Mexico ... and a few other places

[amaroo]

I’ll let the photos tell the story...

 

[amaroo]

Having knocked off Tulum, we headed back to the hotel for breakfast - one of the many benefits of staying local. Today we are moving to one of their other hotels.... our bags will be packed and shipped over whilst we’re out enjoying the day. Gotta love that!

Breakfast



After breakfast we make tracks for Coba Coba - Wikipedia

This is a stunning Mayan site! The drive is easy - deadflat and straight as an arrow.






You can see an earlier temple being used as new foundations.

 

[amaroo]

Classic Mayan Arch entrance to a Mayan Sauna



Ball court - object is to get the ball through the hoops, no touching with hands or feet.... winning team gets to celebrate by losing their heads!



It’s a 2km track to the temple .... you can walk, hire a bike or rickshaw.



Views from the bike ride



The temple .... restored on the front. You can see how the side has been left rough, and the back has been left to the jungle.

 

[carls888]

Awesome! Loving it all so far.

 

[amaroo]

The climb! Taking the view in before heading off..



Halfway mark...



The top....



The view....



Not sure this is the smartest move....



The descent...



View from the bottom...






Great day! Mojito time

 

[OZDUCK]

Great & interesting photos. I doubt my knee could stand that climb to the top!

 

[amaroo]

Our new digs in Tulum is Mezzanine - http://www.mezzaninetulum.com/

This one is located around a 15min drive up the other end of the strip - perfect for us as we are eating across the road tonight.

Totally different look and feel to La Zebra, but still absolute beachfront.

 

[amaroo]

Kitchen Table - you should be able to ID most of the plates.

Classy casual, open kitchen - delicious food.

 

[amaroo]

Delicious meal.

The next morning we enjoyed juices by the seaside



A selection of the breakfast menu.

 

[LadyC]

Certainly a step up from the standard huevos rancheros. Looks like there have been some great meals.

 

[Rugby]

I assume you payed in bitcoin

 

[carls888]

Yum. Those meals look delicious! I love the food in Mexico...fish tacos!

 

[amaroo]

After breakfast we headed back to Cancun to drop the car off and catch the first of 6 Cessna Caravan flights.

Tropic Air, CUN-BZE-FRS

Boarding at CUN. Cessna Caravan is a 14 seater, but only 8 for this sector - two pilots, 4 of us + two others. I had been concerned about our luggage however, they didn’t even weigh the bags.








You really know you’re flying in a prop!

We had to collect our bags, clear immigration & customs, and re-checkin for the BZE-FLS flight.

BZE boarding gates. This sector was a full passenger load.





Flores



Awesome flying experience!

Welcome to Guatemala, for a passenger load of 14 they had 4 armed military (with dogs) checking passports ... some of our fellow passengers were singled out with a full on inspection of luggage. I think there is a little bad blood between Guatemala and Belize...

 

[amaroo]

Our hotel in Flores is located on the banks of Lake Peten Itzá.

La Lancha is a 10 suite resort owned and managed by Frances Ford Coppola ... it’s one of three properties owned by the Family Coppola business in Guatemala and Belize. We’ll be visiting all of them.



Views from our room





Lakeview suite

 

[amaroo]

The drive from Flores airport to La Lancha takes around 1 hour, mainly tarred road. The last 20min of the drive is dirt with some pretty decent potholes.

After check-in and a few refreshing coughtails - it was time to eat. The hotel has one restaurant and is very good given its remote location.



Lake fish caught on the day ..... very nice.





The hotel

 

[amaroo]

There are two ways to get down to the lake - funicular or walk







Very pleasant spot to relax ... there is also a lakeside bar





Sauna



Traditional style!



More shots of the hotel


View from the restaurant



Tortilla stand

 

[amaroo]

Our first day in Guatemala is going to be spent on the lake, zip lining thru the jungle, and exploring Flores.

Our boat and guide waiting for us at the hotel pier.



Local fisherman. Apparently, only 160 families are licenced to fish the lake using handlines - nets are banned.

The lake has a maximum depth of 160m and we were told there is an average 50 year cycle between high and low levels ..... the lake is totally dependent upon rainfall. There is no in or outflow.



A car was waiting when we arrived at Flores to take us to Ixpanpajul Nature Park. This was great fun - zip lining thru the jungle.



This section was called Superman - guide held your legs as you flew superman style.



The other attraction here was 7 suspended skywalks.

Well worth coming here when visiting the area.

 

[amaroo]

Flores is a pretty town and has a very interesting history. Flores proper is a small island (see photo above as we flew in), it was the last Mayan Kingdom to be taken by the Spanish.

The Mayan city was called Nojpeten - the Spanish first came across it in 1541, but didn’t conquer it until 1697. They destroyed the city and built was is now known as Flores on top of the ruins.

The following is a quote from wiki....

The modern city can thus be regarded as the second oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the Americas, after Cholula.

After some retail therapy it was time to board the boat for our 45 min ride back to La Lancha



There are some very large mansions along the shore .... apparently 22 families control the Guatemalan economy, and they’ve all claimed a slice of Lake Peten Itzá



La Lancha pier .... nice how you can’t see any of the resort from the lake.



Lunch

 

[Jacques Vert]

Wonderful TR; Mexico and Guatemala are rapidly climbing the bucket list.

 

[amaroo]

Tikal .... amazing, stunning, awe inspiring! Words don’t do this place justice.



Example of a structure that is yet to be restored.