Friday, December 19, 2008

Tulum & Sian Ka'an Nature Reserve, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Pensinsula, Mexico

24th - 30th November

Arrived Tulum, Yucatan Peninsula (actually in Quintana Roo not Yucutan State as assumed).

"arrived in tulum yesterday, white beaches, fukin lush. missing you already. and alacran...

we got halfway, by some ruins, and stopped to stay in a roadside hotel. got chatting to the proprietor, a sweet man. he has a dog, a tiny kitten (a month old, SOOOO sweet!) and a very strange mountain pig that looks like an anteater. alacran was very bemused by the latter 2 creatures, running rings around the pig that the guy let run around loose. the guy then took us to the ruins in the dark (just the other side of the road) which was fucking cool as fuck. there was a really steep narrow staircase inside a tower which alacran followed us up. then getting down he got stuck at the top and whined hard, it was funny. i tried to carry him then he realised that wasn't going to work so he just did it. funny as fuck. later, i talked to the guy who asked what we were going to do about alacran, and he suggested taking him on. the other dog was a very fat little sausage dog, so they obviously fed him well. damian and i thought it would be a good place, but we worried about the practicalities of leaving him. so we decided to come back from tulum via here and then leave him, partly because i wasn't ready to leave him. so in the morning, we got in the car, started the engine, and alacran feigned complete disinterest and just sat there looking into the distance a little way away. we called him but he ignored us... he KNEW. so we asked if that was cool to leave him there and then, they said yeah sure, what does he eat? the fact they asked that was another good sign... so off we went, no goodbye cuddles... leaving alacran guarding his new ranch (they have a load of chickens too).

so were satisfied he's in a good place, perfect climate, plenty of space to run around and people passing through to play with.

where are you? did you make it?

i'm looking into coming to xela via belize and tikal cos it's direct - doesn't seem to cost anything more to come through. not done online research yet... if i do it'll be with damian and tori."

Tuesday
Beach at the Fishermans Co-op. Hot sun. White long beaches. Clear cool sea. Palm trees. Paradise.

Wednesday
Left Tulum with Axelle on board as latest crew member bound for Punto Allen at 4pm, arrived 10km short, in the dark to find the engine overheating on the driveway of a (para?) secret unmarked military base looking at first menacing running towards us with combats and machine gun - and got directed by a helpful bunch only one turn further down the 30km dirt road, while we waited 20 minutes for the engine to cool down enough to get to our very own private beach for only the 21 pesos to get in the Sian Ka'an National Reserve.

Thursday
On the beach, not very private anymore, joined by some jolly friendly local fishermen.

Friday
Left beach paradise, said goodbye to Axelle, Enzo and Mariposa, arrived by flook in the pimpest beachfront pad for free!

"so we went down from tulum to punto allen, cos tulum is a tourist trap and charge 80 pesos to string up a hammock, with enzo and mariposa and a nice french girl called axelle we met in tulum. the whole area is a nature reserve, with miles of lush white beaches (with loads of washed up rubbish though) and palm trees, and a lagoon on the other side of the road. you pay 21 pesos a day to be there but then it's free camping (not advertised as such though). we left tulum at 3pm, looking for a place described very vaguely in lonely planet, where you can see the sea on one side and the lagoon on the other. it got dark, then the car overheated (which it did earlier in the day too). strange. so we lifted the bonnet, and a trucker pulled over to help (in the dusk with 1000 mosquitos buzzing around). he noticed the main engine cooling fan wasn't working. we had a fiddle but could figure out what the exact problem was. so after letting it cool (20 minutes), we set off again. 3 stops later, we were a bit further than the lonely planet spot, looking for a spot to camp. we pulled into a track, unclipped the small chainlink fence, and stopped when i saw a mexican in combats with a machine gun running towards us.... and then 3 more. to make matters worse, the car was overheating again, so we had to sit there fro 20 minutes until it had cooled down. they were actually quite cool, it was really dodge at the time, we didn't know if they were paramilitaries, private security (guarding what?) or what... turns out they are military looking after the nature reserve. we said we were looking for somewhere to camp and they suggested the next left. which was a track leading to a private beach, with a bunch of trees and a well! meanwhile, we'd also picked up a couple of giant crabs running accross the road, so cooked them up for dinna. the next day (yesterday), we bought a bag of fish off some fishermen that came and said hello and fished for 50 pesos and had ceviche/fish soup combo and barbequed a couple too on our driftwood fire. lushcore.
this morning, i woke at sunrise (which was outstanding) while having my face eaten off by sandfleas that must've jumped onto my pillow when i dropped it. i had to walk around for 45 minutes until the sun got warm enough and they buggered off. nice sunrise though...
then, it rained and simulaneously i realised there's a leak in the radiator so had to refill with engine coolant (which luckily we have although can use water anyway). not sure how bad, will get it checked out asap, i just wanted to check you were still alive first.
belize looks likely, pretty cheap to get in and out (if the car works that is).
hasta pronto mi amor"

