When we first started planning this trip, Daughter Deanna told us about Viator, a tour company that they used when she and her husband stayed at Vidanta Riviera Maya with their friends. Following up on her suggestions, I booked a tour for us that included early entry to the ruins of Chichen Itza and Tulum on two separate days, with the hope of enjoying the sites before they became completely overcrowded.
The Pyramid of Kulkucan
Chichen Itza, Tulum, The Yucatan, the Mayans, words that bring to mind all sorts of magical, mythical thoughts of ancient cultures. It always amazes me how archaeology manages to string together so many little unlinked parts into some kind of cohesive whole, developing an entire story around a few stone images, pieces of old pottery, a random tool in a random place. Fascinating.
Like many people, I had always wanted to visit the Mayan temples, but also knew that so many of these sites are now completely overrun with tourists. I knew it might be hard to really experience the temples in the same way that some of my friends have talked about who visited many years ago. Still, I didn’t want to miss out and was really looking forward to the next two days of seeing the magnificent ruins.
Once again, we discovered that Vidanta is not particularly excited about guests leaving the resort with any kind of private tour. If you book through them, it may be a bit easier, but I didn’t know that at the time, and I am sure their tours are probably more expensive as well. For us, we would be required to be at the main entry gate for our early morning pickup at 5 AM. I called the concierge, the main desk, and anyone else I could think of to try to be sure that a shuttle would be at our building to pick us up in time. I was told that we needed to be ready at least 45 minutes early, even though it was less than a mile to the gate from our room. Still, we were as yet unsure of the layout of the resort, and had no clue how to actually walk to the main gate on our own in the pitch dark jungle morning, so we made plans to be outside at 4:30 AM for the shuttle.
As luck would have it, the shuttle was actually on time and we were at the gate half an hour early, along with one other couple waiting to go on a similar tour. We laughed together in the dark, and once again the world got smaller when we discovered that the couple was from Pacifica, where Mo taught school for 25 years. They knew many of the same people.
The tour bus was big, quite roomy, and comfortable, and we were the only guests on it at the beginning. There were several stops before we actually got on the main highway leading to Chichen Itza, a toll road that was in excellent condition. The Yucatan peninsula outside the window was broad and very nearly featureless, with miles and miles of thin trunked trees and vines. I only discovered later why this jungle looks so not like a jungle. The entire peninsula is formed in limestone and there are no above ground rivers or lakes, and as our guide said, it is like a giant green pool table. No mountains, no rivers, and very flat. All the water is underground, in the form of ceynotes and underground rivers that connect them, sometimes very deep below the surface, and the trees have to reach deep to get to the water, so they are skinny but have very long roots.
We arrived at the site a bit after 8, before most of the tourists, but there were definitely a lot of people already there. Our guide, Frank, was Mayan, and talked incredibly fast, first in Spanish and then English, going from one to the other mid sentence, rapid fire. He was interesting, and knowledgeable, but then once we were at the site, he turned us over to another guide, an archaeologist who conducted our part of the tour in English. Carlos was also Mayan, and gave us lots of little tidbits of information about the current status of the descendants of Mayan people in Mexico, and his thoughts on some of the interpretations of the temples, the art work on the temples and what life was like during the time when Chichen Itza was the most powerful center of the Mayan culture.
I think the most fascinating thing were the acoustics in the “Ball Court”, where the rulers could hear every soft spoken word of visiting guests several hundred yards away, and yet the guests could not hear the rulers at the opposite ends. Talk about surveillance! The guides all demonstrated this in one way or another and it was fun to hear the echoes and the conversations.
Notice the bearded man. Maya do not have facial hair
He showed us some interesting images that indicated there was a great diversity of cultures that visited the city, including what he interpreted as a Viking, another as a Middle Eastern person, centuries before Columbus and his supposed “discovery” of the Americas. He pointed out several images that showed how revered the snake was in Mayan culture, and images of eagles which do not exist on the Yucatan Peninsula, among other indications of a lively and varied trade with many cultures.
