With my friend dropped off at the airport Churro and I were feeling lighter and also overdue for some adventure.  We pulled a U-turn so I could head back South and check out Punta Allen.  For those unaware, Punta Allen is where influencers come to die.

Well the 1st several miles feel that way anyway.  I left the main road for a small side road making my way to Punta Allen.  Both sides are lined with nice expensive resorts which block any view of the water.  As it was a Saturday, it was chaotic with people walking on the sides of the road while taking picture in front of stupid signs which say things about following your dreams or life is a beach.  With so many people the cars were crawling along in both directions so I was forced to stay in line with the cars, it was a slow painful beginning.  But eventually that nonsense ends, the hotels disappear and you pass through a gate.  I didn’t need to do anything, the guy just waved me on, I had now officially entered the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, something the instagramers don’t seem to interested with.  The road was hard packed dirt riddled with potholes, with heavy vegetation for most of the ride.  While rough I could have ridden in a seated position (I have that fancy new shock after all!!), but I stood the whole trip since it looks cooler.  The nice thing about the road being so bad is that traffic is extremely light.  Eventually I got to the end and reached the small town where nothing was going on, but hey that is the point.  I grabbed some over priced shrimp with a  sweet view for lunch, relaxed for a bit as the ride had been draining, and then turned around and headed back rather than spend a night here.

I don’t remember where I went from there but decided to head North as the dirt road from el Cuyo to Rio Lagartos had been on my radar for years now, but had also evaded me thus far.  It was extremely hot when I arrived in el Cuyo, that I definitely remember.  I did a brief tour of the town, stopped somewhere for some water, and then headed off on the dirt road.  The road was in great  condition, and I did not see anyone else until reaching the end where the flamingo tours where going on in Rio Lagartos.  Of course, I saw hundreds if not thousands on my own already, so no need for that tourist trap.  At one point I stopped and enjoyed a Caribbean beach to completely to myself, while at the same time I was able to look back over at hundreds of flamingos chilling in the lagoon off in the distance.  You can see the group of pink in the panoramic, but sadly that is the best my phone is capable of.

From there I think I stopped for the night in Valladolid.  There was a heat wave going on in the Yucatan during this time, so anytime I was stopped I was unhappy, but cruising on the bike everything was good…so I decided to suck it up and head across the interior as I had never been through there.  I made my way through random mayan villages eventually getting to Peto.  Now, I don’t know what happened here, but the mask compliance was off the charts here.  I feel like 99% of the people were wearing masks, over the noses and everything!  I parked Churro and did a quick tour around the square before grabbing a torta from the Mercado which sucked.  From there Churro and I cruised through Becanchen, and had planned to make our way South towards the general area of Calakmul….but Karen missed a turn somewhere and we ended up back near Campeche.  Oh holy hell no way am I staying here again in the most boring city on Earth, Churro agreed so we cruised up to Merida.  We needed to get him a new clutch cable anyway and even though it is eternally hot in Merida, I didn’t mind stopping by for 1 or 2 nights.

Merida

From there we went back into the interior to get down to Calakmul.  I prefer taking these random roads over the toll roads even though it takes longer, the toll roads circling the Yucatan bore me to death, but if you need to make time they are great.
Since Calakmul is pretty isolated there were probably 10 people in the park, and enough area to have complete sections to yourself.  This is another site which allows you to climb to the top of the pyramids.  While climbing the main one, with no one around, the howler monkeys started going crazy.  I got to the top and took out my camera to grab the noise but they stopped….oh well the view was great so I relaxed for a bit before heading down.  I get to the bottom and they start up again so I figure why not, and jog back up to the top.  I got some decent clips, but damn that is a steep, high pyramid to be climbing multiple times in the heat.  I was definitely not out of breath though, the old man you hear panting in the vid must be a howler monkey.  A few minutes later a bunch of howler and spider monkeys came through and played in the trees for 30 or so minutes.  The ruins were cool but the monkeys were an incredible experience, especially since I had them to myself.