to Tapachula and up the Yucatan

I found Guatemala City to be charming. The food was good and the people seemed friendly and I even considered staying there. My evaluation of available housing produced no viable results and the more I read about the city on the internet the more convinced I became to move on. The wars that have plagued Guatemala have produced thousands of orphans. They literally live in the street and prey upon anyone and everyone in order to survive. It is just not safe. I checked out of my charming b&b , called by ever friendly cab driver and returned to the bus station to wait for my TikaBus. I was warned to not stray to far from the station. Lunch became the Pizza Hut across the street housed in a gas station, but oh how good when you are hungry.

I have previously described my trip through Guatemala and Salvador. Tapachula, Mexico was the final destination for TikaBus. I would have to spend the night and wait until 5:30 pm for the ADO Bus to Merida. The hotel across the street from the bus station was small, clean and cost $10.00. My room was small but comfortable with cable tv and and a hot shower. Dinner next door at one of the restaurants was fine. I retired early. The next morning after a good Mexican breakfast and Mexican breakfasts are very good I set out to explore the little town of Tapachula.

Not much to see except an enormous market that is somehow both indoors and out and sells everything: clothes, shoes, food of every description, electronics, kitchen supplies, bedding, hardware, pirated dvds and cds. It's like a giant WalMart or Costco but consisting of hundreds of individual merchants. Talk about capitalism! These markets are all over Latin America. Even in the larger cities particularly in Mexico where WalMart, Costco, Sam's Club, MEGA Stores and Soriana Grocery stores are firmly established these markets continue to thrive.

I had started out trying to just get some exercise when I came upon Tapachula's market. I did not have my camera. It started to rain and I headed back to the hotel hoping that I could still get some photos before check out. It poured. I got my bag across the street to the bus station and planned to get an early dinner next to the hotel before the bus left. It rained so hard that the streets flooded in all directions. I thought I could walk a block or so and find a place to cross the street and get back to a restaurant. The water in the street was so deep that I would have been soaked up to the knees. I did not want to board the bus soaked. I settled for a terrible snack in the station.

My traveling school teacher friends had warned me that they did not take buses in that part of Mexico a at night. The threat of bandits who stopped the bus and proceeded to rob every passenger was just too great. The problem is if you want to get to Merida from Tapachula the only bus leaves at 5:30 pm. So once again I abandoned my usual caution and boarded the ADO bus for the twenty two hour ride to Merida. It of course got dark early. This bus was even more comfortable than the one from San Jose but the movies were not as good and I dozed a lot. You can't really sleep for long periods because the bus stops so frequently for police and army inspections. I cannot recall how many times we were boarded and we were firmly in Mexico--no more borders to cross.

At some point the following day a man boarded the bus with long stringy hair, tight t-shirt and jeans. He looked like a tough guy from central casting. A couple of hours later the police boarded and inspected our papers. The officer took one look at this guy and ordered him off the bus. His bags were searched on the street. Nothing came from the search and he was allowed to continue.

Profiling is not just in the United States.

The bus crosses over to the route that follows the Gulf of Mexico. It passes through so many small beach towns and directly along the coast. Hours are spent with different views of the Gulf. Lot's of ex pats have lived in these beach towns for years. The most famous is Campeche and I met many an American who calls this small town their favorite beach town in all of Mexico.

It may be the least spoiled by development and the resort mania that has inflicted both coasts of Mexico and just about all the beaches of the world. The bus passed through Progresso just thirty miles from Merida. It is still a thriving fishing village with over 900 commercial boats. It has a beach with hotels, condos and lots of seafood restaurants. In three subsequent visits there it's appeal was lost on me. The seafood is okay but I think it is geared now primarily to Mexican families for summer vacations. It is about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than Merida due to the constant gulf breezes but to me it lacks charm.

As the bus pulled into Merida my jaw dropped....more later

...the kindness of strangers

" I have always relied on the kindness of strangers," Blanche DuBois in 'A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams

When the cab pulled up to my apartment in San Jose I was nervous about embarking on a six country, 2000 mile trip beginning at 3 Am. The cabdriver was friendly, readily helped me with my too big bag and skillfully drove through the deserted streets. The bus terminal was far from deserted. Lots of people were lined up to be processed and check their luggage. One enormous man was struggling with two cases of wine he wished to take with him. He turned out to be an auto mechanic who lived in Los Angeles and was traveling with his son to visit relatives. Throughout our portion of the trip together he was kind, helpful and funny to me the gringo who spoke little Spanish.

Soon on I met Bill and Kathy, two school teachers from Texas who spent their summers just traveling around Latin America by bus gathering new experiences, perfecting their Spanish and visiting places they could then bring to life for their students. Two backpacks, great senses of humor and adventure were all that they brought on these trips plus an eager desire to share their knowledge and experience with their fellow travelers. We spent a few hours in the bus station in Managua, Nicaragua talking and dozing on hard benches with our feet propped up our bags. It is impossible to express how grateful one is for this kind of camaraderie when traveling alone.

Elsa, the young woman from Germany who took various teaching jobs around Mexico always travelling by bus even though she was prone to car sickness. She was so friendly and regaled me with great stories of her travels all by herself.

Traveling this way is truly what Rick Steeves calls "going through the back door." No American style hotels and in many places no fast food except the street vendors who are so much a part of the rich fabric of these countries: tacos, burritos, fresh fruit, corn on the cob, hamburgers and hot dogs, grilled chicken, ice cream, french fries-all prepared and served from carts at amazingly cheap prices and often with amazing quality. People who are truly grateful for your business and whose warm smiles and quick "muchas gracias" are the ultimate in customer service. Having taught customer service for more than ten I appreciate the motivation of these people who toil for long hours, for little pay and still manage to be truly gracious.

As the bus meandered through Salvador and Guatemala I met a young woman and her mother from the Netherlands. The daughter had been traveling alone through Latin America. She got off a bus in Managua and needed a hotel. A very friendly woman cab driver promised to take her to a nice inexpensive hotel. Instead she robbed her of all her money and left her on the street.

She was able to call her mother who then joined her and was accompanying her for the rest of the journey--not insisting she come home but becoming the companion for the trip of a lifetime. I have already shared in a previous post my wonderful Guatemalan cab driver who took my to the lovely B & B in Guatemala City.

Angela and Victor.

To me heroes come into our lives in many forms and I know that the term "hero" is frequently misused as it probably will be here. But for this guy from Virginia who always played it safe when it came to travel "heroes" has to apply to Angela and Victor. I met them on this bus trip as they were making their way to Belize. From Los Angeles these two 27 year olds were traveling around the world to 24 countries in eleven months. They had planned the trip for three years, paid off $30,000.00 in credit card debt, quit their jobs, sold everything they owned and off they went. You can read all about this remarkable couple at www.soltrekkers.com. When Sandy and I made our trip across the United States and part of Canada--11,000 miles in 33 days through almost every state and a few provinces--so many people said,' I've always wanted to do that."

But Angela and Victor have no home or jobs to return to, no safety net to fall into--just the confidence in themselves and each other and a great desire to see this crazy world we live in, to live life outside the cubicle, to get more real education in eleven months than in four years at a university. Obviously Angela and Victor have great self reliance and they have each other but I can assure you that as they continue this remarkable journey they will continuously rely on " the kindness of strangers."