Day 70 : Route to Panajachel, Lake Atitlan

At 8am, all the shuttles to Rio Dolce, Flores and Antigua had arrived to pick up the rest of the group that had gone with me to the Semuc Champey tour.  Having spent a couple of good quality days together, we were sad to say our goodbyes. 

After about 10 minutes wait, with no sign of my pickup showing up, I started getting worried.

This is the last leg of my open ticket which I had bought with the tour agency REPTSA, and had been concerned about being scammed. 

Max, the owner of El Muro Hostel on Lanquin, had called the agency to confirm my ticket and seat yesterday.

Seeing the worried look on my face, Max  recalled REPTSA again, and was told no one on their end confirmed my seat with the local shuttles yesterday, but they will call the shuttle driver and have them pick me up. 

After waiting for another 10 minutes with still no signs of a shuttle, Max called the shuttle driver instead, as he had close contact with the local shuttles.  The driver told Max they had not received any calls from the agency, but will come and pick me up in any case.

A couple minutes later, the shuttle arrived. PHEW! 

It was more of a bus this time round, and was a slightly more comfortable ride than the small shuttle.

Max had been super nice and hospitable to me throughout the whole time I stayed at El Muro, and his help on the shuttles had been a life saver. Thank you Max!

It was another 10hr drive.  It didn’t look like it would take that long based on the distance on the map, however the roads were windy, as we drove across the mountainous regions of Guatemala. 

Once again, there were beautiful views of the mountains and countryside, however this time with more small villages dotted around enroute to Panajachel, Lake Atitlan.

Day 69 : Semuc Champey

Wading into caves, rope swings, tubing on a river, jumping off a bridge, trekking through a nature reserve to swim in turquoise coloured pools, that's what Semuc Champey had to offer. 

It had been an exhilarating day! 

6 of us from the hostel went together for the El Muro Full Day tour – 1 Dutch (Saunders), 3 Kiwis (Cameron, Nick, Alex), 1 Aussie (Klarissa), and I.

Day 68 : Route to Lanquin

17 people were squeezed on a small shuttle generally meant for 15.  I am glad I got in the shuttle early enough to take a seat where I had enough space to stretch out my legs.  

The sun is permanently out again, as we took the shuttle from Flores to Lanquin, which took 8.5hrs.

It's the first time I am travelling through the country of Guatemala with good weather, and it was a good thing too.

The roads were windy and views were picturesque. Rolling mountains, open pastures and farmlands filled the scenes as we travelled up and down windy mountainous roads towards our next destination. 

Day 65 – 67 : Flores

I am glad that on the final day of my stay in Flores, the rain had subsided and the sun came out, giving me a chance to properly explore the island. 

It must had been less than regular rainfall that Flores gets, as the water level around Flores seemed higher than usual, and in some spots overflowed into the streets.

Flores is a very beautiful small round island, connected to Santa Elena (the mainland) by a bridge, with only a few streets, running in a circular manner. 

Tikal, Guatemala

I originally intended to visit Tikal on Sunday, giving it 1 day for the rain to pass and hopefully better weather. 

However the staff at RETPSA that sold the ticket said it would be better to do it on Saturday, as admission is free for locals on Sundays, and Tikal would be crowded.  They also mentioned, that the rain usually starts in the afternoon, and so I signed up for the 4.30am trip departure on Saturday. 

It poured heavily before I left the hostel in the wee hours of the mourning, and stopped momentarily as we walked towards the shuttle and started again on the 1.5hr drive towards Tikal. 

Fortunately, throughout the entire time we were on our Tikal tour, there wasn't any rain, and interestingly enough, the moment we hopped onto the shuttle to head back to our hostel, it started raining again. 

Someone must be looking out for me, as I also had fantastic weather on my snorkel trip in Caye Caulker, in between a couple days of downpour!

Border Crossing with Hurricane Otto

It started to rain again this morning, as I left Caye Caulker towards Flores. It wasn't a short downpour but torrential rain throughout the entire 1hr boat ride to Belize City and the 5.5 hour bus ride towards Flores.  Likely caused by the recent Hurricane Otto which hit Nicaragua and Costa Rica a couple days ago.

The direct bus from Belize City to Flores was ran by Mundo Maya company, and departed an hour later than scheduled.  It was a big bus, with only 1 other passenger and I!  I expected there to be more people. 

Despite the heavy downpour, we made good time and reached the border crossing in less than 3 hours, catching up with a smaller shuttle that left Belize City 45mins before we did.  A departure fee of USD20 had to be paid, before we could get to immigration. 

Day 62 – 64 : Caye Caulker, Belize

Caye Caulker, an island located in the Caribbean Sea, was the only place I visited in Belize. 

