www.dustinbess.com

So for those of you who are reading this and DON'T know...I love photography. It is that one thing that I feel like I am somewhat good at, although I know I can get much better also. I have been taking pictures for probably 13 years. I stopped for a long time however. Well I have started up again and my pictures can be seen at www.dustinbess.com I update the galleries frequently (meaning I add more pictures to the existing galleries) so visit it often if you want to keep up on what I am shooting.

San Cristóbal, Chamula, and Cañon del Sumidero, Mexico.

So I arrived in San Cristobal de Las Casas Mexico and it took me about an hour to fall in love with this place. The ambience, the climate, the culture, everything about it is just awesome. I could seriously live there. It is just a really neat place. I love the culture in Mexico. I love how everyone heads down to the Zocalo each night and just hangs out there. We just don’t have that back in Utah. I spent a few days in San Cristobal.

The first day I just pretty much just chilled and spent a little bit of time in the zocalo. One of the days I went by horseback to a little village called Chamula. Chamula is an interesting place. A lot of tourists go there because they have a church there that they sacrifice chickens in. You have to pay 20 pesos at the city hall to go to the church. As I entered the church and took a look around it was very interesting. The floor is tile and covered with pine needles. Around the outer walls of the church were your typical statues of catholic saints and stuff with candles burning in front of them. There was probably at least 2000 candles burning inside of the church. While I was there I was lucky enough to witness ceremony. So a man came into the church with a family and they were carrying two chickens with them. They walked up towards the front of the church and cleared some of the pine needles away from the floor and then the man proceeded to place candles on the floor. They placed bottles of soda next to the candles then he proceeded to say a few prayers. He prayed for quite awhile. The reason for this was that one of the little boys from the family was sick. The man performing the ceremony was a medicine man or healer. After he said the prayers he took out some tequila and drank it then passed it around to the people observing. They believe that the tequila helps rid the evil spirits from the body. After this he took one of the chickens out, said a prayer, waved it over the burning candles and then rubbed the chicken over the little boy’s body. Then he broke the neck of the chicken and continued to wave it over the candles until it stopped moving then laid it down on the floor. I am not sure what the significance of the soda was. Anyway, I found this incredibly interesting to observe. I like seeing how other people practice their religions. It seems strange, but honestly, most religions have their rituals that look strange from the outside. I was not able to take any pictures of the people of Chumula or inside their church because they believe it robs their spirits to have their photo taken but I did get a picture of the outside of the church.

The next day I went to Cañon del Sumidero down by Tuxtla. It is called by some as the Grand Canyon of Mexico. It was gorgeous and I got to see a couple of crocodiles which was cool because I had never seen them out in the wild. Unfortunately I only had my 300mm lens on my camera instead of my 450mm otherwise I would have REALLY been able to zoom in on their teeth. Anyway, hope you are enjoying the blog and remember you can always see more pictures at www.dustinbess.com

The Church in Chamula where they
sacrifice chickens.

Croc in Cañon del Sumidero

Another croc.

"The Christmas Tree" in Cañon del Sumidero. During

the rainy season water will pour out of the top of it.

The Guadelupe shrine in the canyon. Notice
the Jesus to the right of the ladder.

A view of the canyon.

This was sad to me. It looked like he had no
and he was missing a couple of fingers.

A church in San Cristóbal.

The Cathedral in San Cristóbal.

Palenque

Well I have a lot of catching up to do so I am going to do it little by little. From Campeche I went to Palenque. My overnight bus arrived at about 8:00 am and I got to the ruins about 8:30. Palenque was by far my favorite ruins that I have been to. All of the others were on flat ground but Palenque was built into the hill and it was just cool. The jungle was screeching, it was hot and humid. I am so glad I decided to go there as it was far from my original plan. Originally I was going to drop down to Guatemala from Belize but because I didn't really want to spend time in belize and because they charge you to exit the country I decided I would go over to the west and come into Guatemala from that side. Once I decided to do that I found out about Palenque. My guidebook said it was rated as the best overall experience and I personally would have to agree.

