Mexico - 3rd to 31st October 2009

Introduction

Hola and bienvenido to Latin America ! The more relaxed attitude with the absence of a myriad of rules immediately made us feel at home. We were back to a world of waving, smiling people and vendors selling goods and food along the streets. This appeared more the land of the free to an overlander and it had just the right mix of chaos to keep it interesting. The lack of infrastructure, poverty and more basic living conditions reminded us a bit of Africa and Asia . Armed with a magazine of the 50 best places to visit in Mexico from National Geographic, we were ready for this adventure!  

Background and History

Most believe that the first peoples here migrated down North America after crossing the Beiring Strait 20 000 years ago! What is known is that the Maya Preclassic period started around 2000BC when the first prototypes for great art, mathematics, hieroglyphics and 2 calendars were developed. Classic Maya city–states with elaborate their religious rituals existed between 200 to 900 AD, mainly in southern Mexico but by the time the Spanish arrived in 1519 (at Cozumel) most Mayans lived in squabbling small hut communities scattered throughout the region. The Aztecs who had migrated south from NW. USA over centuries eventually settled in the valley of Mexico in 1168 in fulfilment of a prophecy. The Spanish Conquistadors, sniffing out get-rich schemes moved in independent factions with their brutality and smallpox wiping out 90% of the indigenous population by the end of the 16 th century. Spanish trade restrictions eventually eroded the patience of the Criollos (locals born of Spanish parents) and revolts resulted in Mexico 's independence in 1821. But the rest of Central American states declared independence from Mexico in 1823. Meanwhile in Mexico 's north an ever expanding United States saw the Mexican American war delineate new boundaries – by the mid 19 th century Mexico had first lost Texas , then New Mexico , Arizona , Nevada , Utah and California . Political turmoil and dictatorship set off the Mexican revolution of 1910 – 1921 and Mexico 's dominant political party (PRI) ruled until the 21 st century.

Our Experience

The border crossing from Texas into Matamoros was 2 hours of the usual immigration and vehicle entry formalities with us needing to pay $30 for the temporary import of the vehicle. Around 2pm, after a fairly decent vehicle search (our first!), we set forth south from the Rio Grand Valley through simple little villages and a sparsely populated land to a basic RV park in Ciudad Victoria . The next morning we were back to our schooling routine and after making a plan with some cable ties to support the silencer, we crossed the Tropic of Cancer for the last time. After 500km through more interesting rural countryside up mountains to San Louis Potosi, we decided to wild camp at a filling station (Pemex) near San Miguel de Allende, at an altitude of 2000m. True to 3 rd world cultures we had tortillas and a ham pasta salad brought to our vehicle before bedtime!

As we entered San Miguel de Allende the outskirts have the same scruffiness common to many Mexican towns, but as we neared the historic centre the streets narrowed and became cobbled and the colourful town unfolded filling a bowl shaped valley. We were lucky to find a parking spot near the main plaza, El Jardin and then wandered the narrow streets with their abundant atmosphere – from heavily carved wooden doors to intricate stone carvings adorning the windows of centuries old buildings which shelter cool inner patios. But it's the plazas where everyone sits on wrought iron benches under neatly clipped laurel trees chatting away, where the local scene is alive. After being drawn into the open shop doorways with clothing and crafts, Jade bought a Mexican doll from a street vendor her age and it was time for the churches. La Parroqina soars over the main plaza with its pink sandstone façade – an addition 2 centuries after its completion in the 17 th century by a local untrained Indian artisan Zeferino Gutierrez. Another interesting stone carved exterior with high vaulted ceilings containing murals and statues was the 18 th century church of San Francisco .

Lunch here highlighted the injustice done to real Mexican cuisine – tortilla soup, tostadas (crisp tortillas made of cornmeal bread topped with beans, chicken and salad) and enchiladas (soft rolled tacos filled with chicken and baked with cheese) served with a variety of salsas, guacamole and frijoles (beans) in gorgeous secret sauces – very different from what's served north of the border! This day then delivered another gem – just outside San Miguel we found a balnearios, which is a hot spring fed bathing resort. The rustic Escondido Place had us hopping from pool to pool – some in grottos with water pouring from the roof!

