A Long Bus Ride and Then Chetumal

We have been going at a furious pace the entire week so I have not had time to write anything about the temple ruins we have seen. But I will back fill our activities in Chiapas later. There is much to say and many pictures to show but I want to do it well rather than hastily.

This morning we got up early and left the earthy town of Palenque, Chiapas by bus. The trip was long, sometimes bumpy and punctuated by potholes and police checkpoints. At one stop, the police made Carlos our driver open the hold below the bus so that dogs could sniff our luggage. Mine was conveniently selected and the canine drug sniffer caught a whiff of my malaria meds, which caused a bit of a stir among the cops. But our ever helpful fixer, Alphonso, fixed everything and we were once again on our way. When I retrieved my luggage later I noticed they neglected to zip one of the pockets. Alas, these neglections are the bread crumb traces of power in Mexico.

Almost immediately after leaving Chiapas state the terrain changes dramatically. The jungle hills flatten out to marshy croplands. In some places in this state of Campeche the roads are pretty well maintained, with pedestrian overpasses and tidy little schools. In other places the poverty is apparent. Everywhere there are very young children and lots of dogs. Everyone seems to have a dog in this part of Mexico.

Some time in the late afternoon we rolled into Chetumal, a large city on the Atlantic side of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. It's a fairly wealthy city with an easy affluence that we did not see at all in the Maya regions of Chiapas. Car dealerships, shoe stores and knick knack shops serve as markers for the middle class. The word Chetumal means "place of the red wood" in modern Maya, but the only wood I saw was some face carvings in a tourist shop down the street from our hotel.

After a light dinner of soup and bread in the hotel restaurant, I walked with one of my colleagues down the main street of town. It looked like it had recently rained today because lots of the sidewalks were wet and puddles filled the streets. Loud music blared out from many of the shops and vendors selling belt buckles and earrings crowded the sidewalks. There are lots of passers by, young and old, men and women. It's a town with a good vibe.

The main street ends at Chetumal Bay, which faces east toward the Atlantic Ocean. A nice breeze played along the promenade and locals jogged alone in the easy twilight, or walked together hand in hand. Once the sun set the sky turned blood red and streaked palm tree silouhettes across the west side of the bay. Of course I did not have my camera so all I could do was enjoy the moment. Ah, Chetumal.