A Chevy, chicken and cactus, plus a reconnection.

We have a Chevy Tahoe - oh boy!  It’s vast; there’s probably a bathroom in it somewhere, I just haven’t found it yet.  What a beast!  It’s great, obviously, and there are advantages to being in a Hertz special, it’s just not the same, but there we are. 

We didn’t do a great deal at Tulum, although messing about with car hire which involved at 130 kms round trip and endless faffing in the office consumed much of the day. Most of the rest was spent looking at the turquoise Caribbean over the rim of a margarita. 

It was an easy drive to Chichen Itza for our next stop. No hills, little traffic plus: we are in a stonking great truck now.  We just need some serious driving to get the full value. That will come later in Mexico, I’m sure.

Chichen Itza is vast, unbelievably huge. The ruins are highly restored and most of the tourists groups staying the the Yucatan resorts seemed to be visiting when we were there. We are staying in a charming old Hacienda that has its own back gate to the ruins. They are impressive by their sheer size but rather spoilt by the endless market stalls set up throughout all selling the same old tat. Painted skull, anyone? Or how about a toy that makes a sound like a jaguar, supposedly. That one really got on our nerves as we went around. 

We’ve crossed the Yucatan peninsular now and are in Campeche and it’s great.  Colourful, colonial perfection. We’re in another old hacienda in the old centre and it could not be lovelier. The drive here passed though some deeply rural, often very poor areas with interesting villages although it was slightly boring in parts - long straight flat roads with hedges either side and no view. We did pass more ruins though. Also, we stopped for lunch in a tiny local joint that was just perfect.  Chicken, cactus and black beans. Yum. Something thing that everyone is excited about is that we have Wi-Fi tonight,  A day without it was bringing people out in hives and making them swivel eyed with the horror of it.  Everywhere I look here,  there are people sitting in Adirondack chairs tapping away. 

Tomorrow, we head along the coast for a bit before turning left and getting to Palenque. This will be our last sight of Mayan ruins on the rally.  Some people are feeling a bit ‘ruined out’. Indeed, I hear of one of our party who is saying that - even though he hasn’t ever visited a single ruin.  Who can it be? A clue: spanner’s. That’s all I’m saying.