Into the heart of México

Tulúm ruins

Tulúm marked the turn of the journey. Here would begin a series of extreme Mayan ruin sighting...

The trick with these sights is to come early in the morning. At some point during late morning the day tour buses from Cancún arrive and by then you want to be out of the way.

The ruins in Tulúm are right by the ocean. This city was built during the post Classic Period for the higher classes and served as a trading post due to its geographical position. Here the first Spanish concistadores landed.

The site is mostly excavated and features smaller buildings and structures rather then the typical Mayan pyramids and temples.

We got out of the site just in time for the "trains" to arrive. A pathetic sight.

Of course, such an exhausting walk through the heat calls for new energy and what could refresh Mexicans more than some meat and a cool cerveza? Grilled chicken is the cheapest and one of the most delicious foods and it is prepared before your eyes at places like this along the streets. Vegetarians on the other hand have a hard stand in this meat driven country.

Cobá

In the hope that my fellows would join me on the trip into the land, I left my stuff in tulúm and went to the ruins of Cobá in the jungle on a day trip.

In Cobá I was welcomed by the house lake's alligators that sunbath about 3 meters from the road/sidewalk in the shallow water.

The site itself is rather hidden. There are three different places with ruins all spread throughout the jungle. There are two kinds of trails that lead there. The large ones are used to bring tourists to the ruins in rikschas and on bikes and foot. The others are quite small and rather untreaded... and not recommended to walk on without a guide, as I was informed later.

Needless to say, I got a little lost. However, I found a little lagoon with interesting animals and saw all kinds of butterflies and crawling creatures that I would never have seen on the "elephant trail". One of them was this fellow, who seemed to enjoy the attention of the lens. Supposedly, my little friend's tail was poisonous as a Mexican doctor whom I shoed the pictures told me later.

Eventually I came upon one of the ruins and decided to take the more treaded path from then on. It brought me to one of the attractions, the ball game. In the ancient ball game two teams made of 7 players battled each other, trying to bring the ball through this loop. Historians believe that the captain of the winning team was honored by being sacrificed to the gods by decapitation.

Another attraction at Cobá is the big pyramid. With 44 meters in hight, it is the highest Mayan pyramid.

and it is quite a steep climb.

Of course it was no problem for me though, since my magical Indiana Jones straw hat gave me the power I needed.

Cenotes

The following day, we went on a snorcheling tour in the nearby Cenotes. Cenotes are caves that have filled with water.

The caves are home to fish and the incoming sunlight provides for beautiful colors in the water. The underground system is more than 70 miles long along the coast.

When I had finally gotten myself out of the wetsuit and started to feel like a human instead of a penguin, I got my bagpack and hopped on the bus to continue my travels by myself. My companions would stay in Tulúm to enjoy the white beach.

Getting into the spirit of mañana

"Using the opportunity of an Internet café again. After a beautiful day with snorkeling and BBQ fish on the chilled out "Isla Mujeres" yesterday, we are about to take a bus to Playa del Carmen... a European style tourist town instead of an American style tourist town ;-).
Unfortunately I can´t get my pictures online, but I promise I am taking plenty!
Our plan is to stay in Playa del Carmen for two days, then go to Tulúm, Cobá, Valladolidos and finally see Chichum Itza, the largest Mayan pyramid in Yucatan (and one of the seven new wonders of the world since last year).

Hasta luego!
Pablo" (20.12.2008)




Isla Mujeres is a beautiful secluded Island with a Carribean spirit. With Capitán Miguel, we rode along its shore, enjoying the true mañana spirit, snorcheling and enjoying BBQ fish.







After all that action, a stroll over the Island revealed more of its unique character. We were deep in another world, far away from worry and stress, enjoying the moment...



...and the Carribean Sea. Memories of reading The Old Man and the Sea occupied my mind. The bliss of escapism.



After our third day we left the Cancún area with its American tourists and went on to Playa del Carmen where the party was.



Although still very touristy, it seemed we were finally coming across some almost authentic Mexican culture...



... and the sweeter and more innocent sides of Mexican night life.



All the while, we were enjoying the original Mexican food. This was one of the particularly good street venders. And of course, everything comes with limes and salsa. Olé!





Tulúm

Tulúm was our entry into the "real" México away from mass consumerist tourism. The standard of accomodations went down considerably staying in town...



... but the Cabaña on the beach was much more comfortable and so we spent Christmas under palm trees by the ocean!



