On a trip back from Mexico City, we made sure to stop in the town of Saltillo, Coahuila to purchase the tiles of the same name.
My dad had first worked with them, or fallen in love with them when he was doing house renovations in the Florida Keys. It was a stop that he was sure would be the highlight of the trip.
In Saltillo, the tiles bake in the hot sun to finish. Each square is unique as a tree or a snowflake. Often time stops in the form of an ant, a small paw print, or the circular pattern left by a Coca-Cola bottle by a worker. Over time they develop a rich patina.
The kitchen floor shown in the video was just cleaned & resealed by my 78-year-old mother. She worked in the traditional way of cleaning the tiles that she learned from a Cubana in Key West, using old towels, cleaning & buffing in sections. They look fabulous, don’t they?
I only took 39 photos in my 3-day visit to El Panchan. Here’s my little compilation of all of them: a visit to El Panchan.
. This jungle camp of relaxed cabanas and even more chilled out restaurants & bars is best enjoyed IN THE MOMENT- and not through a lens or screen. You never know when you will catch sight of a howler monkey, some tropical birds, or adorable sereques!
15 days of eating & drinking, swimming & exploring
When my friend Gabi invited me to her wedding in La Concordia, Chiapas, I immediately & enthusiastically accepted. I imagined crossing the Yucatan peninsula & the Isthmus of Tehuantepec by bus, stopping in the cool mountain town of San Cristobal de las Casas, and finally paying a visit to the island of Boca del Cielo, on the Pacific Coast.
A few days later my friend Carmen said she could come for a visit that same week. She was easily convinced to embark on a Chiapas adventure and furious & obsessive planning commenced. I believe that I spent a solid 3 days researching & planning. I’ve had the good luck of visiting Chiapas, but the last time was over 10 years ago.
My careful planning yielded this itinerary (all prices are in pesos chiapanecos):
WEDNESDAY : meet at Villahermosa airport & take an ado van to palenque $95 (2hrs)
SATURDAYstraight to JUNGLE: visit Bonampak & Yaxchilan, swim in the river
3 hours by bus from Palenque- hopefully, we can take combis from Misol Ha to one of the camps, about 3 hrs in. I think we can book when we get there. The best options seem to be in the Crucero Bonampak community, where there’s at least 10 little camps scattered around.
Autotransporte Chamoán Palenque to Frontera Corozal ($145, 2½ -3hrs, every 40 min from 4 am to 5 pm) boat to Yaxchilán for 2 people costs $1000, for 6 people $2000. Takes 40 minutes to get there. Rates are non-negotiable. You have 2 hours in the archeological zone. The last boat leaves at 15h but as the site closes at 17h.
Taxi from Frontera Corozal to Yaxchilán $300 pesos.
Linea de Pasajeros Comitan Lagos de Montebello runs from Palenque to Comitan and will stop at the cruceros (intersections)
Autotransporte Chamoán Palenque to Crucero Bonampak ($95, two hours), instead of the San Javier stop on the highway.
Getting to Bonampak: highway 199 t from Palenque – Chancalá – Corozal Border, as far as the San Javier exit at km 97; continue on the road towards Lacanhá and the archeological zone is 4 km further on.
It’s mandatory to use a local guide & their transportation for $500 pesos
Bonampak community fee $75 pesos
Entrance tickets to the Bonampak site are $75 pesos
It’s also possible to visit more waterfalls from this area using Linea de Pasajeros Comitan Lagos de Montebello &/or Autotransporte Chamoán Palenque :
Cascada Golondrina $25
Cascada Welib-Já and Nueva Palestina, take any Carretera Fronteriza bound combi from Palenque.
MONDAY : TRAVEL DAY OR STAY AN EXTRA DAY IN THE JUNGLE
Return to Palenque, and catch a combi to visit Tonina has the tallest pyramid on Mexico. Read more about the Tonina pyramids. Ocosingo has a couple places to stay, an interesting market, and breaks up the 5.5 hour trip to San Cristóbal.
TUESDAY: WEDNESDAY:THURSDAY: 3 nights San Cristóbal de las Casas
Rent a little casita ($500)
Casa Na-Bolom, the former home of Franz & Trudy Blom. Superstar anthropologist team working in Chiapas. Last time I was there, I saw an incredible display of Frida Kalho’s jewelry
The main reason I am going to San Cristobal is to visit the central market
There’s also an organic market on Wednesday mornings
For thorough explanations of the history & legends of the Maya world, I adore Lydia Jones’s Hammocks & Ruins. She really digs deep into the subjects and collaborates with professional photographers to create content for travelers & wanders. Check out her itineraries to Bonampak & Yaxchilan, Chiapas. I plan to download her articles to read on my way to the pyramids. Lydia writes in English.
The other joyous discovery of my Chiapas research marathon is Sinpostal.com Rubi & Jose Luis are photographers & videographers on a year-long road trip of Mexico. I found them on YouTube, devouring the videos they made in Chiapas this spring. I really appreciate their website with it’s clear breakdown of costs & logistics. All content is in Spanish, but they are super clear communicators & use helpful graphics, so I think non-Spanish speakers can find the content helpful.
Gertrude Duby’s photo archive (1943-1990) at Na-Bolom
Slow Food piece on the milpa system in Chiapas: A complex Mesoamerican intercropping method, the milpa is a sustainable agricultural system that can combat the loss of biodiversity in rural areas thanks to the rich variety it incorporates. The most common crops, and the most representative of the local diet in the Mexican region of Chiapas, are corn, beans and squash, which coexist and form symbiotic relationships with each other and other plants like tomatoes, chili peppers, quelites (wild herbs), fruit trees and dozens of other vegetables, as well as fungi and insects who find their ideal habitat in the milpa.
