The last few days

It was time to leave Mexico. We caught another civilised Mexican coach to the border of Guatemala, where, unbeknownst to us, everything was about to change!

Dumped at the border unceremoniously by our comfortable Mexican coach, we had to walk the distance between Mexican immigration and Guatemalan immigration. And here began our true submersion into the local culture. Backpacks were thrown onto the roof of a very typical, very painted, very colourful, very noisy, very smoky chicken bus – and we piled inside with all the local Guatemalans and what felt like every member of every one of their extended family. I’ve never seen so many people crammed onto a bench seat in a bus in my entire life!! It was like a domino effect when anybody wanted to get in or out, with everyone having to stand up to let anyone past. The larger Guatemalans even sat in the middle of the aisle with one cheek on either seat! I found myself nursing a two-year-old and three-year-old brother and sister while mother next to me contained the rest of the family and market produce. The most amazing thing about this experience was the vibrancy and the energy in the bus. From the colourful fabrics, to the smiles on their faces – we were as much a novelty to them as they were to us.

Our local bus eventually arrived in Quetzaltenango, which had some amazing grand architecture and an impressive Plaza des Armas – and the first modern shopping mall that we’d seen for three weeks! And then onto Panajachel, which is set on Lake Aitlan, surrounded by three amazing, beautiful volcanos. We were there for 2 nights, which gave us plenty of time to explore the local markets, surrounding rainforest and take an awesome boat trip on the lake to visit some of the surrounding villages. I tried not to do too much shopping because I knew we were going to the famous Chichi markets the next day.

If you’ve ever seen a photo of a colourful market in Central America – put them all together, and it will give you an idea of what Chichi is like! Be under no illusion that you’ll have time to make this a cultural experience – Chichi is all about the shopping, and you’ll get sucked in too!

Now here I am in Antigua after a great final group meal out, an awesome night’s salsa dancing, and a bunch of new friends I have to say goodbye to! This trip has been amazing and I totally recommend the Mayan Circle tour to anyone who wants a combination of cultural experiences, outdoor activities, relaxing beach holidays and adventures.

Cecily xx

Chichi markets

San Cristobal

We left Palenque pretty early in the morning for a long bus trip to San Cristobal. We started to wind our way up into the mountains and felt a pleasantly cool change of temperature. The scenery became progressively more impressive – and the roads progressively more windy. We got to San Cristobal into one of the nicest hotels on the whole trip – it had traditional colonial style architecture, and was beautifully refurbished – it was gorgeous! Red tiled roofs, pot plants, corridors and archways, narrow staircases all over the place – very cool. We were here for three nights, which was nice after having many two-night stops, so I decided to have one whole free day exploring the narrow cobble-stone streets, pastel-painted buildings, and a very interesting colourful local market. Some of the others decided to take the optional excursion to Sumidero Canyon. It was a hard decision about what to do – they had a fabulous time and saw a lot of wildlife in a boat trip up the canyon – but some of them did get car sick on the way there and back – so personally, I’m glad I didn’t go!

That night we went out – we must have hit three bars and two nightclubs – all with live salsa bands. The food was fabulous and there were way too many tequilas and margaritas consumed!! Our tour leader had arranged for us to go on a village excursion the next day, so I had to drag myself home at some stage.

Our village excursion was to the region of Chiapas, and there we visited the village of San Juan Chamula, which is one of the most intriguing, interesting places I’ve ever been to. The local guide was just amazing – it was quite a closed, alternative traditional community but he was well accepted there so it made our passage into the village a lot smoother and more interesting. I found the blend of the Mayan and the Catholic religion – and how the hid one under the other – fascinating. Having an insight into this was one of my most memorable tour experiences.

More partying, drinking and dancing wound up our last few days in Mexico!!

Agua Azul falls

Agua Azul sign!

Palenque - Agua Azul

Travelling from Merida to Palenque on a Mexican luxury air-conditioned coach with recliner seats was all good until the videos came on. If you do this tour don’t bother trying – they won’t turn the volume down! But the bus did get us to Palenque in good timing - and on a better bus than I have ever travelled on in Australia!

Palenque was hot, dry and the town not much to speak of – as we arrived I thought, ‘The ruins better be worth it!’

Boy, were they worth it! We combined a day trip around the ruins with an amazing, unexpected excursion to Agua Azul waterfalls in the afternoon. Our tour leader suggested the trip to the falls the night before as a combination, and we paid a couple of dollars extra per person to keep the minibus for the day. We got to swim in the most awesome, blue refreshing waterfalls. I swung off a rope, Tarzan-style, and dropped into a lush, clear river. There were so many different sections of waterfalls and rivers that we could swim in. There were also people walking around selling fresh mangoes and watermelons…it was paradise! I really don’t want to leave now!

Merida

Here I am in Merida. I’ve just had five days of a beach hit followed by a massive dose of ruins, which, famous as they are, lived up to all my expectations. The ruins came alive with the guides’ descriptions of the intricacies of Mayan history and culture. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure I was going to be interested in all the ruins as we went around, but so far so good. But now I’m in Merida, which is a beautiful Mexican city (the white city so I’ve heard), and all the old Spanish architecture, classic Spanish pot plants on the verandas, archways, stain work, etc is all very beautiful. I did a free city tour this morning (which the uni students take to practice their English) and learning about the history of the town was amazing – now I feel justified to sloth around and go partying tonight!!

Oh also – this is THE place in the world to buy hammocks!