The main pyramid follows the cycles of the sun and the Venus Platform follows the cycles of Venus.
Our guide showed us the interesting angles of the Pyramid of Kulkucan, the iconic image recognized by most everyone as the most famous Mayan temple. He explained the complex astronomy of the temple, and its connection to the nearby Platform of Venus. He discussed what is called the Temple of the Warriors and said it was really a marketplace. (and he knows this how?)
The Sacred Cenote was not on our tour, with a long path leading to it that was a bit daunting for the time period we had to explore, and there were several other locations that we missed seeing simply because we weren’t sure what we had actually missed. I should have done a bit more research before we traveled here so that I would have known better what to look for at the site.
I really wished for more information, more in depth detail, but realized again that as I perused the internet about the site, there are as many theories as there are scientists expounding them. I learned that it is difficult to take in all the information given during these tours, especially when someone is talking fast and there isn’t a lot of background.
After the guided portion of the tour was completed, we were given about 45 minutes to walk around and look at the buildings and take more photos. I did get a few of the big pyramid, but the people were starting to pour in and I was worried because Mo and I had separated. Seems we didn’t communicate well enough about our meeting point and I went outside the gates to find her. We were told definitely that I couldn’t return once through the turnstiles, but with no Mo in sight, I convinced them to let me back in, and sure enough she was waiting for me at the place were she thought we had agreed to meet. Lesson: don’t separate for any reason in a really big crowd!
The three hour drive home was broken up by a buffet lunch at the small town of Pista. There were handcrafts, but more expensive and not nearly as charming as what was sold at the temple site. I fell for the tour guides instructions not to buy at the site because where they were taking us had much better goods. Stupid me, of course they say that. How could I have forgotten. I guess it was a good thing, I came away with no souvenirs of the place except photographs.
There were also a few moments of entertainment by some Mayan women who danced, and I literally mean a few moments, maybe 4 minutes at most. They were waiting at the door for tips as we left the restaurant. I don’t mind tipping for something like this, if it is at least some real entertainment. Call me a scrooge, but I didn’t tip the three girls.
Lunch was OK, with some typical buffet type food that wasn’t recognizable, but a big bowl of really good pica de gallo and some nachos that were yummy.
We arrived back at the resort just before 3pm, and as we had been instructed, asked the gate guard to call a shuttle for us. Excuse me? “There are no shuttles until 6pm, you will have to walk to the Main Lobby and get a shuttle from there to your room”. The main lobby was much farther away than our room was, so we decided to take the service road I had seen that led along the back side of the resort directly to the Grand Luxxe Jungle. Suddenly a nice little man tried to stop me, saying, “No, No, cannot go”. He insisted we walk the other way.
Walking home on the “service road” where we are not allowed to walk
Well, my red haired temper started rising, and I said, “Try and stop me!” and I said to Mo, “Come On, I know the way”. We didn’t go down the little guy’s road, but wandered off a bit till we found another entrance to the service road and in 15 minutes we were back at our room. Man I was ticked off! By that time of day the walk was hot, and I was really worried about Mo’s ankle, but we did fine and got to see the back end of the resort where all the dirty work is done in a way that isn’t usually visible.
Just to add a little perspective: The blue line is our prohibited route that we took home. The red line is what they wanted us to do, with the pink circle in the middle the lobby of the Grand Mayan. We are in the second to the last building where the red and blue line join together. The other pink circle by Azur Restaurant is where the front desk told us we would be located when they “upgraded” us.
That evening we skipped supper, with a good lunch in our bellies, and neither of us had any desire to wander around the grounds looking for shuttles and food and instead relaxed at home in our comfy space.
The next morning was another repeat, only we had an extra hour before having to get to the gate by 6:10. I was a little less stressed about it because I knew the back road and could get us there even in the dark if I needed to and if the shuttle didn’t show up. But it did, and we got there in time for our second day tour, this time on a less comfortable bus.