By late afternoon we were in fairytale Guanajuato perched at the bottom of a canyon with houses hugging the slopes. We found ourselves battling our way through a nerve-racking drive through a network of 16 th century tunnels under the city which eventually led to the historic centre above. A perfect parking lot was our wild camping spot with views to die for. From here we explored on foot the twisting streets interspersed with little plazas showcasing a similar lively romantic local scene. Again impressive baroque colonial churches, cafes and the opulent Teatro Juarez rounded off the surreal atmosphere - or was it the quesadillas (soft tortillas with meat, cheese and fiery salsa) at a cheap local joint with live guitar music! Then we stumbled across a callejoneadas, a serenade where a roaming street party of musicians in 17 th century garb parade through the streets like pied pipers attracting growing crowds as they sing to the accompaniment of guitar and mandolins.

On the 6 th October we first found our way to the city's ghastliest attraction – the Mummy Museum . Dryness and minerals helped preserve some 120 corpses, some still with hair, clothes and shoes. It was quite morbid to come face to face with their frozen horrific gaping expressions as they stood in front of us. After seeing what a corpse looks like in a coffin after hundred of years, we immediately decided that cremation was the way to go! This experience delayed our breakfast for hours as we continued south to Morelia .

The 250km drive was through a mountainous region with thorn-bushes and cacti, then valleys of corn and over ancient causeways running through lakes. Morelia is known as the ‘aristocrat of colonial cities' due to its strong 17 th and 18 th century Spanish architecture. Without any sat navigation and using a map that bears little resemblance to the roads, we have had to rely on general bearing, asking directions from helpful locals who do not speak any English, and a lot of luck! After a few hours of walking this city's plazas, visiting the cathedral and ex convent of San Francisco which houses crafts, the luck ran out! We failed to link up to any free wifi or with our laptop at the internet shops and by dark we just headed east out of the city following an 18 th century aqueduct hoping to find a spot for the night. After a few km's another friendly Pemex gas station sufficed and the next day we found ourselves on winding country roads that snaked up mountains to 3500m. We passed numerous towns and villages with the usual partially completed buildings as we took a course east. The scenery changed around every bend except for the constant blanket of purple and yellow wildflowers. Things just got tougher as the mountain road from the town of Atlacomulco was not only torturous, it was terribly potholed. Eventually we hit a highway and skirted around the north of the capital, but Spanish signs and a completely confusing maze of roads (that all seem to have road works and massive speed breaks) really had us frustrated. We had no option but to take any road going north to get out of the mess eventually finding a linking secondary road at Zumpango that took us east to Otumba. A long 10 hours of driving saw us cover 350km to get to an overnight spot near Teotihuacan , again at a Pemex. Feeling quite lonely and sorry for ourselves as we reminisced of home, we settled into bed and sweated the night away. Dane in the interim had developed his 4 th episode of severe fever and headaches in the last few months and we decided to just put him on a course of anti malarials just in case, as it's rather tough to get blood tests on the road.

The 8 th October was a better day and we spent the morning exploring the sprawled out world heritage site known locally as ‘piramides'. Little is known about who built it or what its name was, but it dates back from 700BC with the two great pyramids of the sun and moon constructed in 100BC. It held 200 000 people at its height and was abandoned around 750AD until discovered by the Toltecs, and then the Aztecs who named it ‘place of the gods'. Although mostly reconstructed, these volcanic stone structures hint at what the city looked like – quite a feat without the benefit of the wheel or metal tools! More amazing is that we made it to the top of the world's third largest pyramid (Sun) – 248 huge steps, but what a view. We were also lucky to meet Fredrick from Sweden , who guided us to some outlying buildings with recently (1970's) discovered frescos – still colourful red murals depicting a religious theme with sacrifices, fertility and people frolicking in water.

After our visit, we decided to head south through the heart of Mexico City , this time lady luck was on our side and we landed on highways that took us to its historic centre. We just couldn't miss this ancient Aztec and Spanish capital with the famous Plaza de la Constitution bordered by the Metropolitan Cathedral and National Palace . Parking though was impossible in this busy cosmo area and we were forced south out of the 675 year old metropolis situated at 2240m. By now we had learnt to take direct toll roads in this country and stumbled upon the 95-D that took us up the surrounding mountains past a solid sea of grey buildings and down via Cuernavaca to camp along the highway. Sleep was however patchy as traffic and especially trucks changing to lower gears made a racket throughout the night.

