5 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. from their terminal in Mérida on Calle 62 located between Calle 65 and 67. Buses out of this station also serve the beach towns of Chuburná Puerto and Chelém.
Vans - Colectivo taxis or Combis
These fast moving multi-passenger vans park on the street or have terminals at numerous designated spots in downtown Mérida, near and around the main municipal market and also in the Parque San Juan located between Calle 62 and Calle 64 and Calle 69a in downtown Mérida.
There are colectivo taxis to almost all villages in Yucatán.
Most colectivo taxis take departure when they have sufficient passengers.
The nice thing about these colectivo taxis is that you can flag them down anywhere, and they are numerous throughout Yucatán. So, returning to Mérida is quick and easy. We often times bus out to our biking area, and then we return by colectivo taxi, which will get you back to Mérida fast.

Taxi terminal for Tekax located on Calle 62 near Calle 69a, Parque San Juan in downtown Mérida.

Above are numerous colectivo taxis parked near the main market on Calle 67 near the corner of Calle 54. The first one is from Mérida to Acanceh and Tecoh.
The vans will stop anywhere, but full sized bicycles could be a problem unless you find a taxi with a roof-top rack, and in that case the sky is the limit. Expect to pay an extra fare for your bike if it is loaded top-side. Almost all of these taxis have room for a couple of folding bicycles inside behind the rear seats. They rarely charge extra for the folding bikes.
The possibility of end destinations with these colectivo taxis is extensive.
You haven’t seen the real Yucatán until you bike and bus it.
After more than a quarter century of doing these excursions, we still have a long list of end-destinations to explore.
What are you waiting for? Come on and have the adventure of a lifetime.

It is curious that with the advent of the automobile and the airplane, the bicycle is still with us. Perhaps people like the world they can see from a bike, or the air they breathe when they're out on a bike… Or because they like the feeling of being able to hurtle through air one minute, and saunter through a park the next, without leaving behind clouds of choking exhaust, without leaving behind so much as a footstep. ~Gurdon S. Leete
Excerpted from The Quotable Cyclist: Great Moments of Bicycling Wisdom, Inspiration and Humor by Bill Strickland.

Yucatán's Magic - Mérida Side Trips: Treasures of Mayab is available in paperback, Kindle, Barnes & Nobles Nook, and in the IBookstore.

Yucatán's Magic - Mérida Side Trips: Treasures of Mayab

2011-10-02T17:40:00.003-05:00

Finally the book for traveling adventurers who want to see more than just trinket shops and crowded tourist traps has arrived:

Just launched — our new book, Yucatán’s Magic – Mérida Side Trips: Treasures of Mayab

Built one stone at a time like the Mayan pyramids.

Over a quarter of a century of inspired exploration and recording of our travels in captioned photo stories has led my wife and me to compile an impressive collection of outings that are the foundation for this book, built one story at a time.

We present the best of the best after over twenty-five years; places, excursions and outings. Each place we have visited we like for different reasons; tranquility, history, view of village life, and connect with the Maya past and present, change of scenery and a look at a uniquely distinctive region.

Available in paperback and Kindle at Amazon.com.

For EPUB edition, click here.

TULUM 2011 – 4th Annual Green Expo and Art Fair

2011-05-24T17:39:00.013-05:00

Green Ideas – to save Tulum and our planet.
Three action packed days of conferences, featuring twenty timely lectures of one hour each plus representatives of cutting edge technological innovations for a sustainable balance of nature. Sensible recycling with art and everyday living in a harmonious balance coexisting with nature is the theme of the numerous artists participating.

Functional and beautiful, totally recycled materials are creatively finished into dazzling art forms by local artist Flor Norma Grisel Mena Mena. To view more of Flor's work, click here.

Ruben Darro has fifteen years experience in Tulum’s evolving world of natural native art. He also creates works in silver plus painted fabrics.

Mexican materials coupled with artistic ingenuity make Tulum a natural oasis for creativity.

Solar powered applications find their place in today’s ecologically oriented green group.

Natural materials from the Sian Ka’an ecological biosphere reserve are crafted into gems of art.
FIDE, the ecological arm of CFE, the federal electric company, is seriously planning for future sustainable demand. www.fide.org.mx

The registration office and promotional T-shirt sales center. The director of Green Expo Mexico is Gilda Sigie. Email: gilda_yumana@hotmail.com She will have information on next year’s expo.

Jovial Xavier Fux is director general of Permacultulum®™ – green solutions and sells bio- digesters, solar panels, solar hot water heaters, eco cleaning supplies and even electric bicycles.

Four hours on a charge doing 30 kilometers is clean, quiet and quick. Check for details;
xavier@ permacultulum.com or visit his web site: www.permacultulum.com
Note; these silent eco-friendly bikes were not designed to replace bicycles…they were brought out to get people out of Hummers and other gas-hogs. So, park those hydrocarbon combusting monsters and do the planet and yourself a healthy favor, ride with the happy green people.

Smiling Xavier Fux, after his speech on sustainable tourism receiving an award.

The Green Expo is an annual event in Tulum with an ever expanding collection of talented and dedicated contributors all helping to make this planet a better place to live.

Little Tulum, the jewel of the Riviera Maya has become more than just another Caribbean Sea coastal town, it is a one of a kind heaven for life loving people seeking a slice or paradise.
Like my wife Jane says about Tulum, "Tulum is a hard place to leave."

Link to some of the other Green Expo exhibitors.
SOLARPLAST®™, has cutting edge technology for solar powered water purification, heating and believe it or not air conditioning. This equipment is designed in a number of sizes that will handle requirements from homes to hotels. Contact the director general and ingenious engineer, Rogelio Velasco who also was one of the speakers at this expo: rogelio@solarplast.com.mx or visit the web site: www.solarplast.com.mx

Imagenia®™ Has found an innovative solution for all those discarded plastic products that have been plaguing our planet; They manufacture plastic planks, poles and sheeting from recycled plastics for the fabrication of rust free outdoor furniture and even building structures. Click this link to learn more; www.imagenia.com.mx or their sales address: ventas@imagenia.com.mx

Guided ecologically friendly tours by AHAL Tours - Email: ahaldespertar@gmail.com
Jade Heart of the Future includes:
Muyil-Sian Ka'an and lagoons
Interpretation of Muyil ceremonial center and the "end of the long cycle".
Interpretative guide bioshere trail
Boat trip floating though ancient Mayan channels.

The End and the Beginning includes:
Coba-monkeys-Mayan communities.
Interpretation of the biggest ceremonial center, Coba, and "the end of the long cycle".
Observation of spider and howler monkeys in their habitat.
In-depth jungle trek and meeting the Mayan families.
Purification Mayan ceremony.
Swim and canoe in Punta Laguna.
Mayan Museum.

FOR MORE ABOUT TULUM, VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.bicycleyucatan.com/tulum

Muyil, Mayan Ruins and Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve – a side trip from Tulum

2011-05-22T10:39:00.005-05:00

Twenty-five kilometers south of Tulum is located a remarkable link to Mayan ingenuity. Located in a dense jungle setting and connected to the Caribbean Sea by two manmade canals, Muyil also known as Chunyaxché still stands as a noteworthy testimonial to this remarkable Mayan stand alone civilization.
Muyil is a wonderful place to take a nature hike, mingle with tropical nature and witness some of the most unusual examples of the Mayan advanced infrastructure that is still functional to this very day. This is a big place so plan to do a lot of walking. To enjoy Muyil to its fullest a half day of leisurely poking along will enhance your pleasurable experience immensely.

After a short ride from the bus station in Tulum, the Mayab bus will let you off near the entrance. It is only a short walk to visit El Castillo, one of the tallest Mayan ruins on the east coast of the Caribbean.

The seventeen meter or nearly sixty foot tall partially restored Mayan temple had the significance of being an observation platform and signaling station. On its pinnacle is a platform that allows a view of the distant Caribbean Sea and all waterways linking it to Muyil. There is evidence that signal fires were built on its peak that may have been used to guide in seafaring merchant vessels. Muyil began to populate by 300 B.C. This was centuries before such ancient Maya cities as Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Tulum.

Built with a purpose, El Castillo is but one of nearly a hundred structures erected on these premises. Muyil was on one of many Mayan trading routes. Though some distance from the sea, the Maya excavated straight canals, one of five kilometers in length and the other one kilometer cutting down into bedrock to accomplish their goal. This is a seaport in the jungle.
Seagoing sailing freight canoes of the Chontal Maya from Tabasco plied these waters ranging from distant Vera Cruz, Cuba, Florida and Central America. The cumbersome sea salt from northern Yucatan could have only been transported by boat.
Other cargo items included; cotton, cocoa, copper, dyes, fish, honey, jade and salt.
In this area the seagoing Maya with their trading canoes utilized natural inlets and beaches along this coast, such as; Tulum ruins, Tankah, Akumal, Xaac, Paamul, Chakalal, Xel-Ha and Xcaret. all of these landing ports had Maya temple ruins.

Leaving the Castillo area your next jaunt is through a real canopy jungle on a board walk. This segment of your visit will take you a minimum of forty minutes. To get the very most pleasure out of the board walk take your time to sniff the flowers and admire the exotic jungle trees. Midpoint on your boardwalk trip is an observation tower.

The observation tower offers a splendid view of the expansive surrounding jungle, lakes, lagoons, mangrove swamps and the distant Caribbean, but climb at your own risk. The steps are steep and are for the young and adventurous.

Muyil is under the jurisdiction of the federal agency INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia), but is partially within the Sian Ka`an Biosphere reserve.

Emerging from your jungle boardwalk you will find yourself at a lovely beach on Muyil Lagoon where guided tours are available. Several different excursions are available including traversing the ancient Mayan canal system. There is nothing like this anywhere. If nature is what you came to see, this is your place. Don’t miss your opportunity.

Strolling back from the lake you will find yourself on an ancient Mayan sacbe road that has ruminants of pre-Columbian ornate stone carving.
The jungle diversity here is positively amazing. Your path around the Muyil Mayan ruins site gives you a look at the multiplicity of the areas range in topography.

The jungle is literally full of temples in varying stages of restoration and degradation. A good example is the size of the trees that have embedded themselves in the ancient structures. If unchecked, the trees with their invasive root systems will pull them all down. It has been over five hundred years that the jungle has had free rein to do its destruction here and yet these structures stubbornly stand.

Jane and I are happy survivors of a lovely half day jungle jaunt with historical significance.
Recommended to all those who truly want more than just another tourist trap.
For the return trip to Tulum, walk out to the main road, walk to the bus stop a short distance south of the entrance to Muyil ruins and wave down a bus or van for the short trip back to Tulum.
FOR MORE ON TULUM VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.bicycleyucatan.com/tulum

Exotic Bicycles of Yucatan

2011-04-21T17:49:00.004-05:00

This bike started life as a conservative Schwinn but when Carlos *Cherli” Dzidz Chí got it, he has mexicanized it with reflectors, ribbons and fancy do-dads. Now it is exotic.

Dr. Steven Fry is a trendsetter. CD rear reflectors, rubber chicken squeeze horn, angle-iron seat extension, rubber hose speed shifter and numerous other eccentric innovations make his bicycle at home in Mexico

.Biking on the streets of Yucatán; one kid to steer, one for locomotion and a passenger aft. A device called a “diablo”, or devil is fastened to the axle shaft ends and is designed to stand on making extended passenger carrying capacity possible in the land where safety is an option.

For more exotic bikes, check out John's blog story: More exotic bicycles from the 1890's to 2011.

For bicycling in Yucatán, check out our website: www.bicycleyucatan.com

Finally the book for traveling adventures who want to see more than just trinket shops and crowded tourist traps has arrived:

Just launched—our new book, Yucatán’s Magic – Mérida Side Trips: Treasures of Mayab

Built one stone at a time like the Mayan pyramids; Over a quarter of a century of inspired exploration and recording of our travels in captioned photo stories has led my wife and me to compile an impressive collection of outings that are the foundation for this book, built one story at a time.

Available in Kindle and soon in paperback.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005POWVU8

IZAMAL, YUCATÁN, TO KANTUNIL WITH VISITS TO CUAUHTÉMOC, SUDZAL AND XANABA BY BIKE AND BUS 2011

2011-03-14T18:59:00.003-06:00

One of the all time best one-day Yucatán get-away excursions we have found.
This is an easy and pleasurable trip if you take advantage of a tail-wind and cold front. We are down-wing sailors. (With a northerly wind start from Izamal. Contrarily with a southerly wind begin your trip from the other end at Kantunil.)
To maximize the pleasure of this adventure we recommend taking the Centro bus that departs at 6:45 AM from their terminal on Calle 65 two blocks east of the main market, adjacent to and east of the Casa de Pueblo.
There are faster ways to get to Izamal but this quiet back road route, though slow, is a pleasant look at Yucatán that most tourist miss.
Our bus route took us east first to Tixkokob, famous for hammock makers, while the early morning shoppers were still packing the quaint colonial streets.
Being a local bus we were steadily acquiring more and more passengers heading to the remote villages that lay ahead. As we passed our next town of Cacalchén the road narrowed perceptibly and each of the upcoming towns in turn grew smaller and smaller heading to Bokobá. Tekantó, Tixcochó, Teya, and Tepekán, were all typical quiet quaint Mayan villages where many of the homes were palapa thatched huts commingled with the remnants of colonial era haciendas. At rural Tepekán we made our final turn and headed into Izamal on a road as straight as a die and we knew that this roadway had to be a remnant of an ancient Maya sacbe road built countless centuries before.

As tourist end destinations go Izamal is one of Yucatán’s finest and well worth a day or two of your time to explore and get to know. I have mentioned previously the book, Mayan Missions by Richard and Rosalind Perry as an indispensable field guide. You will want the book because it answers a multitude of questions explaining history and gives intriguing facts regarding Mayan temples as well as the mysterious old Yucatecan churches.

Izamal has a rich Mayan and conquistador history. Huge temple pyramids are still part of the town. A 16th century Franciscan monastery is situated atop one of them. The statue in the photo above of Bishop Diego de Landa faces the monastery he directed to be built. He is the man responsible for destroying the Mayan books. Take a carriage ride, it is memorable.

Yucatecan free enterprise provides us with fresh tropical fruit. Sweet mandarin oranges helped make our trip a pleasant experience.

On the road to Kantunil: We love the fresh air, quiet and rural nature we found along this seldom traveled road.

Down the road from Izamal we arrive at the small village of Cuauhtémoc where the ruined church of Pixilá stands upon the mound of a ruined Mayan temple.
As you can see little Cuauhtémoc is rural and on the verge of being desolate. Time has silently passed by here with little notice.

This is the unhurried main street of Cuauhtémoc where we can hear a car coming from kilometers away. The contrast to Mérida’s push and shove commotion makes us want to whisper.

Some attempts at restoration and upkeep are visible to this 18th century church which was a satellite of Izamal dedicated to the Virgin of Candelaria.

Still roofless. the Pixilá church was originally built with a thatched roof.
Amazingly the forlorn little old church is in use. Some attempt at restoration is evident in the side chapel and altar that are freshly plastered and painted. They have a long ways to go.

Rural tranquility is viewed from the arched church doorway into the side yard now a pasture for this horse.

As we visit the hushed little village it is hard to imagine a time when enough eager souls diligently put forth the effort to construct this church.
A plaque above the front door is inscribed; Se acabo año 1797, “Work was finished in the year 1797”.

Horses nibble fresh green church yard grass, a product of recent rain.
The church of Pixilá is indeed forlorn. After more than two hundred years of deterioration someone is making attempts at restoration. This seems to be moving ahead at a pace similar to the rate that the mail is delivered in Mexico.

Continuing south down the quiet road with a tail wind, we arrive at quiet and clean Sudzal. There is a beautifully pleasant overpowering aroma of orange blossoms filling the fresh country air and it makes us want to drink it in. It is a shame we couldn’t take a photo of the perfumed fragrance. Observe the thousands of white blossoms hanging over the wall that will soon become oranges.

Time and nature relentlessly pull down the works of man.

Sudzal is conspicuously devoid of visitors and traffic. The 16th century church has been renovated with a new roof and paint job.

Other than some power poles, the vista around Sudzal has changed very little over the centuries. These gems of the past are becoming few and far between but here along this road are several towns still bypassed by the hurried tourist crowd. It makes for a perfect bicycle day trip.

The Sudzal city building and church seem abandoned with little street traffic and just the few chickens and turkeys left to pluck unhurriedly their way along. Jane and I have found another slice of bike paradise.

Xanaba though on the way to Kantunil is barely a wide place in the road. The rural countryside is little disrupted by its presence.
This place seems to be made to order for cross-country bikers like us who positively love the quiet bucolic countryside.

The only asphalt road in town surrounded the church and as you can clearly see the quaint country setting picks up where the pavement ends. The view down this city street perhaps hadn’t changed in centuries along with the pace of life.

As small and insignificant as Xanaba was this centerpiece of town on the main road put on a fresh and maintained appearance.
A surprise awaited us when we ventured south headed into our day trip’s next stop of Kantunil.
A real bicycle obstacle course awaited us. Evidently the transportation department had taken little notice to the fact that bikers may want to pass between these two towns. Just before entering Kantunil we encountered the new approach to the toll road, it was barricaded with a huge barrier accompanied by a no bicycles sign. We had to hoist our bikes over the obstacle, pass through the woods on a small walking path and then ascend a high drainage curb in order to traverse the next two lanes of highway. We persisted.

Persistence prevailed and we arrived at the outskirts of Kantunil.

This little town had every appearance of being upscale. It is on the bus route to Mérida!

Below, the church of Kantunil

Jane enjoys the shade of the meticulously kept city park along side the bust of Miguel Hidalgo, a Mexican priest and leader of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. Notice that the parking problem in the city center is nearly non-existent because of the conspicuous lack of motor vehicles; bicycles prevail.

This lovely morning was made even better by connecting with the Mérida bound Oriente bus that arrived with perfect coordinated timing.
We stowed our folding bicycles below, climbed aboard in air conditioned comfort and I didn’t awaken from my profound snooze until we were rolling into the Mérida bus terminal.
After this outing we were able to scratch one more road trip off our list. As it nearly always happens when we remove one trip from the list we add two more. Well, with this trip we added four new ones as we passed numerous side roads that need exploring.
Twenty five years of cycling around Yucatán and our bicycle adventure list continues to grow larger.
If we could find a better place we would be there.
So, stay tuned as we keep scratching bicycle adventure excursions off our ever expanding list.

Related links:
Bus terminals of Mérida

Izamal

Mayan Missions by Richard D. Perry

Bicycle Yucatan

Map of area - Mérida to Izamal and Kantunil
Click on map to enlarge.

