1/17/16,
“The Road Goes Ever On”
Calakmul,
Campeche, Mexico
I have
written these entries from some very scenic spots in six different
continents. This vista might make the
top ten. We have at last come to the end
of the road once more, just as we did this morning. In fact, since we left our hotel 10 hours ago,
I would wager we spent close to 9 of those hours on the road. It was always going to be a tough shot to fit
Si’an and Calakmul in the same day. We
did it, with no small share of adversity as our prize.
I slept or rested for most of the way to
Si’an, which included a long drive down a dirt road to a spot I picked out
inside the Biosphere Reserve. When we
finally got there, it seemed clear it first we were in a great spot. I picked out an H. Upmann for my cigar. Reader, pay attention to every detail for
this part. The site was known for its
marshes. I saw a broken lighter some
empty bottles and figured that we were not the first people to spend time at
this beautiful site. There was a bit of
an odd smell, which I attributed to smell from the seawater. I noticed the ground was wet. Then my feet started sinking. Ah, marshes, I thought. I kept going.
The smell got worse. I could
actually feel the water beneath me. I
was going to get sucked in. Then it all
hit me, the trash on the ground, the smell, the soft ground.
The beach was washed up with raw sewage. I was almost up to my knees in raw
sewage. Fortunately I was wearing shorts
and flips, but that was no small consolation to having sewage on my skin. We raced back to the car so that I could use
our jug of water to wash off. I lit up
my cigar, and we found a nicer spot to take some pictures, but Roberto was
upset that we couldn’t find the Plaque, even more upset than I was. We were ready to get out of there. We continued back up the road, trying to come
back in the same we left. We
failed. We came to a locked gate after
almost an hour. Uh oh. This was definitely not the right way. Also, I couldn’t find my little baggie of
cigar bands, and I was afraid I had left it in the hotel. Well, that was a problem. We found a guard at the gate, and he opened
it up for us. We were on the dirt road
that went all the way back to Felipe Carrillo Puerto. On the way in, we took the highway and then a
shorter dirt road. We also learned where
the Plaque was, but there was not nearly enough time to get there.
We went back to the hotel, no sign of the
baggie. Sure enough, it had fallen next
to the seat in the car. I caught up on
social media and posted some pictures.
We then got lunch in town, pork and rice for me, along with a Diet Coke,
before making our way to Calakmul, continuing to listen to Taylor Swift’s
eponymous 2006 album. I smoked my new
Ardor en route. We stopped for gas when
we were running low and got some very bad coffee there, too. At that point, I took over the wheel, lit up
a Cabaiguan, and put on Fearless.
It was
around 2:30 PM Central Time when we got to the turnoff for Calakmul, plenty of
time. We continued down the entrance
road, which led to a questionably paved winding road. The speed limit was 30 km/h for 60
klicks. That was not happening. It would have taken 2 hours. I did it in 45 minutes. I was in the zone. I felt like Poe Dameron behind the controls
of his X-wing. I nailed every curve
perfectly. We got to the VC and took our
picture with the Plaque.
This site,
which so reminds me of Tikal, is inscribed under both cultural and natural
criteria. We have, as of yet, been
unable to find the inscription photo. I
lit up a Partagas as we headed to the main pyramid. We walked up to the top, where I found this
breathtaking vista and proceeded to write my entry, which I will now close so
that we can take some more ceremonial pictures and hopefully find the
inscription photo before we get back on the road.
Escarcega,
Campeche, Mexico
“Tonight, we
drink.” That has almost become my mantra
for the day, reassuring Roberto we would finally enjoy ourselves tonight. When I set out to see the world, I did not
intend for it to be a relaxing, nor did I expect it to be easy. However, I did not expect it to be this hard
or exhausting. I set out to see the
world, to see Quebec, Ephesus, Carlsbad, Taipei, and, now, Escarcega. This would be the least interesting of that
bunch, though it does beat out Lincoln, New Hampshire. These, of course, would be the locations
where I’ve smoked my 2012 Christmas Pipe.
This town is a dump, no way around that.
Everything is dirty or dusty.