We continued down the rather expensive toll road past Chilpancingo when cost and the terrain encouraged us to go back to the ‘libre' (free) road to Acapulco which was once again riddled with speed bumps. The 250km's was through incredible green mountains of the Sierra Madre with the latter part winding through little villages. Eventually the more humid coastal area supported mango, banana, papaya and avocado trees.

Acapulco is a typical scenic tropical resort town with green foothills surrounding a palm treed bay and a row of high rise hotels coupled with great shopping and sightseeing. We first did a driving tour to the western peninsula when a traditional restaurant advertising comida corrida (a set lunch special) caught our eye. With our basic needs satisfied we looked at a few hotels including the Copacabana before settling in for two nights at the $50 a night Maralisa Hotel – right on the sands of the Playa Costera. With the kids safely in the hotel, we hit the streets and the beachfront bars really live up to their wild reputation with scantily clad girls enticing customers by shaking their booty's! On the way home we met 2 locals at a Torta stand and together we chatted and gorged ourselves with the tastiest street Torta combinada – a massive sandwich with pork leg, ham, 2 cheeses, lettuce, salsa, tomato and avo all toasted to perfection!). Victor and Alonzo thoroughly entertained us the next day, driving us around the different sections of the city – from the wealthy hills with fabulous views, to the 500 year old downtown and La Quebrada. This is where brave cliff divers plunge 40m into a narrow cove with swirling surf. But the finale was to attend a local football match with these great guys and soak up the music, culture and corona! Dane in the interim had fully recovered – hopefully it's fully treated Malaria!

The 11 th October we struggled to find the highway going south and in the chaos we may have jumped a red traffic light while driving behind a friendly guiding taxi. Our first experience with the police was exactly as depicted in guide books – either they take your licence and you pay a hefty fine at the police station the next day or bribe – so after many apologies and explanations we of course had no choice but to take the latter which was a hefty $80! With this lovely birthday present to Gary , we managed to get onto the pacific coastal road where the tropical vegetation camouflaged the narrow, winding potholed road until we had to stop as a result of a horrific bus accident with loss of life. The locals advised us that clearing the road could take hours so we backtracked and found a narrow dirt track in the bush to bypass the scene. But that was another balancing act as vehicles from the other side had the same idea causing us to sit it out as locals with machetes cleared away trees for vehicles to park as one lane of cars passed through at a time. After an hour we were back on the narrow highway. We covered 250km in 7 hours and just made it to outside Pinotepa Nacional but light rain, darkness and rather reckless driving forced us to ask (gesticulate) a roadside restaurant to park on their property – and as always, we were welcomed. We could eventually celebrate Gary 's birthday with some chicken curry and ice-cream cake!

Averaging 40km/hour the trek continued southeast past Puerto Escondido to Zipolite, a hippie backpacker beach town set on a crescent 1 mile long with big surf. The heat and draw of the pacific waters guided us to a place right on the sand for the night and we were in paradise again. But we really wanted the turquoise Caribbean waters, so we were off for 380km via rather ‘artificial' Bahias de Huatulco where great natural bays have too much ‘investment and control'. Our ‘favourite' safe Pemex gas station in Rizo de Oro proved its worth yet again for the night. We were now in the state of Chiapas with the country's largest concentration of Indian communities who have descended from the Zapotec and Mayan civilisations.

The next day to San Cristobal de las Casas was over more mountainous passes and through Tuxtla Gutierrez , and numerous police points where our lack of Spanish saved us from having the vehicle searched. The fact that the soccer world cup is in SA next year also helped a lot. This colourful cobblestone stylistically Spanish city at 2100m has a mystical backdrop of cloud-shrouded mountains but the atmosphere is unmistakably Indian. We settled into a backpacker hostel, freshened up and walked the 500 year old streets lined with restaurants, shops, churches, markets and typical plazas. Local ethnic people were haggling their goods and the town seemed to have lively markets everywhere. We also arrived during a week of a cultural festival and the streets were alive with mime artists, walking musicians, clowns and even movie making scenes.

