"On the Trail"

The Journals from the Road

April 17:   The Habanero Stikes Again - Agua Azul, Chiapas

We awoke to the sound of little Tzetzal voices. Jesica, Sandra, Eduardo, and others were waiting for us to get up and play. Jon filled the request with juggling balls and was soon tossing them to and fro. I had to capture the moment so acted as camera guy.

Jon has been having trouble keeping his backpack on his bike. We have used various knots, rope, and even chain but old backpack-houdini seems to escape quite often. We had a few false starts but finally got going.

Breakfast was meager but lunch was a mango, cantelope, Corn Flakes ( Jon found a full box on the road!) and a bunch of cocotes ( which were heavenly). Another two hours and we came to the sign for Agua Azul.

4 kms down a steep hill and it was culture shock time. We were instantly amidst hundreds of tourists on Spring Break. There were probably 40 buses in the parking lot. That meant vendors, higher prices, and that which we had all come for - beautiful blue water. There are hundreds of waterfalls and pools to play in.

We decided to stick our stuff in a shed and paid a guy to watch it. Then we headed for the waterfalls.

As I walk on the jungle paths or sit in one of the bubbling brooks I feel like I am in some amazing waterpark. This is nature's waterpark, and the lizards are real!

For dinner we both easily agreed to a non-habanero dinner. But, the spirit of the habanero was still with us in the traces of oil in my frying pan. Once again my mouth burned but at least this time I could still distinguish the flavors of the other vegis.

Peace(Bike),