Faces of Carnival - Mérida, Yucatán - 2011

2011-03-08T16:30:00.001-06:00

To view more of John's photo of Faces of Carnival, click here.

Ruta Puuc - Three lovely days in Yucatán

2011-02-12T20:09:00.001-06:00

LABNÁ, XLAPAK, SAYIL AND KABAH VIA GRUTAS LOLTÚN ON RUTA PUUC 2011
Three lovely days in Yucatán.
We invite you to come along with us on our bike-bus tour where we will share this eco-friendly adventure through a captioned photo story.
Beginning in Mérida after our five kilometer bike ride to the Tikal Restaurant for their breakfast special, we next boarded the 9:30 AM Lus bus at the Noreste terminal at calle 50 y 67 bound for Oxkutzcab. Our folding Dahon bicycles were stowed below and before we reached the outskirts of bustling Mérida the bus was full.
This three hour Sunday morning bus trip is a perfect starter for your Yucatán back country sightseeing adventure.
We traveled the back roads of Yucatán, entered the quaint colonial villages and got a first hand look at the colorful local population, many of whom would be our traveling companions.

Just twenty kilometers out of Mérida at Acanceh we had already left behind the big city rush and our back country sightseeing adventure was just beginning.

Bustling open air markets, festive circus carnivals, wooden scaffold bullfight rings, jubilant marching processions, street venders, people powered tricycles (triciclos de carga), and more all generated a cacophony of bizarre sounds commingled with a tantalizing olfactory enticement of regional cooking generating uncontrollable mouth watering temptations.
This is the real Yucatán that tourists miss most!
Our meandering back road bus route next took us to Tecoh, Telchaquillo, Tekit, Mama, Chumayel, Teabo, Tipikal, Maní, and on to Oxkutzcab.
We are not strangers to these fascinating places and you can see them all in more detail on our web site. We invite you to take a look.

Oxkutzcab is the hub of many interesting adventures that are far too numerous for one visit. Again visit our web site to glimpse these possibilities. They include the market/food court, restored colonial church, hill-top hermitage chapel, plus side trips to the Grutas Lol-tun.
We recommend a taxi to go up to the Grutas Lol-tun and then bike back down the hill making sure that your bicycle brakes are in good working order.

Something else we also find a lot of fun is to rent a tricycle taxi [tricitaxi], (people powered not the motorized kind), by the hour to sightsee the city.

You will find this a fun thing to do everywhere you go in Yucatán.
Yucatán is a strange and interesting place that makes for an outstanding photo opportunity.
This story presents another side trip adventure possibility.

Day two of our journey begins before 7 AM when we roll out of our convenient hotel Trujeque across from the city center park with our fully provisioned Dahon folding bicycles bound for the local taxi stand adjacent to the tortilla shop, “molino” , (west side of the main market).
There was no set or posted prices for our destination of Labná so haggling would be required. This can be a lot of fun if done in a good natured way. Six taxi drivers joined in the negotiation and price quotes began to fly around - 100, 200, 150 pesos were mentioned and I suggested 50. Oh no! The banter goes on and someone suggests 120 pesos…we nod yes and were on our way.

Jesús, our taxi driver, and Jane survey the packed and stacked cargo as we ready ourselves to depart Oxkutzcab. One of our folding bicycles would go inside and the other was lashed along with empty orange crates in the trunk. Jesús had come to town with those orange crates full earlier in the morning.
Jesús had an interesting story to tell. He and his family had left the little fishing village of Champotón, Campeche thirty years earlier when the fishing industry collapsed from over fishing and petrol chemical pollution. Jesús has a heritage of large families and was one of eighteen with thirteen children of his own. His mother died at the age of 102.
He must have had some pangs of conscience about the fare or actually got to like us because he pulled off onto a dirt road and picked us a bag of fresh oranges, which were a welcome supplement to our cross-country diet. By the way the angelic aroma of orange blossoms in the Puuc Hills this season makes you want to drink in the sweet air and linger.

Here south in the Puuc Hill we were just far enough away from the semi arid northwestern Yucatán with its low spiny scrub and coastal ciénegas used since ancient times by the Maya for their sea-salt production. Here in these beautiful rambling hills of dry jungle form the transitional land between the northern semi-arid Yucatán and the steaming – teaming tall jungle of Central America. Notice the tall trees

Here we were high up in the Puuc Hills at Labná where we would have our breakfast in the peaceful jungle tranquility before the gate opened at 8 AM. As you can see we travel light on our three day excursion. For this day’s travel we did however pack along eight liters of drinking water and 500 ml. of suero, a solution of essential bodily salts necessary for survival when heavily perspiring. All pharmacies stock this product and have it in flavored liquid form and also in envelopes of powder to mix with water.
Jane is unfolding her bicycle, a process that only takes twelve seconds.

Labná in the early morning is worth the effort. Here you can glimpse the ornate stone work of the ancient Maya and their style of arch building.

Jane framed by the famous Mayan corbelled arch of Labná; You can see that the hand work involved in building these structures where each stone was manually shaped and sized to fit before the advent of machinery or even iron cutting tools was an effort of unimaginable proportions.
These buildings had been plastered and ornately painted.

Jane with Felipe Zapata the overseer and manager of Labná; He is from Oxkutzcab and his cousin owns a new hotel there that we had visited the previous week.

Our next stop is at the Mayan ruins of Xlapak, a short way down the peaceful road from Labná. On the back of my bike is the bag of oranges that were a gift from our taxi driver.

These intricately carved stones were in a style unique to this area. We met a man some years ago that maintained that if you imbibed enough of the hallucinogenic morning glory seeds that you too could envision this type of sculpture. He added that if you only ate four seeds that you would feel good, but if you took forty you would begin building pyramids…we never tried.

Our third stop for the morning and our coffee break.

Sayil is impressive and of a similar style of nearby Uxmal which is connected by a straight paved sacbe road as were all of the Mayan temple sites.

Back on our bicycles and a short way down the lovely and quiet paved road where the only sounds were birds chirping and the passing wind in our ears we come to the Mérida-Campeche cut-off.

The Mérida/Campeche bus you see here passes several times a day. There is however no bus service along the Ruta Puuc road we had just traversed.

Pointing to the Ruta Puuc at the Mérida/Campeche cut off intersection these sign give you the kilometers to each of the Mayan ruin sites.

We spotted some shade and went to soak it up at the Yucatán/Campeche border inspection station. The friendly inspectors were from Mérida and proved to be jovial.

With a straight smooth road and a slight tail wind Jane and I were doing at times 38 kilometers per hour heading north to Kabah…biking at its best.
We would recommend that if you are interested in visiting these lovely Mayan ruins that you spend the night in Santa Elena and bike to Kabah very early in the morning. This place is just too good to rush through. You can then leisurely enjoy what this place has to offer without the competition of hoards of tourists that disembark their tour bus with only thirty minutes to climb over everything and snap their photos. You will be richly rewarded for your efforts with an unforgettable memory.

This is what you see when you enter the gate at Kabah…there is a lot more to this place.

Here is the smooth road that sizzles you along all the way from the Campeche cut off to Santa Elena. Jane got a few second head start on me and she is just a small distant speck in the above photo. I had to huff and puff to catch up.

Our rest stop at Sacbe Bungalows in Santa Elena is the perfect place for quiet, tranquility and convenience. www.sacbebungalows.com.mx
After a cool-me-down shower to take the day’s road stress out of our bodies Jane and I relax in the unhurried jungle atmosphere ambiance.
Cycling options here are great. We recommend visiting nearby Uxmal by loading your bicycle aboard the bus that passes Santa Elena at 7:30 AM. That way you will arrive early, beat the crowd and have plenty of time to leisurely cycle back to Santa Elena for lunch.
The Kabah trip eight kilometers south should also be started early to capture the jungle morning ambiance in the Puuc Hills at its finest time.
Another cycling option from Santa Elena is north to Ticul and beyond. A note of caution; make sure your brakes are in top operating condition before you start down the Ticul hill. If you have any doubts we recommend that you walk your bike down.
We invite you to visit our web site for more detailed stories of bicycling and exploring this one of a kind magical tropical paradise…Yucatán and beyond.

Oxkutzcab, Yucatán - Changing Times

2011-02-10T18:59:00.004-06:00

Jane and I originally visited Oxkutzcab nearly thirty years ago when we ventured south out of Mérida on the narrow gauge railway train, one of the last operating in the world. That train has been out of service for more than twenty years now and few people even remember it. Read about that trip and many other railroad trips on our web site under the heading; Yucatán Roadways.
In those days Oxkutzcab was a frontier town with a vast jungle extending south across the Puuc Hills and off into Central America.
One thing that has hardly changed in all those years is that it is still a frontier. We were pleasantly surprised on this return trip. Even though the area has suffered somewhat from a lack of income due to many of its citizens being expelled from the US where they had worked as undocumented workers, the city seemed to have gained a new invigorating attitude.
The returning workers brought with them money, new found skills and a desire to make Oxkutzcab into their improved home. In what seemed to be a reversal of luck these returning workers have made a positive, miraculous and uplifting change for the better. First we look at the recently restored church.

Oxkutzcab is still the market town for area produce. The market here bustles from predawn until late night every day of the week.
So, come along with us and visit the new Oxkutzcab through captioned photos.
After our bike trip through Chumayel, Teabo, Tipikal and Mani, we spent the next two nights and days in Oxkutzcab indulging ourselves in a fun filled fact finding tour, and rediscovering a town we thought we knew well.

The restoration of San Francisco of Oxkutzcab church was carried out in exquisite attention to detail.

This photo is from our collection and was taken several years ago before restoration. Here you have the inner court yard, unpainted, open to the sky and crumbling. The next photos are of the same yard later.

The miraculous transformation is evident and Oxkutzcab now has a real gem to be proud of. They even screened in the court yard making the birds now nest elsewhere.

Posed for post-wedding photos this young couple lavished a small fortune on flowers that filled the altar.

Mexico is on the cutting edge of new technology. According to the above sign using your cellular-phone you can dial up a number and receive a lecture in English or Spanish about the restored church, its history and significance. We tried it and it worked!

Colorful characters help make the Oxkutzcab market interesting and amusing. In the above photo Omar Antonio Barcalar, blue shirt and bushy black hair, who we met several years earlier when Jane and I took a once a day bus trip far up into the Puuc Hills and the end of the road to the little town of Yaxhachen. Omar, of Cuban origin, has amassed a considerable amount of notoriety from publicity he received since newspaper articles were written about his extensive natural Mayan medicinal cures.
Read that story; http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/kiuic2006.html

Jane and I have discovered that downtown Oxkutzcab has become like a huge food court from early morning till late night. Some of the most interesting things of all are the continuously changing options and diversity of culinary options that await you.
Oxkutzcab’s market still features the local Mayan specialty foods but the newly arrived workers returning from years of expertly gained knowledge in the US make your eating experience more international.

Miguel Pacheco spent more than twenty years of his life as a chef in the US and has brought back to Oxkutzcab the best of the best. His Italian style culinary delights have world class quality but Mexican prices. We fell in love with the place and the owner and dream of a return visit. Jane, pictured with the owner, operator and chef Miguel is in heaven savoring elegant meals especially if someone else has scrupulously prepared them. As she sincerely said; “I will be back”.

The breakfast burrito creation that combined the best of two worlds was not only savory in the extreme but nutritious and sustaining.

Miguel made me happy. You can’t beat a creative chief who loves to satisfy, gratify and please his clients.
Café la Cocina is located on the north side of the main market on Calle 49 and the tables situated at curb side for pleasant people watching. To top it all off, the place is also bicycle friendly.
Morning, noon and night purveyors of Mayan specialty foods that change with the seasonal commodities arrive at the Oxkutzcab market and quickly sell out their inventory. Some of Yucatán’s finest delights are only available as such places. Until you have partaken of these local favorites you haven’t sampled the real Yucatán.

Tamales are a staple food throughout Mexico and are prepared in numerous different styles. This one is called torteado (tortilla style and steam cooked within a banana leaf which it is served in). The tamales are then served and topped with as much salsa as you like. Positively delicious!

This tamale is referred to as colado. It has a lighter, fluffier and thicker covering of masa or corn meal.
At the Oxkutzcab market most tamales are filled with chicken meat. Tamales horneado, are baked and can contain either pork or chicken. For whatever it is worth Mexico claims to have more than a thousand different variations of the tamale.

Tamales served with a smile. You can have as much salsa as you like. Habanero hot sauce is optional and you apply as much as you dare.

In Oxkutzcab like all cities of Yucatán tricycle or triciclos de carga are used for transporting anything that will fit in. This sign designates exclusive parking for these people powered freight haulers, here used as taxis.

Just one block removed from the main market this typical narrow colonial style street is a good example of the centuries old buildings that still give Yucatán its old world charm.

Street vendors sell the seasonal fresh fruits abundant in this area.

Oxkutzcab is proud of itself and this colorful display that adorns the central park plaza depicts an ancient cart. This type was used for transport over the centuries across Yucatán and is still being used in outlying districts. Heaped atop the cart are a representative of locally produced fruits and vegetables. The large red fluted clay vases are the exact same type used to transport water in years gone by.
When Jane and I first visited in out-back rural communities of Yucatán before the arrival of piped to the home water this style vase was manually lugged to and from the village well for every drop of water.
So, there you have a brief glimpse of some of Yucatán that tourists miss most.
If you are interested in an adventure that takes you out of the main-stream and want to explore some of this peaceful, quiet and fascinating world, we invite you to try taking any one of the bicycle tours we have published on our web and blog pages…enjoy!

Related links:
Chumayel, Teabo, Tipikal and Mani
Mani field trip starting in Oxkutzcab
To Oxkutzcab via Dzan and Mani
More
Our website: www.bicycleyucatan.com

CHUMAYEL, TEABO, MANÍ, AND OXKUTZCAB BY BUS AND BIKE 2011

2011-02-09T20:59:00.003-06:00

You may travel the world over and never find a stranger or more interesting adventuresome get-away.
After twenty-five years of exploring the back country of Yucatán we find new quests are still abounding.
Here is the real Mexico that tourists miss most.
This route was the key that unlocked the door to a rarely visited out of the tourist loop places and began our three day sojourn.
We boarded a second class bus from Mérida bound for Chumayel with our folding bicycles stowed below. For two hours we sat back whisked along the seldom traveled back roads of Yucatán witnessing the quiet and quaint Mayan villages unaffected by the passing centuries.

Even at our leisurely pace we were packing a month’s worth of activities into just three days.
So, we invite you to come along with us and share this infrequently visited magical paradise through captioned photos.
Above is the municipal building of little Chumayel and the very small street market clearly out of the path of tourists.

Chumayel is clean, quiet and quaint plus it is off the main road and seldom visited. The small village is situated in a typical Yucatecan countryside interspersed with centuries old haciendas and ancient Mayan ruins.
Spanish influence here positively dates from before 1557. According to a map uncovered and copied by the famous explorer and author John L. Stephens on his 1842 visit to nearby Maní that designates the church site you see behind me as having already existed.
This was one of a hand full of churches of Yucatán designated on that ancient Spanish conquistador map. Little has changed here over the centuries in Chumayel except for the coming of electricity and recently paved roads. It is a biker’s paradise as you can see by the conspicuous lack of traffic.
Our little Dahon folding bicycles makes this type of road trip possible and a joyful experience.

In Chumayel this street market was the busiest place in town.

No chain or even convenience stores are here, but hourly bus service links north to Mérida and south to Oxkutzcab.
As small as Chumayel is it can claim to have paved roads of access that make this an ideal place to begin our back country bicycle excursion.
This is the town meat market. Though the meat is not refrigerated it is indeed fresh. As you can see when the meat hanging in the shop is depleted business is concluded for the day. In the morning this animal you observe tethered to the pole will be converted into inventory for the meat market. In many small towns across Yucatán this type of meat market is a common sight.
After consuming our packed along breakfast in the plaza area we were on our bikes headed for our next destination of Teabo just four kilometers away.
Just four peaceful kilometers down the road we arrive at the outskirts of Teabo. The roads are so quiet you can hear a vehicle coming for many kilometers.

Teabo is relatively metropolitan compared to its rural neighbors.
After biking in the bustling neurotic traffic of Mérida these lovely country roads where chirping birds and the wind in your ears are the only sounds soothes your mind and the fresh flower scented air makes you want to drink it in.
We feel extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful ecologically friendly and healthy environment so accessible to Mérida. These lovely bicycle places are but a short scenic bus ride away. With our folding bicycles one of the nicest things of all is at a moments notice we can change direction and be home from nearly anyplace in Yucatán in about two hours of less.
The tropical climate is another positive consideration which we happen to love. We do however try to do our cycling before the mid-day heat.
Another plus this time of year from November until March is that cold fronts will come through and hold the day-time high temperatures down in the low 20ºC or 70º’s F…ideal for cycling.

This is the vintage colonial church, quiet plaza and diminutive business district of Teabo.

Padre Victor arrived here at Teabo two years ago from the nearby village of Sotuta and earnestly undertook the renovation of this colossal church complex. The project became more than just renovation. Procuring the funds and assistance needed for restoration from the government that in Mexico officially owns all church buildings and their grounds has been Padre Victor’s toughest job.
Teabo was originally an ancient Mayan settlement. A vestige of the Mayan temples are still very evident on the church grounds and nearby one of the colossal temples is still providing building materials for area construction five centuries after the Spanish conquistadors began their occupation.

Within the Teabo church restoration has been superbly done. Wall painted frescoes, altar pieces and retablos are brought back to their century's old state of splendor.
I will not try to give all the details here or explain the history because it is too involved for this story.
However I do recommend for those of you interesting in learning more to read the splendid field guide and reference book Mayan Missions by Richard and Rosalind Perry.

Truly incredible, the retablos of Teabo have not only survived all these centuries but also the protracted Caste War. In the above photo you can glimpse a close up of some of the fine workmanship that was recently restored.

Here are some of the wall paintings or frescoes that originally lavishly adorned the church and also many of the adjacent buildings of this huge complex.

Here out on the church complex grounds you can clearly see the various stages of restoration work being done. In the distance the red walls of the restored church and some of the different buildings.

Teabo is clean, neat and quiet with little or no rush. Not a single traffic light is needed.

Wood for cooking fires or [leña] is transported in a tricycle or triciclo de carga. The forest is quickly being depleted because of rising cooking gas prices.

The triciclo de carga is used not only for freight but also employed as taxis. They become mini restaurants and purveyors of anything that can be sold on the streets.
Throughout Yucatán you will find many ingenious variations of these tricycles converted to amazingly diverse uses…we continue to be amazed at their creative ingenuity.

