A very nice day today. Lots of miles, few of which included epic quandries through unmapped towns. Belize was just slightly too far away to comfortably make it today, so I decided to stop for the night in Chetumal.
Being that the Mexican Caribbean was at the center of the Mayan Empire, there are many archeological sights along the route across the Yucutan Peninsula. One of which I stopped at, an ancient city with lots of pyramids. This time climbing was permitted and there were ropes going down many to help on the tricky spots. This was amazing, to climb to the top and look out over an ancient city and see nothing but jungle vegetation beyond it. I climbed a few, got cramps in my legs, took lots of pictures, and got made fun of by some local teenagers hanging out in the parking lot. There was a total of 3 cars parked there.
Apparently, just about everything is closed on Sundays in Chetumal, even the tourist information center. The guy came out and helped me anyway. He gave me a very useful map of the city and told me all about the area, in Spanish, which would have been useful if I understood what he was saying.
After a relatively long search for an acceptable hotel, I found one for 200 pesos, the cheapest yet in Mexico. I did see one for 140, but that was uninhabitable. It has a ceiling fan and a window over the street, but again, no hot water! I really want, nay, need a shower!
Little did I know, today was a good day to come into Chethumal - tonight is the annual festival. Lots of street vendors with really tasty junk food, beer you can drink while walking around (it's legal here), and micheladas, the spicy mixed beer drink so popular here that I can't seem to enjoy. There was also a huge parade, of which the highlight for me was a guy carrying an american flag with an Obama mask on - he was very much celebrated and cheered on by the locals here.
At first Chethumal seemed like a tourist town - on the bay, right off the highway on the way to Cancun. Also, some people spoke a very small amount of engligh. Then I realized that I'm the only gringo in the whole town, and people still looked at me funny - that made me feel better.
I'm over budget again, mostly because of the extra long mileage and all the carnival food. I'm considering staying here another night to relax, sleep in, and not spend so much money, but I might just go to Belize instead.
Awesome.
Sunset over the bay. Awesome.
I really dig the police bikes here.
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