Our destination was the ruins of Tulum, about 2 hours southeast of our hotel right on the coast. We stopped again to pick up several different people at different locations before continuing. Just let me add a little side note here. I spent the entire time on the Yucatan Peninsula trying to figure out which direction I was facing. The sun was in the wrong place, the ocean was definitely in the wrong place, and no matter which direction we were traveling, it felt like the wrong direction! I pride myself on my sense of direction, but that peninsula, with water on all sides and everything at crazy angles completely confused my map maker brain.
When we arrived at the site of the Tulum ruins, there was just a slight cloud cover, in spite of the day’s prediction for rain. There is a small area of shops near the entrance, and then a long walk down a rough gravel pathway leading to the ruins. Once we were through the entry gates, however, everything turned really magical.
Both of us immediately loved the place. It felt different, probably because there has been a lot less restoration here than at Chichen Itza, and the ruins really feel like ruins. There is also more vegetation, and the location is magnificent, right on the coast overlooking the sea.
Our fast talking guide held up tattered photos of what the temples and houses looked like. I can only imagine how colorful the city must have been in its heyday. Sophia was quick, especially in Spanish, and she was sharp tongued and a bit funny, but her part of the tour really didn’t last very long. She gave us a few tidbits of information, but once again, I really wished I had done my research before I came to visit these amazing sites.
Later, at the resort, I attempted to find some kind of library or book store to follow up on some of the sites we visited, but they have nothing, except for a few tattered travel books scattered about the buildings here and there. In my comments at the end of the visit, I begged for a bookstore or a library!
Tulum felt like a place where people lived, even though we were told it was only the wealthy rulers who actually lived within the walls and the rest of the folks who tilled the soil lived in the jungle outside. The city was inhabited later than Chichen Itza, with theories that the Maya moved there as drought dried up the ceynotes inland. At Tulum, there was more rain, and they had the sea to provide food even in times of drought. Again, all theories, and I hope I can find the time to dig in a bit more into the assumed history of these places. The Conquistadors destroyed the people with their diseases when they landed on the beach here at Tulum, and the city was found rotting in the jungle in 1842 by more explorers. The Mayans had no gold, no silver, no metal of any kinds, and so there was nothing for the conquerors to take from them except their health and their culture.
After the tour ended, we were again given a short hour to wander a bit, and to walk the steps down to the beach. We had been told to wear swimsuits so we could swim in the water, but with all the algae the water seemed murky. It was also quite windy, and the sediments were stirred up too much to even consider swimming. Our snorkel gear is safely stashed in our suitcase back at our room. Turns out the windy weather kept us from any chance to explore life beneath the surface of the water during any part of our Mexican vacation this time around.
On this day, there was no lunch offered, just a simple “snack”, which was a cookie and a box of some kind of tropical juice. We were glad that we had taken the opportunity to pick up some snacks at the 7-11 type store in Playa Del Carmen when the bus stopped there to pick up a few people. Eating lunch under the trees while we watched the coatis was delightful. They are quick little animals related to raccoons, with prehensile tails like monkeys.
There are still beautiful flowers and gardens around Tulum, and for the first time we saw the endemic Yucatan Jay. The young birds have the yellow eye ring and yellow bill and the mature birds have a black ring and black bill. As with all jays, they were friendly and noisy, and made for fun watching.
Once back home in the early afternoon, with Mo’s ankle feeling OK, we decided to walk the suggested route to the Grand Mayan Lobby and get a shuttle from there. It took quite a bit longer, but was a pleasant walk and we got to see another part of the resort that we had previously only seen in the dark.
As we entered our room once again, the rains started in earnest. Hard rain, and even a bit chilly. We had no really warm clothes with us, and curled up in the big fluffy white bathrobes provided in our room while we tried to decide what to do about dinner.
