Old Rocks (Mayan Ruins)
We only stayed on the Emerald Coast, for a one day stop, needed the rest, especially Lil. Her back is really giver her problems, she is in great pain by noon, and can hardly move by evening. I am really worried, hopefully a three week layover at Paa Mul, south of Playa Del Carmen, will help.
Looking back, we should have never under taken such a long trip in an RV. The roads are way to rough, even though the truck rides really well, (as “Dodge’s do) it is the uneven road surface’s that cause truck to sway sideways, this and the potholes and “Topes”, causes her a lot of pain.
We left the Emerald Coast and headed for the “Xumal Mayan Ruins” (Old Rocks). We stopped in Villahermosa for the night, parked on a site at a Swimming Club, which had water & electricity for $10.
On this leg of our journey, we finally got on to some very expensive “Toll Roads”, were we thought we would have wider and better roads. They were wider, but not much better, the running surface on the right lanes were worn out and poorly patched, so to get a better ride you have to travel in the left lanes, moving over when traffic caught up to you. I don’t know why they are worn out, because from the volume of traffic they shouldn’t be.
From having traveled on the “Libre” the free roads, and the “Cuota” the toll roads, I would estimate the toll roads only carry about 5% of the traffic. The reason being, the toll roads are privately owned, and set their own tolls. Mexican thinking goes like this, “ If you are not making money, raise the price”, and if, even less people use your facilities, raise the price even more.
I believe that the private road owners in this part of Mexico, cannot afford to maintain their roads. A neighbor in the park we are in right now, said it cost him over $500 in tolls from the El Paso, TX to Cancun. He has a Dually Truck & 36’ 5th Wheel 2 axle Trailer.
A dually truck is considered a 2 axle working truck, not a pickup, so if you are pulling with a single tires on the rear, you pay the automobile/pickup rate and the rate for the number axles you have on your trailer.
Our setup with the dually truck & camper is costing us about 2/3rds more than an automobile/pickup rate.
Going through Villahermosa, Tabasco, were some of the worst flooding, we went through an area that they were still sandbagging. They had truck traffic stopped, but waved us through. In one spot an eighteen wheeler, had his trailer with a red container on it leaning out into our lane. I could only get over till the dually’s were rubbing on the curb on the drivers side, and the right rear view just missed the corner of the trailer. I considered the lean of the container out into our lane, but not the right amount of lean. I now have a red paint streak on the awning cover, and it still works.
We got to Xumal, about 3:30PM, and parked in the RV Parking Lot overnight. $10.
The site closed at 5PM, but there was a “Sound & Light Show” slated for 7PM. This gave us time to have showers, and have supper at the hotel.
The supper was excellent, but we were disappointed in the show. The show consisted of a narrator telling a story of what they “guess” happened at Xumal and the Mayan civilization, and some lights playing on the ruins. Even though we had English Earphone Translators, we both dozed off a few times, thankfully it only lasted an hour.
The next morning we partially toured the site, as Lil was really hurting. It was interesting, and if you are ever in the area, it is worth seeing.
We spent a little over an hour walking around, then headed for Chechen Itza (more old rocks). We got there in the mid afternoon, parked at the Stardust RV Park $15, (you need Stardust in your eyes to call this an RV Park).
We have been very disappointed in the Mexican RV parks, they are very expensive for what you get, all that we have stayed at have terrible washrooms & showers, no seats on the toilets, and the showers are filthy. All we use is the electricity, and water.
They also offered a Sound & Light Show, but in talking to a couple from Colorado, it was worse than Xumal. This couple, was only the second couple we have met in the RV Parks we have stayed at, also we have not seen any RV’s on the road. The park owners say it is very slow this year.
We toured Chechen Itza, the next morning for a couple of hours, this site is much larger than Xumal, and the main Pyramid is twice the size, with more larger out buildings. However the Stonework & Architecture, are not near a interesting as Xumal. Lil say’s neither one compares favorably with other sites she has seen, particularly Tical.
We then headed for Cancun & Paa Mul on the most expensive Toll Road so far, $60 for 150 miles.
We only stayed on the Emerald Coast, for a one day stop, needed the rest, especially Lil. Her back is really giver her problems, she is in great pain by noon, and can hardly move by evening. I am really worried, hopefully a three week layover at Paa Mul, south of Playa Del Carmen, will help.
