by vagabondette on November 18, 2009
It’s strange to think that this is my last night in Mexico for several months and maybe my last night ever in Merida. This country, that I never intended to visit, has captured my heart. The warmth of the people, the culture and the comfortable atmosphere has made me feel at home even though at times I’m sure I stuck out like a sore thumb.
I’ve spent the last couple days in Merida visiting my old haunts but mostly visiting with friends. It’s been great to see everyone again even though Alex is gone and we didn’t get a chance to meet up. I’m not sure if/when I’ll be back but I know that when I return I’ll have a home waiting here.
Tomorrow I leave for the US. I’ll be traveling for approximately 24 hours straight and I’m not particularly looking forward to it. My first stop is Palm Springs where I’ll spend a few days with Rob, the owner of the boat I might be sailing on early next year. We want to spend some time getting to know each other before we set out just to make sure that we click in person. it feels a bit like a job interview or a first date but it should be fun and I’ve never been to Palm Springs before so that will be nice.
For now I’m going to take once last walk down to the Zocalo to say goodbye to Merida.
by vagabondette on November 14, 2009
I’m not sure what I expected from a visit to Palenque, but I didn’t get it. I think I expected it to be much larger, to have more ruins and to be just generally more. Rather than the wild, sprawling jungle ruins I anticipated what I found was a fairly small site that was manicured like a park. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed.
One thing that I liked was watching the families. I went on a Sunday when entrance is free for Mexican citizens so the place was crawling with families having picnics and climbing on the ruins. I also enjoyed the walk through the woods to the waterfall. It was cool and peaceful and I could have stayed in that one spot all day had it not been for the annoying teenagers who were camped out there.
I visited the ruins during a break in the trip from San Cristobal to Merida so I was just spending a day there. Since the ruins were smaller than I anticipated I ended up with a lot of time to kill in town. Palenque is a cute little town and, as you head away from the bus station, the streets become lined with cute little shops and restaurants. It is clearly a tourist town but it has a nice atmosphere and I enjoyed my explorations. I ended up camping out in a restaurant on the edge of the plaza at the end of the main road. The bar was on the second floor and was open-air so it was nice to sit and enjoy the breeze, people watching in the plaza and the live music that started as the sun set. It was good to relax before my last bus trip to Merida.
by vagabondette on June 10, 2009
I walked past Posada 5 several times on my way to/from Backpackers/Na Bolom before I stopped in. I was getting sick of dorm life and since Posada 5 had gotten some good reviews I thought I’d see how much a private room was.
The Posada is fairly small with 5-6 private rooms and a dorm with 10-12 beds. The kitchen is not as nice as the Backpackers Hostel and there really isn’t a central sitting area besides the kitchen but the prices more than make up for it. Dorm beds (single level, not bunk) are only 50 MXN/night which is 1/2 the cost of the cheapest dorm at Backpackers. My single room was 75 MXN/night. It’s the cheapest because there is no window but even the one with a window was only 85 MXN/night. If there are two it’s even cheaper. They also allow camping for, I think, 40 MXN/night.
The bed I slept in (queen size) was very comfey though the other bed in the room (single) was NOT.
One of the best things about Posada 5 (aside from the cheap prices) was the view. It’s situated on top of a hill and the back patio overlooks a large, grassy back yard with swing set and a couple of run-down hammocks but what really grabs you is the view. From the top of the yard you can look over the main downtown area and across the valley to the mountains on the other side. The view is just beautiful and I would have loved to have seen last night’s lightening storm from the patio.
The Posada seems to be more geared towards couples and families so if meeting lots of other young travelers and going out partying is your goal the Backpackers is probably a better option. But, if you’re ready for some alone time and a private room to call your own I think Posada 5 is a great option.
by vagabondette on June 8, 2009
One of the best things about not being on a schedule is that when opportuniities come up I’m able to take advantage of them.
As I wrote a few days ago, I’ve begun volunteering at Na Bolom a local non-profit that has just a ton of stuff going on. I was brought on by my friend Julio to re-design the website and, if I had time, offer some suggestions for operational improvements.
Things have been going well and I’ve very much enjoyed working with Fernando and Julio but I thought it best to finally have a chat with the president of the Board to get her take on the project - and it’s a good thing I did.
She has a very detailed, very involved viewpoint of what they want the new Na Bolom web presence to be and it was nothing like what I am currently designing. It will also take much much longer than the original 2 weeks. In fact, it will probably take closer to 6 months - so it looks like I’ll be returning to San Cristobal after a few side trips.
This was something I had already been contemplating as there are some operational improvements that could really make their lives easier and I just wasn’t sure how I would be able to get it all done in time. But now it’s official. Fer also mentioned something today about maybe getting paid in addition to the free room and board but we’ll see how that goes. I’ll be satisfied without the paycheck just because of the new skills I’ll be learning, new friends I’ll be making and the great addition to my resume and portfolio.
The New Plan:
I will leave San Cris @ the 22nd of June and start making my way back to Cancun via Palenque, Merida and maybe Chichen Itza. I will then fly be in the US from July 1-7 before I fly to Guatemala City. I will most likely stay in Guate for several weeks taking Spanish classes as most of the people I’ll be working with on this expanded project have limited English skills. I will then return to San Cris to finish the project.