Seven quiet kilometers down the road is our next place of adventure.
Today this little settlement has nearly no business.
These people are however self-sufficient producing enough from the small milpa farms to feed them selves but have nothing for export.

Poor to the point of poverty, Tipikal, as you can see, has no extra cash for frivolities like restoration.
Amazingly this church has stood here for nearly five centuries and considering that its condition is remarkably good. The entry gate is of a similar style to those found at the old haciendas across Yucatán.

Thirty years ago when Jane and I first arrived in Yucatán over half of the homes were palapas like the ones you see here…even in Mérida. The palapa was standard home construction for the Maya because all of the materials were available from the land. To this day you will find depictions of these homes carved in stone at area Mayan ruins like Uxmal, thus dating their use back thousands of years.
Five more kilometers down the road took us to the ancient and historical village of Maní. I will not write about Maní here because we have covered that subject extensively on numerous prior visits. See our web site for those stories.
After a brief rest and hydration stop in the shade of the Mani church, we were on our way again.
Eleven kilometers of which most were on a lovely bicycle path adorned by sculpted flowering bushes and we reached our day’s final destination of Oxkutzcab. Thirty-eight kilometers of quiet biking this day was enough for us and it felt good to shower and rinse out our sweaty clothes. Biking we must travel light because the privilege of excess baggage is not an option.
Oxkutcab is covered in the next post.

RELATED LINKS:
A visit to Mani.
Mani field trip starting in Oxkutzcab
©2011 John M. Grimsrud

Yaxcabá, Libre Unión and Tabi, Yucatán

2011-01-21T20:42:00.002-06:00

We packed a week’s worth of activities into just one day.
A twenty minute, seven kilometer bike ride from our home to the Noreste bus terminal in downtown Mérida is a joy with no traffic and a 21ºC salubrious temperature.
At five AM the city streets were nearly deserted and quiet. Under a crystal clear high-pressure sky filled with stars we ventured out onto the famous Paseo de Montejo. As we headed south in the pre-dawn, cacophonous birds were chirping to a crescendo from their rookery trees that lined the median…a perfect start to a tropical January morning.
We were able to sizzle along with no stops and did not see traffic until we passed the main market that was already bustling with busy early morning business.
Our little 20 inch, seven speed Dahon folding bicycles make this type of trip possible and a real pleasure because the bikes roll fast and fold for stowage in just twelve seconds. They will then load into a bus, taxi or airplane.
Our second class bus took us on a very sinuous scenic small village route, off the main road.
At eight-thirty we were off-loading at Libre Unión which is little more than a wide place in the road some ninety kilometers east of Mérida.
Several taxi drivers were there competing for our business. Jane and I had already planned to use whatever type of transport we could to make the next leg of our trip.
This was going to be a long action packed day even with the boost of a taxi ride to Yaxcabá.
We were lucky and got a flamboyant taxi driver who was bubbling over with local knowledge information and tourist guide details.

We were on the quiet colonial streets of Yaxcabá before nine AM. As you can see we travel light. Having our ground transportation with us in these interesting out or the way places opens up exploration possibilities you would never get if you travel by automobile or are on foot.

Jane and I not only received a convenient ride from Libre Unión to Yaxcabá but were informed and entertained all the way by our driver, Mario Briceño Dzul. The straight as a die highway we traveled was built by the Maya thousands of years before and known as a sacbe road. Cerros or over grown mounds lined our way and were unexplored Mayan temples. One of the reasons that this area was so popular with the ancient Maya was that it was a zone of cenotes or sink holes where water was available year-round.
To top off his entertaining and amusing ride, Mario treated us to a lovely ballad as he strummed his guitar with fervent and sentimental passion. Click here to open the film clip of Mario or see blog below..

We had our packed along energy breakfast and ate it in the park while quietly watching the city doings.

This campesino or country man lugs in a load of leña [firewood] to cook his day’s meals. The high price of cooking gas has forced many here in Yucatán to go to the woods for cooking fuel. The result has been an aggressive amount of deforestation.

Quiet streets lined with picturesque colonial buildings and a lack of traffic make this out-of–the tourist loop city well worth a visit for bicyclers.

Yaxcabá is a municipal governmental center and thus a crossroads. Because this area has been settled for countless centuries first by the Maya who built a tremendous infrastructure of straight roads between their temple towns, it was only natural that when the Spanish arrived they continued the use of these road right-of ways.

Stacked stone construction abounds here. Recycling of the Mayan temples materials made for a convenient source of building materials.

I will not attempt to explain all of the interesting area history or describe the countless splendors of the church you see here because it is done so well in the book, Mayan Missions by Richard and Rosalind Perry. This book is an absolute must for anybody who wants to explore any part of the Yucatán Peninsula and get to know this magical place better. Link: http://www.colonial-mexico.com/Yucatan/yaxcaba.html

Inside the recently restored church, its splendor speaks out to you from over the centuries.

Nothing was spared in the restoration of this 1750’s original retablo that now glistens with glittering gold leaf and meticulously painted figures.

This close-up of the intricate detail that was so meticulously and painstakingly restored, perhaps to better than original condition makes this treasure an artistic gem worth the trip just to admire.

There are six of these exquisitely restored original side retablos in the church and you will definitely want to take the time to witness these historical works of art that have survived trial and tribulation plus a protracted war that Yaxcabá was the center of.
Note the original wall frescos to the right of the retablo that have survived nearly three centuries.

On the church grounds the vestiges of days gone by are contrasted with some of the unrestored structures visibly and outwardly displaying the cut stone of the Mayan temples that their materials were salvaged from.

Part of the church complex restoration project is this patio which tells much of the story of centuries old splendor. The mamposteria construction with wooden roof beams, the wooden hammock hangers embedded in the cement wall just as they were originally placed, the flat floor stones formerly were facings of a Mayan temple and the Moorish arches copied from the Spanish colonial period are all in a perfect state of restoration.

Yaxcabá in January is a clean, neat and magnificently maintained town out of the tourist loop.

Our next leg of the bicycle trip took us on this quiet rural road through milpa [cornfields] country. This is a bird watchers paradise and bikers dream come true.

Little Tabi is quiet and quaint in the extreme. Our map did not ever show a paved road though now it is. Tabi is half way between Yaxcabá and Sotuta, both seldom visited places with no hotel accommodations and scarcely any eating establishments.

Tabi has two cenotes and behind this weathered little stone chapel in the city center is one of those cenotes. This cenote has a fanciful legend surrounding it. In the early 1600’s supposedly a statue of the Virgin rose up from it and the rest of that incredible story can be found in the book Mayan Missions.

Our Mérida neighbors have family connections here in Tabi. In this photo is our neighbor’s mother, Doña Chula, with her grand children and their friends. These are friendly, trusting good natured people who do not lock their homes and trust their children to roam the streets unescorted…something not done in the big city.

While we rested in the shade of the church and re-hydrated we were entertained by the local children who inquisitively had to know all about our little bicycles and how we happened to come to Tabi. Shortly this group swelled to many curious kids. Click here to see more photos of the Tabi Kids.

From Tabi we biked on this very peaceful country road with gentle rolling hills and a significant lack of traffic. Behind Jane is one of the many little Mayan chapels of three crosses from one of the religious cults that formed during the protracted Caste War as a rebellion against the Spanish conquistadors and the Catholic Church.

On the back streets as we entered Sotuta this little chapel, a relic of the past, caught our eye. This part of the country abounds in such strange unnamed and forlornly neglected curiosities that make for photo-ops.

Nachi Cocom and Sotuta are synonymous. The Cocom family of Sotuta was one part of the warring Mayan faction that fought against the Xiu family of nearby Mani for centuries after the collapse of their northern empire following a two hundred fifty year draught.
The Spanish conquistadors after being totally driven out of the Yucatán peninsula in 1535 returned around 1540 with a new game plan and that was to exploit the deep division between the two warring Mayan tribes. This was enough of a tactic to allow the Spanish to get a foot-hold and by 1542 they put down roots in T’ho now known as Mérida. For the rest of that fascinating story read the book Mayan Missions.

In the center of Sotuta this fortress looking building is known as; “The Palace of Nachi Cocom”. In actuality this building built upon a Mayan temple dates from the 18th century and was a military barracks.
As you can see this is a quiet place.
Visit our website and blog for more Sotuta stories.Click here.

At the only eating establishment in Sotuta Jane and I are lovingly greeted by this old Mayan woman who craves companionship.
Across from the municipal building is located Los Arcos where we have had lunch each time we revisit the area while waiting for the return bus to Mérida and visit with the owner Doña Margarita.
We returned to Mérida just as the sun slipped beneath the western horizon on this lovely action packed day.

Mario Briceño Dzul Dzib in Yaxcabá, Yucatán

2011-01-20T21:35:00.000-06:00

SANTA ELENA/TICUL REVISITED 2010

2011-01-06T19:59:00.000-06:00

Eighty kilometers south of Mérida with great bus links, Santa Elena is the perfect place for bike excursions. Unique room rentals plus good eats are all here.
Read more - click here.

Dentistry as good as it gets in Mérida, Yucatán - Dr. Rudy Mendez Santos

2010-12-06T19:46:00.000-06:00

Besides being smiling, jovial and gentle, Dr. Rudy Mendez Santos practices painless dentistry and never sells his patients anything they do not need.

This is my testimonial after living in Mérida for twenty-five years and having a wide variety of dental experiences, some good, some bad and some so slow it became unbearable.
For more of the article, click http://bingsbuzz.blogspot.com

Mérida Intra-city Bus Departure Points in the City Center

2010-10-23T16:31:00.000-05:00

The City of Mérida's website has an excellent list of city bus departure points in the city center complete with maps.
Bus stops in Centro: http://www.merida.gob.mx/transporte/paraderos.htm

Mérida also has a 19 passenger van that circles the historic city center. It is free to anyone with problems walking. The link below will give you a map and the departure points.

Free transport Circuito Centro Histórico http://www.merida.gob.mx/transporte/circuito.html

Open Wireless (WiFi) Parks in Mérida, Yucatán

2010-10-22T20:31:00.000-05:00

Open wireless is widely available in Mérida, Yucatán. Click here for a list of the open wireless parks..

TICUL, DZAN, MANÍ AND OXKUTZCAB OCTOBER 2010 by Bike and Bus

2010-10-18T17:48:00.000-05:00

With our folding bicycles loaded for an unlimited get-away sojourn, we pedaled to the TAME bus terminal in downtown Mérida. Jane and I weren’t coming home until we felt like it.
At 9:30 AM on a blue skied Monday morning we boarded our Mayab bus and rolled across Yucatán’s seasonally green out-back. This was good!

Read more:
http://bicycleyucatan.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/ticul-dzan-mani-and-oxkutzcab-october-2010-by-bike-and-bus/

Huevos Motuleños

2010-10-10T19:14:00.000-05:00

Huevos Motuleños
This tantalizing strictly Yucatecan breakfast creation built of toasted tortillas covered with refried black beans, fried eggs, tangy tomato sauce, green peas, chopped ham and grated fresh cheese and often accompanied by French bread to soak up the sauce, has become a national favorite. To finish, sweet fully ripened plantains (a type of banana) fried to a golden brown are served.

Tikal Restaurant owned and operated by Doña Tere , (pictured above) is located in the Flamingo Hotel on calle 57 x 56 y 58, and has the best priced Motuleños and a generous serving. Hours; 7:30 till 12:00 on Sundays and 7:00 till 12:00 other days. They are bicycle friendly.

The originator of Motuleños is the Restaurant Siqueff and they are located on Calle 60 in the center just south of the Hotel Hyatt. Excellent quality and lovely ambiance are made even better by the fact that they are bicycle friendly.

ECO TIENDA & CAFÉ YA’AXTAL

2010-10-10T18:11:00.000-05:00

ECO TIENDA & CAFÉ YA’AXTAL is a newly opened ecological everything store on Prolongación de Montejo (Calle 30, No. 9) between 23 and 25 in Col. Buena Vista on the west side across from Blockbusters. This is also a coffee shop with hot and cold food plus snacks.

Featuring ecologically friendly organic foods, cleaners, coffees, seeds, snacks and even locally produced compost. They are bicycle friendly.

Clean, neat, nice, new and friendly…check them out!

www.yaaxtal.com

Tel. 999-926-4989

Rómulo Rozo, Heart and Soul, Yucateco

2010-08-18T04:14:00.001-05:00

Rómulo Rozois in the news in Mérida. I have written quite a few posts and articles about him over the last couple of years. Below I am republishing part of a blog that pertains to his work in Ticul.

Perched atop a prominent hill overlooking Ticul is this distinctive Mayan style arch that was constructed by the internationally famous sculptor Rómulo Rozo back in the 1950’s
The president of Mexico even arrived for the dedication
Carved into a corner stone of the Ticul Mayan arch is the name of the stone carver, Rómulo Rozo, who left his distinctive creations all across Mexico.
The distinctive pink stone of this arch and the “Monumento de la Patria” (Monument to the history of Mexico) on the prestigious Paseo de Montejo Boulevard in Mérida came from a quarry on an adjacent hilltop on the road south to Santa Elena. The stone for the monument was transported to Mérida on the old narrow gauge railway train.
The Ticul Mayan arch is so famous it is plagiarized in wall painted advertisements.
A view looking away from the Ticul Mayan arch and into the rolling hills of the Puuc region will give you some idea of the narrow back roads and isolated open spaces of this semi-arid tropical forest region of northwestern Yucatán.
At age seventy-five Arturo Gutierrez actively works in his shoe manufacturing business and even made a splendid repair of Jane’s shoes while we waited. The remarkable thing about Arturo is that he as a little boy recalled Rómulo Rozo the famous stone sculptor, how he dressed and his stone cutting shop where he trained area men into the sculpting trade. Most amazing of all is the fact that the stone cutting shop of Rómulo Rozo was in this very same building.
This is the shoe manufacturing shop of Arturo Gutierrez where Rómulo Rozo previously did his stone cutting. The bicycles belong to the employees of the shoe shop.
One of Rómulo Rozo’s most widely plagiarized works of art is this little figure that they refer to here as “Pancho”. The sculptor originally named it El Pensamiento or “The Thinker”.

Above: El Pensamiento photo from Wikipedia
Sculpture by Rómulo Rozo displayed in the Museum of Art in La Paz, Bolivia.This is the image that was plagiarized after it was shown in an exhibition in the National Library in Mexico City in 1932.When it was on exhibition, somebody placed a bottle of tequila in front of it, took a photo and it was widely circulated in newspapers around the world as the drunken or sleeping Mexican…an image still thought of today.

The variety of paint jobs and size of “Pancho” seen endless…all the shops sell them.

For more of his work in Mérida, check out a couple of links to my website:
Monument in Mérida Cemetery Rómulo Rozo

A close up look at Rómulo Rozo’s creative stone relief work in the amphitheater in Chetumal.

For more of his work in Chetumal: http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/chetumal

BICYCLING FINNMARK IN EXTREME NORTHERN NORWAY

2010-08-07T08:52:00.001-05:00

    At 69 degrees north latitude deep within the Arctic Circle where the borders of Suomi Finland, and the Russian tundra converge just off the road to Nordkapp, (North Cape) this curious adventure begins.
    Here is the land of the midnight sun, Midnattsol, where inquisitive adventurers journey north from May until July to the northernmost point in Europe on Norway’s rockbound coast of the Arctic Ocean to witness days with no sunset.
    This is the land of the Lapps, Norway’s dogsled and reindeer people, who have adapted and evolved to thrive in this frigid forlorn terrain of arctic isolation.

Read the full story on John's new blog: Bing's Buzz.

FAVORITE BIKE

2010-07-21T10:23:00.001-05:00

DAHON FOLDING BICYCLES

Barcelona, the most bicycle friendly city in Europe, Jane & our Dahons.

Our Dahon bikes ready to board the airport train in Barcelona, Spain.

Northern Germany; a typical biking road. Jane with her Dahon and gear.

Quaint northern Germany is perfect for Dahon folding bikes where you have the convenient option of bus, boat, plane or train when the spirit moves you.

If you are going to own just one bicycle, make it a 20 inch, seven speed Dahon folding bicycle. It will turn out to be the best deal you ever made, and you will be able to throw your car keys away.

Fun to ride, fast to fold, and easy to store.

I don’t like to endorse any products but my wife Jane and I after forty years of biking in Canada, the US, Mexico and Europe have discovered that our all-time favorite is the Dahon.

Our Dahon bikes are fully adjustable and I can fold mine in twelve seconds.

Riding in Germany with our friends on their 28inch bikes, we must brake going down hill or we overtake them and on the flat our gearing allows us to pump in cadence.

We take them by bus, boat, airplane and train. In city traffic for shopping or cross-country excursions they open up new travel horizons and are also ecologically friendly.

Read about our bicycle travels on our web site; www.bicycleyucatan.com.

We have the standard model which is highest quality, precision
and perfectly acceptable but for a few dollars extra you can get
the super-light alloy.

Order these amazing bicycles at a very competitive price from Amazon.

The reason we recommend Amazon is they are reputable, dependable and they stand behind their product.

Today, living in Mexico's Yucatan, they travel mostly by bike

2010-06-04T10:39:00.005-05:00

This article by John Lundy appeared on the front page of Duluth News Tribune, today, June 4, 2010.

Back in 1972, folks hung the nickname “Noah” on John Grimsrud.

It was a bit off the mark. John and Jane Grimsrud, both Superior natives, were building a 46-foot boat in the backyard of their Billings Park home. But they weren’t expecting a flood, and they didn’t plan to carry livestock.

Like the biblical sailor, though, the Grimsruds attracted skeptics, scoffers and the just plain curious.

It might have had something to do with the fact that they were using cement to build the boat. And that they planned to live on it.

“People couldn’t believe anybody’d be crazy enough to build a 46-foot boat and then have plans to go off and live aboard,” John Grimsrud said in a telephone interview from Mexico’s Yucatan, where the Grimsruds live today. “Two ladies came by in a car one day and wanted to report us to somebody because they thought we must be absolutely nuts to be going to live on a boat.”

John Williams, who lived next door and still lives in the same house on Wyoming Avenue, didn’t think the Grimsruds were crazy.

“No,” Williams said on Thursday. “A lot of people did, but I knew the guy. The man was very clever.”

His daughter, Julie Williams Le Bard, remembers the boat growing in the backyard between their houses. “That was the biggest thing in my childhood,” she said. “We talk about this all the time.”