Saturday
Javier and his (?) pad, picked up Tori (Damian's friend from Colorado), a "boring nightmare" (in-joke, sorry).

"Last night me and damian gave a lift to this mexican guy just after separating from enzo & mariposa, without having yet found a place to stay, but were planning to squat the beach at a spot we knew. the guy offered us his place to stay, just inside the nature reserve. it's a $300 (that's US dollars) A NIGHT place he sometimes rents out!!!! Wooden, palapa roof, teak floor, 3 lush double beds (between 3 thats one each - jonah still wanted to sleep in his hammock on the porch though). Porch facing the white sand (nudist) beach 30m away. The geeza is a fisherman, today caught 7 kilos of lobster on his own! slightly bad ethically, he's not a member of the local fishing co-op, but that means he can only sell it for 250 pesos a kilo rather than 400. it also means he probably contributes to overfishing. either way, we're having lobster tonight!
So the guy, Javier, is quite a sweet guy, slightly crazy and hectic. So after we got to his place, after a beer, when he started fiddling with an empty beer can, things began to make more sense. We hooked up with a crackhead fisherman! I respected his position though - he explained that it was his thing, and that even if we wanted some he wouldn't give it to us, let alone offer it. It reminded me of the time in Delhi when I met this Russian guy who took me for a ride around the concentric streets on his Harley, then after we stopped off at his hotel and explained to me he was going to jack up in the bathroom, that he was telling me in the sprit of openness (rather than doing it secretly), but that he again wouldn't even consider letting me have any even if i wanted it (which i clearly didn't).

Anyway, swede as a nut, free place to stay. The geeza, Javier, also hooked us up with a mechanic. So the water pump is fucked, to fix it is 500 pesos, another 700 for the part, and 500 to service the fan. Should be done by tonite. According to the guy in the parts shop over the road from the mechanic, there are loads of jeeps around here so parts are pretty easy to come by. So, I asked him to run the computer and do a diagnostic, which is 250 pesos (better than the 300 in Oaxaca) in order to determine which O2 sensor is fucked, cos I forgot. I took the decision given that parts are cheap and plentiful compared to how they might be in the rest of Central America, and that then we can turn the Check Engine light off see if anything else goes wrong, before it causes more damage. I hope that's OK with you.

Dont get salmonella. please.
Tori arrives tonite. Need to find 2 more to fill car to leave for Belize Sunday (day after tomorrow). Party tonite on the beach."

Sunday
Picked up Enzo and Mariposa who were trying to hitchhike to Belize, left Javi's teak joint, arrived cheapest hotel in Chetumal, on the Mexico-Belize border (Jose Luis Hotel) bound for Belize.
girls underwear photo shoot photographer and his stooges

Chiapas

16th - 21st November San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico

Arrived San Cristobal de las Casas, capital of the Zapatista Uprising of 1994. Stayed at Hostel Posada Mexico, blagged a private room to share for the price of a dorm, dog friendly.

Monday
Kicked out of hostel and put in cheaper sister hostel for less money around the corner. Dog happier, less people. Sleeping outside.