Everything is cheap. Dirt
cheap. Literally. I’m talking a hotel room for the price of
parking in New York. I’m talking a steak
dinner with all the fixings, chips, and a drink for the price of a soda at a
nice restaurant in New York. I have come
in so far under budget on this trip, it’s crazy. I’m literally having trouble spending
money. I get snacks, and they’re an
order of magnitude cheaper than I expected.
Anyway, tonight, we drink. Other
than a very small and weak piña colada, I have literally not had a drop of
alcohol since, well, since I can’t even remember. Perhaps not since New Year’s? No, the vodka s’mores I had when I slept over
in Brooklyn last weekend would be the last time I drank.
It is a very different trip than the trip
most Americans take to Cancun, the trip my new friend from the plane and her
group (and the other group) were taking, the trip that is practically
synonymous with Cancun, the trip my brother made of it when we went as a
family. That is not me. I can drink in any city in the world, even New
York. Visiting every World Heritage Site
in North America is a different story, and I need all of my rational faculties
to pull that off, but, we are nearing the end of our voyage, so, tonight, we
drink. We will drink in a hotel room in
Escarcega, instead of on the beach in Cancun.
No matters. We have done the trip
we wanted, not the trip anyone else told us to do. I’ll take Mayan ruins over drinking on the
beach any day of the week. Or Aztec or
whatever they are. A World Heritage Site
is a World Heritage Site, and there aren’t that many left to me now on this
continent.
After I closed at the top of
the pyramid, we took some ceremonial pictures.
We then made our way down, which was far more treacherous than climbing
up. We looked around to find the
inscription photo, but we had no luck.
We could have looked further, but we were running out of daylight, and
we hoped to be back on the highway before dark.
We made our way out of the park and to the car. Roberto, seeing the talent I had applied on
the way in, suggested that I drive out, as that would be our best bet for getting
as far as possible before dark. I lit up
a Romeo y Julieta for the drive. Reader,
recall that this practically a one-lane road.
As we got on the road, another car pulled in front of us. I wanted to be out of there in an hour, or
less, if we could beat dusk. The other
car was going above the speed limit, but I wanted to go at a much faster
clip. I did not want to be stuck behind
the car for an hour and half. Not at
all. Eventually, I was able to pass the
car. I was back in Poe Dameron
mode. At least until I came up to
another car, which quickly pulled over to let me pass. Poe Dameron mode again.
The sun had set, and dusk was fast
approaching, the trees blocking out what little light remained. It was a tough choice. The faster I drove, the more dangerous. The slower I drove, the longer we’d be on
that road after dark. I knew getting to
the highway before dusk was no longer an option, but the road would straighten and
widen after a while. Maybe I could get
to that spot before dusk. I think I did
an appropriate job mediating the two danger factors. Eventually, it became too dark to safely
drive fast, but it was not long after that point that we got onto the wider and
straighter part of the road.
Roberto
took over the driving once we got to the highway, and I made a snack out of the
equivalent of what a movie theatre calls nachos and cheese. It was delicious, especially since I was
starving. I then lit up my Ardor Duo
Ponto. I got caught up on my messages
and social media once we got a signal outside of Escarcega. It was not long after I finished the pipe
that we arrived in Escarcega, an
I figured out a hotel for us. I could not believe how cheap it was. It was 7:45 PM, and Roberto wanted to go to 8
o’clock mass. He wanted to know if I
would eat first or wait for him. I’d
have a snack and wait for him. Other
than my nightly pipe and entry sessions and the time we got lost, this was the
first time we’d been apart in the two days of the trip so far. I settled into the hotel and relaxed a bit
before he got back.
We then headed out
to dinner. We both got steak with fried
potatoes. He got a beer, I got a Diet
Coke. We also got some Cheetos. The entire meal, for both of us, was half the
price of the already cheap hotel room. I
was shocked how little everything was costing.
Roberto had known my routine by now, so he asked if I was going to smoke
my pipe after dinner. Of course I was. He would do some work while I did that. Afterwards, we would drink.
We went back to the room and got our
stuff. He had to go to the lobby to
work, and I determined the best spot for my entry would be right outside the
lobby. I found a spot to sit down, where
I lit up my 2012 Christmas Pipe and proceeded to write this entry, which I will
now close so that I can publish before we get on with our evening. We have one site for tomorrow, so we can
sleep in a bit, and it is still relatively early, before 11 PM local time,
which is good because, tonight, we drink.
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