The next day we first did an early morning trip to experience Tzotzil life in a Maya village higher in the hills about 10km from San Cristobal . San Juan Chamula is a conservative and fiercely independent community where farmers in sheep-fur vests and women in multicoloured tunics with thick black wool skirts roam the village selling fruit and souvenirs in a market adjacent to the amazing Church of John the Baptist. Inside the church where Catholicism is not really practised, the dimness is illuminated by a sea of flickering candles and the tiled floor is strewn with pine needles. There are no pews, people sit on the floor and worshipers chant in front of statues of saints. Prayer and curing rituals involve rubbing their bodies with eggs or chickens (eventually they kill the chickens) while they drink fizzy drinks to help burp and expel evil spirits – a completely unbelievable sight to witness! Absolutely no photography or video allowed in the church, the last American who tried this was beaten to the ground! Utterly in awe, we headed back to San Cristobal fighting through the hectic traffic in these small one-way streets to find the Maya Medicine Development Centre. This museum illustrated how prayers, herbs and beliefs have helped ease the ills of Maya for generations – but a video showing their unique childbirth procedure mixed with superstitious beliefs (viewed with western eyes of course!) made Jo-Anne happy she was not a Mayan.

A torturous tough 200km through jungle passes took 6hours and as the day took its last breath, we were camping at a Pemex station in Palenque . Before the lush jungle really got steamy, we were up early and spent a few hours climbing the pyramid shaped temples and palaces of the ancient ruin that Maya people first occupied around 100BC. Palenque reached its zenith in the 7 th century under king Pakal and was abandoned in 900AD, sitting hidden until 1773. This well preserved and presented site's museum also did an excellent job displaying artefacts found here like Pakal's Jade mask, his intricately carved sarcophagus and hieroglyphic panels.

After a delectable Mexican lunch in the town we were about to tackle the 300km flat road north towards the gulf of Mexico when the cable ties holding up the exhaust had enough of the bumpy roads and the whole system fell to the ground. Luckily we had spotted a roadside muffler repair shop a few meters earlier that another cable tie nursed us to. Without proper parts, a plan was made and within 2 hours Tipperdee was in working order costing us just over $20! As usual, Pemex was the order of the night when we arrived at the coast in Champoton.

Tracking the Gulf of Mexico to Campeche we then crossed inland to Merida , a conquest-era city built atop of the Maya town of T'ho with stones from the pyramids. Most of the afternoon was to wander and absorb the colourful atmosphere of the streets, shops and plazas encircled by cathedrals and casas. Known for its wealth from the sisal extracted from the fibrous henequen plant, we had to acquire a local Maya hammock at the night market. Hotel Trinidad Galleria with a jumble of art was our stay for the night and the next day the road led east via Valladolid to Cancun .

We wild camped just north of this overdeveloped ‘gringo' tourist centre in Punta Sam, the car ferry departure point for Isla Mujeres. Just 8km offshore this 12km long slip of an island is surrounded by turquoise waters with the backdrop of palm fronds rustling in the ever present breeze. Tipperdee made up for the $45 return ferry journey there, being our transport to explore and provide the nights accommodation at the ferry terminal. Most of the time was naturally for beaches, first Playa Lancheros and the afternoon at Playa Norte with its lovely white-sand beaches. The evening stroll along the pedestrian Avenue Hidalgo lined with shops, vendor stands and several restaurants that spill onto the street was delightful and pleasing to the tongue!

Early the next morning of the 20 th October we were back on the ferry to the mainland and had a look at Cancun's Vegas-style ‘Zona Hotelera' set along a curved sandy spit, but the lack of beach access for Tipperdee encouraged a southward drive. But the ‘Riviera Maya' is a stretch of resort spas or golf courses, and the fishing village of Puerto Morelos proved similarly unsuitable to wild camping. We eventually moved on to Playa del Carmen and settled in for 2 nights at Hotel Hul-Ku, a cosy $30 a night place with a lovely tropical pool. This long beach town is more of our kind of tourist hangout with fine al fresco dining, bars, shopping and the glimmer of the nearby turquoise water fringed by powdery white sand.