Tuesday
Gorge ride on a daytrip from San Cristobal down Cañon del Sumidero in a speedboat. Alacrán loved it as much as I, riding on the bow.

Wednesday
Alacrán got lost. Eve went looking, worried. Dog went back to other hostel.

Thursday
Dia de la Revolución - against the Spanish.

Friday
Left San Cristobal with Enzo and Mariposa, a cute Colorado couple also going to Palenque.

21st - 23rd November Palenque

Arrived Palenque, well El Patchán actually, but who's checking anyway. Dog still in tow. Stopped at Agua Azul, swam in the lush green pool at the top end of the waterfalls despite the tourist tat stalls and the 50 pesos the EZLN charged us and gave us a ticket for just before the 'actual' entrance fee of 50 pesos, Alacran didn't swim.

Saturday
Staying in hammocks under a palapa at Rakshita's, El Patchán, literally metres inside the National Park boundary, arrived at through a path from metres outside the boundary.


Checked out Palenque. Big ruins. Lots of tourists.
Met a couple of guys on our way out who were from Tabasco, a couple of hours away, and shared their crate of beer. Interesting and amusing cultural exchange. He was a headteacher from a town, and had a small ranch. We invited him to the (crappy) restaurant that was the only one in the jungletown. He (and his family and driver) then left.

Sunday
Left Palanque behind bound for Tulum with Damian, Enzo and Mariposa and Alacrán, leaving Eve (feeling increasingly frustrated with her less-than-conversational Spanish) to go to Quetzaltenango to start before me at an intensive school, living with a local family for at least a week. Need to try and find a home for Alacrán soon. Arrived Xpujil [pronounced spoojill].

Monday
Left Xpujil AND ALACRÁN! He just wanted to stay! Like he knew he was meant to!

South of Oaxaca - San Jose del Pacifico & the Pacific

5/11 - 8/11 San Jose del Pacifico

Wednesday
Discovered the reason I didn't sleep very well is that we're slept underneath some very large power lines. Doh.
Found some mushrooms, trekked off into the forest and got slightly trippy, crazy clouds. Base camp was a lush green clearing by a stream. Scrambled up hillside and surfed down on pine needles.

Later, met Alacrán at another hostel & chilled with some Mexican guys. We got on pretty well. We came back to the cabaña, Alacrán went to sleep outside.


Thursday
Bumped into Alacrán again, at that time it was Hongo (mushroom). He followed us around all day, we went for a walk, he waited outside while we had dinner at this amazing Italian place called Los Duendes - the leprechauns. Had an amazing steak, local, fresh meat and huge and delicious for 60 pesos - ouch though amazing value. Alacrán slept outside on blanket.


Friday
Chilled day, then went to Oaxaca in afternoon to pick up car.

Stayed night in Oaxaca, slept in car outside hostel as hostel was closed when I got back.

Saturday
Left Oaxaca with 2 hitchhikers picked up from the hostel in the morning to share petrol, arrived back at San Jose del Pacifico to pick up crew - Damian, Eve and Chantelle (Jay and Julia had gone ahead)... and Alacrán (still known at this stage as Hongo). He just jumped into the car when saying goodbye, jumped into the boot of the car and just sat there. Arrived San Angustinillo after tortuous drive through windy mountain roads at night - not Mazunte as we thought! Staying at this guy's house we met after 15 minutes of getting into town, geeza called Antonio. Nice terrace looking over the top of the rest of the village to the sear, sleeping in Jonah's tent. Realised we left skillet in Oaxaca. Doh. Played poker at Derek's bar, Casa Magica, a real nice place with cold beer and good music. First time playing poker, lost 200 pesos. Funny characters, an very drunk Argentine guy, Carlos who runs the Luna Nueva, Ross the American, Shane the Canadian Indian.

8/11 - 15/11 San Angustinillo and the beach

View from our place

Sunday
Alacrán loves the beach, a mountain dog that's never seen the sea before. Pescadillas - like quesadillas, but with fish. These sellers stroll up and down the beach, selling 4 for 20 pesos. Very addictive.