Ruins of Palenque

It took me a few hours to go through and see Palenque and then I hopped on a bus towards Villahermosa. This was another stop that was not in my plans. For those of you who don't know I have a goal to photograph every LDS temple in the world. I made this goal about 12 years ago (when there were a whole lot less of them by the way) and I didn't realize there were more down here close to me. I was talking to one of the staff at the hostel in Merida and he was asking about the difference between an LDS temple and an LDS church. So as I was explaining to him I pulled up a map of the temples in Mexico and to my surprise there were two just slightly off my path I was heading and so I decided to detour to them. So I headed to Villahermosa, Mexico and got there at about 6 pm. I bought another bus ticket to Tuxtla Gutierrez for 8 pm so I had two hours to run down and take pictures and get back to catch my bus. So like any smart tourist I hopped in a taxi and told the driver where I wanted to go. What I didn't realize is that in Villahermosa the taxi drivers like to pick up additional people whenever they go somewhere. so we drove about 200 feet and he got in a taxi line at a big store equivalent to Costco. There we sat for 10 mintutes so he could let other people in the taxi with me. Then he proceeded to take the lady that got in to her stop. With the traffic and the extra stops I was pushing it to get back to the bus station on time but I got my pictures and made it back to the bus station to catch my 4 hour ride to Tuxtla Gutierrez.

I arrived in Tuxtla at about 12:30 am and didn't really know where to go or stay of course there was a taxi driver who was more than willing to help me...help me pay him 70 pesos for a 5 mintute taxi ride. For those of you who don't know, taxis in Mexico are not metered(with the exception of some in Merida), therefore it is up to the driver to decide how much to charge you. So it is always a good idea to ask BEFORE you get into the cab how much it is going to be to get to your destination. Well I didn't do this that night because A: I was tired, and B: I really had NO idea where I was going. When he told me 70 pesos I knew he was overcharging me but I just wasn't in the mood to care. I got up at about 5 am so the light wouldn't be too harsh and headed to the Tuxtla temple. It was about a mile further than the bus terminal and cost me 20 pesos. So that gives you an idea of just how well the taxi driver did the night before. I got my pictures at Tuxtla and then hopped a short bus ride to San Cristobal de Las Casas Mexico.

Villahermosa Temple

Tuxtla Gutierrez Temple

Uxmal y Campeche

Well I left Mérida bright and early Monday morning and caught a bus down to Uxmal. Up until that point Uxmal was my favorite ruins that I had visited. I like getting to the ruins early so that I don’t have to deal with people in my pictures, or more, waiting for people to get out of my pictures. Two, because I really don’t like crowds, especially tourist crowds. I got to Uxmal at about 715 am and waited for the park to open at 800. I was waiting by myself for awhile, then right before it opened a few more people showed up. After a few hours I made it through most of Uxmal and decided it was time for me to leave because it was starting to get crowded.

Iguana at Uxmal

Ruins of Uxmal

From Uxmal I sat on the side of the highway waiting for a bus to come by. I didn´t have to wait too long before I was able to catch a bus to Campeche. I got to Campeche at about 2 or 3 pm and realized that this was one of the moments that I REALLY, REALLY wished I spoke even a little bit of Spanish. I hopped a taxi from the second class terminal to the first class terminal only to find out that the next available bus to Palenque was not leaving until 0220 am. So I had 10-12 hours to wait and nothing to do and I couldn’t really ask anyone what there was to do either because no one around spoke English. No one except Rafael. Boy was I glad to see Rafael. I met Rafael the previous night in the hostel in Mérida and spoke with him for just a couple minutes before going to bed. Well this is one of those faith strengthening moments for me. I felt very lost and in all honesty there was just a little bit of fear, not a lot, but I was not comfortable in the situation that I was in. Well Rafael saw me standing there in the bus terminal, I´m sure I looked very lost, and came up and started talking to me. He said they (he was with a friend who was from Mexico City) were heading to the Monkey Hostel and asked me if I wanted to share a taxi with them to the hostel. I obliged since I really didn´t know what else to do. Rafael is from Campeche but has been living in Mérida. He came back to Campeche to say goodbye to his family because he is going to be traveling to Canada for 6 months. The Monkey Hostel was cool. It was on the second floor of a building overlooking the Zócolo and then it had roof top access also so the views were awesome. Almost all the colonial towns here are built around a central park, which is usually next to a cathedral, called a Zócolo. For 25 pesos I was able to drop my bag in the hostel, shower, and hang out until it was time to hop on the bus to Palenque at 2 am. After dropping by the hostel, Rafael, and I took a taxi to a local fort overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. We then went to a local market on our way back to the hostel and he showed some of the local fruits and something called a Marañon. It looks like a red pepper and they make a drink out of it. He said that Campeche is pretty much the only place you can find it. We walked around for a bit longer then stopped to have something to drink. One of my favorite things about México is all the juice you can find to drink. I got a coconut drink and Rafael got a Marañon. I had a sip of it and it is good. It tastes kind of like a red pepper. I decided I would get a refill of it. It was very refreshing. I have decided if I had juice like this in the states I don´t think I would ever feel a need to drink soda. Speaking of soda…before I left I hadn´t had any soda for about 3 weeks, or was it 2. I don´t remember but I digress, I hadn´t had any soda for awhile. Since being here I broke my rule for 2 reasons. One was because they have a drink down here called Manzana Lift. It is kind of like Apple Beer but I like it much better. Anyway, I had to have one when I got here. The other reason is strictly for health reasons. I have heard from more than one person that the carbonation helps to kill bacteria that may be in the food. Now, I don´t know if that is true or not but it seemed like a good excuse to have a soda. I have only had I think 3 sodas since being here though. That is pretty good considering my previous soda consumption rate.