Lasers reveal Maya war ruins in northern Guatemala
Where I’m living, the daily market borders the central plaza. With only 3 vendors selling food, the market offers a wonderful introduction to local, seasonal cooking in this part of the world. It is spacious & unhurried. There’s plenty of time to ask questions, and share recipes.
My haul this morning includes aromatic sour oranges, tiny plum tomatoes, fresh chaya greens, 2 kinds of chiles, juicy mangos, fresh cilantro, mint & chives, and a fat papaya. Today I didn’t wake up early enough for fresh pork.
After my shopping, I went across the street to the best loncheria of the 6 on the plaza for an empanada and a salbute, both garnished with cabbage salad, fried tomato sauce, & a pureed habanerochile salsa
Tropical fruits abound in the small villages of the Yucatan coast.Butcher sells out of pork by 9:30 A.M. on most days. Mondays, when the entire peninsula cooks Frijol con Puerco, they sell out by 8:30 A.M. Two freshly harvested pigs are brought to market daily.
The coastal villages lining the Gulf of Mexico in Yucatan state possess a sleepy, timeless vibe. Arriving at the wrong time, it may seem everyone has deserted this dusty paradise. Other times will reveal a vibrant community of fisherman and families, bustling with activity between the pier & the plaza. Looks can be deceiving for any traveler, but especially here in the hot Yucatan.
Constant sea breezes take their toll on buildings, signs, and furniture. Locals are accepting of the slow deterioration. They know where & when to eat & shop. Where to find the most delicious ceviche when the octopus is abundant. Village residents know what time the wood-fired ovens cool & the bakers put out crusty pan frances. Home cooks know that the butcher rises before dawn to harvest only 2 pigs each day, and shoppers must make their purchase well before 9 am.
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The dusty paradise of a fishing village. Progreso, Yucatan
Here’s what our tour looks like:
michelada beer cocktail
how salt is harvested
laguna rosada
beachside eating
handmade sorbets
botanas at a cantina
fishing village
salbute y empanada
BEACH TOWN FOOD TOUR (3 hours)
Our first stop will be Chicxulub Puerto, a small fishing village east of Progreso. We will visit the tiny Municipal Market, to learn about coastal Yucatan’s cuisine & ingredients. Then we will walk across the street to a tiny loncheria selling incredible empanadas, panuchos & salbutes. We will hit up a roadside coconut stand to fuel ourselves for the next leg of our journey.
Then we will travel 30 minutes by car to visit an active Mayan salt-making operation at the picturesque Laguna Rosada. We can see how salt is extracted manually, in a method virtually unchanged in 1300 years, & talk with a few of the 50 people who have the skills to extract it. A salty mudbath & the opportunity to take incredible photos are offered at no extra charge.
This stop will be followed by a quick tour of a nearby archeological zone, that a served as a local business center for traders who traveled to the region to purchase salt starting in the Late Preclassic period (100 BC-250 AD). The combination of the salt-making center side-by-side with the ruins really give you a perspective on Mayan life over the past millennium.
We will return to Chicxulub to take a short walk around town to enjoy some swimming, cold beers, a ceviche tasting & tropical fruit sorbet, before heading back to Progreso (15 min by car.)
Post mudbath float at Xtampu.
BEACH TOWN FOOD TOUR (full day)
Our first stop will be the historic shipping port of Progreso. We will visit the 90-year-old Municipal Market, to learn about coastal Yucatan’s cuisine & ingredients. We will share a typical local breakfast, Lechon (roasted pork on french bread) from a restaurant opened in 1937. Lechon is traditionally paired with Coca-Cola, but we will try several tropical fruit juices and agua frescas instead.
Then we will travel 40 minutes by car to visit an active Mayan salt-making operation at the picturesque Laguna Rosada. We can see how salt is extracted manually, in a method virtually unchanged in 1300 years, & talk with a few of the 50 people who have the skills to extract it. A salty mudbath & the opportunity to take incredible photos are offered at no extra charge.
This stop will be followed by a quick tour of a nearby archeological zone, that a served as a local business center for traders who traveled to the region to purchase salt starting in the Late Preclassic period (100 BC-250 AD). The combination of the salt-making center side-by-side with the ruins really give you a perspective on Mayan life over the past millennium.
Then we will have lunch across the street from the beach at a family-owned seafood restaurant in Telchac Puerto. Cooling off, hydrating with ice-cold beers, and swimming in the sea will be on our agenda for the next couple of hours. We will sample ceviche & choose from a plethora of fresh seafood. Before we drive back west, we will visit a typical sweet shop that sells the most amazing cheesecake I have ever tasted!
Our last stop will be in Chicxulub Puerto, a fishing village located 30 minutes away. We will drink fresh coconuts & take a short walk around town to enjoy tropical fruit sorbet & sunset on the pier before heading back to Progreso (15 min by car.)
Our all-day tour includes sunset at no additional charge!
Send a whats app by clicking on the icon on the lower-left corner or a send me a message for pricing & availability!
TRUTH! Bialetti’s Moka Express is redeemed by coffee snobs!
Coffee people have softened their stance, and recognized the moka pot for what it is: an entirely different branch of the coffee machine tree, a very old, very clever, and very economical way to make coffee.
I travel with my brilliant espresso pot. Coffee culture has grown muchisimo in Mexico, but it’s still easier to find a stove than an espresso every morning!
Enjoying local coffee beans wherever I go
My coffee pairs well with living in a beach hut, reading pulp fiction.