Looking back, we should have never under taken such a long trip in an RV. The roads are way to rough, even though the truck rides really well, (as “Dodge’s do) it is the uneven road surface’s that cause truck to sway sideways, this and the potholes and “Topes”, causes her a lot of pain.
We left the Emerald Coast and headed for the “Xumal Mayan Ruins” (Old Rocks). We stopped in Villahermosa for the night, parked on a site at a Swimming Club, which had water & electricity for $10.
On this leg of our journey, we finally got on to some very expensive “Toll Roads”, were we thought we would have wider and better roads. They were wider, but not much better, the running surface on the right lanes were worn out and poorly patched, so to get a better ride you have to travel in the left lanes, moving over when traffic caught up to you. I don’t know why they are worn out, because from the volume of traffic they shouldn’t be.
From having traveled on the “Libre” the free roads, and the “Cuota” the toll roads, I would estimate the toll roads only carry about 5% of the traffic. The reason being, the toll roads are privately owned, and set their own tolls. Mexican thinking goes like this, “ If you are not making money, raise the price”, and if, even less people use your facilities, raise the price even more.
I believe that the private road owners in this part of Mexico, cannot afford to maintain their roads. A neighbor in the park we are in right now, said it cost him over $500 in tolls from the El Paso, TX to Cancun. He has a Dually Truck & 36’ 5th Wheel 2 axle Trailer.
A dually truck is considered a 2 axle working truck, not a pickup, so if you are pulling with a single tires on the rear, you pay the automobile/pickup rate and the rate for the number axles you have on your trailer.
Our setup with the dually truck & camper is costing us about 2/3rds more than an automobile/pickup rate.
Going through Villahermosa, Tabasco, were some of the worst flooding, we went through an area that they were still sandbagging. They had truck traffic stopped, but waved us through. In one spot an eighteen wheeler, had his trailer with a red container on it leaning out into our lane. I could only get over till the dually’s were rubbing on the curb on the drivers side, and the right rear view just missed the corner of the trailer. I considered the lean of the container out into our lane, but not the right amount of lean. I now have a red paint streak on the awning cover, and it still works.
We got to Xumal, about 3:30PM, and parked in the RV Parking Lot overnight. $10.
The site closed at 5PM, but there was a “Sound & Light Show” slated for 7PM. This gave us time to have showers, and have supper at the hotel.
The supper was excellent, but we were disappointed in the show. The show consisted of a narrator telling a story of what they “guess” happened at Xumal and the Mayan civilization, and some lights playing on the ruins. Even though we had English Earphone Translators, we both dozed off a few times, thankfully it only lasted an hour.
The next morning we partially toured the site, as Lil was really hurting. It was interesting, and if you are ever in the area, it is worth seeing.
We spent a little over an hour walking around, then headed for Chechen Itza (more old rocks). We got there in the mid afternoon, parked at the Stardust RV Park $15, (you need Stardust in your eyes to call this an RV Park).
We have been very disappointed in the Mexican RV parks, they are very expensive for what you get, all that we have stayed at have terrible washrooms & showers, no seats on the toilets, and the showers are filthy. All we use is the electricity, and water.
They also offered a Sound & Light Show, but in talking to a couple from Colorado, it was worse than Xumal. This couple, was only the second couple we have met in the RV Parks we have stayed at, also we have not seen any RV’s on the road. The park owners say it is very slow this year.
We toured Chechen Itza, the next morning for a couple of hours, this site is much larger than Xumal, and the main Pyramid is twice the size, with more larger out buildings. However the Stonework & Architecture, are not near a interesting as Xumal. Lil say’s neither one compares favorably with other sites she has seen, particularly Tical.
We then headed for Cancun & Paa Mul on the most expensive Toll Road so far, $60 for 150 miles.
2 comments:
Mom, Herb,
Sorry to read the trip is not quite what you hoped for. We are keeping our fingers crossed that you find smooth pavement and real RV parks soon.
Feliz Navidad!
Love Greg & Tess
Hi! Thanks for the phone call today....it was good hearing from you. Sorry to hear that Lil is suffering from a sore back. Hopefully, it will get better now that you are not travelling for awhile. Sounds like the roads down there are terrible. The pictures were nice. Looks like you are seeing some interesting sights.
Merry Christmas!
Love from, Eileen
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