After a 7-hour bus ride from San Cristobal de Las Casas we arrived at the town of Palenque. There isn´t too much to say about the town itself, it merely exists to accomodate tourists heading for the excavated and restored ruins nearby. After a relaxing night in the town we booked our trip to these Mayan ruins on the outskirts of Palenque and the Agua Azul/Misol-Ha waterfalls, for the following morning. The bus journey was spectacular - passing through tiny villages up in the mountains, watching the locals go about their daily lives. These ruins are possibly the most beautiful of all the Mayan ruins in Mexico and built mainly for defensive purposes. Agua Azul is a series of beautiful jungle waterfalls and rapids that run for 7 km, although unfortunately with it being rainy season we were unable to take a dip as the water was mixed with the muddy terrain. We walked roughly 3 km in total to see the superb views, but the weather decided to take a turn for the worst so we headed for shelter and some lunch… Anders ate possibly the worst beef I have ever seen, it looked like leather! Misol-Ha was a much smaller jungle waterfall, but still as spectacular. We were able to walk behind the waterfall as it cascaded over the rocks about 40 metres high.

After a nice shower, a night bus awaited us to the coast… and what should have been an 11-hour journey took roughly 14 hours… a tyre blow-out literally 40 km away from Playa Del Carmen slowed us down somewhat! Once we arrived in Playa De Carmen, we checked into our "wooden hut"… literally 5 metres away from the dazzling white beach and crystal-clear waters. The location definitely out-weighed the fact we were staying in a hut which provided us with rainy showers each night due to the beautifully constructed roof!! Playa Del Carmen itself is extremely developed with tourists (mainly Americans! )... and has definitely lost the charms of its former existence as a fishing village. Playa Del Carmen does have the advantage of being a great base for trips to the ruins of Tulum in the South, and of course DIVING! I can´t even begin to describe the cenote diving we recently did in a place called Chichen- Ha (meaning Western Waters). The cenote was hidden in the jungle, where the waters were almost blue lagoon-like! After a backward roll into the freezing cold waters (23degrees!) we began our first cave or cavern dive. The infinite visiblity had the affect that we were flying rather than diving, which was so so cool and slightly strange when the torches were used in the caves, I did forget I was diving for a few moments! The photos will describe it better than myself… I can only say that they were the best 2 dives of my life! A cave diver certification is the next step I feel!

Our last day in Mexico took us to the 12th century Maya-Tolec ruins of Tulum, perched on coastal cliffs in a beautiful setting above the azure sea. The tourists were aplenty though, which made it slightly more difficult to soak up the relaxed atmosphere. We managed to capture some stunning photos with Anders camera!

So now it is time for our next country… Belize! We will make our way to the border , catch a bus to Belize City, then hopefully make the ferry to Caye Caulker, where our Belize diving will commence… The Blue Hole here we come!!

Hasta lluego amigos y familia! x

Saa er vi tilbage paa bloggen, for vi forlader Mexico i morgen tidlig og tager mod syd til Belize, og isaer det mesoamerikanske koral-rev!

Vi forlod San Cristobal lidt traette (vi ville gerne vaere blevet) for at kore til Palenque. En meget smuk koretur over et bjergpas og ned i junglen, hvor vi for forste gang maerkede varmen i Mexico. 33 grader og fugtigt! I byen besogte vi Mayan indianders pyramider som ligger i junglen i udkanten af byen! Meget imponerende syn og fantastisk smuk jungle! De mere end 1000 aar gamle ruiner var spektakulaerer. Senere paa dagen besogte vi to af omraadets vandfald i silende regn! Mizol-ha og Agua Azul´s vande var begge blevet brune i stedet for azur blaa! Men stadig en god oplevelse!

Efter denne ene dag i Palenque skulle vi tage en 11 timers bus til kysten, naermere betegnet Playa del Carmen, paa Yucatan ud til det Caribiske hav! Busturen naaede dog op paa naesten 15 timer for vi ankom, da bagdaekket sprang i luften og saa matte vi ellers vente der i varmen!

Byen Playa del Carmen har for laengst mistet sin charme, selvom stranden og det azur blaa hav er fantastisk. Stedet er desvaerre blevet offer for Amerikanisering og nu findes der McD, Burger King, Starbucks og andet overalt, plus stedet er overrant af Nordamerikanske turister! Men ud over det er det omkringliggende landskab yderst attraktivt! Vi begyndte at dykke igen p`havet forst! Vi saa skilpadder, flotte koraller og drev afsted i strommen. Derudover dykkede vi to gange i de saakaldte Cenotes (undervandshuler, der blev dannet for den sidste istid! En helt igennem uforglemmelig dykkeroplevelse...Vi blev kort ud i junglen og fandt vores grej frem! Underligt at skulle dykke midt i junglen uden hav i sigte. Vi hoppede i vandet og vores guide forte os rundt i hulen, mens solens straler skar sig ned igennem spraekker. Man kunne helt glemme at man var i vandet, da sigtbarheden var som et spejl. Vi ville bare onske vi kunne gore det igen!

Vi fik ogsaa taget en lokal bus ned til Tulum og saa de meget kendte (og flotte) Maya-ruiner, som er placeret paa klipper over det azurblaa hav! En dejlig regnfri dag, for vi tager til Belize! Vi er begge positivt overrasket over Mexico, men glaeder os samtidig ogsaa til fremtidige oplevelser!

Bedste hilsner

Anders og Charlie