The Mayan Big Guns – Day 136 (10,952 miles)

Although our last post was heavily Mayan ruin based we hadn’t even reached the big ones.  Should we or shouldn’t we?  Go to Chichen Itza that is.  Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor say it’s a must, but the price you pay are the big crowds.  Also we know there are smaller quieter sites that could be just as interesting.

Anyhow we were staying close by so we went for it.   As long as you’re there by 9ish there are a couple of hours before the big tour buses arrive so it’s really not that crowded.  They do let vendors set up their stalls inside so there is the constant badgering to buy when walking past but the scale of the ruins is impressive and we’re glad we went.

 

 

We had based ourselves at a pretty town called Izamal, it was easy to get out and visit stuff plus Harold the owner of the hotel/campsite was an overlander himself many years ago.   This was handy as John wanted to give the van a service.  It was while doing the oil change that John spotted a small leak from the water pump and that one of the bolts fitted was too short and not tightened properly.  A new water pump was one of the jobs that was done by the guy we bought the van from, John had wanted to do it himself but that would have invalidated our warranty.  So after much deliberation he had agreed to let them do this and a few other jobs but has never been happy with the standard of what they did.  Luckily he had a slightly longer bolt that fitted so we have a temporary fix.

All of you who know John will realise that a temporary fix (albeit one that may last the whole trip) is not really good enough?.  There has been much deliberation about getting a new water pump now and fitting it, which is a big job on a Delica.  Or, getting a spare to carry with us but we really don’t have room.  We did go to a Mitsubishi dealer in Merida and sadly the Parts Manager definitely won the prize as the most unhelpful person we have encountered in Mexico, in fact he is the only unhelpful person we’ve encountered!  He was adamant that the part numbers we had could not possibly be accessed on his system and Japan would not ship them to Mexico anyway. Maybe what he was saying was true but from the moment he saw us the manner and body language said he didn’t want to help, much to the embarrassment of the very helpful receptionist who was translating for us.  Anyhow the temporary fix is fine at the moment and our good friend Chris who was our back home parts and shipping co-ordinator on our last trip has stepped up the mark and will get us what we need if and when we do.  Thanks Chris.

Part of each day a small herd of sheep were let into the campground to graze.  John caught one trying to get in the side of the van, so now every speck of dirt I see I think is a tick!

This lad is called Lucky as he is the only male among 9 dogs on the site!

Oh I love the internet!  We kept seeing this pretty bird so  I Googled “Bird native to Mexico with a funny shaped blue tail” and there it was the Turquoise Browed Motmot!

Izamal was spruced up with a job lot of yellow paint for a visit by the Pope in 1993, it made for some colourful photos.

This is Luis who took me on a tour of the town’s famous convent.  A small man with a big personality!

Plastic recycling by foot.

Our last Mayan ruin was Uxmal (pronounced Ushmal).  Apart from the Magicians Temple in the 1st 2 pics below all the other ruins can be climbed so a few more calories burnt.

 

 

We went to the sound and light show, didn’t understand much of the Spanish commentary but we got the gist of it and enjoyed watching.

Bye for now.xx