Once upon a time in México (part II)

Day 6-12: Quintana Roo - Chiapas: From the most comfortable swings on a beach to a jungle of howler monkeys

Hopped on a bus again from Valladolid to get some more beach slacking done. Target was Tulum. By the way, buses are a great way to travel in México. There are bus connections available everywhere and they are pretty nice and comfortable and inexpensive too. BUT. Remember to choose only the first class busses: They are way too faster and there is not a big difference on the prices. And let me just say that you will thank me for making you skip the second class ones. Oh, and one more thing! Found out that there is actually a bus running from San Cristobal de las Casas to Tijuana and that is a 41-hour-ride. So if you really like like riding buses, that´s your ride right there.

Tulum is just beautiful. Pure, white, softest sand ever and crystal clear, green and blue water. Oh my... Whan can I say more. It was a paradise. Both myself and Aino wanted to treat ourselves with a nice hotel this time. And Hotel Pescadores was the best (to my standards) on the beach! All I needed. Nice bungalow on the beach, frozen margaritas, mojitos, daiquiris among others served on our own beach bar, good looking waitors and bartenders, nice, big bed with five pillows on it, AC, hammock on the patio, excellent food, nice vibes in general. So yes, I forgot everything for those four days on that beach and just relaxed and enjoyed my life. Because it was goooood.

Swinging was best here

Actually some activities took place in Tulum too. The Mayan ruins were so close to us so that had to be visited. Good thing we did. Not only for the ruins but for iguanas and tejones (i only know its name in spanish now) hanging out at the ruins as well.

I was concentrating more on the wildlife at the Tulum ruins than the ruins themselves. But hey, how cute are these guys?

After going to the ruins, of course, Just had to relax and lay down on the beach and swim every now then, sip some margaritas and recover. That was hmm, day 2 at Tulum maybe?

Ok, did some other activities as well.

On our day 3 went to Akumal to do some snorkeling there with the sea turtles they are protecting there. Took an hour snorkeling tour to a natural protected reef area very close to the shore. The reef was said to be the second largest in the world. The local center for turtles, does a good job and gives visitors valuable information on the sea life, turtles and their protection programs and most importantly; how to behave on that precious area with all those precious species living there. Akumal is Mayan and it means a place of the turtles.

In Akumal one can see, besides the sea turtles, some rays, barracudas, crabs and colorful fish among other species there. So yes, Akumal was very beautiful. Saw about many turtles, a pretty big barracuda and a ray myself too.

Street art Tulum

By the time we got back to our laid back resort at Tulum a storm was getting closer. And at the same time we reached (walking the beach line) our resort, sand, but tables and chairs too started to fly already. It started to rain. By nightfall the storm got heavier and way more loud. Had not witnessed such a thunder in a while. It was very effective and powerful.

The next day, last day in Tulum, it rained too. Well, another bus ride was waiting again. This time it was a night bus from Tulum to Palenque. Some point on the bus I wake up on the bus and went out to strech my legs a little. There were officials with guns and dogs going through our stuff on the bus. Well, back to sleep it was for me - apparently nothing was found this time since we continued our ride peacefully.

Night on a bus was not actually so bad - I got to sleep almost the whole ride down to Palenque where we arrived at about 6 in the morning. It was a beautiful morning. Sun was just rising. We shared a taxi with a german girl and my friend Aino and headed to the jungles of Palenque. We were all accommodated in a jungle "hotel village" called El Chalapan and it was an excellent choice (if you don´t mind being a little hippie) - it was close to the Palenque ruins but also it was located in the middle of jungle. There are six different places to stay at El Chalapan.

And the best part of it all was the fact that the hut where I was staying was under some huge trees and the trees where obviously territory of some howler monkeys. I was thrilled! The monkeys would appear to really high up to the trees to make some howling. Never seen them in wild and never heard them in wild. And man, that was some wild noise making!

The mayan ruins at Palenque are definitely worth visiting. There are still many, many huge temples hidden in the jungle. And it should also remain that way - don´t want to see more rain forest getting cut down. Not even for the sake of the historically valuable ruins the jungle now is giving shelter to. The ruins in Palenque are situated in a natural park area so the environment for these mayan ruins is spectacular. The biggest temples and buildings discovered from the rain forest are templo de las inscripciones, templo del sol and el palacio.

Welcome to the jungle

When you exit the main area of the ruins, you get to walk in a very pleasent and beautiful surroundings in the rain forest with waterfalls, rivers and many kind of animals and birds. And because it is a jungle, it is also quite hot and humid there - don´t forget to bring repellent for the mosquitos there!

The next morning (very early) went to a hike in the jungle with Marlene Dietrich. Yes, you got that right. My new german friend had not risen from the dead but her parents sure had a great sense of humour whey giving her the name. It was quite misty and humid that morning but we got to see tucans high up on the trees, some animals (I don´t know what they were) on the ground eating berries, birds and a huge termite nest on a tree.

After the hike, and two days spent in Palenque it was time to hit the road again. This time took a collectivo (a van) to travel to San Cristobal de las Casas. Eventually, because the ride and the price included entrances and visits to two waterfalls on the way; Misol-ha and Aquas Azules. The driver of that collectivo was probably one of the worst ones I have ever travelled with. The collectivo sucked, the road was bumpy and curvy and this guy did not know how to drive, at all. He was driving way too fast and way too bad. Every time we stopped, it was a relief.

But Misol-ha and Aquas Azules were both very beautiful and you could swim on them both. Misol-ha was very high and Aquas Azules had about 500 waterfalls in the area.

After the two waterfall visits it started to rain. And very much so. Everyone on the collectivo was soaking wet and you could not see anything from the vehicle. I mean even the driver could not but he was of course, still driving like a maniac. Five of us were excuded from the joy ride when we got to hop on a bus to continue to San Cristobal de las Casas. All five of us were jumping for joy and thanking God for releasing us.

Arrived to San Cristobal de las Casas a little before midnight and it was freezing cold - well, I know, I am a Finn but still, my clothes were still wet and when I got out from the bus it really was cold. We were now 2300 meters higher and the climate had changed pretty dramatically. Good thing there was warm clothes in my pack bag; they came out pretty handy from there on.

San Cristobal de las Casas and the state of Chiapas are both truly something else. Again another, totally unique state in México. From the first morning I was very much impressed with the cool town of San Cristobal de las Casas.

To be continued...