A view from the roof of the Monkey Hostel in Campeche

Cathedral in Campeche

Mérida Mexico

COBÁ MÉXICO

So on Tuesday I hopped on a bus to Cobá and it was the last bus into the city. When I arrived I asked the local hotel if they had any rooms available and he said no. There was one other hotel that I ran over to trying to beat the bus leaving and luckily they had a room. I paid 200 pesos for a pretty nice room with 2 double beds. Cobá is very quiet at night with not much going on...I mean besides the stray dogs fighting and that dang rooster that was crowing at night. I thought they were only supposed to crow in the mornings. Maybe this one had too much tequila. Anyway, I did laundry by hand that night. It was only 2 days worth but it took FOREVER. So, Mom, I just want to say thank you for doing my laundry all those years. I realize you used a machine most of the time but I remember many trips to the laundromat when it was broken. I don´t think I fully appreciated all those times you did that until now. I woke up at 6am to be packed and at the entrance to the ruins by 7am when it opened. I was the only one there and didn´t see another person for at least 2 hours. I probably didn´t come across more than 20 people the whole time I was there which was nice, however when I got back to the entrance there were a lot of people just getting there and the tour buses had just started to arrive. I HATE CROWDS. So I am glad I didn´t have to deal with them. I think it was a totally different experience being there by myself than had there been others there with me. There is a unique feeling that comes when you are walking through buildings that are 1700 years old and you are all alone. I did a lot of pensivating while I was there and just took it all in. After getting finished at Cobá I hitched a taxi back to the bus station because my foot was KILLING me. I don´t know what I did but it hurts really bad and has been hard to walk around on. It is still hurting me a lot. I may end up seeing a doctor if it doesn´t stop hurting.

Sometimes the Road is Lonely.


Ball Court of Cobá.

Circular altar at the base of temple in Cobá.

The main temple at Cobá. The highest temple in the area.
You can see over the whole canopy when you climb to the top of it.

From Cobá I rode the bus to Valladolid. The taxi drivers and bus station person at Cobá told me that the bus wouldn´t come until 12 and kept trying to get me to take the taxi for 300 pesos compared to a 45 peso bus ride. Well the bus ended up coming at 10:50. I am wondering if they wanted me to miss the bus so I would be more inclined to take a taxi. Oh well, it didn´t work on me. I met a girl from Germany on the bus and we hung out when we got to Valladolid. We went to a cool cenote (sinkhole for swimming) that was smack dab in the middle of the city. It definitely ranks up on my list as one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Someone told me it is not even that good of a cenote compared to some of the others around. Still, I thought it was AWESOME. Especially since it was in the middle of the city. While at the cenote a guy jumped off the edge and I thought...I have to do that now to. So I did. I ended up talking to him after I jumped off. He was from Oregon and there traveling with his girlfriend. We talked for a few minutes about cool places to cliff jump.

Cenote at Valladolid. I jumped off from the gap
you can see in the wall then jumped off from the
top of the wall on the far right side of the picture.