It took three years for the Grimsruds, with help from the Williamses and others, to build the boat. They learned about building with cement — they’re called ferro-cement boats, or ferroboats — in a boating magazine.

“It is quite reasonable to build, but it’s very labor-intensive to build these things,” Grimsrud said. “We built everything. We … made all of our own fittings and we put the hull together ourselves.”

The Grimsruds called their boat the Dursmirg — Grimsrud spelled backwards. While they were building the boat, the Grimsruds also took classes from the Duluth Power Squadron to learn the ins and outs of boating.

Suffice it to say, there was interest when the Grimsruds launched their boat on June 22, 1972, from the Superior Shipyard. Barney Barstow, who was part owner of the shipyard, urged the Grimsruds to launch their 20-ton boat in a place that wouldn’t make it a navigational hazard when it sank.

“Over 2,000 people showed up to witness the sinking,” Grimsrud said. “And a lot of people were disappointed, I think (that it didn’t sink), because the wagering was pretty heavy.”

Not only did the boat float, but John and Jane Grimsrud lived on it for the next 15 years, traveling across the Great Lakes, to New York City and to the Florida Keys. They’ve written about their adventures at length. Their “Travels of Dursmirg” runs to four volumes, with the first two volumes available at Amazon.com.

John and Jane were 32 and 28, respectively, when they began their voyage. John Grimsrud was in the wholesale grocery business, and they were debt-free by the time he was 28, he said. Every spare dollar went either into the boat or into the bank. Once they launched, there wasn’t much overhead, he said. They never considered turning back, although one time during a bad storm on Lake Superior they returned to port.

The Grimsruds continue to travel today, but now they do it by bicycle. They have a website devoted to bicycling the Yucatan. “Now I am 69 and Jane 65 and still dreaming,” Grimsrud said.

And what of the Dursmirg? They sold it to a London stock broker who in turn sold it to a Canadian veterinarian. The Grimsruds don’t know where it is now.

All three books are now available on Amazon.
Travels of Dursmirg, Volume 1
Travels of Dursmirg, Volume 2, Summers at Daufuskie
Travels of Dursmirg V-3, Volume 3, Down in the Florida Keys

52 Years of Newspaper Delivery by Bicycle - Streets of Mérida

2010-05-29T21:18:00.000-05:00

Eligio Chi Perez, pictured below, begins his day before sunrise by riding his bicycle seven kilometers from his home in Colonial Bojorquez to the Diario de Yucatán office in downtown Mérida to pick up newspapers to deliver.

Each day his delivery of 175 newspapers takes him as far north as the Grand Plaza area, eight kilometers north.
Still smiling, seventy-one year old Eligio has faithfully made his rounds for the past fifty-two years.
Amazingly, he has only worn out two bicycles in the process and not burned a single drop of gasoline.
Congratulations to one of Yucatán’s most ecologically friendly citizens, Eligio Chi Perez.

Mérida South by Bike on Calle 42 – Revisited

2010-05-26T19:46:00.001-05:00

An early morning pit stop for a snack and hydration in the tranquil little town of Timucuy finds Ken Scott with his high-tech go-fast recumbent bicycle. This is angel gate at the entrance to an old colonial style mamposteria church. Fresh air and tranquility abound.

   At the peaceful little town of Tecoh where motor vehicles are scarce and bicycles dominate the quiet clean unhurried streets, we took our morning coffee break in the shady central plaza. Ken fits in with the people powered bicycles and tricycles at the municipal market.
   After cycling out of Mérida at 6 AM south on Calle 42, we completed our leisurely fifty kilometer back road tour by 11 AM in the picturesque city of Acanceh.
   This gem of historical structural monuments of the past contains several Mayan temples.
Interspersed throughout the city are Spanish colonial buildings unchanged over the centuries.

Above the two ladies are returning from the market. One dressed in western attire known as catrina style and the other lady in the traditional Mayan hand embroidered dress known as huipil. All speak the Mayan language and most also speak Spanish.
Note the conspicuous lack of motor vehicles, and this is the main street.

A church and chapel sit nestled amongst the ancient Mayan temples in the city center of Acanceh. Those temples provided the materials to build not only the church and chapel but the rest of the town buildings.

It is turn around time. A happy and satisfied Ken Scott is fresh as a daisy after our lovely 50 kilometer back road bike ride.Here he is pictured with the jovial kitchen workers at the cocina-economica where we stuffed ourselves on the generous portions of traditional Mayan style cooking.
This restaurant is adjacent to the bus terminal on the central plaza and buses and colectivo taxis depart for Mérida every few minutes.

For maps and more information on cycling on Calle 42, visit our website at: http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/Calle42.html

Postscript: John L. Stephens in his epic book; Incidents of Travel in Yucatán, describes his
departure from Mérida and journey south on the same road that Ken and I traveled to Timucuy and Tecoh.
See pages 65, 66, 67, 68; subject 1842 trip to Tekoh 8 leagues from Mérida.

Our Bicycle Story - 40 Years

2010-05-22T18:01:00.004-05:00

This story began when Jane’s doctor told her she had to change her life style.

Jane had a painful leg condition complicated by her job. She spent her workday at a computer terminal. The prescription was to find work that would let her move around without too much standing. The best recreation would be bicycling and tennis.

This is where the story gets interesting.

It turns out that at this time our ambitious five year boat building and escape plan was nearly complete.

With Jane’s last paycheck, she headed to the bicycle shop and I tagged along with no intention of a purchase. That evening we both came home with new Schwinn bicycles equipped with lots of bolt on extras.

This prescribed therapy opened a door to a wondrous world neither of us had envisioned.

In 1972 Jane and I set sail.

Our worldly positions including our new bicycles were aboard our new floating home Dursmirg. You can read about that adventuresome epic voyage of escape in the recently published books.

Travels of Dursmirg Volume 1 by John M. (Bing) Grimsrud

This true adventure story is told in the first person. It began as an idea and unfolded into a rich and fulfilling dream come true.

A lifelong obsession of escape materialized in 1972 with the building and launching of the dreamboat Dursmirg when the five year bailout plan was consummated.

John and Jane went over the horizon and out to sea on a voyage of escape.

Departing Duluth-Superior on the western terminus of the St. Lawrence, they crossed the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal and Hudson River to New York City. Then they headed south to Florida, stopping at Annapolis, Chesapeake Bay and Savannah along the way to the Oldest City of St. Augustine. In an active winter of exploration; Jacksonville, Marineland, Daytona, Disney, Miami, Key West, Tampa and Tarpon Springs were a few of their diversionary side trips.

This love story began with desires and aspirations and was molded into reality.

Highly recommended for all those free spirited dreamers out there that have the drive and desire to live life to the fullest. This is one of four volumes in a series.

Travels of Dursmirg, Volume 2 by John M. (Bing) Grimsrud

Summers at Daufuskie

Beyond their wildest expectations a new life of independence laced with exciting discovery and good fortune opened a wealthy world there to be savored by those who take the time to enjoy it to its fullest.

John and Jane spent their first season living aboard Dursmirg in the Old City of St. Augustine and found more fascinating attractions, new friends, southern cooking and exciting diversions than they could be packed in. They were enticed to return again and again.

Springtime arrived and the Sea Islands beckoned. Fernandina Beach, Brunswick, Savannah and Charleston were visited. Living at anchor opened a new realm and they learned to live out of the sea. Exploration took them to places Cumberland Island, Daufuskie Island and more.

Discover the best southern cooking from the Sea Islands, humorous encounters, tricks of harvesting seafood and living with nature that were all part of a dream come true.

This book is recommended reading for determined adventurers yearning to find a place in this world to live free. This is the second of four volumes in a series.

Travels of Dursmirg V-3, Down in the Florida Keys, Swinging in a Summer Breeze, Volume 3

“I am going where the wind blows, when the spirit moves me and the price is right.”

These were the driving forces, the goals and aspirations that would be fulfilled beyond their wildest expectations. Quality of life and standard of living were to be far above anything imaginable. Yes, they did it!

Using the Oldest City of St. Augustine as a home base, winter sojourns south always included the Indian River where lifelong friendships were cemented, bountiful seafood harvested and anchorages a slice of paradise.

Miami and Biscayne Bay was a cruising boaters dream come true. Anchorages abounded at Dinner Key, Biscayne Key plus Sand, Elliot and Rhodes Keys in the Biscayne National Park. Venturing south the Hawk Channel took you to Marathon, Boot Key, Non Name Harbor, Key West the Marquesas and Dry Tortugas were part of the best cruising, fishing, and exploring to be found anywhere.

Dodging the bullet that wounded the nation and slipping off into a utopian paradise while the world was in turmoil and upheaval, they migrated together with like-minded sailors into a new dimension.

More than a life story this was a love story where husband and wife were also the best of friends and pals. This is the third of four volumes in a series.

Fontebecci Pizza Mediterránea

2010-05-22T16:45:00.004-05:00

An old friend in Mérida has a new location.
On October 26, 2010, Fontebecci Pizza Mediterránea moved to Calle 57 with Calle 64 next to the Hotel El Castellano in Centro [downtown Mérida].
Monday thru Friday from noon to 3:30 pm, they offer a lunch special that includes main course, salad and beverage for 55 pesos. There great pizzas, salads and pasta dishes are also available.

Hours:
Monday thru Friday - Open noon to 4pm and 6pm to 10pm.
Saturday - Open 4pm to 10pm.
Sunday - Closed

The blog below is about the old location on Paseo de Montejo.

This Mom and Pop family restaurant still features their fabulous pizza, exquisite pasta and enormous salads at prices that will make you a regular customer.

Fontebecci Pizza opens at 12:30 Monday through Friday with generous daily specials until 3:30 pm. Evening they have their regular menu with pizzas, pastas, quiches, salads and more. They are closed on Sundays. Telephone: 923-0359. Bring your Notebook, they have Internet WIFI.

Quiet, relaxing and friendly with an inner court yard where you can dine under the moon and stars makes for an ambiance and worth the trip.

The owners feature a European style open kitchen that is immaculate.

Happy customers Tom and Misty start with a salad that is a meal all by itself.
An added attraction of Fonrebecci Pizza is that they are also bicycle friendly.

Martyrs of Chicago and May Day.

2010-04-30T09:55:00.002-05:00

On May 3, 1886 after a strike protesting for an eight hour working day held at the McCormick reaper works in Chicago, several workmen were killed by police.

   The next day, May 4, 1886, at a rally held in support of striking workers in Haymarket Square, an unknown person hurled a bomb into the crowd as the police were breaking up the public meeting.
   The international anarchists took credit for the bomb. The anarchist’s objective was to protest against police violence. The bomb killed eight police and injured twenty-seven other people.
   Eight protesters at the meeting were arrested, charged and four were hanged.
   The workers rights protesters that were charged became known as The Martyrs of Chicago.
   The Haymarket affair is generally considered to have been an important influence on the origin of international May Day observances for workers. May Day is celebrated through out the world as an official worker holiday. May Day is also a traditional holiday in many cultures.
   In 1958 U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed May 1, which was previously known as May Day or International Workers' Day, as Law Day. Eisenhower considered groups associated with workers rights as communists.
In Mexico, El Dia del Trabajo or International Workers Day is a celebrated event. The Martyrs of Chicago are still remembered for their efforts in behalf of workers.
   In the Yucatán port city of Progreso, the henequen workers union has built a school commemorating The Martyrs of Chicago.

ESCUELA MARTIRES DE CHICAGO or School the Martyrs of Chicago built by the henequen workers union of Progreso, Yucatán, México.

May Day is also a traditional holiday in many cultures.

Link to more on Haymarket and the Martyrs of Chicago.

Link to more on May Day

MÉRIDA SEA FOOD TACOS AND SANDWICHES

2010-03-12T20:03:00.001-06:00

Ever smiling owner of El Negro taqueria Sr. Buenaventura Couoh makes his clients happy and eager to return to his exquisite seafood mini-restaurant.

Located in Mérida’s city center on calle 64 between 59 and 61 is this little restaurant with a well deserved reputation built over twenty years for fresh “mariscos” or seafood tacos and sandwiches. Reasonably priced with rapid service and top quality, they have the recipe for success. Open from 7 AM to 3 PM every day. They also feature turkey, pork and regional dishes. Catering is available on request. Tel. 924-44-45

Irresistibly tempting for all seafood lovers; this presentation is pleasing to the eye.

Happy friendly waiters make El Negro taqueria a good choice.

The no frills atmosphere is offset by fresh quality and friendly prices.
New Yorker’s Pat and Dave fill up on shrimp sandwiches for breakfast.

CHETUMAL, IN SEARCH OF GONZALO GUERRERO, Father of the First Mestizo

2010-02-27T17:00:00.002-06:00

(In Yucatán, Mexico, a mestizo is a person of mixed Spanish and Mayan parentage.)

Monument in Chetumal, Quintana Roo dedicated to Gonzalo Guerrero, his wife Zazil Ha and their children

   This fascinating story actually begins with the birth of Gonzalo Guerrero back in the early 1470’s at Palos, Andalusia, Spain.
   Trained as a military combatant he fought to drive the last of the Moors out of the Iberian Peninsula by 1492 ending eight centuries of Islamic occupation. Then he took up his next position of soldier/sailor on Columbus’s first ocean crossing expedition aboard the small open carvel vessel, Niña.
   This soldier of fortune’s story did not reappear in the annals of history again until 1511. Gonzalo set sail in good weather from the Gulf of Darien on the Colombian coast of South America north bound with looted treasure and slaves.
   What happened next is one of the worst nightmare stories that could happen to anyone.
   Forty year old Gonzalo was plummeted into the sea aboard a makeshift raft with no food or water, one of eighteen men and two women to survive the wrath of a hurricane that dismasted his ship and sunk it.
Only eight lived to make landfall, having to resort to cannibalism in order to survive.
   Salvation did not happen. The group of eight survivors were apprehended and enslaved by their Mayan Cocom captors on the Yucatán coast.
   Four of these survivors were sacrificed and eaten immediately. The others were caged and fattened for a future festival of flesh feasting. The fattening gave the remaining four the strength to escape to the Tutul Xiues tribe of Mayas who were enemies of the Cocom’s.

(An interesting fact of logistic history; in the recorded accounts of the first encounters of these Europeans arrival in Yucatán it was noted that hammocks were in use by the natives.)

   Tutul Xiues made slaves of these surviving Spaniards. Due to extreme hard work and exhaustion only Gonzalo Guerrero and Geronimo de Aguilar survived.
Geronimo de Aguilar kept his religion and cultural ways but Gonzalo Guerrero took up the Mayan ways and became a military advisor and trainer teaching the Maya the combat tactics of the Spanish. It has been speculated that this Spanish combat training gave the Mayan people of the eastern jungle part of the Yucatán peninsula the ability to drive out the conquistadors. The Mayan of the Quintana Roo region, (eastern jungle) have never been completely subdued and it wasn’t until Méxican federal forces put down the protracted Caste War in the early 1900’s that this area became a territorial part of México.
   Gonzalo Guerrero left a lasting legacy with his newly adopted countrymen.
   Next Gonzalo kills an alligator attacking his master and gains his freedom from slavery. He then engaged in ritual mutilation and tattooing that included piercing his ears and cheeks. These acts assimilated him into the Mayan way of life.
Gonzalo next took a Mayan princess named Zazil Ha as his wife and was given the temples of Ichpaatún north of Chetumal, presently designated on maps as Oxtankah.
   Chetumal Bay has been a major route of commerce since the days of the ancient Maya because it linked sea-going trade routes to rivers incorporating man-made canals. Lamanai is one of the three most prominent Mayan settlements that remained continuously active through the post-classic period and even after European arrival that is linked by river/canal to Chetumal Bay.
   In 1519 Hernán Cortez arrived at the island of Cozumel and attempted to rescue the two Spanish survivors, Geronimo de Aquilar and Gonzalo Guerrero from the Maya.
   Gonzalo Guerrero replies; “I married a Mayan woman, have three children, am chief and captain, taken their ways with tattoos, pierced ears and scared face…this is my place.”
   Gonzalo’s daughter was rumored to have been sacrificed in the cenote at Chichén Itza to end a locust plague.
   He eventually met his fate in battle against the Spanish invaders.
   Geronimo de Aguilar went with Cortez and took a job as translator.
   For centuries Gonzalo Guerrero was despised by the Spanish for being a traitor, defector, and renegade. He was a man, who had fought against his countrymen, turned his back on his land of birth, society, renounced his faith and denied Christ.
   After the independence of Mexico a change took place; strangely some Mexicans descended from the conquerors now began to feel a real passion for the Mayan culture. From the Maya one name that symbolizes the struggle in opposition to colonial imperialist power and a struggle for freedom was Gonzalo Guerrero.
   Ultimately Guerrero would go from villain to hero and from traitor to a champion of freedom.
   The Mayan ruins and Church at Oxtankah in the jungle north of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico have been restored and memorialize this extraordinary man and his wife, Zazil Ha, the parents of the first mestizo. An adjacent lagoon in the area of the Oxtankah ruins near Bacalar bears his name.

On the prestigious Paseo de Montejo in Mérida a monument now commemorates his memory. Donated to the city of Mérida by the founder of Akumal, Pablo Bush Romero who was also the president of the Explorers Club of México this bronze monument sculpted by Raul Ayala is perched atop a stone pedestal at the north end of Paseo de Montejo.

Remarkably this monument to one of the most noteworthy Spaniards to ever venture to the New World, Gonzalo Guerrero, his wife, Zazil Ha and their three children sits between eight lanes of bustling traffic.

There is no sign of recognition or plaque of explanation and few people if any that pass here are ever aware of the incredibly fascinating story behind this first Spaniard to integrate into Yucatán.

The symbolic sculpture of Gonzalo Guerrero attired in his Mayan clothing with his wife Zazil Ha behind cradling one of his infant children while another of his three mestizo children plays with a Spanish conquistador war helmet tells much of this epic story.

This sculpture of Gonzalo Guerrero is a part of the monument in Chetumal dedicated to the Cradle of the Mestizo.

