Ruta Puuc
We leave early to take the Ruta Puuc.
On the way we stop in " chacchoben ". We hardly know anything about this Maya Site. One supposes that is was occupied from BC 200 and that its urban development started during the ancient classical time.
Our first stop on La Ruta Puuc is « Las Grutas de Loltun », but we wont visit these caves. The price aked for the guided tour is ridiculous. (45€ : the equivalent of one week wages for a mexican, working 6 days a week) Are we really in Mexico ?
We go on this road, visiting every little site.
This road takes place along the unique Cordillière of the Yucatan Peninsula. Most of its monuments were built and finely sculpted between AD 600 and 1000 during the extraordinary regional development.
The God of the water « Chaac » is everywhere here. In a region where there is no spring, no river and no lake it’s the most venerated God.
In 1996 this road became a World Heritage site.
Labna
Also called « the old house » or « the abandonned house » it is famous for its decorated arch which was the entrance of a civic and ceremonial center. But the site offers much more : especially a palace counting 67 rooms and 7 patioes.
It is decorated with a mask of «God Chaac » and with a snake holding a man’s head in his mouth.
Xlapak
Little tiny site whose only palace shows a mask of « Chaac ». Most of the site is stil buried under very dense vegetation.
Sayil
« The place of the ants » is one of the most important cities of this region. It counted up to 20 000 inhabitants around AD 900.
Located in a valley surrounded by little hills, and having no water at all, we can find here a lot of « chultunes » (tanks receiving and keeping the rain water).
Kabah
« The powerfull hand » echoes the sculpture of a man holding a snake in his hands at the entrance of the site. It was occupied at the beginig of our era and reached its peak between AD 600 to 1000.
« Codz-Poop » is the name of the main building whose facade is covered by 300 scupted heads representing the Rain God .
Uxmal
It’s name in Maya means « built three times ». It’s one of the most well kept Maya site.
Just after the entrance, la " piramide Del Adivinco " surprises us with its 40 meters. Built on an oval basis, it is composed of 5 stacked temples.
" Palacio del Gobernador " has got a 100 m long facade. It’s bas-relief is made of a stone mosaic representing snakes and The God Chaac.
" El Cuandrangulo de la Monjas " is a large palace housing rooms whose doors are decorated with masks, hutts, jaguars and snakes with two heads…
Other buildings stand in a luxuriant environment.
We visit all these sites under a burning sun and a humidity level reaching 75 %... Bootles of water are our best friends, and, touch wood, our fridge does a good job.
We get a rain storm nearly every evening and it lowers a little bit the temperature.
During our bivouac in the jungle, we’ve been invaded by black bugs one night and by moths the second night eventhough we have moskito net on each window and door.… General alert…
Everything has to be closed…
Not very comfortable but we got rid of them and could sleep.
Mahahual
Today is a good day. The mechanic seriously checks the electric system.
He thinks the problem comes from a partly damaged bulb. He replaces it.
One hour later, we’re back on the road.
.
This little village is famous as it lays by the Carabbean sea facing the Banco Chinchorro coral reef.
It’s even a port of call for cruise ships.
Tourists come here for scuba diving and snorkeling to discover the beauties of the coral reef.
But this was before the Sargasses ( seaweeds) invaded the coast, a huge problem in all the Carabbean Sea.
This brown toxic seaweed overruns the coast line since 2011. One estimates that in 2018, a biomass of 20 millions tons colonized the ocean ( 10 times more than in 2011).
These seaweeds generate an awfull smell. A real disaster.
Reaching Mahahual, we could smell these seaweeds much before arriving on to the shore and discovering this brown sea along the Malecon.
We can’t stay and try to find a cleaner place more to the north.
We follow the coastal road for 60 km. Fantastic houses…all on sale… No one is living there anymore.
Very sad but the air is unbreathable.
We manage to find a parking lot close to the lighthouse, where the smell is bearable.
That’s when we realized that our plans to rest along the coast is more than jeopardized.
And what about Belize ?
Chetumal
Our N° 1 fuse died once more.
So we decide to go back to Chetumal, and decide not to leave the city until the problem is solved.
Back to the garage specialized in electonics, we get an appointment for the next day at 8 AM.
Chetumal camping, here we come again !
Bacalar
Two weeks ago, on our way to Chetumal, the camper dashboard suddenly stops working…No more indication available…
We stop along the road and try to restart the engine… Nothing. ! We check the fuses and find out that fuse N°1 is dead. So we change it and can start.
A few minutes later fuse N° 1 dies again for the second time, and then for the third and the fourth time. We manage to find a garage specialized in electronics, but as it’s Friday evening, we’re beeing asked to come back on Monday.
As our last fuse is surviving and because it’s week-end, we go to a camping site nearby.
Today, after our long stay in the camping, we drive to a garage indicated on our favorite app Ioverlander. The owner let us wait one hour, checks the different lights and tells us that there is nothing wrong. At least he reconects the car radio that was out of use.
We decide to buy a load of fuses just in case and go on with our trip.
Bacalar is called « the seven colours lagoon » due to it’s cristal clear water which varies from turquoise to blue according to the weather and the location.
But Bacalar Festival takes place from 12th to 17th of August and it’s hardly possible to reach the town center.
So we just find a place to park 30 km away and cant really enjoy the lagoon
ROAD BOOK 059
MAVROS ODYSSEE