In fact, my fellow travelers liked the place so much that they would stay there for another week. Sort of fed up with beaches, I made my way into the country by myself:

"Christmas in a Cabaña at a beach with white sand? Don't believe it? Well, too bad. I'm doing it!
The real Christmas feeling hasn't quite kicked off yet... but since that hardly ever happens to me back at home, I'm not too surprised. The fact that my shirt is sticking to my body because I stumbled through this sauna they call "jungle" all morning doesn't really help either. But ancient Maya ruins for Christmas are no bad present at all! Better than snow storms in Seattle ;-). The plan for the next days is not quite fixed yet. We will see what haoppens... mañana :-))" (24.12.2008)

Arrival at Cancún

"hòla amigos!
just wanted to let you guys know that we are safely arrived in Mexico. We`re in Cancún which is a terribly touristy area and everyone is just waiting for you to drop him "dineros", but it is still fun!
For the first three days we are in a hotel and then we will travel on either along the coast or inland. We'll see...
By the way, we have 86 degrees Fahrenheit around, clear Carribean Sea water and white beach! And it is amazing how far you can get with a minimal amount of Spanish in your pocket!
Take care! Feliz Navidad!
Paul" (18.12.2008)

This fellow we met on our way from the airport to the hotel when we were on the bus. Many buses have this sort of musical entertainment here, which is quite nice. Obviously, it was only a few days until Christmas.

Feliz Navidad!

One of México's nuisances are the toilets. The plumming system can't handle toilet paper so you are supposed to put that in a trash bin next to the toilet. Remeber to leave a tip for the chambermaid ;-).

The morning after our arrival, we hopped in our swim suits and "took advantage of the local beach" as Oleg would put it.

Of course, we had to "take advantage" of the "local" traditional beverages as well. "Dadadadadada, Tequila!"

The catch-up on December entry

so I wasn't a very active blogger in December... which is why I will try to catch up here a little. Mostly the pictures speak for themselves!

"The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!"

Watch out in Seattle traffic - it might be more dangerous than you are aware!

And they always say traveling by bus is so safe. Well, apparently it depends which bus you are on! This one had gotten a little hotter than it was supposed to. Reason enough for the Seattle fire department to send two giant fire trucks to the scene.

Bainbridge Island

Calm, nice and quiet and stuck in 1930.

Bainbridge Island is a fantastic spot. Like all small islands, it feels like somebody has halted the time. The scenery is fantastic and the island makes for a great day trip by foot or bike.

Seattle Music

The scene is alive!

After missing out on the music scene of Seattle for quite a while, I went to two concerts in a row to enjoy the local music with some of my special friends.

I will have to return and get more of that. Sucking up more of Seattle's culture is one of my goals for the next quarter.

"Building the Global Community"

Snowshoeing with Jenna

After we had tried to get together for weeks, Jenna and I finally had a designated hang out day. It had snowed the first time the night before, so we decided the "Fulbright connection" was up for some snow shoeing. We drove up to Hyak in the Snoqualmy forest over snow covered roads.

Since hardly anyone had made it out to the mountains yet, there was no trail and so we walked through the deep fresh snow, making snow angels on our way back to the car.

There we had a "nice" surprise waiting for us. The passenger door would not close and it was only 12° Fahrenheit (far enough under 0° Celcius to hurt) outside. I would have had to hold the door for the entire way back to the city, hadn't we found a road maintenance service close by. The guys there were able to fix the door and I could finally start defrosting my fingers and toes. It was my first time snow shoeing and a lot of fun to walk through the winter wonder land. The next day, I was having trouble moving, however.

Excuse me - Can I live here?

Before leaving for Mexico, I experienced the pros and cons of homelesness. I had taken about 6 weeks to find a new place. Since my former contract had ended on Thanksgiving weekend, I had about two weeks to cover until I could get into my new place the day before our Mexico trip. I was lucky that Oleg, a friend from Israel was willing to share not only home, but even bed with me for a good week and a little more. It worked out really good. We cooked together and I would write my papers until 4 in the morning while he was sleeping. Then I would go to sleep and he got up at 8, which gave me another two hours of the bed for myself. You learn a lot about a fellow living with him. Oleg is originally from Russia and posesses red USSR underwear. Unfortunately he doesn't want pictures of that online ;-).

Some nights I would sleep at Estelle's, a girl from France whose house had several empty rooms or on Kamil's couch. It is a really dwarfing experience, however, if you do not know where you are going to sleep the next night. Although I always did have a place in the end, it made me sympathize with homeless people.

The day before we headed out to Mexico, I went to my new place in Fremont to get the keys, drop off my stuff and get some things sorted out, buying a Christmas Tree for example.

After that, we were off to foreign lands....