Faces of Carnival - 2010

2010-02-14T20:55:00.000-06:00

http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/merida2010carnival.html

Click on the link above to view our web page: Young Faces of Carnival - 2010

Ticul Plus Muna, Dzan and Maní

2010-02-01T18:06:00.014-06:00

We first came to Ticul by narrow gauge train in the early 1980’s and little did we know at the time that this relic of the past narrow gauge train, one of the last remaining in the world was soon to vanish. At that time we saw pottery works and countless ladies shoe shops where the shoes were made and sold.
On our many return trips over the years we have gradually discovered the numerous fascinating treasures that Ticul and its friendly people have to offer.
Ticul, 82 kilometers south of Mérida or about 50 miles is known as; “The Pearl of the South”. Besides a number of strange and interesting things in the city, Ticul also has its unique geographical position adjacent to the remarkable monuments of the past depicted in the above oil painting.
From left to right across the top of the painting; The Puuc Route (Puuc is the name given to the hills in the region) with five distinct Mayan temple sites and also the Grutas de Loltún, “caves of Loltún”; next is Ticul’s pink marble Mayan style arch built by the notable stone carver Rómulo Rozo who also built Mérida’s Monumento a la Patria on the prestigious Paseo de Montejo boulevard; next is one of the most impressive Mayan temples ever built, Uxmal.
Depicted across the center of the painting are; Ticul’s main church started in 1591 that took nearly fifty years to complete, in the center are the town craft people, the shoe maker and potter, on the right is one of the many area Mayan temples.
Across the bottom is the huge hacienda of Tabí, one of the most prestigious of Yucatán and it is flanked by typical Mayan clay figures of the pre-Columbian era.
On the north side of Ticul at the city entrance is Arte Maya with probably the best quality Mayan reproductions to be found anywhere. The showroom there is well worth the stop; it is simply extraordinary.
Arte Maya began here back in 1974 and has produced reproductions of indigenous sculptures of such high quality they are used in the nations leading museums.
The same family has continuously produced the very best class of workmanship here with the ultimate in attention to detail. Above is the entry to the showroom.
Naturally talented Lourdes Gonzalez is a big part of this family operation at Arte Maya and proudly continues reproducing the very finest in Mayan art.
Down the street from Arte Maya is the shop of Señor Mena where bigger than life statuary is sculpted that ultimately finds its way to the local street corners around Ticul. Fifteen years of dedicated work by Señor Mena has made Ticul a photo-op attraction not to be missed.
This night time exposure photo is taken from the plaza looking at the 1591 church.
Art is everywhere in Ticul. Dance rehearsal in the decoratively painted plaza band-shell tells a lot about the city pride of this very clean and prosperous city.
Perched atop a prominent hill overlooking Ticul is this distinctive Mayan style arch that was constructed by the internationally famous sculptor Rómulo Rozo back in the 1950’s
The president of Mexico even arrived for the dedication
Carved into a corner stone of the Ticul Mayan arch is the name of the stone carver, Rómulo Rozo, who left his distinctive creations all across Mexico.
The distinctive pink stone of this arch and the “Monumento de la Patria” (Monument to the history of Mexico) on the prestigious Paseo de Montejo Boulevard in Mérida came from a quarry on an adjacent hilltop on the road south to Santa Elena. The stone for the monument was transported to Mérida on the old narrow gauge railway train.
The Ticul Mayan arch is so famous it is plagiarized in wall painted advertisements.
A view looking away from the Ticul Mayan arch and into the rolling hills of the Puuc region will give you some idea of the narrow back roads and isolated open spaces of this semi-arid tropical forest region of northwestern Yucatán.
At age seventy-five Arturo Gutierrez actively works in his shoe manufacturing business and even made a splendid repair of Jane’s shoes while we waited. The remarkable thing about Arturo is that he as a little boy recalled Rómulo Rozo the famous stone sculptor, how he dressed and his stone cutting shop where he trained area men into the sculpting trade. Most amazing of all is the fact that the stone cutting shop of Rómulo Rozo was in this very same building.
This is the shoe manufacturing shop of Arturo Gutierrez where Rómulo Rozo previously did his stone cutting. The bicycles belong to the employees of the shoe shop.
One of Rómulo Rozo’s most widely plagiarized works of art is this little figure that they refer to here as “Pancho”. The sculptor originally named it El Pensamiento or “The Thinker”.

Above: El Pensamiento photo from Wikipedia
Sculpture by Rómulo Rozo displayed in the Museum of Art in La Paz, Bolivia.This is the image that was plagiarized after it was shown in an exhibition in the National Library in Mexico City in 1932.When it was on exhibition, somebody placed a bottle of tequila in front of it, took a photo and it was widely circulated in newspapers around the world as the drunken or sleeping Mexican…an image still thought of today.

The variety of paint jobs and size of “Pancho” seen endless…all the shops sell them.
This Mayan lady with her white as snow clothes asks for help for food. We have found that in the Mayan villages when we take a break for a rest stop, the generous people are always offering us food. They will rarely take money for the food.
Mayan food is mostly vegetation, nutritious and delicious like these salbutes.
We had lunch at a “cocina economica” (Economy kitchen) – the pork was delicious and the price was right!
Considering that this Ticul church was begun back in 1591 and took nearly fifty years to complete, it has been kept in remarkably good repair.
The old church is spotless like the rest of Ticul.
Moorish style arches and architecture were brought to the New World by the Spanish.
Ticul sets a high standard for cleanliness and preservation.

We next made a side trip west to Muna, a small market town dating from the 1600’s that was a cross-road with straight Mayan sacbe roads leading off in four directions. The elevated stone work of these Mayan roads is still plainly visible in and around Muna.
This colonial hand carved pulpit pictured above has miraculously survived the centuries.
The Muna market is traditionally Mayan and this lady is the local medicine vender with a herbal cure for nearly all ailments.
A view from a municipal building in the central plaza contrasting the old and the new.
Our next bicycle trip took us east on a lovely and quiet road to the small town of Dzan.
Winter time in the Yucatán countryside is ablaze with vibrant wild flowers that supports a huge honey industry.
Bicycling on the quiet road to Dzan is literally like taking a breath of fresh air richly scented and perfumed by flower blossoms.
With an overcast sky the multitudes of wild flowers seemed to be ablaze with dazzling luminescence.
We arrived in Dzan in time to see a very noisy pageant leave the church with sky rockets exploding as they went.
Down the road at Maní we stopped at one of seven chapels there and across the street was a tortilla shop or molino that lured us with its inviting roasted corn aroma. We had our morning coffee and sprinkled salt on the hot tortillas.
Sitting on the altar of the little chapel is this neatly decorated work of art of unknown age.
The chapel was impeccably clean and well maintained like the rest of the area. We had no competition for seats and the shelter came just in time because a cold rainy drizzle settled in.
No gold or rich adornments are found here but the Mayan people are the treasure.
At the chapel corner in Maní we left the pavement to visit this new development. Under the roof are wood logs that house the hives of small black stinger-less Mayan bees that produce a much prized honey.
Padre Luis is making a Mayan style village that is soon to be finished.
The 1547 church in Maní is getting a major make over of paint and plaster and does not look its age any longer.

The rain persisted. A truck came along and offered us a ride to Oxkutzcab and we happily loaded our bikes and climbed aboard. It was still raining in Oxkutzcab so we folded out bikes and caught the next bus to Merida. Two two hours later we were home in Mérida in our warm dry house. …the pleasure of biking and busing in Yucatán…it is great!

Progreso, Yucatan or El Puerto de Progreso

2010-01-29T18:22:00.023-06:00

PROGRESO STREETS

Progreso is on the north coast of the Yucatán peninsula. Five hundred miles of coke bottle green Gulf of México stretch out in all directions from the beaches of Progreso. The sea breezes are fresh and briny and make this relatively new town in old tropical México positively
pleasant

These waters have been a link to the outside world from ancient times when the Chantal Maya of Tabasco with their large sea-going sailing canoes came to collect solar dried sea salt* from the extensive lagoons that rim this coast.
One of the few semi arid tropical regions of the world this dry northwestern side of the Yucatán with its natural lagoons is made to order for salt production from sea water. The salt industry here is active to this day. From a large lagoon at Las Coloradas east of Progreso railway-car loads of sea salt are shipped.

The ancient Maya with their sea going sailing canoes had trade routes that ranged as far as Veracruz, Central America, the Caribbean Islands and Florida. Some of their many export items included, cotton, cacao, medicines like quinine, and their heaviest article; salt from the Yucatán coast.
In the days when the Maya plied this coast before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors Progreso did not exist.
An old British Admiralty navigational chart of Yucatán dating from 1840 and on it where present day Progreso is located the chart merely listed; “Huts”, which were only accessible by boat. On that same chart numerous Mayan temples ranging in height from seventy to one hundred-sixty feet are designated along with mahogany and zapote tree forests seventy feet tall. The significance of these coastal Mayan temples was that they marked a landing port that linked to different major Mayan settlements inland by one of their famous paved sacbe roads that were amazingly straight. For example the port of Sisal, west of present day Progreso linked with Mérida, through Hunucmá.
On the streets of present day Progreso we have a chance encounter with an old friend Lino Palma who we met on a vacation trip here in the early 1980’s. Lino, in the above photo with my wife Jane, is now the owner of the oldest cantina in Progreso; El Aguila.
In the heart of quiet present day downtown Progreso Jane poses for a photo with the El Aguila cantina in the background, (green) and the municipal market to the left.
The above photo contains several interesting items that require an explanation including one of the world’s strangest curiosities;
First, Jane is seated at the seashore of Progreso with our Dahon folding bicycles that we came from Mérida with. The secret to this easy trip is that we took the Auto-Progreso bus stowing our bicycles in the luggage compartment under the bus for the forty-five minute ride in air-conditioned comfort that leaves every twelve minutes from 5 AM to 10 PM..
Next the long pier extending 6.5 kilometers out into the Gulf of México links Yucatán to the entire world of maritime commerce with container and bulk freight.
Cruise ships also call at this pier two times a week bringing thousands of tourists with each visit.

A brief synopsis of the history that lead to the establishment of the Port of Progreso officially known as; El Puerto de Progreso de Castro;
From the time of the ancient Maya until the mid 1800’s the port of entry for Mérida had been thirty kilometers to the west at Sisal where a small Spanish fort and light house had been constructed from the materials scavenged from a Mayan temple.

When the Spanish American War closed off the access of manila rope to the Americans, prices of sisal (henequen),the raw material for making rope, rose drastically and Yucatán became the only option to the American’s as a supplier.
In a rush to market sisal to the American’s, the Mérida business leaders saw an opportunity and they took it.
Progreso, due north of Mérida and much closer than Sisal was established and a commercial wooden pier was built.
Revenues avalanched in and it was said that there were more millionaires in Mérida than any other place in the world at that time thanks to war-time henequen demand.
Awash in henequen money later these Mérida millionaires saw WWII approaching and they positioned for yet another opportunity to capitalize.
In 1937 the Danish firm of Christiani and Nielsen was contracted and began work on a new state of the art commercial pier that they completed in 1941 just ahead of Americas involvement in WWII.
War time demand for henequen continued until the end of the Korean War when synthetic rope out produced and under priced natural fibers and thus ended an era.

Now some seventy years after its completion that state of the art pier has become an object or world wide scrutiny.
This 1.752 kilometer long initial portion of the pier in now the oldest surviving reinforced concrete structure submerged in sea water in the world.
Built upon bedrock and reinforced with 220 tons of number 304 stainless steel reinforcement bars, a recent survey had determined that no damage exists from corrosion to the sub or super structure from salty sea water has occurred.
In the 1980’s the pier was extended out to 6.5 kilometers using rip-rap rock to form a causeway.
Also in the above photo an amazing contrast can be easily observed; Looking straight out from shore is a number of protruding pilings, some covered with perching birds. This is all that remains from a commercial fishing pier built in 1960 using conventional steel reinforcement rods. The old 1941 pier continues on to this day unscathed by time and taking a heavier pounding than the original builders had ever imagined… one of the world’s strangest curiosities
Above is a an oil painting by Mario Trejo that hangs at El Cordobes restaurant in downtown Progreso depicting the old wooden pier dated around 1920. Ships were loading a continuous flow of henequen bails pulled out onto the pier by horse drawn carts on a narrow gauge rail while ships waited their turn to load.
Today Progreso is a world port with a population of nearly 50,000 and the conduit for maritime shipping commerce. Commercial fishing based at the dredged port west of downtown and tourism spurred by the huge influx of cruise ship visitors give Progreso a solid economic base.
Cruise ship day brings out the street venders that even spill over onto the Malecón promenade along the beachfront.
The streets fill with bewildered newcomers, many of whom have never before set foot in a foreign country. Not speaking Spanish and having heard bizarre stories hyped to scare people out of their wits about anything alien many visitors opt for the relative safety of a guided tour.
Directly across the street from where the cruise ship people disembark their shuttle bus you can rent bicycles, scooters and cars. Believe it or not they are reasonably priced and give the visitor an opportunity to strike off and expand their horizons. We have found that the further you get from the tourist crowded areas the friendlier the people are.
So, give it a try and my advice is to get a copy of the monthly updated free magazine, Yucatan Today - www.yucatantoday.com This user friendly bilingual magazine will make your Yucatán visit an adventure in fun, fine foods and fabulous accommodations.
Traffic congestion has yet to arrive in Progreso and here Jane and I stop to check out one of the many tributes to social conscience; a bust of martyred governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto and the fascinating historical story behind this man.
After México’s nearly three hundred years of slavery, the Mexican-American War, the Yucatan fight for sovereignty, the protracted Caste War that begun in 1847 and next the turbulent revolutionary war that lasted about ten years laid the ground for social reform. Felipe Carrillo Puerto then became governor of Yucatán with a platform of workers rights, land reform and equality for the indigenous Mayan people. Elected in 1922 Felipe became governor and was assassinated by a firing squad in January 1924
(As a good friend of ours always says; “peaceful places have no history”.)

With the momentum that his efforts generated, two schools were constructed in Progreso by labor unions. The school; “Maniobras Maritima”, by the dock workers union and the school: “Martiers de Chicago”, funded and constructed by the henequen workers union.
These schools are still in operation and now have government support.
(The Martyrs of Chicago were so named after the 1886 anarchist bombing at a Chicago labor union rally that ultimately began the worldwide celebration of “May Day”.)
Here is an abridged account of what the author Lilo Linke had to say about her 1946 visit to the labor union schools in Progreso;

El Progreso lies only twenty-four miles north of Mérida, connected by a smooth highway. Chicle, the raw material of chewing-gum, and henequen are exported from there, while imports consist mainly of manufactured articles. Before the revolution all the luxury goods for Mérida’s millionaires arrived at El Progreso.
The workers of the port are organized in unions which resemble castes. Mule-drivers belong to one union; their well-fed animals drag the wagons laden with henequen bales down to the quay. The men who handle the bales on land belong to a different union and those who load them on to barges and steamers to a third. And always there is a lot of jealousy between them.
But those men have one thing in common: ambition for the future of their children. As if it were a watchword to be passed on to me, any worker to whom I talked would end the conversation by throwing back his shoulders and saying, "I want my son to have a better life than I.” And that did not simply mean an easier life. They thought of books, of art, unsoiled clothes, travel, of all the fine and delicate things that civilization offers to the educated, and which are so far beyond the reach of their own rough hands.
Being rivals, the two biggest unions each maintained their own school. We went first to that of the "Martyrs of Chicago”, the Association of Henequen Workers, who deal with the henequen until it reaches the docks. Their school was poor. Each hard-used piece of furniture wore a pathetic look…
Through room after room of the humble building the headmaster conducted us. He was of slight build, with the earnest, eager face I had seen so often at summer schools of the British Labour Party.
"We have two hundred and sixty pupils, boys and girls, in the six different grades of primary education," he explained, anxious to be exact and forestall all questions. "The 'Martyrs of Chicago’ have one hundred and fifty-eight members. Each of them may send his children to be educated here, and if he has no children of his own he may put forward two from any working-class family. The Federal Government is now helping us by paying the teachers' salaries, but the "Martyrs' still carry a heavy burden; they attend to the maintenance of the building, get all the books for the children, etc."
He continued the detailed description. Behind the dry words he hid the story of a slow, painful progress of which he had become the heir. It was his task to make the men's sacrifices worth while. Listening to him I felt convinced that he would not fail them.
The children had the tired faces so typical of the tropics. Heat, lack of sleep, intestinal parasites, and poor food sap the strength of the young.** They looked at me yellow-skinned, pinched, blue rings under their eyes, wearing the mask I knew so well from the long years I had spent in South America.
The little ones were at their arithmetic lesson. The teacher, a curly-haired girl, handed each of them a bit of maize dough such as Mexican housewives prepare for the making of tortillas. Kneading, dividing, and putting together the dough, the children worked out the answers to the world-wide questions:
"How many halves in one? How many quarters? Two plus one makes? Three minus two makes?"
They were too busy to pay attention to us. But the older children recited, full of importance, the tale of the martyrs, Chicago working-class leaders who were executed in 1886, and in whose memory both the school and the union had been named. I could not hide my surprise. An international class-consciousness was not what I had expected to find in this small, almost shabby port, little more than half a dozen streets squeezed in between the water's edge and the flat, grey land.
It was at this same school that I heard for the first time of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Yucatan's Socialist leader, who was shot in 1924. I had heard German children pronounce the name of Hitler— metallic, triumphant, a dagger raised into the air. But the people of Yucatan, even these fourteen-year-olds, grew quiet as the name of their hero rolled softly off their tongues. It was with grief and pride that they thought of him, but above all with the tenderest love for one who—father and friend—had never betrayed their trust.
In patches, the children now remembered his story and told it as legends have been told throughout the ages, each one adding a sentence, contributing another detail, until at last the teacher nodded, "Yes, that is how it was." It was as good as Amen.
In his office the headmaster showed us an album the children had made some years ago to illustrate the life of Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
"I saw him once, the headmaster said”; I was still a peon then, on a big hacienda not far from here. He encouraged me to become a teacher. Later I wrote this book." He handed me a small volume, Heroinas Anonimas. "It is dedicated to him, and to my mother. She was a pious Catholic, but the priest refused to hear her deathbed confession because her marriage had not been sanctified by the Church. My parents were too poor to pay the fees."…
I was getting a little tired of schools, in spite of my belief that they are the clearest mirror of a country's present conditions and future hopes.
I could not call on the "Martyrs" and shun the dockworkers’ school. They were the aristocrats of the port. In fact, one member of the "Martyr’s Union had bitterly remarked that the men from the Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores Maritimos seemed to consider themselves the owners of El Progreso!...
The exercises were over, and "Viva la Escuela Maniobras Maritimas!" shouted the happy father. "Viva! Viva!"

