Yucatan/Mexico 08 with Brewers

ps....ask Terry if he recognizes the significance of my user name.
hint...hint..
(I read your earlier note about him looking for "trip wires).
David

Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to update family on your trip.  The photos are awesome. Please tell Sandy, Paula and Owen the Ropesville bunch said hello.

February 7, 2008
Merida

The cutest little open-air bus picked us up for our city tour of Merida.  The Mexican guide had excellent English skills and imparted information to us for over 2 hours.  I did not have anything with me on which to take notes so here goes my memory of the morning.  The State of Yucatan is flat, having no mountains, no rivers and no lakes.  They get water from underground springs and within the City of Merida there are 19 such natural springs and 18 of those are built within private residences. Merida has been such a contrast from the remote little villages we?ve seen.  A huge Mall is within walking distance of our park and has an ice-skating rink inside as well as a casino. Today I saw many familiar stores Simmons mattress, Pirelli Tires, Wal-Mart, Sam?s Club, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut and we were told that Taco Bell does not operate in all of Mexico.

The houses are such a contrast in styles from each other. Tract housing does not exist here.  One modest little house can be right next door to a mansion.  The City was founded in the mid 1500?s so as you might imagine some of the homes are real ?Fixer Uppers.? There is a strong French influence here and the main street is built to look like the Champs Ellysee in Paris. Many of the mansions are French in style but we saw a Chinese home, several Moroccan style and of course the Spanish Haciendas.  Many of the commercial building that are now Banks or insurance companies had a history of housing Governors, hospitals and even a prison.  Recycling the buildings is evident.  The city bus dropped us off for a short stop at a Park dedicated to all the Countries in North and South America. A tower is carved with the name and National symbol of each Country. I captured a picture of Mike and Eileen, our Canadian friends, beside the  monument dedicated to Canada. Our guide told the 3 stories of how Yucatan got its name.  They were similar but here is the one I can recall.  When the Spanish explorers landed and asked the Mayan people ?Where are we, what do you call this place??  The Mayan Indians could not understand the language of the question and answered in their language ?I don?t understand what you are saying!?  That answer loosely translates into Yucatan.  Another stop was in the Mercantile for Handicrafts.  Many of us have new dresses, shirts, hats, tablecloths and snakes.  We are true tourists at heart. Of course Terry had 3 carnitas tacos from a street vendor. The Meridian people are very friendly with happy faces. Note my last photo, which captured some curiosity of our busload.

When we returned to the ?Trailer Park? (as RV Parks are known in Mexico) we made a run to the grocery store and walked to the mall next door.  The evening was capped off with an ice cream social provided by Eileen and Trish who won the Super bowl Pool. Oh we had Thunder, lightening and it poured rain during our evening.  We know why all the buildings have mold on the sides!

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  0
Temperatures:    High 92    Low 72  Humidity 95%    .76 inches of rain
GPS Coordinates: N 12 02.494 W 89  37.821

Oops, the && should have been 77 pesos for the fare.

I am truely shocked to hear of Terry departing at 7 Am!!!

Betty,

That wouldn't be a fish taco that Terry is eating, would it? ;D

Jim

>>That wouldn't be a fish taco that Terry is eating, would it?<<

We are back inland, where meat is to be found....It's a carnitas taco, I think.<G>

Thanks for the info Betty.  Thanks for sharing your adventure. 

Barb

Terry A. Brewer said:

Jim

>>That wouldn't be a fish taco that Terry is eating, would it?<<

We are back inland, where meat is to be found....It's a carnitas taco, I think.<G>

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Oh, oh, not sure I like that "I think"!!! ;D

Jim Dick said:

Oh, oh, not sure I like that "I think"!!! ;D

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It's called "mystery meat"

We have already had 2 coaches lost on this trip.

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I'm just getting caught up.  You made that comment last week.  What happened to them?  And how did the tour company deal with it?  When we went on the Copper Canyon trip, one of our trailer people had a truck problem that could have stopped his trip.  He was left in a safe place at his request, parts were shipped down from the U.S., and he joined up with the next tour the following week.

The photos of the pyramids reminded us of when we climbed the Pyramid of the Sun near Mexico City, maybe 30 years ago.  We were so glad we did it!  But, as you can see in the photos, it's not for the faint-hearted.  The steps are very narrow and steep.  At least your group had something to hang onto!  Maybe the Sun does too now, but back then going down was really scary.  But the view from the top was fantastic and we loved it.  Oh yes, and I remember a sundress was not what I should have worn 'cause I too got a sunburn that day.

Glad you're enjoying the trip.  And thanks again for sharing it all with us.

ArdraF

ArdraF said:

I'm just getting caught up.  You made that comment last week.  What happened to them?  And how did the tour company deal with it? 

