From: mvb@chopin.udel.edu (Maurice V. Barnhill)
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Subject: Re: Yucatan Ideas Sought
Date: 20 Nov 92 16:49:08 GMT
Organization: University of Delaware

In article <122440208@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> jbaker@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Jim Baker) writes:
>I'm looking for suggestions on locations in the Yucatan penninsula for 
>camping, snorking/scuba, Mayan ruin touring, and as little tourista exposure
>as possible. My current thoughts are:
>	- fly to Cancun
>	- bus to Playa Del Carmen (try and find inexpensive lodging)
>	- day bus trips to Tulum
>	- day trips to Cozumel
>
>Can anyone suggest other locations? Variations? General "heads-up"s?
>Jim Baker
>baker@fc.hp.com
     I can't comment much about snorkeling but I know a bit about the Mayan
ruins, so here goes.  There are three major ruins readily reached from Cancun,
Chichen Itza, Tulum, and Coba'.  The first two are very crowded but worth the
annoyance.  Chichen is a very large site, largely cleared and restored.  You 
can get guided tours in English, and you can and should go inside the major 
pyramid.  Tulum is one of very few (perhaps the only major site) Mayan centers 
that had walls, and so is well worth seeing.  The site is relatively small, but
it is on the Caribbean and there are beautiful views from the wall along the
sea.  My favorite by far is Coba.  The site is huge and generally uncleared
except around the front of a few major structures.  There are trails from 
one site to another, and every "hill" you see is an unexcaveted building.  
There are still many stelae intact, compared to very few at the other sites.
There is also an overgrown Mayan road with a trail along the top for access.
Altogether, very nice.
     There are small ruins at Cancun and Cozumel, but they aren't very much
to look at.
     Further afield, there are several sites (especially Uxmal) in the northern
Yucatan which are worth visiting.  So is Palenque, in south-eastern Chiapas.
     There are some cheap places to stay at Playa del Carmen, but the quality 
isn't terrific.  
     When we were on Cozumel, we hired a taxi to get around, so I don't know
much about the bus system, if any.  You get to Cozumel on a passenger ferry 
from Playa del Carmen, arriving at the major business district.  The taxis are
in a line, and you take the next one.  Most drivers do not speak English, 
so you need Spanish.  I suspect that there would be dive shops on Cozumel 
although we did not look for them.  Diving is a major tourist industry on Isla
Mujeres, which you might want to look into.  
     As far as "turista" is concerned, DRINK NO WATER no matter what you are
told is safe.  If you drink soft drinks (completely safe), use no ice (sin 
hielo).  Water is probably OK after being treated with iodine, but the ice 
continually pours cysts and such into the drink faster that the iodine can 
kill them.  Beer, etc., is OK.  Iced drinks are usually not OK, especially 
outside the major, expensive hotels. Avoid all vegetables unless you see them 
peeled or they are thoroughly cooked, since washing vegetables contaminates 
them.  With reasonable care, however, there is no problem.

-- 
     >|<                      Maurice Barnhill                    < | >
    < | >     mvb@brahms.udel.edu       University of Delaware     >|<
     >|<      FAF00911@UDELVM.BITNET    Newark DE                 < | > 
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