Still operating in 2010 and located on the same street one block south the municipal pier on Calle 82 is “Escuela Maniobras Maritima” or the dockworkers union school.
Still operating in 2010 the Martyrs of Chicago school or Escuela Martiers de Chicago located between streets; “Calle” 84 and 86 on 31.
Located on the west side of the city center park is the elegant and stately municipal building that reflects the sudden surge of henequen revenue that flowed through this little port town.
Inside the stately municipal building, pink marble stairs and elegant cast statuary are but some of the many adornments that port commerce has generated.
The mezzanine balcony contains an interesting collection of oil paintings by Favila depicting port related historical events like the above arrival of the president, Porfirio Diaz in 1906.
This municipal building oil painting depicts the founding of the “El Puerto de Progreso de Castro” when Juan Miguel Castro Martin, the mayor dedicated it in the 1870’s.
This is the other half of the above oil painting; note the sailing ship anchored off shore before any pier had been built and the sea turtle waiting butchering along side two huge pompano fish grilling over an open fire.
This collage painting that hangs in the municipal building reveals several aspects of “El Puerto de Progreso de Castro” and its maritime history from the old wooden pier and small open off-shore sailing fish boats with no motors in relatively calm waters to the huge seagoing freighters and the ravages of the wild untamed sea.
This lovely oil painting by Mario Trejo that hangs in El Cordobes restaurant depicts Progreso in the 1920’s looking north from the city center park. We still remember the bakery on the left hand side of the street across from El Cordobes from our 1980’s visits.
This is El Cordobes restaurant in 2010. It has had a major makeover since the arrival of the cruise ships and the throngs of tourists they bring. Believe it or not but the furniture is exactly the same as it was back in the 1980’s.
El Cordobes is one of the oldest establishments in Progreso but it has been recently upgraded with the canopy covered simulated cobble-stone sidewalk, outdoor service and a bright eye catching paint job. The service remains about the same and would you believe it the waiter we had back in the 1980’s is still working there and remembers us.
This classic oil painting by Mario Trejo from El Cordobes tells much of the story of the old wooden pier of the 1920’s: Small open sailing boats catching the afternoon on-shore breeze to bring the fishermen home, henequen bails carted out to be shipped to distant destinations, Diamond Rio buses that miraculously stayed in service until the 1980’s and the little horse drawn rail carts shuffling passengers and freight up and down the pier.
Another oil painting by Mario Trejo from El Cordobes restaurant depicts the original overpass of the lagoon leading into Progreso from Mérida. Flamingos, fishermen and old cars plus the large globed light standards that are still in use in the park and municipal building adorn the bridge.
A short bicycle ride from the city center and the beaches become quiet and inviting. In the background is the approach to the 6.5 kilometer municipal pier that makes Yucatán a world port.
Here I am squinting in the bright tropical sun happily enjoying the fresh sea breezes. This view is looking east and you can see off shore the distinctive coke bottle green color of the Gulf of México. It is five-hundred miles to the distant other shore.
Progreso beach; on the left the pier, center a distinctive octopus fishing vessel with its long poles and of course our Dahon folding bicycles that make this kind of trip fun.
The dead of winter and no snow! Yucatán attracts many visitors this season.
Bicycling the coastal roads out of Progreso you need not go far for sight seeing. Six kilometers east of Progreso is the interesting little village of Chicxulub most noted for the fact that this is the epicenter of the meteoroid that struck 65 million years ago with such an impact that it disrupted life on earth and caused the end of the dinosaur era. Chicxulub has a small farmers market, minimal shopping that includes a pharmacy, hardware store and several tortilla shops. One thing that they have several of are cantinas that specialize in beer and botanas plus a local specialty of deep fried fish.
This is the central park in Chicxulub and you will notice a lack of activity because this is a quiet out of the way spot until July and August when the summer crowd overwhelms it.
Back in the early 1980’s when Jane and I first visited in Progreso we used to beach-comb and stroll over here to Chicxulub from Progreso and have beer and botanas for lunch, then take the bus back to our hotel in Progreso for our afternoon siesta.
The paradox of Progreso is the vast difference in living standards that seem to be separated by more than a century. This is a common sight on these streets, the little horse carts that deliver everything including ice.
Notice Jane on her bicycle keeping pace with the cart. We jokingly refer to our little bicycle as our caballito or little horse.
Every day in Mexico is an adventure just waiting for you to discover.
So come for the fun, the sun, fine foods and fabulous accommodations.

*Recommended reading; SALT by Mark Kurlansky

**Poor food and lack of food is still a problem in the area. You can help. Chix Food Bank was formed in November of 2005 by a group of individuals who came together to respond to an identified need in Chicxulub. Check out the website of the Chicxulub Food Bank - http://www.chixfoodbank.com/

For more information on the Progreso pier, check these websites:

Construction of the Progreso pier - in Spanish

Report on the construction of the Progreso pier - this is in English

Why live at the beach?
Read Sharon Helgason's article, Lure of the Beach.

POLYUC AND DZULA; PAST THE END OF THE ROAD

2010-01-17T19:28:00.014-06:00

Using José María Morelos or Kilometer 50 as it had formerly been called for a home base Jane and I struck out to retrace the steps of author Lilo Linke’s 1947 journey to the outpost of civilization, Polyuc and Dzula.
For Jane and I the contrast that over sixty years had made was totally astonishing. We actually met people still living in this outpost today who were adults back in 1947.
So, come journey along with us deep into the tropical jungle out of the tourist loop.
On the above expanded map you will see Yucatán’s relative position in the world and the cities pertinent to this story with red place dots on the map to the right..
We were advised to take the twenty minute bus ride the twenty-two kilometers from José María Morelos to Polyuc because of a stretch of steep hilly curves that were considered dangerous. A major problem in traversing this stretch of highway was the huge doble-remolque or tractor-trailer trucks with two trailers that the local motorists find irresistible to pass especially on hills and blind curves. The above photo is of the seldom traveled main highway in downtown Polyuc, known as via larga or the long way. Just before Polyuc the highway divides, and via corta, or the short way to Chetumal, the capital goes the other way, thus little traffic here.
Here is what the author Lilo Linke had to say about her all day horseback ride from Kilometer 50 to Polyuc in 1947. It took her two days travel just to get from Mérida to Kilometer 50;

I embraced the schoolteacher, who had tears in her eyes. She thought it brave of me to ride off into the unknown. White women were not built for hardships. She did not understand what strange fascination the jungle had for me. Now at last I was getting near the real magic of Yucatan!
We cantered for half a mile to the end of the road and plunged into the jungle. A narrow path was barely distinguishable underneath the creepers, the fallen leaves and twigs. We were riding in single file, behind Fernando Castillo, who acted as guide. It was astonishing how for him every tree was a signpost while I saw only the pattern of trunks and leaves repeated as in a cabinet of mirrors: the same image thrown back from all sides in thousand fold bewildering repetition.
As usual, I abandoned myself completely to the wisdom of the guide. He knew where we were going; his was the worry about food and drink and shelter. I was a creature without responsibility, an anonymous child, innocent, ignorant, unperturbed. Tomorrow was infinitely far away, yesterday had never existed. I was aware only of the present, and that present was our progress through the jungle.
Though I had made trips of this kind frequently during the last ten years, they never lost their fascination. Once, of course, I had considered them to be dangerous, had pictured all sorts of ferocious beasts waiting to attack us. Now I knew that they were clever enough to hide as soon as they felt us approach. It would need patient stalking to see even as much as a monkey's tail swinging a hundred feet up in the tallest tree. They could be heard screeching and chattering at dawn or late in the afternoon, along with parrots and other birds. During the long hours of the day no sound was audible but the thud of the horses' hoofs on the soft ground and the breaking of twigs. And on this particular journey our constant accompaniment was Fernando's voice, which brought a homely atmosphere into the jungle.
If the jungle was less dangerous than I had thought, it was also less colorful, less romantic. The glowing flowers, the orchids, the insect-eating plants could be discovered only by experts among the dense foliage. For the ordinary traveler, the mysterious attraction of the Jungle lay in the overwhelming sameness of a world that had neither end nor outline.
Walls of trees shut in the traveler on all sides, curtains of leaves and creeping stems, one plant strangling the other in deadly silence, but with relentless determination. Occasionally a giant butterfly may cross the trail, the only distraction for hours. The silence and the green darkness pull the traveler forward into the unknown as if he were a fish trailing along the bottom of the sea, with water all around, and only rarely a sun-ray pushing through.
One begins to feel like a victim in one of the old mermaid stories in which one loses all sense of time and of direction. Civilization, Europe, home, become so many words, and nothing matters but the slow progress on horseback, on and on, without any thought of return. That, to me, is the real magic of the jungle, the green arms it stretches out to hold man, if possible, for ever.
The jungle offers variety, of course, once the eye begins to focus on detail. I had never thought it possible that there could be so many tints of green, from near-black to near-white. Sizes, too, differed; some leaves were big enough to serve as cape or umbrella, of others three or four would be needed to cover a fingernail. As to shapes, the list would be endless.
Yet I had little chance to concentrate on these things. Though there was no need to guide my horse, I had to keep it from stumbling. I was also busy ducking my head. Low, often thorny branches and aerial roots tried to entangle us all the time. Fallen trees blocked our way, lying on the ground or leaning across the path.
The horse would stubbornly push past the overhanging branches, not realizing that my head was so much higher than its own. If I did not slip off quickly I would receive a dangerous blow on my forehead or, bending down, would have the skin scraped off my back. It was all part of the journey, and Fernando's voice always cheered me and lured me on.
At three o'clock we came to a clearing. The sun beat down fiercely as we left the shelter of the trees. I felt dazed. We had had no food since early morning and only a sip of rum from the bottle the municipal president of Peto had so providently sent us.
Dotted over the clearing were a dozen huts.
“Llegamos!” Fernando exclaimed. “This is Polyuc."

Jane and I could hardly conceive of the tremendous all day horseback hardship that Lilo Linke had endured back in 1947 to get from Kilometer 50 to Polyuc because our air-conditioned bus ride had taken us less than an hour.
We set out to tour the town with our folding bicycles and take photos. This is a typical paved side street passing the town sports park. The quiet old back country ways are quickly being transformed as new cement block homes replace the traditional palapas.
The neighborhood grocery store, tienda thrives in this Mayan neighborhood of Polyuc where little has changed in a half century except for the paved roads and electric.
Smiling faces and friendly people poured out to see the strangers in this place that gets no tourist traffic. As a car passed a man at the tienda jokingly said; “that’s the only one this year.”
This church was nearly abandoned and seriously neglected back in 1947 when Lilo Linke visited here on horseback through the dense jungle before roads arrived.
Here in Lilo Linke’s own words is her impression of Polyuc back then;

Pablo was anxious that Polyuc should make a good impression on me, though he himself had only been there since the school was opened six months ago. To prove that Polyuc had once been a big flourishing place he showed me the ruins of a large church. Jungle trees wrestled amidst the gaping walls.
"It was burnt down last century, during the War of the Castes," he said, "when the Indians rose against the white settlers and landowners all over Yucatan. In this region the war was especially fierce, because the Indians wanted to keep at least the jungle for themselves. Thousands, some say hundreds of thousands, of people were killed. In fact, the whole of Yucatan was almost depopulated."
In his bragging way the snake expert had already told me how the white people would lock themselves in the churches, how the Indians would use quicklime to dissolve the walls, how the bells would come tumbling down. They dragged off the bells to melt them into cannon-balls, but often, pursued by stubborn whites, they had to leave them behind, or, growing weak from hunger, would abandon the massive domes amidst the tangle of greenery.
Pablo pointed to some coffee trees which had reverted to their wild state. "They had big plantations here, but they were abandoned with the rest nearly a hundred years ago. We ought to grow coffee again. There is no lack of laborers now. New settlers are coming to Polyuc almost every month. The more progressive ones establish themselves half a mile away in the new colony. They have quite decent cottages, not just huts of sticks. I'll take you there to have a look round."
By the time we reached the new colony it was night and a brilliant full moon had risen. The air was damp and seemed cold, and mist was lying on the ground. Some twenty houses stood along well-traced streets where not even a dog stirred. I shivered. "A ghost town!” I said.

No attempt to put a roof the church has been made and as you can see a sizeable royal palm has taken root in the nave, but still a few people use the place that has been falling down for a very long time. Many of the Mayan people living here today have taken up their own versions of religion. They are mixing their pre-conquest conviction with some Spanish Catholicism.
The protracted Caste War led to strong animosity in this battle front area that smolders to this day.
The Mayan residents of the state of Quintana Roo were not under an oppressive hacienda system and therefore became noticeably self reliant not like those in neighboring Yucatán where the indigenous depend upon a patron to make all their decisions to this day.
Here is a good example of three different types of home construction found around the Yucatán peninsula. On the left is the traditional Mayan style palapa thatched roof home that has existed here for thousands of years. On the right is a mamposteria stacked stone dwelling that was popular before the arrival of cement blocks and could be completely constructed from materials at hand. In the center is the modern cement block home that uses steel reinforcement bars and pre stressed cement roof beams. These cement block structures are jokingly referred to as; Tio Sam houses because they began springing up when workers returned to Mexico with dollars earned from working in the US.
A long enduring government sponsored program to better the lives of rural residents remains active today with a new twist…computers and internet have arrived.
Jane and I were on a fact finding tour and had lots of unanswered questions so we thought it was time to search out a guide. We got lucky, we found a man whose family was at least four generations in Polyuc. His wife has the doctor at the town clinic for nineteen years and he fluently spoke both Spanish and Maya.
Manual J, Chimal Balam, pictured above with his taxi agreed to take our folding bicycles and we were off for another adventure into the back country and out of the tourist loop.
The transition from bicycle to taxi is so simple, the bikes fold in just twelve seconds and as you can see easily fit into the trunk of a compact car.
As we started off our driver and guide Manual reached for a C-D and asked if we wanted music. We emphatically responded, no! We want to pick your brain, and so we did.
Once we got Manual started answering questions the flow of information erupted like a pent up volcano.
Riding in the taxi, it was less than twenty five kilometers away on a paved road to the tiny town of Dzula. As it turned out our decision to take the taxi ride was a good one. The side road off the highway was in the process of being widened and resurfaced so cycling it would have been a very nasty push through the mountains of mounded sand and gravel.
Dzula housing is little changed over the centuries with the exception of electric service and a paved road to the outside world.
Here is what Lilo Linke had to say about her day long horseback journey from Polyuc to Dzula in 1947;

AGAIN everybody was up and bustling before dawn: Pablo to teach his parrot, Fernando to sing, Señor Mendoza and the peddlers to round up and saddle our horses. I sat shivering on my hammock, and felt desperately sorry that I had got myself into all this. We rode off with the moon still bright; but only rarely could we catch a glimpse of it through the dense growth. The horses stumbled, but stubbornly pushed on.
"Look out, look out!" Fernando would shout at brief intervals, as a low branch almost knocked our heads off.
"Did we have to leave at this hour?" I grumbled.
"It's cooler early in the morning,” Señor Mendoza’s voice lectured from behind.
"Cooler? We might be at the North Pole." My breath touched by a beam of moonlight whirled like a cloud. "I can hardly hold the reins."
"In two hours you’ll be dripping with sweat."
The beasts of the jungle, the monkeys and the birds called to each other in the rosy dawn: dark roars and weird wailing, ghostly shrieks and cackling laughter. Such an entertainment was easily worth an hour of freezing.
We rode on, rarely exchanging a word. The animals’ cacophony melted back into the deep green silence. Fernando stopped singing. Nowhere did we find signs of human beings, no hut, no cultivated plot, no zigzag cuts down the zapote trunks. What trees had fallen had done so by their own weight; no man had swung his axe against them. The trail disappeared and I began to think that we were lost, when Fernando exclaimed:
"There's that lopsided tamarind tree! Now we're half-way and can have a rest.”
This time I took care to spread a mackintosh on the ground. I wanted no more ticks.
Midday was approaching, but the heat was less intense than Señor Mendoza had prophesied. We passed eight or nine ditches with low walls of stones piled up alongside.
"Trenches from the War of the Castes,” Fernando explained. "They kept on fighting here until early this century. Up to a few years ago no white man would have dared to pass here without a safe conduct from one of the Maya chiefs. Only Indians live in this region—apart from the mission, of course.”
Suddenly from behind the last of the trenches two boys jumped into the air. I cried out in alarm, and they turned and fled. Fernando laughed.
"Don’t be afraid. They were sent as scouts to report our arrival.” He spurred his horse. "Come on, Dzula is round this corner."
The village seemed abandoned under the glare of the sun, but from most of the doorways white-clad women watched mutely as we passed at a smart trot. The huts were distributed without plan and pattern, a few round a flat patch in the centre, others on mounds which cropped up irregularly all over the place. Most Indian villages are like this, in contrast to the Spanish settlements with their symmetrical outlay. But Dzula was beautiful, the huts leaning against the rugged trunks of ancient trees, now losing their leaves in the dry season.
"That’ the temporary home of the mission up there,” Fernando said. It was the largest building, like the rest made of sticks only, with a thatched roof. Few of the houses could boast the luxury of whitewashed mud walls.
A mixed-breed youth, his round head covered by a soldier's cloth cap, ran towards us and gripped the bridle of my horse. “Bienvenido!” he said with a pleasing soft voice and a smile in his brilliant shoe-button eyes.
"That's Claudio, our agricultural expert." Fernando introduced him. "You had better stick to him. He's the one who rules Dzula. Though I shouldn't say that before Carlos, who's the leader of our mission.”

The Dzula plaza, the old and the new, an internet shop and a thatched palapa home;
A westerly view of the Dzula plaza with its significant lack of motor vehicles still has its thatched roof palapa homes. Other than electrical service these dwellings are the same and have been built exactly like the Mayan people have done for thousands of years.
Leading from the plaza all streets are dirt except for leaving town.
Here is what Lilo Linke had to say about her 1947 visit to Dzula;

We walked past the old silk-cotton tree which marked roughly the centre of Dzula. It was nearly midday and stiflingly hot, and most people seemed to be resting in their hammocks from their heavy labors since dawn. Carlos pulled out his big red handkerchief and for the fiftieth time mopped his brow.
"And to think that it's going to be hotter still once the rains start" he groaned in despair. "No escape from it, no cold shower, no iced drink, no air-conditioning, just sweat pouring from you all day long. There!” He thrust out his hand in anger to show me his handkerchief. "Soaked!”
Yet again, in a futile gesture, he passed it over his brow. But then his face brightened. "That’s the new mission headquarters up there. We've only just finished it.”
He pointed to a white house on top of a mound. On its facade, in large black letters, was painted, Mision Cultural, Nr. 36, Secretaria de Educacion, Mexico. It was a most impressive sight in this illiterate wilderness.(In 2009, the church stands on the mound where Cultral Mision 36 was in 1947.)

