Crew Evaluation and Yaxchilan/Bonampak Ruins

Kickin' back in San Cristobal for the time being. We had three nights here and I took advantage of the "free days" to catch up on sleep and paperwork.

Things have been rolling steadily along with the group. I paralleled the first week of the trip with another tour guide named Kevin that works for a company tied close to ours. He pretty much runs one trip back to back through the year... it just so happens that the trip is several months long from Panama to Anchorage, Alaska! Pretty hardcore trip. It was cool hanging out with him and getting some tips for my upcoming trips south to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Plus the man's a dancing machine and tore it up all night to Reggae grooves with my group in San Cristobal!

The trip has been OK so far. We've had a couple of good nights and checked out some places I haven't seen up till this trip, but I'm lacking a really tight connection to the group. I know that they are having a good time and that's all that counts.

Having a little bit of cultural differences with the American on my trip (a little bit of an oxymoron it seems). On the surface it one would think that we would be friends - we both collect transformers. What are the chances that 2 transformer collecting nerds would unite on a Mexican adventure tour? Almost 0. But yes, he is a collector and from our conversation I came to realize a much more eagar collector than I. He only collects MISB (mint in sealed box) transformers and stores them in a room equipted with airtight cases and a motion detection alarm system. I just have mine tossed in a rubbermade bucket labeled "Transformers". And that my friends is where the similarities end. I have a hard time with people that: 1. Tell me how I should run my own show. I know that sounds a little controling but I hate telling a group how we're going to do something and then having someone say "Yeah... that sounds ok but it would be better if you did it like this..." 2. Speaks "at" Mexican people in English loudly and then doesn't get it when they don't understand him... and who's Spanish vocabulary goes no further than yelling "Que pasa!" at people and asking them where "el toileto" is at and 3. Has the balls to say "I'm not racist but it's the niggers that always shit all over the toilet seat". This my friends is just the tip of the iceburg. Anyways... I'm trying my hardest to keep my smile on with this guy and just keep moving. Intrestingly enough I think he thinks that we're homies because he hangs out around me and showers me with stories about how hardcore of a pimp he is in Poland and how he's been hackin' databases since age 4.

Big Boy Boston

Anyways, at least Bong is proving to be pretty hilarious. Pretty much what I would expect from a guy whose namesake is a waterpipe. He makes time pass quickly in the van by asking everyone really personal questions and sharing his own quirky personal experiences - ie. the Mexican guy that snuck into his bed the night before the trip. It's interesting to see Bong hold court with the crew and I also gotta respect the fact that he's hilarious in a second language.

The highlight of the trip for me was a day trip south from Palenque to visit the ruins of Yaxchilan and Bonampak on the Mexico/Guatemala border. Driving south from Palenque it took 3 hours to reach the Usumacinta river launch point for the ruins of Yaxchilan. In order to visit the ruins you have to rent a lancha (boat) from the Hotel Escudo Jaguar and chug 45 minutes up river. The boat ride was quite an experience as the boat itself was long and thin and weight had to be distributed evenly so as not to tip. Even still I found myself gripping the edge on every turn as the sides of the boat wobbled within inches of submersion! Plus with the addition of the big guy, things got a little tricky. The trip up river was nice... we saw quite a bit of wildlife - crocodiles, howler monkeys and macaws. I was really impressed by the macaws as it was the first time that I have seen them in Mexico. Called "Guacamayas" in Spanish, these birds used to be fairly common in the southern jungle region of Mexico but have all but disappeared. While we were making are way up river about 5 flew over our heads in the boat and I was super pumped. My group on the other hand didn't seem so impressed and showed about as much enthusiasum deemed worthy of a squirrel sighting at SqurrielTown USA.

Anyways... made our way to the drop off point, unloaded and climbed the river bank up to the entrance. The ruins themselves were pretty impressive. There is a large acropolis that sits closest to the river and a couple of smaller acropolis' that rest on increasingly higher hills overlooking the main set of temples. Most of the temples are still in great condition, some still adorned with crests on the roofs. There are a couple of impressive stellae and the stonework on the walls of the temple are still detailed in many places. To me though, the main attaction of these ruins is the setting. Still surrounded by lush jungle the ruins seemed to be more alive, more mysterious than others I have visited. And the setting itself makes it harder to get to, thus it is less populated with teeming hordes of day-tripping ruins "touristas". There's something to be said about exploring the moss-slicked temples in semi-seclusion and absorbing the mystic Mayan vibes while the screams of howlers and the clicking "cree-cree" of toucans fill the humid air. I really enjoyed it.

Chillin' @ Yaxchilan


The Sleepy Boat Ride Back


The Boat Launch on Rio Usumacinta

After a sleepy return trip to the van we made our way to Bonampak. These ruins are about 30 minutes inland from the river. They are most well known for the incredibly well preserved wall paintings discovered in three rooms in the main temple there. It is the only site in all of the Mayan world that has paintings that have survived the humid tropical weather and 100's of years since their creation. The group wasn't so excited about the place (and were less excited about the mandatory $70 peso "bus" - read dilapatated van - ride that we had to take to enter the site) but I think that they were oblivious to the importance of the paintings. They are incredible to see. It is the only surviving example that in vivid color display the costumes, cerimonal dress and rituals of the Mayan people. Quite incredible to see I must say.

The Crew @ Bonampak

On the way back we saw something crossing the road. It was quick, slinky, long and black, with a long tail. It looked cat-like to me and the person in the front seat but it was so fast that we didn't have time to accurately i.d. it. When I got back to MayaBell and asked Candelario (the groundskeeper) and El Rojo (resident hippie/pirate) about it, they told me that it was probably "Una pantera" - a panther. Not quite sure because to me it didn't look tall enough to be a jungle cat... but if anyone asks it's going to go down in history as my panther sighting!