The ferry from Chetumal transits in San Pedro (the island made famous by Madonna in the song "La Isla Bonita") for immigration purposes before arriving in Caye Caulker. A supposedly 2hr journey, the entire journey took us about 4 hours, including immigration clearance. 

Yuma’s House, Caye Caulker

There are a number of hostels available on Caye Caulker, with many which had rather unfavourable reviews online.  Some even indicated had mouse droppings in the rooms, or had seen rats, to others complaining about bed bugs in various hostels. 

While searching for options to stay, I came across Yuma's House, which seemed to have only good and no bad reviews. It also mentioned that they are quickly fully booked, so I made it a point to send an email to the hostel to reserve a bed while I am there. 

The property is located just next to the San Pedro Belize Express water taxi terminal and had a very welcoming entrance with its brightly litted property, colourful painted walls and blue seats and swings and hammocks in the open area.

Day 62 : Chetumal Mayan Museum

Chetumal is the capital of Quintana Roo. It is also a point of entry into and out of Mexico by sea, from Belize. 

Although it's the capital, it's a very small town, with no major noteworthy attraction.

Day 61 : Bacalar

I had not heard of Bacalar prior to this trip.  However while travelling over the last few weeks in Mexico, the name came up a number of times with fellow travellers I had met along the way, with strong recommendations to visit.

Located about 40km from Chetumal and just a small detour from Calakmul to Chetumal, I decided to stay 1 night in Bacalar with time to explore in the morning before returning the car, and of course accompanied by Alex and Pau, whom had also expressed interest in visiting Bacalar after hearing numerous stories about the lake too. 

By the time we arrived at the hostel Magic Bacalar, it was already pitch dark and we were extremely exhausted. 

I woke up early in the morning with hopes to catch the sunrise. As it was cloudy, I had a dramatic view of the magnificent orange hues forming on the edges of the clouds, with the same shades reflected in the still lake.

Day 59 – 60 : 3 Strangers on a Road Trip to Calakmul

I had read good reviews about Calakmul, located in the middle of a jungle with all temples climbable and with little visitors. There's a good reason for the little crowd, since getting there wasn't easy without own transportation and tours were very expensive.

Adamant on visiting the site, I decided to rent a car for 2 days and was prepared to go on my own, staying a night each in Zoh Laguna and Bacalar. 

It would had cost me close to S$200 for the car and gas if I had done it alone. By luck, I managed to get 2 more people whom I hardly knew to join, just the day before I was due to travel to Chetumal to pick up the car. 

First was Pau from Spain, a chance encounter as he happened to share a table with me at a local taco place. We had a random conversation regarding each others travel plans, and when he heard of my plans to Calakmul, he expressed interest on joining the road trip, and immediately bought the bus ticket from Tulum to Chetumal for the next day. Pau didn't speak much English, so I am proud of myself for explaining in Spanish!

The second person was Alex, a Venezuelan guy, whom works as a volunteer at the Weary Traveller Hostel where I was staying. He heard about my plans when I first arrived into the hostel, but was only keen to join and split cost only if there were more than 2 people.

Day 56 – 58 : Tulum

Located about 1 hour from Playa del Carmen is Tulum, which could be referred to the town of Tulum, the Tulum Ruins or the beaches of Tulum. 

I had spent 3 days in Tulum, and stayed in the Town Centre.  It was a small undeveloped village dotted with some restaurants on the main road, with no signs of any famous fast food burger joints, a total opposite of Playa del Carmen.  This gives it a very laid back feel, with it being a rather sleepy town during the day, with slightly more activity in the night. 

The most beautiful beach in Tulum is El Paraiso, located about 10mins drive from the town centre.  It spots beautiful white sand beach with very clear water. Being way less busy than the beaches in Playa del Carmen, it was a more pleasant beach to laze down and sunbathe with more personal space.

Day 53 – 55 : Playa del Carmen

3 days in Playa del Carmen had gone by so fast! I had originally intended to spent a day visiting Cancun and Cozumel just to see how it looks like, but never got the time to do it.

It was also very expensive to go to Cozumel just for a day trip, with a return ferry ticket costing USD70.
I also heard Cancun is more populated than Playa del Carmen, and unlike Playa del Carmen where the beach is easily accessible by walking from the town, one needs to take a Collectivo from Cancun town centre to the beach, and thus skipped the idea for Cancun too. 

Playa del Carmen is filled with constantly new apartments coming up in the city centre, with the main touristy street called 5th Avenue, which is lined with numerous gift shops, restaurants and travel centres. 



From 5th Avenue, one can easily access the beach.  Soft white sand beach, with clear water.  However, I personally felt that the main Playa del Carmen beach is too crowded and didn’t really like it.

Day 50 – 52 : Valladolid

Valladolid is located in the Yucatan region, between Merida and Cancun. 