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Ardra,

When I said we lost 2 rigs what I meant to say was that 2 rigs made wrong turns and had to turn around to get back on our route.  As we are in CB communication everyone knows if you mess up .  The tail gunner waits along the road until  you show up or he goes to look for you.  No problemo.  We tease them now about taking the "optional excursion" tours.

Betty

Betty,

Oh good!  Isn't our English language fascinating!

ArdraF

Ned said:

It's called "mystery meat"

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Yep, that's my concern! ;D ;D ;D

I think you should spend several hours at the ice rink so that you feel some sympathy for those of us freezing out ho-hos off  ;D

Wendy

More pix of the Moreau`s on Yucatan Trip... Wonderful and fun trip.
Made lots of friends, can`t wait to tell u all about it, Enjoy !!!

February 8, 2008
Merida, Free Day    We got to choose our own activities.

Our destination this morning with 8 of us in 2 cars was Dzibilchaltun.  Now try to say that fast.  It is the site of a Mayan Ruin and the name means,  ?place where writing appears on a flat stone.?  After paying a parking fee, admission fee, and taxes to get in, we hired a guide to tell us what we were seeing.  We opted for the short tour, which was about 1.5 hours.  This ruin was significant in that it represented all 3 of the Mayan eras.  We could see where the Spanish had come in and decided they did not like the Mayan gods and tore down their temples and used the building materials in their construction of an open-air chapel.  This ruin was not nearly as well preserved as others we?ve seen and we could visibly see how vegetation can destroy structures, especially those constructed around 300 BC.  While the Yucatan is flat with little visible water, there are thousands of sinkholes that open to under ground streams.  This ruin had a very nice fresh water pond and it is easy to see why the Mayan?s selected this site for a city.  Had we brought along our suits, we could have chosen to swim in this very tepid water. It is thought to have purification qualities so now I have pure feet.  There were lily pads on the water surface and little fishes all through out the water.  The museum connected to this ruin was exquisite and showed many artifacts of the Spanish conquistadors, as well as clothing articles and handicrafts from each area. 
We traveled along the road further to Progresso, where we dined right on the beach with our feet in the sand, overlooking the mile long pier that cruise Ships use when they dock.  We were lucky to have no cruise ships in port. .  Small waves lapped at our feet and we fought off the vendors who had very good prices on their stuff.
Others in our camp had Sandy cut or color their hair.  Annette had a manicure and a pedicure. Some went ? way back to our last place to see another set of ruins.  Everyone had an enjoyable day.
A group dinner was held at La Parilla, a Mexican buffet with a Mayan flavor.  The flavors of the items I chose were wonderful as was the company.  We watched in fascination as the waiters made Mexican Coffee.  It is quite a production.  I?m not sure the flames will show up in my photos but they were hot and quite a deal!!

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  0
Temperatures:    High 89    Low 69  Humidity 96%   
GPS Coordinates: N 12 02.494 W 89  37.821

Betty,  great reading!!!  Keep it coming.

I do have a stupid question.  When Tim and I were in Puerta Varta, Tiajuana and Tecate, we had to worry about the drinking the water.  Do you have to watch what you drink?  It sounds like from your messages that there isn't any concern.  I was just wondering.

Marsha~

Marsha,

I don't know about the Yucatan but there are places in Baja that have good water because of a huge underground aquifer that comes close to the surface.  Too bad I don't remember the towns.  :  Muleje is one I think.

ArdraF

Marsha/CA said:

  When Tim and I were in Puerta Varta, Tiajuana and Tecate, we had to worry about the drinking the water.  Do you have to watch what you drink? 

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Marsha,
When we fill our water tanks at the RV Parks we add a bit of Chlorox bleach to the water. We do NOT drink anything from our tanks and my hair is getting lighter.    We have been buying bottled water to drink and get bottled water in big 10  liter bottles for coffee and drinking.  Water is not too expensive, is readily available and I know of at least one couple on our trip  who have put all bottled water into their tanks. I order bottled water in restaurants.  That said, Terry orders a  glass of ice when he orders his sodas.  They seem to use good water in restaurants for ice and such.  Knock on wood, water has not been a concern for  us.  I drink  the beer!

Betty 

Betty,

Tell Terry he's taking a huge risk.  Once at a top-notch restaurant in Acapulco where the waiters wore white gloves (to stress cleanliness?) I made the mistake of ordering a salad after being assured they used nothing but purified water to prepare their food.  Sure they did.  I was sicker than a dog for a week and so were a lot of other people in our group.  I have never again eaten anything in mainland Mexico made with ice or washed in water that wasn't also cooked.  It's just not worth it if illness ruins your trip!  We use our own purified water on the mainland.  By the way, remedies for Montezuma's Revenge are Paregoric in Bismuth and liberal quantities of Lomotil (both are prescription items).

ArdraF