Closing the Mexican chapter of our trip

If everything goes well tomorrow at the border, this should be it: our last night in Mexico. It has been exactly a month since we've entered this wonderful country. Next will be Belize and we have to admit, we are a little sad tonight to leave the country, especially with the amazing sites we've seen over the last few days as well as being able to be part of the festivities of "El Dia de los Muertos", both in Oaxaca and Palenque, Chiapas.

Exploring the secrets of the Chiapas jungle
After Oaxaca, we had quite a long stretch of road to cover before reaching Belize. We therefore decided to treat ourselves and take the toll Highway and be able to go a little faster. Pretty strange experience: you can indeed go faster and don't have to deal with the nasty bumps since you go around villages but it does not really feel like a highway either. You have people crossing the road constantly with cars and trucks rolling at 70 Mph (120 Km/h), trucks and other vehicles stopping on the shoulders for no apparent reason other than to take a break. In addition, the road in multiple places turns into a one-lane undivided road and then a little later, becomes a highway again. So, not quite what we expected but definitively faster than the free road.

We had one last main stop before crossing the border, which was conveniently in the middle: Palenque, home to amazing Mayan ruins and close to stunning waterfalls. Caroline was so excited to be there was this was a place we skipped a few years ago when we were in Mexico with her brother since it is so far away from anything else. We took the bikes and drove deeper into the Chiapas jungle. Palenque is one of the most amazing sites we got to see: in a beautiful jungle setting, it is a huge city with numerous pyramids, palaces and tombs. In the ancient times, the it was painted in bright red and blue, and even if you can't see these colors anymore, there are still remains of intricate sculptures and stone carving. In addition, it is so well-preserved compared to other Mayan sites: the tower of the palace is still standing tall, walls and even roofs of the temple are still there and you can even enter a few tombs in dark alleys. Palenque definitively gave us a feel for how powerful and educated the Mayans were: if a site can still be that beautiful and magic after a couple of thousand years, what must it have been at the peak of its glory and power?

After the ruins, we drove more south into the jungle and finally reached the waterfalls of Agua Azul after tricky mountain roads. If it has not rained recently, the water should be of a beautiful blue green color. Otherwise, we would have to deal with a more chocolaty color. As we left the parking, we could hear the roaming from the distance: this seems to be a more powerful waterfall than we thought. Finally we saw the water and it was indeed blue green. The clouds finally parted and lit up the water with turquoise shimmers. It was the perfect setting for the end of the afternoon and we walked up the path to the different viewpoints of the waterfall. We walked for about 20 minutes before we reached the top of the complex succession of smaller waterfalls and what seems to be the start of Agua Azul. At the top, the water was much calmer and some people were swimming and jumping into the water. Definitively a good spot for some good family fun on a hot day.

Celebrating our beloved ancestors

El Dia de los Muertos is a very important celebration in the Mexican culture: it is time for the whole nation to connect and share moments with their ancestors and the most recent family members they lost. The city of Oaxaca is particularly well known for making it a huge celebration. We found it was quite of a mix between the American tradition of Halloween and the French tradition of Toussaint (all Saints day). People, grown ups and kids alike, dress up in costumes linked to or symbolizing death and just party all around the city with bands playing rhythmic music. We also saw regional traditional dances performed by kids and teenagers. It had it all - dances, chanting, candies thrown around, it was quite a street party. And then there was also the part about reconnected and having that privileged moment with your dead: people buy flowers and offerings, such as fruits, bread, alcohol or other drinks, candles and they either put them on the tombs in the cemetery or we've also seen in houses, create a small space with sand sculptures and flower patterns to honor their ancestors. It is usually lit with candles that burn the whole night. The owner of the hotel we were staying at made a different design each year in sand and flowers and told us that it was to honor everyone's ancestors, including ours. It was a good time for us to reflect and think about all the great people we had both lost in our families and that we miss dearly. With the beautiful flowers and candles she had put around, it was the best setting we could have had to think about and honor our own dead.

The next day was going to be our last day of riding in Mexico. We would be going through four Estados to reach the border town of Chetumal, 10 Kms from the Belize border. We wanted to soak in as much as we could of the landscape, thinking about the great month we had in Mexico. We know that this country has a pretty bad reputation right now and noticed that tourism has been badly impacted here. Our experience has been nothing but great from all aspects and we would definitively tell anyone to just ignore the bad news you hear, turn off you TV, pack your bags and go to Mexico to have a good time. Our last Mexican ride was an alternation of rain patches and sun and we could not help but noticed how big the sky was over the plains. The end of our ride was greeted by a full-arched rainbow which was a nice sight to close our Mexican riding chapter.