Where the freshly cut zapote tree logs lie in the above photo is exactly where the old silk-cotton tree stood back in 1947. The huge silk-cotton tree that stood here was three meters in diameter and sacred to the Mayan people. It was cut down by some government agency in order to pass some electrical wires that could have and should have been diverted a few feet to save the tree.
The freshly cut zapote logs you see above are being shipped to Cancun to build a bar at a resort.
This tall zapote tree with its clearly distinguishable slash marks from many years of harvesting the white milky sap used in making chewing gum stands alone along side the new road amplification project like a solitary sentinel to the past. According to an old British Admiralty chart I have from 1840 much of the Yucatán peninsula was covered with zapote and mahogany trees standing seventy feet tall. Those trees were taken away by the timber barons and never replanted. Ironically there are still three men in Dzula that make their living collecting the zapote sap for the American chewing gum industry.
For literally thousands of years the Mayan Indians have harvested this sap for the production of natural rubber that they also used in their export trade. The delicious fruit of the zapote tree was eaten, the sap harvested and the towering trees provided shade enough to permit cacao and later coffee to be grown here.
This is the governmental school the was new in 1947. Cultral mission number 36 previously stood atop the mound in 1947 where the church now stands. Rural communities have benefited from these missions that were established for the betterment of the people
Self sustaining people here have lived without outside influences for so long that they take it in their stride to get whatever they require to live from the surrounding jungle.
The town men gathered to get a demonstration of my folding bicycle that miraculously snaps into operation in twelve seconds and is ready to ride away.
This is the new church in downtown Dzula that did not exist in 1947. In 1947 it was the site of Cultrual Mission No. 36. We met an eighty year old gentleman here who told us of his journey as a young man when he and a group of town citizens made a four day trip and transported cement on pack horses through the dense jungle from Kilometer 50 to Dzula to construct this church.
The little town of Dzula has a diminutive church colorfully appointed. If you consider the fact that the cement for this structure was transported by pack horses through the dense jungle before there was a road and that two of the men, now in their eighties that preformed that task still live here you can get some prospective of the thick jungle that so recently isolated this outpost of civilization.
In this photo, men from Dzula with our driver and guide Manuel J. Chimal Balam, second from left. In the tan hat is Eugenio Chan Chan who was in Dzula at the time of Lilo Linke’s visit. He also told us the story of making the trip to Km 50 for 20 sacks of cement to finish the church. The round trip with ten horses took 4 days, 2 days each way with 2 sacks of cement on each horse on the return trip. This was in 1955 and at the same time Hurricane Janet at 175 mph was ravaging the coastal town of Chetumal leaving only 4 buildings standing and resulting in the loss of many lives. Eugenio said it was a windy wet trip but worth it as he is very proud of the church that they built (photos above).
At this tiny town of Dzula perched in the jungle fringes where dense tropical forest only gets more impenetrable as you leave on the single paved road contrasts collide. From palm roofed palapa houses to cyber space internet it is like day and night.

We made a wonderful connection when we found our taxi driver and guide Manuel J,
Chimal Balam at Polyuc. Besides a wealth of information we were treated to a trek into the jungle that was totally local knowledge. The jewel that awaited us was spectacular.

Side trip to a cenote
The only semblance of civilization we found here was the seldom used foot path behind Jane who is in the process of taking the next photo you see.
The remote cenote you see behind me shows no sign of any human presence and its water is clear as the air. The water in the cenote is at the water-table depth of this region and is far less deep than areas to the west in Yucatan that receive much less annual rain fall.
Our guide Manuel J, Chimal Balam made our adventure trip to the outposts of civilization of Polyuc and Dzula even more spectacular by bringing us here to one of the gems of the jungle not visited by any tourists and few locals.

For more adventures in the area of Jose Maria Morelos, check out our Mexico page on our blog:
http://www.bicycleyucatan.com/mexico.html

Ruta de Las Iglesias (Church route) of Quintana Roo

2010-01-15T11:20:00.021-06:00

Jane and I, using José Maria Morelos also known as Kilometer 50 as a home base began this seldom traveled route. On the way to begin the Ruta de las Iglesias, “Route of the churches” we passed two points of interest. The town of Dziuché with its one hotel is situated near the Laguna Chichancanab, fifteen kilometers in length with a swimming beach, pavilion and dock.
Two kilometers down the road is a very bizarre local tourist attraction at Kantemó. As the tourist brochure clearly stated about Kantemó; “you will encounter the spectacular cave of hundreds of hanging serpents clustering in the ceiling that snatch bats as they leave every day.” This weird tourist attraction is begun with a guided bicycle tour. The tour guide is equipped with a venomous snake bite kit and protected face covers for all visitors to keep out diseases carried by the bats. In addition to this bicycle tour there is a foot path through the marsh with a wooden pier, a cenote, kayak rentals and a bird observation tower that overlooks the lagoon.
Rural Kantemó has a population of Mayan subsistence farmers.
(This attraction is not for everybody.)
Because of the distances and time constraints Jane and I hired a taxi to carry us to the furthest extreme part of the Ruta de las Iglesias to begin our bike tour at the tiny isolated village of X-Querol near the Yucatán border. We did not want to rush through this beautiful out of the tourist loop area without having enough time to thoroughly enjoy the many nearly forgotten little villages.
On the map below the town of X-Querol would be located near the “n” in Yucatán and is on the border in Quintana Roo. X-Querol is on the same road as Sacalaca and our third stop of Sabán heading towards Tihosuco and ultimately the end of the Ruta de las Iglesias at Tepich.
This is the end of the line in the jungle at X-Querol where Jane and I disembark our taxi with our folding bicycles and packs to visit a strange world where we were the only tourists.
Our jovial taxi driver Armando entertained us continuously with hilarious stories of his wives, problems with women and stories of his children.
The road we are parked on is part of an ancient Mayan sacbe highway that within a few meters becomes impassable where it enters the dense jungle. Last spring Jane and I attempted to bicycle across this same road but from the Yucatán side in the tiny town of Ichmul and quickly discovered that it would even be a difficult trip by horse so we took a different direction.
This forlorn little church was never completed because of the bloody Caste War that raged for over half a century beginning in 1847 and this was on the battle front.
Traffic through the little outpost town of X-Querol is nearly non-existent and that is one of the attractions for our tour group of two on our ongoing search for the places tourists miss most.
A sheet metal roof with skylights held up by wooden poles lashed together as they were done in the traditional Mayan palapa homes built here for thousands of years thriftily serves this poor little village.
Here in the state of Quintana Roo the people were isolated because of the Caste War and for that reason they maintained their self-sufficiency.
Viewed from the church you can see the town plaza which it tranquil in the extreme.
Here in the quiet as a tomb city center of X-Querol the main plaza casts an eerie spell as if holding its breath waiting for something to happen. Little changes here.
The rest of the world may self destruct but here in X-Querol the residents will continue to feed themselves in the way they have since the days over four hundred years ago when the Spanish arrived to disrupt their lives. In the above photo corn from the milpa is dried.
Here is what the author Lilo Linke had to say about these milpa farmers and their corn, “maize” farming on her 1947 visit to this remote jungle area before the first roads arrived;

The zapote trees could be bled only during the rainy season. The rest of the year the men worked in their milpas. This was often an even harder task than the gathering of the chicle gum, an endless struggle against the jungle which stretched greedy arms towards the maize. Every few years the men had to move on to new plots since the poor topsoil was soon exhausted. The bush was burnt down— which had the additional advantage of eliminating ticks and other vicious insects and a good many snakes—and then the slow labour of sowing started. For each seed a small hole was drilled into the soil with a short pointed stick, and the seed covered by pushing the earth over it with the feet in a dance-like movement.
Then followed anxious months of weeding and waiting. Birds had to be scared away, beetles and their grubs destroyed, the approaching armies of ants watched and diverted. Often the men had to carry water from miles away. And right to the end it was never certain whether there would be anything left to harvest. What triumph when the men at last could walk from plant to plant to break off the cobs and throw them into the baskets strapped to their shoulders! The stalks were left standing and burnt. And a few months after the whole weary process started all over again.
Every morning, sometimes before sunrise, I could hear the men troop out of Dzula, could see them through the chinks of my hut move past like shadows. Most of them had miles to go on narrow paths hacked out of the bush and quickly overgrown again. Singly they returned throughout the afternoon, the old ones first, the younger ambitious ones not long before dark. They walked slowly then, their clothes sweat-soaked and covered by dust. The eight-shaped water gourds dangled empty from their belts; the bush-knives in their leather sheaths were like so many swords that had been wielded in battle, the relentless battle between man and jungle. Was it surprising that their faces looked so glum and smiles were rare?

The same processes are used today.
A government program for rural assistance after the last hurricane that devastated many homes here brought these little cement block houses. As you can see they are simply nice but very small so additions were added. The kitchen cooking room and laundry utility area neatly melded together. Another very noticeable thing here is the conspicuous lack or garbage. Nearly every thing consumed here comes from the jungle and is biodegradable.
Another government program instituted here is to furnish ecological cooking stoves to ten homes at a price equivalent to about $200 US per stove. These stoves are designed to burn wood much more economically and also keep the smoke out of the cooking area in order to improve the women’s health.
Nice roads with no traffic are a big draw to us and are hard to find in this day and time. The fresh air and wild jungle make our bicycle tour here well worth the effort especially when you consider that anywhere we are on this trip if we decided to we could be back home in Mérida before the sun went down
Heading south along the quiet jungle road to our next adventure town of Sacalaca (sometimes spelled with a Z).
The Mayan meaning of the name Sacalaca is; the place of white grass and refers to the tall grass with broad leaves that grows abundantly nearby. Every day in México is an adventure.
During the hundreds of years of Spanish occupation the town was segregated onto two groups. There are still two churches but after the protracted Caste War only the Maya people remain.
Time, Mother Nature and the forces of gravity are relentlessly returning this church to ground level.
The only congregation we found here was a gathering of the village drunks assembled under a tree in the front yard of this roofless dwelling, a relic of pre-Caste War times.
The little town of Sacalaca quietly waits for something to happen.
With two old churches, a museum, and cenote it would seem that curious visitors would be packing the streets but it is so quiet and still it appears to be totally forgotten.
Well, this is just the kind of place that Jane and I dream of finding for one of our bicycle/bus/taxi excursion adventures.
When you see the crowd rushing off in one direction if you look close you are bound to see us sneaking off on the opposite route.
On the main street of Sacalaca, houses of sticks, stones and palm thatch are the standard.
This is the main and only road heading north on the Ruta de las Iglesias to our next destination of Sabán. Again you will notice the conspicuous lack of motor vehicles. Except for the chirping birds it is so quiet here you can hear a car coming from five kilometers away.
When you see a church of this size you know that there had to be a sizable Mayan temple nearby to mine for building materials. During the Caste War these symbols of Spanish imperialism were not maintained and as a net consequence many of the roofs came crashing down and have never been rebuilt. Sabán was an abandoned ghost town as late as 1950. During the war the church and fine colonial homes were all sacked and left.
This is the lovely park in front of the old church and it appears idyllic but across the plaza the small shops in the market area are emitting an ear splitting racket with megaphones turned up beyond their useful range. This was not music but obnoxious noise.
The baroque style columns and other ornate adornments of this massively built structure are classic examples of 18th century Yucatecan frontier architecture.
Carved in stone above the entryway is St. Peter, the namesake of this Sabán church.
The massively thick walls of this roofless building consumed an enormous quantity of building material so naturally the Mayan temple that previously stood here had to be sizeable.
When this structure was erected in 1795, Sabán had a Spanish population of 2,259 and was only second in size in this area to nearby Tihosuco.
Smirky smiley street urchins of Sabán tagged along and wanted their photo taken.
Continuing on the Ruta de las Iglesias our next stop was at nearby sister city Huaymax. The barefoot children ran along with our bicycles raising a cloud of dust and their number increased as if we were the Pied-piper.
Another victim of the Caste War; this church still has remnants of its charred ceiling beams in the choir loft.
The roofless building had been left to Mother Nature and time until recently when some of the villagers cleaned it up and began worshiping here like their converted ancient Mayan ancestors had done centuries previously.
Resurrected from the dead, this altar with paint, adornments and electric lights lives again.
Plaster, paint and a bell, among other things, brought the old war torn structure back from its 1848 snooze.
After 162 years of neglect the place is back in business and it looks like the sky is still the limit with no roof to intercede.

On our way north to Tihosuco we encountered another obstacle and that was a road totally torn up with new re-surfacing. We luckily found a taxi, got the driver out of his hammock interrupting his afternoon siesta, and loaded our folded bicycles in his trunk.
We certainly were lucky because we hadn’t gone but a couple of kilometers and the sky opened up with a torrential tropical downpour.
As we rolled into Tihosuco the weather cooperated like magic and the rain ceased. We again had another stroke of luck. The Mayan Caste War museum that we were heading for had been temporally closed for renovations but a special class was being held for neighborhood children and an employee was there who called the Carlos Chan Espinosa the administrator. Carlos is the man who makes this place work and also coordinates the local community bringing such valued services as food and lodging to visitors. Area homes are opened to travelers so that they can sample the real home life of the region. This was positively splendid and Jane and I had a very wonderful evening in a lovely cabin and stuffed ourselves on traditional food that included hand made tortillas, our favorite.
This is Carlos Chan Espinosa the administrator of the Mayan Caste War Museum of Tihosuco along with his knowledgeable assistant Antonia Poot.
Antonia was featured in one of the stories we published on our web site entitled; The Caste War Route as she demonstrated the ancient Mayan technique for spinning cotton.
This museum is a highly recommended place that you must visit: you will not want to miss it. Besides the extensive presentation on the Caste War they have a Mayan herb garden complete with many medicinal plants still used worldwide to this day.
Ongoing seminars and lectures plus numerous interactive community events keep the museum a vital part of the public information exchange.
Shortly after our arrival at the Museum in Tihosuco, Carlos had us situated in a private home that proved to be a highlight of our out week long backcountry fact finding excursion.
Here in a typical Mayan palapa dwelling considered the cocina or kitchen. Agustina, the home owner pictured above, quickly prepared a hardy meal suited to sustain active bicyclers…and it was delicious! There were a few innovations here like a gas stove, electric lights and running water, modern things not available to many country dwellers even to this day.
Watermelon juice was our beverage, black bean soup, rice, eggs a la Mexicana, habanero chili sauce and all the hand made tortillas we could stuff into our bodies were provided.
Nestled into a heavily wooded lot just three blocks removed from the central plaza is our tourist cabin on the left and to the right the cocina or kitchen where we were treated to an Mayan meal. A spacious very clean and modern bathroom adjoined our thatched roof cabin.
Like something out of a storybook, our neat little cabin was a slice of paradise.
Above is our very private and comfortable cabin where we had the option of sleeping in a conventional bed or hammocks. We naturally chose the hammocks because these were huge and custom made for the ultimate in easy going relaxation.
Our long day on the road got us into our hammocks early and we listened to an audio book on our MP-3 player. The MP-3 is the perfect traveling companion on bicycle trips because it is small, light and stores more stories than we can listen to in a couple of weeks.
Here is the quiet Tihosuco street in front of our slice of paradise cabin looking north.
Looking south in front of our cabin you can see that this is ideal bicycle country.
Doña Agustina, our gracious hostess and wonderful cook made our stay in Tihosuco enjoyable and memorable.
She is dressed in the typical Mayan huipil hand embroidered dress complete with fancy lace hem that is still the standard garment worn throughout Yucatán. Because they are hand made, no two are exactly alike.
Early in the morning Doña Agustina is on her way to feed her chickens that were housed next to our cabin. Later she will go to the molino to have her corn ground into masa for tortillas. The magic of this corn, maize was discovered more than three-thousand years ago here in Mexico when nixtamalization, a process of boiling the corn in lime water the night before it was ready to grind not only softened it but added the essential component that unleashes protein and this gave a balanced diet that led these pioneering people to the building of an advanced society.
Jacinto Pat, a Mayan leader of prominence and large hacienda owner was one of the driving forces that inspired the Mayan people to fight for their homeland, independence and liberty beginning with the protracted Caste War begun in the 1840’s.
In the 1700’s Spanish Tihosuco, a key frontier outpost, was a prominent town of 50,000 with a huge church and many outstanding mansions.
Jacinto Pat is eternalized with a commemorative statue in the main plaza of Tihosuco.
For an in depth look at Tihosuco, its important history and the Caste War go to the Valladolid section of this web site and open the story; The Caste War Route. There you will visit the old war ravaged church, the museum and some of the interesting people that make Tihosuco their home.
Continuing our bicycle tour on the Ruta de las Iglesias from Tihosuco to our last stop at Tepich we pause for rest and hydration at a roadside Mayan chapel. This is where a spin off of the Caste War cult of the Talking Cross still worships in their own way.
A typical Mayan huipil hand embroidered dress adorns a symbolic wooden cross on the stone altar of the palm thatched palapa chapel. The Mayan chapel is fitting on this route.

TEPICH, Our last stop on the Ruta de las Iglesias has but one claim to fame and that is their home town hero, Cecilio Chí who rallied his fellow Mayan towns people in May of 1847 to rise up against the Spanish land owners in order to gain their freedom and liberty.
The inscription on his statue reads; Glory to Cecilio Chí! Liberator of the Mayan nation and immortal symbol of justice and liberty.
This drab monument is in a small downtown park adjacent to the main highway that intersects to the north with Valladolid in the state of Yucatán, west to Tihosuco, east in the direction of Tulum and a new paved road now goes northeast to the Mayan ruins of Cobá.
The no frills grave yard is the resting place of the town hero Cecilio Chí.
Tepich has been carved out of the encroaching jungle and lies on the border with Yucatán. The contrast between the two states is striking, Yucatán is semi arid and has low scrub brush where farming is marginal and Quintana Roo by contrast benefits by its proximity to the warm Caribbean Sea that regularly sends welcome rain to keep it green.
One block west of the little memorial park to Cecilio Chí is this ancient church perched upon the remnants of a Mayan temple. The church originally had a palm thatched roof but now has one of corrugated sheet metal. Adjacent to the rustic unadorned church is a forlorn overgrown grave yard where the town hero is interred.
The best thing to be said about no frills little Tepich is that bus and colectivo taxi service are excellent especially if you have a folding bicycle.
A new paved road connecting Tepich to Cobá has recently been opened and we have had the pleasure of riding most of it from the other end and it was extremely nice with countless tropical birds and dense jungle. If you do decide upon this route we recommend you start very early in the morning from the Cobá end with the sun on your back and be sure to take along all the provisions you will need because this is nearly uninterrupted jungle.
We ended our week long fact-finding tour into the state of Quintana Roo here and took a colectivo taxi north to Valladolid, had lunch and then boarded a first class ADO bus for Mérida and were home in our house before the sun went down.
FOR BUS AND TICKET INFORMATION, CLICK ADO ABOVE.

