Subject: The Tortoise reaches the finish line
Current Location - Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico
Trip Mileage - 18,200
Local Currency - Peso (10pesos = $1)
Language - Spanish
Temperature - about 80
Song defining this leg of the trip - Porcelain - Moby
Well, its official - the tortoise reached its goal of Cancun, Mexico right on time.

After leaving San Cristobal,we did a night drive to arrive at Aqua Azul. Aqua Azul is an amazing waterfall which is normally blue, but because of the rains was actually brownish. TheyŽre about 7 miles long and you can park at the mid-point and walk up or down them. About a dozen of us decided to head upwards. We should have used a guide, as at one point, our walk turned to jungle, and we found ourselves thick in to the mountian without much clue where we were going. Other than running in to a bee hive, it wasnt much of a problem though, we just headed back. Coming back, Jason, Sarah and I inadvertantly took a bit of a different path, and wound up walking along a bit of a precarious cliff.

We only stayed at Aqua Azul for a few hours. Before I left, I got out my Polariod to take pics of the kids and give it to them. I did it for one kid, who showed his 20 friends who wouldnt leave me alone until they all had one. I had to use the whole roll before I showed them the empty camera and theyŽd leave me alone. :)

After Misol Ha, we made a night drive to Palenque, which is a site of Mayan ruins deep in the jungle, but also a small city located not far from the ruins. Palenque also happens to be a bit of a mecca for hippies, as there are numerous fields in the area where psychedelic mushrooms grow in the wild. The hippies pick and take them and walk around the ruins communicating with the gods. The drive in to Palenque was overcast, which normally might be a bummer, but to me, the jungle looks much cooler when its overcast.

A funny thing also happened that night, which IŽm surprised hadnŽt happened earlier. Someone on the bus had a scare in the middle of the night, and woke up with a fright, which with everyone sleeping in the same area sets off a chain reaction. At about 3am, we had a bus full of people screaming as if we were being attacked by wild donkeys. Comical.

Anyway, nightmares passed, we made it to the ruins at Palenque. Really incredible ruins. Some of my favorite. Spread out over a large area, and set in to jungle with lots of waterfalls all around. http://www.mesoweb.com/palenque/ As we walked around we could hear the howler monkeys in the distance, and its one of the creepier sounds youŽll ever hear.

The next day we drove to Calakmul, which are more Mayan ruins. http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~dhixson/calakmul/calakmul.html I highly recommend Calakmul for a visit for a few reasons. First, its about a 2 hour drive off the main road, so there is no one else there. IŽd estimate 25 other tourists the entire day we spent there, and probably about 30 ruins. You can explore and discover things alone, which is cool. Also, its thick forest, which means that when you summit the pyramids, youŽre above the canopies of trees, and you can see the other pyramid tops. Also, there are a ton of spider monkeys around. I climbed a pyramid to be at their height and sat and watched them for a while.

Here you can see pre/post excavation on the same temple.

Another night drive brought us to waking up to our first sunrise over the Carribean. We hit a little beach named Majahaul. It looked like a hurricane hit it. There was nothing going on in this little town. We didnŽt really mind, the idea of having this pristine beach to ourselves appealed to us. Well, late that night w got a visit from the resident loony, Big John, who told us 2 cruise ships would be pulling in tomorrow. Big John was actually a nice and fun guy, but a bit odd. But he was right, 2 ships came in, and an amazing thing happened. The ghost town now had stores, people, crafts, food, music. It was amazing. A little instant mexican village for the tourists to buy things in. Amazing.

After 3 days in Majahaul, we headed for a quick stop at the ruins of Tulum. Oddly enough, the ruins at Tulum were the least impressive of all the ones I saw. However, because of its close proximity to Cancun, it was also the most crowded. To be fair though, it is the only ruins we saw right on the beach. It was neat to swim in perfectly blue clear water with Mayan ruins in the background.

Well, that brings us here to Cancun. Got in last night, and I saw my first McDonalds in 28 days after being here 15 minutes. Bummed me out actually. This city is a bit too touristy for my tastes. IŽd rather be back driving through remote villages in the jungle. :)

Before I sign off, let me say this about the Tortoise. Everyone should try to make one Tortoise trip in their lives. It really is the most amazing way to travel. If you havent seen the US, take one of their coast-to-coast trips. They also do 3,7,9,11,14, and 21 day trips. TheyŽve been doing this for about 30 years, but they only market by word of mouth, so its kind of dying out. IŽd hate to ever see it go that way - but jump on while you can - its the only trip of its kind!!! :) http://www.greentortoise.com/