A very small town, there isn’t too much to do within the city itself. 

I wasn’t in Valladolid for the city, but rather to use it as a base point to visit the infamous Chichen Itza. 

It is also closely located to Ek Balam Archaeological site, as well as a few famous Cenotes, such as Cenote Ik Kil and San Lorenzo Oxman.  There is even a Cenote in the centre of the town, which looked really big and nice, but I had my fill of Cenotes for the day when I went to check it out.

There were always groups of people dancing in the different plazas when I walked around, possibly because it was a Friday evening. 

I did however had the best crepe in my life, from a store vendor located in Parque Francisco Canton – Crepe with Nutella and Strawberries… Heavenly!

 

 

 

 

 

Day 52 : Ek Balam

Ek Balam is located about 30 mins by collectivo from Valladolid.  Again, I was shocked at the entrance fee, not as high as Chichen Itza, but still a slap on the wrist with a state fee of MXP127, on top of the “standard” MXP 65 entrance fee. 

There wasn’t much crowd at this site, since most of the attention goes to Chichen Itza, but there were still a couple tour groups that came through while I was there. 

The excavated area of Ek Balam is rather small, and could be easily covered in 40mins, with almost every monument climbable. 

Day 51 : Chichen Itza

There had been a lot of mixed reviews about Chichen Itza, some say to go, others say to skip because there are too many tourists and you can't climb onto any of the monuments. 

Having travelled such a long distance and maybe never getting another chance to be in Mexico again, I figured that I should just do it and make my own decision whether I like it or not. After all it had made it onto the list of the New 7 Wonders of the World, so it shouldn't be that bad. I'll just leave early in the morning as I usually had done with the other Archaeological Sites, to avoid the crowds, especially since many had said the tourists usually only reach at about 10am.

I only managed to reach the site at about 8.30am, due to some delay at the hostel with a slightly later breakfast service and waiting for the Collectivo to fill up before it would leave.  Upon arriving at Chichen Itza grounds, the Collectivo driver announced "Chicken Pizza". Everyone laughed.

There was already a couple of tour buses at the carpark ... "Damn! Aren't they suppose to only arrive after 10?" 

I quickly made my way to the ticket counters and waited for my turn. Then I saw the cost of the tickets... MXP237?!?

This is ridiculously expensive – the cost of the entrance was the usual MXP65, but apparently that's just the Federal fee. The State had decided to slap a State fee of MXP167 on top of that, just to rip off the tourists (Mexicans pay a slightly lesser State fee).

I was starting to have 2nd thoughts on going in, and then I thought, "What the heck, I am already here. It's expensive, but a small fraction of the cost of my Airticket to get to Mexico".  

The queue was super slow as I had to pay the 2 different fees at 2 different counters. This is a stupid system and a time waster. No wonder there was a long queue waiting to go in. 

I walked into the entrance and followed the path, with make-shift store vendors starting to put up their wares along the path. Soon I got to a clearing and right in front of me was the iconic monument seen on most pictures and postcards on Chichen Itza – El Castillo.

Day 51 : Cenote Ik Kil

Located on the way from Chichen Itza back to Valladolid is Cenote Ik Kil. This is the 2nd cenote I had visited thus far, and completely different from Cenote San Lorenzo Oxman.

It was very commercialized, with a huge parking ground and a few tour buses.

Walking in, a modern building had been built around the cenote, with proper changing and bathing areas and lockers that had to be rented, as bags are not allowed into the cenote area. 

There’s even security to keep a sharp eye and prevent people from going down if they had their belongings with them, or had not taken a shower at one of the many showering points located just outside the stairway.

Day 50 : My 1st Experience at a Cenote

Just barely an hour after arriving in Valladolid, at the recommendation of the people at the Hostel La Candaleria, I made my way towards Cenote San Lorenzo Ozman. 

Located about 4km away, there was no collectivo service, and the staff suggested renting a bike.  However, not being keen on paying hourly rental on the bike while I am at the cenote and concerns about the bike being easily stolen, I decided to walk. 

I had done hours of walking before, and 1 hour walking to the cenote shouldn’t kill me!

The path took me through the city centre and some residential neighbourhoods. 

About 20 mins later, I came across a train track and some directions pointing through remote sandy paths for the way towards San Lorenzo Ozman.

Day 48 – 49 : Merida

Merida is another colonial town located in the Yucatan region. Prior to arriving to Merida, many travellers had told me that they had enjoyed staying in Merida, and I can see why. 

There is a good vibe in the city, with numerous activities happening each day.

There are also a number of beautiful colonial buildings around Parque Grande as well as along Paseo de Montejo.

Most of these buildings are usually converted into a museum of some kind, and entrance is free.