Itinerary
- Ciudad de Mexico
- Teotihuacan, most important pre-Aztec city
- Xochicalco, ancient fortress (40 kms south of Cuernavaca)
- El Tajin, most important ruin of the Totonacs (near Papantla)
- Monte Alban, ancient Zapotec ceremonial site
- Cancun
- Chichen Itza
- Uxmal
- Palenque
- Border crossing at Corozal and then on to Flores (7 hours)
- Tikal
- Uaxactum
- El Mirador (Hiking to El Mirador, a 2-day hike from Carmelita, the end of the road north of Flores)
- San Bartolo
- Belize: Caracol (2hr drive from San Ignacio)
- Bus to Belize City and to Corozal
- Bus Chetumal (Mexico)-Tulum 4 hours
- Tulum
- Cancun
Mar 10 - Apr 3, 2001
- $1=9.7 pesos, 2 Belize dollars, 7.40 quetzal
- Mar 10: Mexico City - Morelia (185 pesos)
- Mar 11: Hike up Paricutin (from Uruapan or San Juan)
- Mar 12: Morelia-Mexico-Papantla (130 pesos, 5.5 hours, hotel Pulido near zocalo 130 pesos)
- Mar 13: El Tajin
- Mar 13: Papantla-Mexico-Oaxaca (6 hrs, 300 pesos)
- Mar 14: Oaxaca-Monte Alban (20' from Hotel Rivera, 18 pesos, several cheap
hotels nearby)
- Mar 14: Flight Oaxaca-Merida (1800 pesos)
- Mar 15: Bus Merida-Cancun (4 hrs, 160 pesos)
- Mar 16: Cancun (Hotel Colonial, near bus station, 300 pesos)
- Mar 17: Cancun
- Mar 18: Cancun-Valladolid (2.5 hrs, 60 pesos, hotel Don Luis 210 pesos)
- Mar 19: Valladolid-Chichen Itza (1 hr)
- Mar 19: Chichen Itza: +El Castillo, +columns, +juego de pelota
- Mar 19: Chichen Itza-Merida (2.5 hrs, 35 pesos)
- Mar 19: Merida-Uxmal (2 hrs, 28 pesos)
- Mar 19: Uxmal: ++ pyramid, palacio de gobierno, +nunnery
- Mar 20: Merida-Chetumal (4 hrs, 160 pesos)
- Mar 20: Corozal-Belize (3.5 hrs, $6)
- Mar 20: Belize-San Ignacio (2 hrs, $5, hotel Venus $24)
- Mar 21: San Ignacio-border (1hr)
- Mar 21: border-Flores (2 hrs)
- Mar 21: Flores-El Remate (30', hotel David $20)
- Mar 22: Tikal ($7): North Acropolis (+mask of Chak), ++Gran Plaza (temple
I and II), Central Acropolis, +temple V, Plaza of the 7 temples, +Observatorio,
Plaza of the Lost World, ++temple IV, temple III, complex Q.
- Mar 22: Tikal-San Ignacio
- Mar 23: San Ignacio-Belmopan (2 hrs, $1.50) -Dangriga (2hrs, $3) -Placencia (3 hrs, $5). ++Hotel Sunrider ($20).
- Mar 24: Placencia: snorkeling to Laughing Bird cay (world heritage)
- Mar 25: Placencia-Belize-Corozal-Chetumal (hotel Nanchanan $25)
- Mar 26: Chetumal-Tulum (3.5 hrs, $10)
- Mar 26: Tulum
- Mar 26: Tulum-Playa del Carmen (1 hr)
- Mar 27: Playa del Carmen (hotel Melodia and Mom's, $20)
- Mar 27: Cancun-Havana ($205 rt including Hotel Capri)
- Mar 28: Havana Vieja (east of Capitolio, around Calle Obispo)
- Mar 29: Havana-Trinidad ($25)
- Mar 30: Trinidad-Havana (Estilita Rodriguez, Animas 777 & Gervasio $20 or
across from Hotel Lido for $30)
- Mar 31: Havana-Cancun
- Apr 1: Playa del Carmen
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Notes
Trip difficulty: easy
Length: 14 days
Season: September-April
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Pictures of Guatemala and Belize
No entrance fee is charged in Mexico on sundays: all monuments are free
Sanborns is a restaurant chain in Mexico, highly recommended
The bus at Cancun airport stops outside the airport
Cancun hotels in the beach area are very expensive. Prices collapse
near the bus station, particularly towards north and west. Hotel Jerusalem
is $18 with air conditioning. Take the airport bus till the end and a few
more hotels appear.
Cancun has become a gigantic tourist trap (with some of the most obnoxious
young American tourists). Hotels line up the legendary beaches.
Playa Delphines is pretty much the last decent beach.
Restaurants mainly serve American fare (not a compliment) at European prices,
the worst possible combination.
Playa del Carmen has the same beaches but much cheaper hotels and much
better restaurants. It also has character, particularly along Avenida 5.
Recommended restaurants: 100% Natural on Avenida 5 and Lo Sfizio on Calle 4
Norte. Hotels: Mom's and Melodia, both on calle 4 norte.
Entering Belize is expensive: $10 to leave Belize and $7 for parks.
Tikal: restoration of temple V will be completed in 2004. The ladder
leading to the top of temple IV has been removed. The East Plaza is still
invisible. Transportation to/from El Remate and Flores is erratic at best.
Unfortunately, crime is on the rise in Guatemala (2001). Tikal is as dangerous
as any other place in Guatemala. Robberies, shootings and especially rapes
of tourists occur frequently in and around Tikal. Police seem to tolerate
crime: very few police officers are to be seen among the ruins. You are
basically on your own.
Tour buses between Belize and Tikal are the least safe of all means of
transportation: that's precisely what bandits are after.
You're much safer hitchhiking or taking a regular, slow Guatemalan bus.
In Placencia the cheapest guesthouses are downtown, east side by the sea.
Cuba is terribly expensive if you stay at hotels. Several people rent rooms
(alquilo abitacion)
for more reasonable prices (but no less than $15). Best places to find out are
bus stations. Tourists pay prices in
dollars, not cuban pesos. Even more expensive is transportation.
Avoid unofficial taxis: official taxis are the only thing that is cheap
(and reliable). Unofficial taxis will charge you more, ask for tips and often
cheat you.
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