Monday
Went into Pochutla (aka Chipotle) to get supplies, dog worming tablets, flea shampoo. New favourite street food - barbacoa tacos.
Beach.
Jay made ceviche... mmmm... and then gave us his amazingly sharp Japanese knife. wow.

Tuesday
Beach.
Nearly drowned. Dangerous undercurrent. Not going out of my depth again until I can swim properly.

Wednesday
Beach.
Bought lush hammock for 360 pesos (ouch).
Fuil moon. Swam under the moon at night, doing flips into waves. Fun.

Thursday
Beach.
Concerned about what to do with Alacrán. We can't travel with him for ever.
DJed with Damian aka DJ Razzmataz at La Barritta. At about 11, the owner wanted me to play more salsa, so did, then everyone left. This guy has a drum kit in front of the system, on which he gets and jams it up. Which was great... for a while.

Friday
Beach.
Another game of poker, only lost 50 pesos.

Saturday
Left the beach - changed mind about staying until the weekend for the Jazz Festival - and with dog in tow, still loving it. Arrived in Tehuantepec, staying at a nice cosy motel in town, 5 sharing 2 double beds pushed together (no funny business). Dog inside because kid scared of him being playful.

Sunday
Left Teohuantepec, after checking out Sunday market soon after sunrise while everyone setting up. Lush to see the calm before the storm.

Oaxaca

Friday 31/10 - Tuesday 4/11/2008

Friday - Oaxaca, Halloween
Took car to mechanic to have transmission fixed, making increasingly disturbing noises. Cost estimate at 10,000 pesos maximum. Ouch. Called back later, transmission now in pieces and will cost 19,000 pesos - that's £1000 - more money as transfer chain also needs replacing. Barter to 15000, then 14000 pesos. Still outrageously expensive for South Mexico. But they kinda have us by the balls, with the transmission in pieces. Parts cost 4 times what they cost in the US, but no time... hence price.

Eve dressed in my braces and trousers outfit, looking sharp.

Jay and 15ft tall paper mache dude

Dancing down the streets, crazed salsa soundclash - as soon as one stopped the next started, passing bottles of mezcal around between smiling strangers, failed to find a good bar despite getting sent over to a place with a live band by the bartender of the sister venue - they wouldn't let us in.

Saturday - Day of the Dead, Oaxaca
Morning went to cemetary. Lots of flowers, bright colour. Highlight - awning and patio grave with table and chairs. Symbolic of the light yet reverential atmosphere, where people still smiled at each other and said hello.

Extremely tasty street food - hard to get a handle on what's called what though - empandadas, tlayudas...

Partied at the cemetary/graveyard, with a carnival set up outside, inside with 2 brass street bands playing a soundclash, playing a twisted up salsa/cumbia/merengue mashup, with an experimental jazz vibe thrown in. Hard to dance sensibly to but easy to get down... in the graveyard. The atmosphere was incredible - drinking and dancing and livin it up, in the most unlikely (from a non-Mexican perspective) of places. The Day of the Dead is a pre-Columban festival, celebrating the dead. Replete with skeleton imagery, the dead are treated with reverence and respect, and celebrated as people do best - by having fun.

Sunday
Watched film at hostel, a great place called Banana Magic Hostel. Nice airy but part covered courtyard, rooftop patio garden, with kitchen, internet, dorm beds for 70 pesos.

Monday
Last day in Oaxaca, tried to sort out some film contacts. The 'Cine 8 Cafe' is run by a not particularly political couple, so not much use. Pablo, the hostel owner, is trying to get a friend of his to meet me, we keep missing each other. He's a film buff, probably with some useful ideas.

Tuesday
Decide to leave for San Jose del Pacifico by bus, a few hours South, while car is at mechanic, with some people from the hostel - Damian, a bearded mountain goat from Boulder, Colorado, US , Jay Tostado, a Mexican guy from Tijuana with a very funny name - "Hey man, I'm Jay Tostado", Chantelle, a reserved black London girl, and Julia, the squeamish German psychology student who Jay really wanted to score with (some names changed to protect the guilty).
Stayed at a cabaña, with an awesome mountainside view down the West side of the valley.