The Taco Bar at Greens was the closest place, but in the pouring rain we thought better of walking and decided to take the shuttle instead. Our concierge in the building was very helpful, and for a $300 peso deposit gave us a large umbrella. With a shuttle ride to the Grand Mayan lobby once again, we just had a short walk along the boardwalks to get to the restaurant. I think that was the hardest, thickest rain either of us have experienced, and by the time we walked the distance, in spite of the umbrella, we were soaking wet. And in spite of the hard rain, the little taco bar was completely filled. Our friendly hostess once again found a place for us to sit while we waited for a dinner table, but the rain was bouncing off the sidewalks and all over the table as well.
No photo can show how hard that rain was coming down, but it was a true tropical magnificent crazy rain, and we laughed a lot as we got wetter and wetter waiting for our dinner. Finally a table emptied, and we had one more luscious dinner full of Yucatan flavors that are so different than the typical Mexican food you find in a typical restaurant in the US. Fabulous. Not sure I even managed a photo of that dinner, and I cannot even remember what I ate, but I remember the flavors and how incredibly good it was.
When we finished the hostess told us to wait and she called a shuttle for us. We stood under our trusty umbrella in the pouring rain and within 5 real minutes were on a shuttle scooting us to our warm and dry suite where we both immediately took a very hot shower and called it a day. And yes, I DID manage photos of the dinner, including my quesadilla with a magnificent hand made corn tortilla, and the most perfect flan I ever tasted.
Leaving Tucson, we knew the best way out of town was on the interstate. To our delight, I-10 at 9 on a Sunday morning was beautifully quiet. Note to self, always leave big cities which require freeway travel on Sunday morning. I was driving so we missed photographs of all the amazing freeway overpasses and bridges between Tucson and Phoenix. Even the fences are covered with gorgeous sculptures, some in cement, some in rusted metal. We enjoyed all the art along the highways, both in Arizona and in Nevada. Next time I’ll have Mo drive this section so I can get some photos. 
I have noticed this trend growing in many places where we travel. Made me wonder what it must be like to be a freeway graphic artist and to see your designs bigger than life in such a public venue. Almost as much fun as the mural craze that seems to be everywhere as well.
We headed for the tiny Visitor center in town, next to the cheapest gas in town, and gathered up some brochures on local interesting things to see and do. Rhyolite is a ghost town that is fun to explore, but we had already done that a few years ago. We decided to explore some of the back 4 wheel drive roads, and found an interesting loop that meandered past old mining cabins, through “Secret Pass”, south to the desert, and back via the highway.
We explored the old Flourspar Cabin at a mining site before continuing up the road
The next morning was cold, so we took our time heading west toward Death Valley. Stovepipe Wells was busy with tourists, and I stopped in at the Visitor Center and General Store hoping for a really good sweatshirt to add to the one I found at Chaco Canyon 4 years ago. No luck. I am pretty specific in what I want, and I guess my current version will have to suffice. 
The sun is making a rare appearance this afternoon, after a few days of in and out rain and snow. It is cold, and Mo and I haven’t had much oomph to get out to do much of anything around the place here. We did manage to finish hanging the outdoor art that we found on our travels to the southwest, and planted a small group of shrubs. Spring Bouquet Laurustinus is a lovely evergreen shrub with pale pink flowers and purple berries in the fall. Listed as deer resistant, I learned the hard way that resistant does NOT mean deer proof.
The first morning after planting them our neighborhood deer herd had nipped off the upper branches and leaves of the little shrubs. I have roses and other plants that have been sprayed with Liquid Fence, but I didn’t really think the deer were even around, much less that I had to spray the darn things the minute I planted them. I immediately got out the sprayer the next day and covered everything in the yard with the smelly stuff. I have real proof now that it really works, since nothing else was touched except the newly planted shrubs.
One afternoon that felt almost like spring, I decided to plant some pansies in the big pots by the garage. They are holding their own, in spite of the snow. The primroses that I transplanted from Rocky Point are looking happy as well. Makes me happy. I had some of these purple primroses back in Northern Idaho before I moved in 2002 to Klamath Falls and like old friends, I take them along wherever I go.
I found the fabrics when we were in Palm Springs, shopping at my favorite quilt stores.
