12:05. Checked out on time, was awake from 10ish and was in bed relatively awake. I almost didn't rush as I won't be sleeping in a bed again til tomorrow night. :-)
They have charged me MXN30 for a locker to leave the suitcase in, the backpack didn't fit in as well but they offered to keep that behind the reception desk. This locker charge seems a little cheeky but it can be just about justified in a low budget place. The guy did say (if I understood correctly) I could use the hostel facilities today, not that I particularly expect to, but it may be nice to check my e-mail when I go pick the cases up.
Having lunch now and then will probably see if I can see those murals in the government building.
I need to read the guide book a bit on the bus tonight so I have at least a vague idea what I am going to do tomorrow once I drop the bags off at the hotel.
12:40. Steak not brilliant but OK. First time in ages I have been given pico de gallo with the bread, I think, which was nice.
17:30. Back at the bar I was at last night on the plaza grande. Owner (?) oddly beckoned me over to the table he is sitting at and we have just had a bit of a chat (in English). I had a vague suspicion he was trying to sell me souvenirs but I think not.
Went to see the murals at the government building on plaza grande. Quite cool although - maybe it was more the accompanying text than the murals themselves - they seem rather bitter. Maybe things sucked more in Yucatan than elsewhere. But still.
One was supposed to depict English pirates attacking the area, but it was extremely washed out and hard to make out.
I took photos of all the exterior ones out of a silly sense of completeness, but not the ones in the 'gallery'. Maybe I just have simple tastes but my favourite was definitely the eagle & serpent one.
After that I wandered round and found myself passing Museo Pinacoteca Juan Gamboa Guzmán so I figured I'd go in. It was essentially paintings and sculptures, moderately interesting but not amazing.
I then walked a long and hot 12 blocks west to Parque Centenario. I have to say it was just a little bit tatty and what with the slightly feeble children's rides and so forth it had just a touch of Skegness seafront on a bad day about it. But I suppose there was a certain delapidated appeal to it. And a less misanthropic person might find it more cheerful at say a weekend when it's probably heaving with families. (There were a moderate number of people there today, though it was by no means heaving.) There is a free (!) zoo in there which I went round. That was childishly enjoyable (watching the monkeys, marvelling at the sheer size of the giraffe, etc - I can't remember the last time I went to a zoo, I may actually have been a child (albeit probably a rather serious one, perhaps more serious than I am now) the last time, though I can't quite believe it was that long ago) although some of the enclosures seemed a bit basic. (The giraffe, for instance, seemed to be in a dirt-floored pe
n, admittedly a relatively large pen, which it shared with a couple of ostriches. Absolutely no vegetation or anything else, as far as I could tell. And there was a jaguar - I think - which I watched walk round in circles in the corner of its cage for at least 30 seconds continuously (I was filming it, so I know how long it was). Maybe that's normal behaviour for jaguars for all I know. All a bit guilt-inducing.)
The guy I took to be the owner isn't but is clearly some 'senior waiter'. He's local (as in, from Merida, not just Mexican). The more junior waiter chap is actually Belgian but is married to a Mexican. Both speak pretty good English.
They tell me there is a Pakistani-American computer programmer staying at the same hostel I was at who did what I did (quit his job to take some time off travelling).
Oh, while telling me all the 'local' handicrafts on sale in the street and the nearby market (I haven't been there) are made by Chinese not Maya (this seems vaguely racist, I think he means local Chinese not that the goods are imported from some factory in China, though I suppose it's fair in a way if you go for all this 'local Maya trace their ancestry back' stuff and local cultural pride relating to that which seems very much in vogue here, I really don't care that much and frankly don't want to get involved even in my own mind in a debate on the political correctness of it all, I will just say there seems a certain inherent contradiction in the whole business) I asked him about the cigar sellers. He says they are Mexican-made (in Vera Cruz, apparently) but stamped 'made in Cuba'. I didn't ask him if Mexican tobacco isn't supposed to be as good as Cuban. :-)
(It's not related except that it triggered my memory, but if I didn't mention it at the time, if memory serves the guy on the plantation tour in David told me Mexico is one of the largest coffee producers in the world. I didn't know that.)
Oh, I saw two cheapish hairdressers/barbers today but couldn't avail myself of them. I am much better than I used to be, but the worry that I'd end up with irritating cut hairs inside my clothing and be unable to take a shower or change until tomorrow evening seemed a bad risk.
Oh, they are putting salt on the rim tonight. Must just have been a quirk last night.
20:15. Wasn't that hungry but felt I should eat something and it also reduces the risk of being drunk by the time I come to get the bus, so I just had 'sopa de lima' here. Not bad. The hostel is a five minute walk up the road and they should be able to call me a cab to the terminal.
I have to be there by 23:30 tho the bus doesn't go til 23:55. I told the hostel I would pick my bags up about 10, that may be a bit early but it's a rough goal to aim for. I can stay here another hour and a half without much risk of getting drunk (there is a toilet on the bus anyway, I asked) and even if I end up hanging around at the terminal for an hour and a half (probably more like an hour) it's not the end of the world, it's better than flight pre-waiting and I can have a flick through the guide book re Paleqnue rather than doing it on the bus.
Feeling a bit jittery, I guess it's just the usual pre-travel stuff. It will at least be good to cover a moderately serious distance after my relatively slow progress from Cancun, even if speed of travel isn't really supposed to be a goal. As it is I missed potentially cool stuff anyway (Tulum, Uxmal) but you can't see everything and I guess it's good to have some stuff to come back for.
Had a quick look at my e-mails on my phone, pleasantly surprised to hear from Rus despite me having neglected our correspondence in a way that the word 'shameful' doesn't begin to describe.
21:50. Going to have one more before I go. There is plenty of time, I hope I don't regret it but while I don't want to rush I also don't want to be at the terminal too early if I can help it.
22:45. At bus terminal. No major hitches although the hostel phone was out of order (!) so I had to get a taxi in the street. But I got one immediately and it was only MXN20.
Went to luggage check-in counter at terminal and eventually a guy turned up. Turns out my bus is coming from Cancun (I already know this) and therefore I just take my luggage to the bus (which is not unexpected in general, but why some buses let you hand in your luggage airport style and others don't escapes me).
Looking on the bright side, this avoids the at least theoretical possibility of them weighing my suitcase (there is a scale forming part of the counter at the luggage check in desk), finding it's over 25kg and charging me (admittedly only MXN3/kg) for excess weight.
Bought a bottle of water, asked the guy if he had any sandwiches without mayonnaise. (I'm not that hungry, but you know.) His answer was incomprehensible but I inferred it to mean 'no'. I supect he simply couldn't be arsed to check. (Shades of HMHB's "24h Garage People".) But they are out of reach behind the counter so I couldn't look myself.
Was vaguely tempted to go to the bog. But no. It's a pay toilet (which I half expected) with a fucking metre high barred turnstile. Because surely NO ONE is going to be at a BUS TERMINAL with BULKY LUGGAGE, are they? Twats.
Terminal is small but pretty clean and modern. Hacked off about the toilets. I don't really need to go but man that's annoying.
There is some sign pointing out onto the platforms about 'toilete only for payed tickets' (sic) which half implies you may be able to go out of the boarding gate and get a freebie and presumably without turnstiles. I don't think I really want to go any more. Odd. I don't want to take a shit anyway so I can always go on the bus. Too much detail? :-)
There is a sign saying there is free wi-fi. But of course I have stashed my laptop in my suitcase on vague concerns about my hand-luggage being robbed overnight (from the guide book). I could dredge it out but it doesn't seem worth it.
23:20. No departure or arrivals board. There are announcements, in Spanish and English, about buses to certain destinations. Of course the usual 'does my bus terminate in Palenque?' style question arises. I guess I will go and loiter and/or ask the guy at the boarding gate nearer the time. I also assume there will not be many buses timed for 23:50 so that may give me a clue.
23:35. On the bus. The guy at the boarding gate called it out. I think I may have missed an announcement, there seemed to be some idea they were waiting for me and one other guy. He had a list of names so I guess they might have called me by name.
I nipped to the bog (indeed, free from the platform) on seeing some guy nip off the bus to do so. There does appear to be one at the back though.
My seat is occupied by a woman with a baby. I have sat across the aisle. I get no leg room now, which is a bit shit, but it's sheer luck I chose the 'decent' seat she has nicked so I guess I can't complain too much.
I asked and the bus does terminate in Palenque (and it says Palenque on the front) so that's one thing.
It's not as nice as I'd expected to be honest. It's OK but not like the overnight buses I took in Chile or Bolivia or probably other places. Bit crap for the money really. I do at least have a double seat to myself but it's not cama, I am not even sure it counts as semi-cama though the seat doubtless reclines. (To be scrupulously fair, no one said anything about the style of seating. As I seemed to have no choice of company I didn't ask.) Oh well, I am on it and that's the main thing.
I am sat right behind the driver. I picked the front row by the aisle when I chose my seat as it seemed a bit more secluded and based on the double-deckers I had used before it seemed likely to have more leg room and avoid the annoyance of people reclining their seat in front of me. This is just a single decker (I could have guessed that from the seat plan in hindsight.). As I say, not very impressed really. Except for the toilet it's pretty much the same as the day buses (which I think were second class, and I think this is first class, though maybe not) I took from Cancun to CI and CI to here.
From the fact the luggage guy asked me where I was going I infer we will stop somewhere else during the night. I fear somewhat for my hand luggage. I would wear the fleece but the air con is not particularly cool and it would be uncomfortable.
I might as well say this is an ADO service. I had somehow got an idea their service was nice, not that I had any options as far as I could tell. (An ad in the terminal implies they have at-seat electric sockets and stuff like that. Obviously not on this route.)
I have spread myself out over the double seat. My back pack is in the overhead rack but I have the fleece, my water bottle and a small bag with my travel guide and MP3 player in. I could stuff them under my seat but I am oddly under the impression everyone on the bus is untrustworthy and I fear the guy behind might nick them if I do that.
23:50. We are off anyway. I can see on the dashboard it is 28C in here and 40C outside. (I find the latter slightly implausible given how pleasant it was outside at night the last two nights but there you go.) So yes, thank god for air con, but you could crank it down a notch in here.
Ah, some sort of air flow seem to have started up, so we may get cool enough for me to wear the fleece. That would reduce my worries about someone nicking it or rifling the pockets without disturbing me. We haven't actually left yet, though I thought we were going to move.
23:55. OK, looks like we are really off. I will send this so I don't lose it when the phone is stolen and start another entry for any further tedious en-route observations.
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