2010, WE ARE BACK!

2010-01-07T19:13:00.002-06:00

After a very pleasant two week news-fast and sabbatical at an undisclosed beach location our brains have been fully re-charged.

Our tour group of two is now ready to face the New Year and fulfill more of our shared dreams.

We are keeping busy with our writing diversions and other activities so we never have a dull moment.

It finally got cooler here so our solar heated Jacuzzi feels good...most of the year we fill the Jacuzzi with cool well water just to save our lives from the tropical heat.

We are putting new stories on our web site all the time so stay tuned to see what we are up to.

Wishing y'all the very best of everything.

Kilometer 50, José María Morelos, End of the Road

2009-12-20T18:22:00.007-06:00

After three hours by luxury bus from Mérida, Jane and I arrived at the ADO, Auto Transportes de Oriente restaurant and terminal where we disembarked with our folding bicycles.
We were now in the state of Quintana Roo at the town of José María Morelos, formerly known as just Kilometer 50. This is half way between the capital cities of Mérida, Yucatán and Chetumal, Quintana Roo, which is just about its only claim to fame and its reason for existing.
Sixty years ago, in 1947 a young German journalist, Lilo Linke, made this journey leaving Mérida by the only transport of the time, a narrow gauge railway train that first took her to the end-of-the-line town of Peto in the state of Yucatán, an all day adventure that made several scheduled jungle stops where only a trail came to the railhead. Peto had just two hotels then and calling them austere, bleak bear-bones basic would be heaping praise upon them.
Here is what Lilo Linke had to say about her 1947 train ride;
The little train rattled along between henequen plantations and fields of Indian corn. Soon we were covered by the dust that blew in through the open windows. That jungles could be anywhere near was difficult to imagine. Wherever we stopped, fruit was offered for sale. In the afternoon we came to the end of the line, a village called Peto. A single long street led from the station to the market-square and the church.
In the 1980’s my wife Jane and I made the above mentioned train trip and the conductor told us that he had been working on the train for 26 years and we were the first foreigners that had ever taken the train all the way to the end of the line at Peto. We have photos, original tickets and even the time table from that memorable trip which we will be soon incorporating into an expanded story.

Here is what Lilo Linke had to say about the Peto hotels of the 1940’s;

Señor Mendoza had friends at Peto, but they were away on a journey and we were forced to stay at a hotel. In fact we had the choice between two, and Señor Mendoza selected the one run by a toothless Chinese. It was rapidly getting dark—as always in the tropics about six o'clock—but I could make out in the fading light that the sheets on the tumbledown bed were extremely soiled. I remembered how once in Turkey in similar circumstances the hotel-keeper had remarked that only four other people had so far used them. But the Chinaman raised no objection when I asked him to change them. Perhaps the lack of teeth made arguing difficult for him. He whipped off the offending sheets, and to my horror I saw three fat bugs scuttling for shelter. Unperturbed, he shuffled out of the room, to return with a single sheet that was as undistinguishable from the first as one Chinaman from another. With a deadpan face he smoothed it over the mattress. I rushed off to Señor Mendoza's room. He looked at me over the rim of his spectacles when I explained my trouble. "I warned you,” he said. "Now listen: no luxury, all right; no comfort, all right; but no bugs either. I just can't stand them." He uttered a gentle sigh and scratched his head. "The other hotel is worse," he said. "It couldn't be," I replied firmly. "I told him to give you the best room in the house. You even got a wash-basin, he told me. Still, I'll buy you a hammock. What else do you need?"

Believe it or not in early 1980’s, Jane and I stayed in the very same hotel room at Peto after our train trip there…it was the last vacancy in town at the time.
(I describe this train trip and hotel experience in the story; Peto as an end destination, on our web site.)
Day two of Lilo Linke’s trip to Kilometer 50 was by motor vehicle over an unimproved dirt trail to the end of the road in this place that had only territory status because of the animosity and tension still smoldering between the Mayan people and the Mexican government. The fifty plus year Caste War had raged and this was part of the front line of battle.
Here is what Lilo Linke had to say about her 1947 trip from Peto to Kilometer 50;

We were off in a "taxi", one of the ancient cars one can get for hire anywhere in Latin-America where there is a semblance of a road. We were six passengers with our baggage, including some chickens and cooking-pots. The ingeniero came along with us, it was his road. "The fool, my predecessor,” he said, "he let the road funds be pilfered by dishonest clerks and overseers while he drank himself to death at headquarters. If anyone is going to make a profit out of this road while I am here, believe me I'll make sure that it's no one but .myself. And I’ll see to it that whatever happens, the road will be built. I don't believe in individual profits while the country gets nothing in exchange." He said it so seriously that I could not believe him to be a cynic. His attitude, if I understood it correctly, was a peculiar brand of progressiveness adapted to Mexican reality. I could not fail to appreciate its advantages. All along the road the driver was playing the popular game of chasing another car. It was a lorry in which road-workers were piled like upright sticks. The dust their car and ours raised on the as yet unpaved highway enveloped us all in thick clouds often blocking our vision. It all added to the fun. At a place provisionally called "Kilometre 50" our expedition came to a halt. It was almost the end of the road. We would stop there for the night and then continue on horseback. Between us and the edge of the jungle stood half a dozen wooden shacks and a whitewashed wattle building with two rooms. It had formerly belonged to the road camp and was now the school. I would sleep there while Señor Mendoza hoped for hospitality in one of the shacks. All he needed were two hooks to fix his hammock.

Over sixty years later Kilometer 50, now José María Morelos has more than just half a dozen shacks on the edge of the jungle and yes, the road is paved and finished all the way to the state capital of Chetumal.
In the above photo you can easily see that even though this is the main street and highway through town, bicycle and tricycle traffic dominate; there is a noticeable lack of motorized vehicles. In the would-you-believe-it could be true department Jane and I encountered an old friend from Tulum here. He is selling home made natural yogurt from his roofed over tricycle.
Like the rest of Mexico José María Morelos has grown exponentially in recent years and now has over 20,000 inhabitants. The above bust located at the city hall and across from the central park depicts the town namesake José María Morelos who helped lead Mexico to independence in the early 1800’s.
Again José María Morelos is depicted in this huge wall painting in the band shell of the city center park know as the zocolo in Spanish.
The public walls of José María Morelos are adorned with numerous storytelling murals like this one found at the municipal market.
Just opened and inaugurated is the Parador Turístico also situated on the main street where local arts and crafts of the areas Mayan ladies are sold.
Jane and I arrived at the Parador Turístico with perfect timing when the inaugural speeches concluded and it was time to partake of a Mayan style one-pot dinner of chicken, potatoes and rice accompanied by a generous stack of piping hot tortillas…gratis…thank you all!
We were stuffed, happy and satisfied. The friendly group was brimming with enthusiasm.
What originally appeared to be confusion over the provisions distribution turned out to be well organized and everybody was fed and content.
Exquisite handy work, one of the natural talents of the Mayan women was in plentiful supply at the craft shops of the new Parador Turístico. The young director Maricla Dzoi Loeza is drumming up enthusiasm and promoting participation by the local ladies which is what it will take to make a success and develop repeat tourist trade.
Before Quintana Roo achieved statehood it was a territory with tax free status and José María Morelos had shoppers flooding into town from all over Mexico to capitalize on bargain priced tax exempt merchandise. The main street was stacked with retail goods as eager shoppers clamored to make purchases.
The last gasoline station for 225 kilometers on the way to Chetumal was here and many times had no gasoline or sometimes gasoline but no electric service and couldn’t even pump the gas out. Stranded motorists became part of the local economy searching our food and accommodations. Now with statehood there is gas.
Two blocks south of the Parador Turístico we found Hotel Aura Elena; clean, neat, new, bicycle friendly and reasonably priced. We stayed three nights using it as our home base.
Owner of Hotel Aura Elena, Doña Lupita is a politically connected business women, with a retail store in nearby Dzuche and director of tourism for the area. As you can see from the hotel behind her, she runs a very clean and neat operation that is expanding. José María Morelos for its size has an overabundance of hotel accommodations so prices are competitive.
Lots of competition for eating places keeps the prices down and locally produced authentic Mayan style foods are served up that make this stop well worth the whole trip.
Around the municipal market and up and down the main street interesting private entrepreneurs set up mobile street kitchens where they concoct delectable natural dishes.

José María Morelos is still blessed with no franchise chain eateries or hotels and is out of the tourist loop making it a slice of the real Mexico, a place to see before it is gone.
At the small municipal market venders stock the locally produced fruits and vegetables that change with the seasons.
Neat and clean, the municipal market reflects the local pride in their growing community.
Jane and I have lived here in this part of the world for over a quarter century and had never sampled the delectable seasonally produced baked fresh corn cakes or fresh corn tortillas, tortillas de maiz nuevo. Besides being scrumptiously mouth-wateringly delicious these things were nutritionally sustaining.
The problem with the fresh corn was that you can only get these products late in the fall and in the active milpa country far removed from the city life.
The neatly dressed young man in the above photo came into José María Morelos with just these two buckets of fresh corn products to sell and when it was gone, and so would he be gone until the next crop of fresh corn was harvested in the following fall.
Here is a loaf of fresh new corn bread and fresh new corn tortillas. They have a chewy mealy rough ground consistency, a wholesome tantalizing aroma and a flavor that requires no additives. This is a heavenly treasure not found in any mass-marketing establishments.
Situated in the city center of José María Morelos, this unimaginatively designed recently constructed stacked stone church reveals the towns relatively young age.
The church interior is ablaze in dangling doodads and the permanently open upper side vents let you know that this truly a tropical environment.
From in front of the church looking easterly the city’s central park is seen.
The quiet little frontier town of José María Morelos has 175 licensed taxis and 95 tri-cycle taxis like the two you see in the above photo circulating around the park The park also has a veleta or wind powered water pump. There are no stop lights or pushy traffic here where motorized vehicles are noticeably lacking.
Jane and I were told by several people that we needed to check out the lagoon just four kilometers north of downtown José María Morelos easily reached on the neat new bicycle path. Here is what greeted us. The sign says; Private property; for your security do not climb over the wires, open Saturdays and Sundays, DANGEROUS WATER!!!
The bicycle path was very nice but the sign at the entrance to the lagoon did not in any way entice us to enter.
A short distance down the bicycle path we encountered this local gentleman out collecting vines to feed his rabbits and we asked him about entering the lagoon. He told us that we would be crazy to go in there. The attributes of the lagoon were; huge alligators, tall grass loaded with poisonous snakes and to top it off, quick sand. We decided to forego the pleasure.
The bicycle path seemed to have more traffic than the adjacent highway. This young man from Mérida dressed like an Eskimo was part of a team of bicyclers headed for Chetumal over two hundred kilometers to the south. In celebration of the tradition of Guadalupe day on the 12th of December, runners and bicyclers from across Mexico make long pilgrimages carrying torches and statues in adulation to Mexico’s Virgin of Guadalupe.

After three nights and four days at José María Morelos we generated enough adventures to write three stories and will definitely have to return to further explore this wild frontier out of the tourist loop.
José María Morelos is a rare gem like none other and makes a fascinating home base…not for everybody.
Coming soon on the web: our side trips from José María Morelos to Polyuc, Dzula, and the route of the churches that includes Saban, Sacalaca, Huay Max and Tihosuco.

New to Valladolid, guided bike tours and rentals.

2009-11-26T20:30:00.009-06:00

On a recent bike trip around the Valladolid area, we were happy to discover Mexigotours. Plan an extra day in Valladolid and take the tour. It is well worth the time and the price is economical.

Vivyana Hernández Molina and Toon Vande Vyvere, owners and operators of MexiGO.
Tours in English, Spanish, French, Dutch with a guide who speaks Maya.

They take you to the out of the tourist trap places for an unforgettable experience of a lifetime.
The tour takes you to two beautiful cenotes plus a visit to a Mayan home and a couple of villages.

Take a guided bicycle day tour in the heart of Yucatán that is not only ecologically friendly but healthful. Photo opportunities in bird watching country plus sampling authentic exquisite Mayan foods 100% natural are just part of what you will enjoy.
E-mail; mexigotours@hotmail.com
Phones; +52 (985) 8560777 cel: 521 (985) 1082018
Above is one of the two beautiful cenotes that you will visit on the tour.
Jane in front of the MexiGO tour and bike rental office in Valladolid. MexiGO is located behind the cathedral and 1 block from the central park at Calle 43 No. 204B between Calles 40 and 42. For a map, click here.

We have biked to the places on this tour. Check out our website * for stories of some of the places we visited on our trips to Valladolid from Tulum and along the Caste War Route.
* the Valladolid web page is currently being updated and should be ready in a few days.

CHICHIMILÁ SIDE TRIP FROM VALLADOLID

2009-11-24T20:33:00.007-06:00

Twenty-six meters above sea level, seven kilometers south of Valladolid along a quiet paved bicycle path is the little unassuming town of Chichimilá with 7, 500 inhabitants, most of whom speak Maya.
In a zone of cenotes, heavily wooded Chichimilá has fifteen cenotes and could be considered a suburb of nearby full-service Valladolid. Cenote Xlakaj is the best and most accessible of the centoes.
Traditional Mayan food and dress are the standard and the only claim to fame seems to be that the chief martyr of the uprising that led to the protracted Caste War was born here.
In the city center park across from the church is this unpretentious little monument to the city hero
Mayan rebel Manuel Antonio Ay’s arrest and execution in 1847 was a major factor in the start of the Caste War. For Chichimilá, the Caste War didn’t officially end until 1975 when a treaty was signed with the Mexican government.

Everywhere in Yucatán that a church stands there was once a Mayan temple.
This no-frills neglected stacked stone, mamposteria relic of the past structure still has its arched ceiling of wooden beams that has miraculously outlived most others of Yucatán. This was a site of a Franciscan mission and the church was added in the 17th century.
Inside the modest Chichimilá church you can see this has always been a poor little town.
At the city center park of Manual Antonio Ay across the seldom traveled main street from the old church, Jane and I procure some welcome shade to have our afternoon coffee and some corn tortillas lightly sprinkled with salt.
We travel light and pack all we need for our excursion aboard our little folding bicycles.
This is most of Chichimilá’s business district. There is also a building supply and cantina.
Jane and I, out of curiosity, wanted to check out the housing market and these two local men guided us to the only house in town for sale. It was just three blocks removed from the downtown business district, has a palm thatched palapa house, city water, electric and a water well eighteen meters deep. The large tract of land was planted with many kinds of fruit trees.
This slice of paradise required a lot of youthful exuberance to conquer and saintly patience in waiting for things like a phone or internet service. This isolation is not for everybody.

Nearby to Chichimilá is a the cenote Xlakaj. The people of Chichimilá have made improvements to the cenote and it serves as a recreation area complete with cabins, restaurant and access to a swim in the beautiful cenote. Mexigo Tours will rent you a bike if you don’t have one or they will take you there on a tour.

TIXHUALACTÚN – SIDE TRIP FROM VALLADOLID

2009-11-21T19:57:00.005-06:00

This off the beaten path and almost suburb of Valladolid is in no way tourist oriented, but has the unique feature of having been totally overlooked and bypassed.
Just a seven kilometer bicycle ride from the central plaza, first going south to calle 49 in Valladolid, then east on that street though a slightly downtrodden neighborhood past several schools you are on your way. Then where the street meanders into the woods and meets a slightly busier roadway you turn east and you get to enjoy rural outback Yucatán. (You can rent a bike from MexiGO bike rentals and tours in downtown Valladolid.)
The above roadway sign greets your entrance to the little slice of nowhere… known as Tixhualactún, “the town tourists miss most”.
The most striking feature when you enter Tixhualactún situated on the quiet as a ghost town central plaza is the huge crumbling old church, La Iglesia del Santo Cristo de la Exaltación or The Church of Saint Christ of the Exultation.
As the falling down information sign states; the church is three hundred years old, you should conserve its splendor and don’t take away any of the building stones.
In a state of nearly total neglect for the past three hundred years the stacked stone, mamposteria structure has lost its massive roof to a cave-in and the walls are in the process of taking departure in different directions headed from the vertical to horizontal.
Outwardly you could easily assume that this three century crumbling structure was totally abandoned, not so, it is actually still functional to a degree.
An interesting thought to contemplate is the reality that the Spanish conquistadors were actually re-cyclers.
All of the building materials used to build this old church and the entire community for that matter were in fact re-cycled from a previous Mayan temple standing here.
The walk of a few steps from the central plaza to this still ornately adorned entry door of the church is on a dirt path lined with knee high clingy weeds.
Peering into the church you are in for several surprises.
First the most striking feature of all is that the entire roof has completely vanished and the sky is the limit so a glimpse of heaven is afforded.
Next the inner walls devoid of paint are starkly bleak and darkly blotched by mold interspersed with occasional outcroppings of rank vegetation.
A tiny persistence of faith is evident here within the open air nave where a tin roofed pole shed sits before the sanctuary altar surrounded by green grass and vacant walls.
A radiant beauty of glorious days in centuries gone by still catches the eye when viewing the ornately adorned arched entry way that seems to capture your spirit.

The Spanish conquistadors overran and expelled the Moors from Spain but also took their trademark architectural designs to the Americas as you can clearly see here in the ogee arch and Moorish pillars of the church cloister.
The mystery here is just what led this particular community that originally erected the monumental church to sink into three hundred years of apathy.
You are looking at downtown Tixhualactún and its silent central plaza and business district.
Though the old church crumbled and its bells fell to earth as you can see they have been resurrected to call in the faithful.

No tour buses or hoards of street venders hawking their hand crafts to camera snapping sightseeing visitors will be found here which in itself makes a little side trip like this well worth while.

Wait! There is more to Tixhualactún. Adjacent to the main plaza is a cenote, in Maya Dzonot. The cenote, a type of sink-hole, that here is in the limestone bedrock actually has flowing water. The water level in the cenote would be at the same level of area wells which is the water table, about eighteen meters down.
Well, Jane and I were treated to a strange display that continued all the time we were there. Huge flocks of bats were swarming, screeching and circling at a hurried pace around and around within the cenote and we were lucky enough to capture this event in a video.
This little girl came to greet us to Tixhualactún on her bicycle that she had received from the government at her school. She was talkative, inquisitive and full of town facts…a pleasant welcoming committee of one.
Dzonot Kaaj - Cenote Kaaj
Tixhualahtún
It was an incredible experience to view the bats flying in this cenote in the quiet village of Tixhualahtún.