On the 22 nd October we were back in Tipperdee heading south in search of the elusive perfect beach wild camping spot. Akumal and its pricey Yal-Ku lagoon didn't quite hit the spot, or the Sian Ka'an Biosphere reserve with its mangroves, lagoons and miles of sea-grassed beachfront – but what a lovely scenic drive to Punta Allen. With just over an hour of daylight and desperate for a swim, we found it! Parked on the gorgeous white sand with views of the turquoise Caribbean just south of the Mayan ruins of Tulum, we enjoyed our evening swim followed by a sunset walk. After pulling a stuck vehicle out of the sand we were alone when darkness arrived. We had the beach to ourselves until midday when beachgoers and the lack of shade encouraged our finding a Cenote (freshwater sinkhole that's part of an extensive subterranean river system through porous limestone rock). These cenotes dot the jungle of the Yucatan Peninsular and often look like ponds, but our visit to Gran Cenote just west of Tulum revealed an otherworldly environment of decorated underwater chambers. We could swim and snorkel in cool clear blue water with tropical fish, and venture into caverns with stalactites and stalagmites or through dark passage ways to adjoining ponds.

Rejuvenated and excited, we tackled the 3 hours to Majahual which sits on a largely unspoilt stretch of shoreline known as the Costa Maya. Just offshore is the pristine Meso American barrier reef and the idyllic isolation of this dirt two street village with only a paved seaside promenade lined with palapa restaurants is rather special. This is also a cruise ship destination which feeds the local economy and where a good friend from PE, Natarsha Bruinders lives. It is always so wonderful to see the expression on our friends faces when they actually come face to face with us and our Tipperdee – a sure sign that we are ‘for real'!! That evening we enjoyed a true SA style ‘braai' at a SA couple's home and many tequila's later ….

We spent the next 6 days in Majahual, helping Tash move house, enjoying the beachfront, dining out, chilling with cocktails or just relaxing with movies. Of course Tash had to introduce us to the local speciality drink, a spicy beer laced with lime and worstershire sauce, called Michelada. Tash's friend Ernesto invited us to a beachfront home about 5km along the coast where he prepared the most delectable spaghetti bolognaise and fresh fish baked in salt – needless to say the Italian can cook!

On the 29 th October, Tash and Ernesto joined us for trip inland to Bacalar, an authentic town unspoilt by Cancun like commercialism that sits on a gorgeous clear turquoise lagoon with seven shades of blue. We spent the afternoon at Steven's place, a friend of Tash, and cooked our last chicken curry before making our way to Chetumal for some desperate stocks before heading to Belize . On leaving Steven's house, we noticed that we could not engage 5 th gear and hoped that the situation was temporary. But after shopping and bidding farewell to Tash and Ernesto, we reversed to angle the vehicle for the grocery packing and discovered that it was stuck in the reverse gear! The parking lot at the shopping centre had to suffice for the night. Quick phone-calls to Tash to notify her of our desperate situation and a plan was organised for the next morning. After a restless, hot and sweaty night, Nick, a friend of Steven arrived to take Gary to a mechanic and explain our situation. Within an hour a tow truck had to be organized as they could not repair the transmission problem there and Tipperdee had to be winched onto a platform of the truck and driven to the workshop. We spent the night in a hotel not far from the workshop and early the next morning Gary was on his way to find out if all was okay with Tipperdee. Although friendly, prompt and great at problem solving, the mechanics workshop was a disorganised mess and the visit revealed the worse. Tipperdee's whole drive-train, transmission and what looked like every 'internal' organ was strewn all over the place. A selector the size of a thumb was broken but there wasn't a Toyota dealer for 500km. On hearing this bad news, we decided to check out of the hotel and wait it out in Tipperdee. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived as they were trying to assemble all the parts, but the last Toyota they worked on was 5 years ago and they reallly only worked on automatic transmissions!! In the end all things worked out and we were able to drive off after settling the bill of $450! We were off to park at the same shopping centre for the night in order to cross the border in the morning!

Adios Amigos!!

BACK TO TOP OF DIARY