I find other ways to keep busy. What in the world is this thing called entropy? If I don’t stay right on top of stuff, it can immediately deteriorate into a mess. With a new house, new floors, new appliances, I am a bit obsessive about keeping all those pretty things looking nice and new. Seems as though I spend more time than usual polishing and wiping and swiping and sweeping and such, just to keep that new house look going strong. Wonder how long that will last. How long can that refrigerator look like it was just delivered. So far so good, after 4 months, it still looks all shiny new. 
As the month drew to a close, the snows kept falling all around us on the hills, but not always here. We are at 1200 feet, and town is at 900 feet. The snow often seems to start around 1500 feet. I looked at the snow and decided on another house project that kept me indoors. I had promised myself I wouldn’t put up any St Paddy’s stuff until it was actually March, but gave in on the 27th and brought out the green bin. 
I had started the blocks for this table runner three years ago in Rocky Point, and last year worked on the rest of the runner. This time I actually backed and quilted it and all that is waiting now is the binding. I cut out some fabric for place mats, but with our upcoming trip to Mexico, it might be next year before I get back to them.
We do interesting things for entertainment sometimes, in between our travels. A business run to Medford, about 45 minutes south of us, was augmented with a Costco Run, since we don’t have a Costco here in Grants Pass. There are no better hot dogs in the world than those crazy $1.50 dogs at Costco, so we decided that could be our dinner for the late afternoon. Of course, wine is always nice with dinner, so we found the only bottle of red wine in Costco with a screw top, and bought it to accompany our impromptu supper. With a $17.00 bottle of wine, decanted into those free pepsi cups that come with the $3.00 worth of hot dogs, we had a delightful time laughing ourselves silly in the front seat of the car as the rained poured down all around us and we shared our $20.00 dinner. Don’t worry, we didn’t drink the whole bottle, just a little bit.
We decided to celebrate Mo’s day with a dinner at one of those little bistros that we found last week walking around town. The Bohemian Bistro and Bar bills itself as a “New American Restaurant”. We had a delightful early dinner, with snazzy cocktails, including a Lavender Lemon Drop for me, a very fine salad made with locally sourced baby romaine and balsamic reduction, some Goyza dumplings with a spicy dipping sauce, coconut shrimp with habanera pineapple sauce for me and halibut for Mo. Mo wasn’t that excited about her halibut, but I liked it. My shrimp was to die for, but the winner was the dessert, a perfect little ramekin of caramel latte creme brulee. We were happy that we found parking directly on the street in front of the restaurant since it was pouring when we went in and still pouring when we left. Nice place and a good find.
We are traveling over the mountain back to Klamath Falls tomorrow, hoping that this big storm that is enveloping most of Northern California and Southern Oregon will pass, at least enough to get through with our studded snow tires and 4 wheel drive truck. The Apartments are fully rented, and we need to check on a few things. We are so grateful that we were able to rent them all through Zillow, bypassing the property management people. So far, so good, and I think we have very good renters. The years when Mo used a property manager for the apartments when she lived out at Rocky Point were somewhat of an expensive convenience, and not always that convenient. We will see how it goes with the two of us managing things, and our good renter Jacob taking care of snow plowing in the winter and lawn mowing in the summer. Lucky to have Jacob. He keeps an eye out for things as well, letting us know if something doesn’t look right. Mo had a new fiberglass roof installed over the upper deck and we are anxious to see it as well as the new sign that was part of the EPA re-do. The old sign was too hard to keep so they trashed it and had a new sign done for her.
Highway 44 west from Susanville is a decent road
We decided to take our chances, and figured that even if we couldn’t get across 89 up to Mt Shasta, we could no doubt manage 44 across to Redding. Highway 44 meanders along the north side of Mt Lassen, and except for a very few twisty places, is a fairly good road. It had been a few years since we traveled that route, when we hiked some fabulous trails in Mt Lassen and returned to Klamath Falls via Susanville.
More choices for getting over the Southern Cascades in California
The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales 