Tuesday - Chichen Itza -
Driving to Chichen Itza

Francisco was our friendly bus driver who was QUITE informative about this entire region of Mexico. He wasn't just reading out of a tour book, he had the most up to date information on research done on the area and had a great love of it.

First, we drove down past all the hotels again and through Cancun City - and out into the REAL city, i.e. where the real people live. Suddenly things weren't flowers and manicured lawns. Here, the streets weren't taken care of, the houses were tiny and jammed together. It was sad, to see how "real locals" lived vs the huge expense put into the tourist areas.

But we'd only begun our trip. The further we got out from Cancun, the more run down the surroundings. Francisco showed us a short promo movie for Gray Line and then explained that the ride out to Vallanolid and Chichen Itza was 1 1/2 hours - all with straight line driving amongst shrubs. Nothing to see. So he recommended we sleep and gain our strength for the walking and touring. We all did.

He woke us up as we approached Vallanolid, an ancient city that had long since been invaded by pirates, taken over the by Spanish conquerers. Poor and rich live side by side here. You'd see a well kept house with an expensive foreign car in the gated parking lot, right next to a run-down house with thatched roof and wooden walls. All were VERY close together, for protection.

The church had been built by tearing down the pyramid here and using the stones to build the church. It is the oldest church in Mexico. We didn't stop anywhere, just drove through the narrow streets and looked at the houses. We all cheered at one point as the bus driver managed to make it around a very tight corner. The buildings were RIGHT up against the street, with stucco walls.

There were many Mayan men and women. Most were in 'modern' dress though a few Mayan women were wearing the traditional white dresses with colorful embroidery on them. I wondered if, once those women had passed away, anybody would be left wearing the traditional clothing. I also wondered what the poor townsfolk thought of tour busses full of 'nice house' Americans driving by and gawking at how the locals lived.

We made one stop at a "market" - but it wasn't really a market. It was a walled compound with a gated entry way that only tour busses went into. It had restrooms and a bunch of market areas where you were supposed to "haggle" for prices. However everything was obviously touristy and extremely expensive to begin with. One guy tried to talk with me and ask if I was there on vacation and if this was my honeymoon. I was shy and escaped to mom and Jenn. We *did* get to try Xtabentun, which is a honey-anise traditional Mayan drink that they serve to sacrificial victims before slaying them. Xtabentun is the name of the flower from which the honey is gotten. The anise part was actually added by the Spaniards after they took over the region. I liked the drink and got some at the duty-free shop on the way home.

I was worried we would miss our bus, and at first we couldn't find it amongst the other tour busses, but luckily it was actually over in a far corner for some reason. We got back on and headed out. Soon we got into more rural areas, with houses that were literally sticks tied together with sticks on top. Francisco explained that there weren't even markets out here so their food came from tiny gardens and the fruit trees they planted in their yards. The 'jungle' around them was actually the fruit trees that kept them alive. Some had scrawny chickens, but no other livestock was evident anywhere. The people watched us as we passed their tiny homes in our big, shiny bus. Jenn, mom and I talked about how they probably were happier than we were, with far less stress and worry. But I considered that they probably would love to have more food types, perhaps more nutritious choices instead of risking anemia and other malnutrition problems. Maybe they'd like to travel, to see other lands, to read books on various subjects. But while we have the choice of 'living simply', they don't have the choice of exploring and learning. Which seems a shame, especially for the children.

We saw our only lizard of the trip resting alongside the road on an embankment, he was maybe 2' long and lounging. Soon we turned into the Mayaland Hotel, which again was a HUGE difference from the surrounding area. The locals had scant clothes and dirt lawns ... but Mayaland was a lush, flower-filled resort.

Mayaland Hotel for Lunch

Main Cancun Travelogue Page

Lisa's Main Travelogue Page