Arcane Candy

Thursday, October 12, 2017
Oaxaca City, Mexico

A log penetrates two boxes at the Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca in Oaxaca City, Mexico.

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Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Oaxaca City, Mexico

One corner of the Zocalo in Oaxaca City, Mexico.

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Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Oaxaca City, Mexico

The Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzman lit up by sunset in Oaxaca City, Mexico.

About a half hour after I woke up, the bus arrived in Oaxaca City. I was happy that this town sits at a higher elevation, which means it’s considerably cooler, so I’ll sweat less. Departing the ADO bus terminal on foot, I schlepped a half mile south past several examples of nice street art to Hostal Casa del Sol. Despite the fact there was no sign out front, I knocked on the door anyway. No answer. After I knocked again a couple of minutes later, a lady yelled something in Spanish without opening the door. I took that to mean it was closed for low season, if not permanently.

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Monday, October 9, 2017
Tuxtla Gutierrez to Oaxaca City, Mexico

Sunset at the Catedral de San Marcos in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico.

Upon arrival in Tuxtla Gutierrez yesterday, I had booked a bus ticket for tonight at 9:30 pm. The manager of the Hostel Tres Central was nice enough to let me hang out in the reception area all day long after I checked out, so I sat on the couch and Photoshopped my photos, typed up my travel journals and posted a couple of days’ worth of entries. I only ventured outside a couple of times to eat and shoot a few photos.

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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Palenque to Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico

A wedding at the Catedral de San Marcos in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico.

At 8:30 am, I boarded a long haul bus from Palenque southwest to Tuxtla Gutierrez. Since I had only slept for five or six hours the night before, I napped on the bus for the first two or three hours. When I woke up, I discovered to my dismay that we were in Villahermosa, which is northwest of Palenque. That meant we were travelling in a huge loop instead of taking the shortest route. I wondered why, but then remembered that I had read warnings that the short route was dangerous at night due to bandits blocking off the road and robbing buses and mini-vans once every blue moon. So, I guess the bus companies don’t even want to take a chance during daylight hours now.

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Saturday, October 7, 2017
Palenque Ruins, Mexico

A side view of the Templo de las Inscripciones at the Palenque Ruins, Mexico.

Late in the morning, I walked a couple of blocks west of the Yaxkin Hostel and stood on the main drag to wait for a mini-van heading to the Palenque Ruins, four miles west. It didn’t take long for one to show up. Once inside, I asked the driver how much the fare was, and he said 20. His buddy riding shotgun chimed in with, “dollars” and they both chuckled. I’ll admit I was a little worried they might be serious, because, as it turned out, I was the only passenger in the van the whole way. Imagine my relief when the driver accepted my 20 pesos when I got out.

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Friday, October 6, 2017
Merida to Palenque, Mexico

Welcome to Palenque, Mexico.

Although I would have loved to stay in Merida for a while longer, I had to keep moving because I only had 2.5 weeks left in Mexico. So, at 8:30 am, I jumped on an ADO bus for a nine-hour journey south to Palenque, the location of more magnificent Mayan temple ruins. The road was flat, smooth and straight the whole way, the sky was sunny (although we did briefly pass through a torrential downpour), and a few loud, noisy, annoying movies played that I tried my best to ignore.

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Thursday, October 5, 2017
Merida, Mexico

Sofia from Pink Cactus in Merida, Mexico.

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Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Merida, Mexico

A horse drawn carriage in Merida, Mexico.

During breakfast today, the manager was in full-on chipper / friendly mode, and apologized for all of the crazy drama that had gone down the night before. After I finished eating the “free” breakfast, I grabbed my stuff and started walking out. I smiled and said thanks to the manager, who was sipping a drink. He said, “Thanks, amigo.” I thought he was going to try to pressure me to stay, but surprisingly, he didn’t.

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Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Valladolid to Merida, Mexico

A tattered banner in Valladolid, Mexico.

In the late morning, I hopped on a first class ADO bus bound for Merida, the capital of Yucatan state and Mexico’s third largest city, located a couple of hours west of Valladolid. Disembarking at the Came terminal, I threw on my backpack and messenger bag and trudged through the blasting mid-day sun and heat over to a hostel right in the middle of town. I can’t divulge the real name of the hostel because a bunch of gnarly stuff went down and I don’t want to take a chance on any possible repercussions.

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