Hotel San Clemente Valladolid

... Swedish couple. They informed me that an 8 metre snake had indeed been sighted on several occasions and a US team of scientists had been called in to investigate! Oh- My- God!

Back to today - the cantankerous old guy Antonio was so indeed, but in an endearing way, i thought. I rented a bicycle from him, on the strict instruction that i had it back by 1.30, as they had lunch then. Yes, 3 hours would be more than enough ...

... day.

The surprising part, at least for me, was that I really enjoyed Monterrey. The city itself is interesting, and we explored several free museums and an interesting park. We also went for a nice long walk along a canal (not clear if this was a natural canal made pretty or a man-made canal). The entire length had been made into a park, where they hold concerts, yoga, have boatrides, whatever. There are also ...

... for a quick walk around the town center. We wandered through the Governor´s Palace where there were huge, beautifully painted murals on many of the walls. Most of them depict some form of the Spanish conquest and Maya defeat. They were absolutely gorgeous. Then, we skipped across the street to wander though the main cathedral. Edwin said it´s the second largest in Latin America, but I´m skeptical. It was pretty, nonetheless.

Finally, we went back to the hostel ...

... of back alley in downtown Monterrey. It has a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom with AC! All for US$10 per night! Sometimes even though we seem to be taken care of - there's just no peace. Monterrey is a BEAUTIFUL city, although very Americanized. After two more meetings were set up for this weekend, we knew we had to cancel and keep moving. It was confirmed by MANY. The people were not happy, but oh well. On to Tampico!

I am sitting here in the middle of Monterrey, Mexico. There is an air conditioner to my right and a clock ticking away to my left. All I can think about at this time is, "This is not what we came here for".
Rob is downstairs, having a meeting with the ministry whose base we are currently staying on. We arrived to the border of Mexico on Saturday morning. Starting at the Brownsville border, we bussed four and a half ...

... a boat trip around the lake in a boat belonging to Evers' friend Jimmy along with his son also called Jimmy (who also entertained us with their brilliant family band and some great rock and roll!). All in all, Monterrey as great fun, it was great to meet with a familiar face and be shown such a good time with great people. Thank you Ever, Laura and all the Garza family!

... at 8pm until cancun....bad, very bad...Monterrey is pretty much 1000 km away, we check the other flights of the other companies...nothing...we check rental cars for one way....very expensive....

finally we make the mexican way: get in Miguel's car, buy 2 six packs and drive ahead as fast as possible...in the truth that was very cool to drive this landscapes, i could shot the train photo that i really like (see ...

... collectivo´s departing roughly every twenty minutes for the 25 minute journey and cost $40 Peso return.
If you plan to travel onto Merida from Valladolid then I highly recommend a couple of nights stop along the way in the exceptionally beautiful town of Izamal, 80km short of Merida. Buses depart Valladolid for Izamal every couple of hours at a cost of $41 Peso. For the latest on the buses got to www.ticketbus.com.mx .