Gringos Amongst Friends

Hardly any country is more diverse than Mexico, with its stunning Caribbean beaches, unique natural wonders, and ancient Aztec cities. But the Mexican street scene is sometimes dominated by heavily armed police, rebellious villagers and rockers in leather gear….

- Bea Hobenreich

After our motorcycle tour of Cuba and three days sailing the open sea, our boat finally docked at the harbor of the tiny island of Isla Mujeres. We could hardly wait to ferry over to the mainland just north of the tourist stronghold of Cancún.

The Mexican Yucatán welcomed us not only with crystal clear, bright blue water and humid, warm temperatures around 30°C, but also billions of mosquitoes which seemed to have been waiting for our arrival. Particularly in the evening, we could barely save ourselves from those annoying little bloodsuckers. Welcome to Mexico!

We stayed a few days in Cancún in order to import our motorcycles. But the city was dominated by gigantic hotel complexes and heavily armed police—too touristy, busy and western for us, so as soon as the bureaucracy was out of the way we headed out of town. The narrow country road on which we left Cancún traveling west was bordered by shrubs, bushes and sparse forests, the dominant vegetation of the relatively flat Yucatán. Our destination was the ruins of Palenque.

ON THE TRAIL OF MAYA

The archaeological site of Palenque is surrounded by lowland jungles, its temples and terraces extending over more than two square kilometers—a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The subtropical climate and high humidity turned our walk through the sprawling temple complex into a real challenge, and along the way we took shelter under the many huge, shady trees with their intricate, gnarled roots.