Day 58: Chiapas Highlands

Days: 58  -   Date: 21OCT13  -   Itinerary: San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque, MX  -   Miles: 131

This would be my first day riding solo in Mexico. Nervous? Not one bit! 😀 I’ve really come to love and feel at home in Mexico.

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Another MM tag in Mexico. This makes 2!

I’m not saying goodbye to Trevor because we’re gonna link up again somewhere in Colombia. However, it was a pleasure to have ridden with you, mate. See you again in a few weeks 😉

The majority of the day was spent riding through the Chiapas Highlands and passing through a few small Mayan communities. It was really interesting and I wish I had the GoPro going for some of it..

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About 50km South of Palenque, I rode up to a protest/blockade. All the locals had gathered along this section of the road to protest something about the government and demanding some sort of reforms. They had a few ropes strung across the road along with homemade spike strips to stop the traffic. I managed to take a picture as I was approaching but it was too far to see any detail:

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The blockade further down the road

There were a few trucks stopped as they protested. When I approached, they waved me to the front. After seeing I was just a non-local gringo who obviously wasn’t involved in any of the politics, they “asked” for a donation to their cause. Sure, whatever.. here’s 50 pesos. With that, they gave me some sort of flyer about what’s going on and the blockade was cleared. 😎 I asked to take a photo of the protest but was told “oh no, no, no” along with some fingering wagging. Too bad. Vamos!

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No idea what it says.. I haven’t bothered to translate it.
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Lunch along side the road: Pollo Asado. Super yummy and again really cheap! $2 including the coke!

 

I stopped for the night in Palenque because I wanted to see the Mayan ruins that were discovered here.

I stayed in an area right outside the park called El Panchan and it’s really popular among the backpacker and ADVrider crowd.Mex_22Oct13_023

I got a room at Margarita and Ed’s place which had come highly recommended. It’s hidden back in the thick jungle. It was very hot and humid.Mex_22Oct13_024

Walking back towards the hotel. There are iguanas, howler monkeys, parrots and toucans all around.

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The logbook at the hotel: Proof that Americans don’t travel outside the US. I was one of 2 Americans out of all the people on these pages. Lots of french, germans and Israelis.

Tomorrow morning I’m going into the park to explore some Mayan ruins!

 

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