April 10 - Agua Azul and the Road to Hell, Part 2

Misol-ha

Misol-Há
On Tuesday morning we are off for another day of touring and then back to San Cristóbal.  The minivan picks us up at ; only about a half dozen passengers on today’s trip. 
First stop, Misol-Há - only about ½ hour from Palenque.  The setting is beautiful – 200-foot high waterfall plunging into a teal-colored pool - but the pathways are crowded.  It is still vacation time for most Mexicans.  They have the week preceding Easter off and also the week after.  So a place like Misol-Há would feel more peaceful at other times.

After about 45 minutes we are on to Agua Azul. If we thought Mishol-Há was crowded, it was dwarfed by the number of tourists at Agua Azul. Where Mishol-Há has one waterfall, Agua Azul has dozens. Its primary pathway follows the riverbank. And for nearly its entire length, the trail is lined with souvenir shops and small, simple restaurants (comedores) serving empanadas and refrescos. But even all this “honky tonk” does not diminish the beauty of this site. The river and falls glow with an otherworldly blue/green hue. After almost a mile of walking, we leave the stalls and eateries behind. Just the river and a few visitors. We have the river almost to ourselves.

On one of the upper sections of the site, Ross spots a spider - suspended at eye-level in the middle of the trail. As he aims his camera at it, the spider suddenly dives to the ground. We are startled - thinking the spider is wary of us and may attack. But no. A wasp appears and lands on the spider. A mortal battle takes place. The wasp stings and stuns the spider - only the drag it off to lay its eggs in the zombie-spider's body. Yikes. Nature in your face.   
Crowds at Agua Azul
On our way back to the minivan, we sit down to enjoy a few, freshly-made empanadas – usually sold either 4 or 5 for 10 pesos.  (Look for a stand selling freshly-made empanadas.  Many stalls had stacks of pre-cooked empanadas, not ones made-to-order.)

Agua Azul

We return to the main entrance and meet our minivan.  He take us out to the main road to meet bus to take us back to San Cristóbal.  The minivan driver has our tickets and waits for the bus to come before leaving.  This was included in our package.

Unfortunately, the minivan is not going to take us all the way back to San Cristóbal.  We need to board a bus - the same type of bus we took to get to Palenque.  On same road – the road to hell – that delivered us to Palenque.  I am dreading this.  The only difference is that the ride will shorter.

Of course, since we are boarding the bus midway on its journey, our seats are located in the back of the bus.  I take ginger and two Dramamine tablets.  And wait.  No more than 10 minutes pass before I break out in a sweat.  I cannot stop perspiring.  I can’t see the road.  The queasiness begins.  I sweat some more.  I keep waiting for the pills to kick in.  They do not.  I take a half a Valium.  Nope.  I am feeling worse.  The road to hell is once again working its curse on me.

I turn to Ross.  “I think I am going to throw up”, I tell him.  He knows.  He says I look green – like the waters at Agua Azul.  I get up to go the bathroom in the back of the bus.  The bus continues to toss me back and forth as I head back.  I struggle to open the bathroom.  I tug at the handle.  Is it locked?  No.  Finally it opens.  I get in and promptly throw up.  I feel slightly better.  I know that I need to find a seat in the front of bus.  I do.  In the front row. 

Once I was in the front row, the trip was tolerable.

Graham Greene took this same route in the 1930's to reach San Cristóbal from Palenque - except there was no road.  (The road was not built until the 1970's.)  It took him three days, riding a mule along the narrow dirt paths etched into the mountainside.  After this ride, I think I would prefer a mule.

We arrive at San Cristóobal at about in the evening.  I feel like kissing the ground.  We take a taxi from the bus station back the hotel. 

I take Ross to El Punte restaurant near the Santo Domingo church.   We sit in the cozy second floor area and have a table that overlooks the plaza.  We split a salad, a pizza and a half a bottle of wine and spend only about 250 pesos.  I love this place.  If this restaurant were in the States, I’d be a regular customer. 

We top off the even with a cup of gelato from Via Vai restaurant.  Two scoops for 30 pesos.  Heavenly. We head back to the hotel.  The pedestrian walking streets are still teaming with tourists. 

So again I am vowing never, ever to go on this road again.  We’ll see if I can keep this vow.  (Hey, I hear that they might be building a new, more direct road from Palenque to San Cristóbal.  Maybe if we wait another 17 years before a visit, it will be completed.)