On New Year's Day I went down to the south coast of Mexico, to the town of Zipolite. It was a ten-hour bus ride—the longest for me so far. Zipolite is like a tropical paradise. There are little shacks on the beach that are a combination of a restaurant and a hotel. Many people sleep in hammocks which hang from the ceilings everywhere. The water and beach are beautiful. Crabs crawl all over the rocks and the ocean has purplish phosphorescent spots glowing in it at night—it is really amazing.

I walked along the beach in the morning; I walked along the beach at night; I walked along the beach in the afternoon. I met a guy named "Pedro" who can get you anything you want. It was a pleasant week at the beach!

I also went to the Turtle Museum in nearby Mazunte. It really should be called a zoo as they had several, some very big, turtles swimming around in tanks. Their amber spotted shells are radiant. They also had tubs of tiny newborn turtles—the same ones you see popping out of the sand and scrambling to the water in the "save the turtles" ads. It was great.

I spent a night in Teuhantepic on the way west to Tuxtla Gutierrez. Tuxtla is a big, busy city, tho there isn't really much here of "tourist value". Still, I like visiting places that no one goes to; the people are more genuine and you get to see the country like it really is. I went to a couple of movies here. And is it cheap! Only about $2.50 for a first run movie.

One touristy thing I did do in Tuxtla was take a boat ride thru the Canon de Sumidero. I saw some great wildlife like crocodiles and monkeys.

Next I went to San Cristobal de las Casas. This is a nice, old colonial town high up in the mountains. This is the heart of Chiapas, a region famous for an indian uprising in the early 90's. From here, I went horseback riding up into the mountains to a small Mayan village. The town church there was brightly painted, the floor was covered in pine needles, and there were hundreds of candles and lots of incense burning—what an atmosphere!

From San Cristobal, I went north to Palenque. There, I saw the famous Mayan ruins—wow, they are really cool. They're in the jungle where the mountains of Chiapas meet the plain of the Yucatan peninsula. You walk thru the jungle with monkeys howling above your head, vines hanging from the trees, and trees with giant leaves and come upon a little temple with 1000-year old Mayan bas-relief carvings in it. Way cool!

From Palenque I went north to the west coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, to the town of Campeche. I walked along the waterfront after getting my room and saw several different kinds of fish. At night in the center square they had some traditional (Latin) dancing with bright costumes; it was quite fun.

Then it was up to Merida which is on the northwest corner of the peninsula. Merdia is big, but still feels like a small city. It has many old, colonial buildings, including several big mansions which are leftovers from the days of the great landowners and mining companies of Spanish colonial rule.

From Merida, I did a tour of four very small Mayan ruin sites and a fifth, more major site, Uxmal. It was interesting to see the lesser sites, having only seen big ones so far. Uxmal has one very nice, oval-shaped pyramid.

Went east along the top of the Yucatan to Chichen Itza. You can see why this place is so famous. There are so many intricately carved stellae; I wonder what all those pictures are saying? (Maybe that taxes are too high and there's not enough good public education?) I did suffer one tragedy at Chichen Itza: I lost my camera. I don't know if it was pick-pocketed or if I left it on a bus or what, but it's gone.

I also visited a couple of underground sink holes which fill with water called cenotes. These functioned as cisterns for the Mayans to hold their water. I went swimming in one; the water was a bit cold at first, but ok once you got used to it.

After Chichen, I went to the east coast to Cancun. This place is really touristy—I mean ridiculously so. I know people love this place, but it's not my kind of travelling. Still, I did want to stop in and have a look. The beaches are made of this amazing white sand that never gets hot; they are really thin, tho, and you don't really want to swim at them. The big-screen TV at the Hilton was a good place to watch the Superbowl. Unfortunately, I was rooting for the Giants.

Next stop, Playa del Carmen. It's just down the coast from Cancun on the east coast of the Yucatan, and is just as touristy and expensive, but a lot smaller.

Then a day in Tulum. Tulum has a small set of very ruined Mayan ruins right on the cliffs overhanging the ocean.

Finally all the way down the peninsula to Chetumal. It is an uninteresting border town where I am getting ready to go to Belize. I got some Belizian dollars, got some cloths repaired, and sent 40 postcards.

So this is it for Mexico...time to take a breath and evaluate how things are going. When I first left for this trip, I thought I would be in South America by now. However, Mexico has had so much more of interest than I thought, and I've been staying longer and doing more things than I thought I would.

Thus, I am just now getting into Central America. I am also thinking my money will run out before I can even get to South America, so I may have to save that for next year. Still, I was in Mexico for two and a half months and have been out of LA for five months! Time for the next country....