That night I went to dinner at a nice open air restaurant in Valladolid. I had some of the best chicken I have ever tasted. Two tables away ended up being the guy and girl from Oregon. I asked them what they were doing the next day (Thursday morning) and they said they were going to Chichén Itzá. I asked them if they wanted to share a cab and they said they had a rental car and offered me a ride. The girl from Germany came with us also and we all headed to Chichén Itzá early Thursday morning. Once again we got there bright and early to beat the crowds. We were finished by the time the crowds started showing up. The three of them dropped me off in the town of Pisté close to Chichén Itzá and I hopped a bus to Mérida which is where I am now.

Kukulcan at Chichén Itzá.

Alex and Lily, the couple from Oregon that gave me a ride
to Chichén Itzá. They are big Trailblazers fans and I guess
the Trailblazers give stuff away to people who submit
pictures in cool places with their gear on, so
they packed it along with them.

Mérida is a cool city with lots of culture and history. The oldest cathedral in the Americas is here in Mérida. It also happens to be Semana Santa (Holy Week) and so there has been a lot going on and a lot of the stores have been closed down as the locals are away at the beach. Yesterday I hopped a 2 hour bus ride with a guy here from Mexico and a girl from Germany to the town of Celestún to go and see the Flamingos. Well the tide had risen too high the previous night and the Flamingos had flown to lower waters so there were none to be seen, so alas I saw no Flamingos and decided to head back to Mérida on my own. I got to have another fun 2 hour bus ride. I was bummed because I had wasted a whole day and didn´t accomplish much, but you know what they say, nothing ventured nothing gained. At least I tried.
When I got back to Mérida I stopped to take some pics of the LDS temple here. Then headed back to the main park and got there right as the Catholics were doing a procession around the park. I got some good shots of that stuff and the people around. Now before you go saying that I was irreverant to be taking pictures in a cathedral, I observed the locals doing it and considering the news camera that was there covering the event I figured it would be ok to take pictures inside. If this is not the case then will my Catholic friends stand up and let me know.
All in all, Mérida is a cool place that I would recommend to anyone wanting to experience something a little more Mexico than Cancún. One word of caution, getting around Cancún and the Riviera Maya without speaking spanish is not that hard. I thought it was at first, but compared to here it is much easier. It is a different story here. Not many people speak english. However, don´t let that discourage you from coming.

Mérida México Temple.

The only flamingos I saw on my trip to Celestún. Five
hours on abus to take a picute of this sign. It rocked.

Holy Friday Procession.

This is the oldest cathedral in the Americas.

I'm Finally Here

Well I have finally arrived in Mexico. I am excited to start this journey. I was anxious to get here before I left so I am glad I am here now. I arrived yesterday and things went incredibly smoothly. A short line at immigration, then my bag was coming around right as I walked up to the pick up. I breezed through customs which was nice. No red light for me (those who have flown into Cancun will know what I am talking about. After that I went to get a bus ticket to Playa Del Carmen and it was leaving in 5 minutes so I didn't have to wait hardly at all for anything at the airport. I got to PDC and walked around for a bit, bought some sun glasses and then hopped a bus to Tulum. I arrived at my hostel, The Mayan Hostel Tulum and had a 4 bed room that I shared with a girl from Finland. She was the only other one in the room with me. After I got settled in and checked my email I walked a couple miles to an Argentine restaurant and had a steak. It was SO good. My plan was to hit Tulum at about 6 am to beat the crowds and to have the best lighting for pictures but I ran into some people last night in the hostel and started to talk with them. They were playing Phase 10 in the commons area. It turned out they were from Utah and Arizona and came over from a city in Mexico where they have been teaching english. We stayed up pretty late playing Phase 10 and I wasn't exactly ready to get up when my alarm went off this morning. I got up and the 4 of us took a taxi over to Tulum, walked around the ruins and then went down to the beach and hung out there for awhile. I am slightly sunburned but not too badly. We hopped a taxi back to the hostel to pick up our bags and then we parted ways. They went to PDC to head over to Cozumel and I am just about to catch a bus to Coba. I am hoping to find a place to sleep tonight in Coba. I am running a little later than I wanted to get out of here and the last bus leaves Coba at 6 pm. I think I am on the last bus there as I should arrive at about 5:45 pm. If I don't find a place to stay then I may be sleeping in the jungle. Oh well, that may be fun. Till later, Ciao.