Chetumal: 4th - 6th July 2025
4th July – Friday
I’m now in Chetumal and what I have seen of it so far, I really like.
The trip here was uneventful. I got an ADO bus to Tullum and then had to wait for 30 minutes for the next ADO bus to Chetumal. I had seat number 1, I didn’t choose it, it was given to me, never again, it must have been the coldest seat on the bus. I froze for 3 hours; I even took my arms out of the sleeves and tucked them into my t-shirt to keep warm. Luckily, we stopped to let some people off so I go my Peruvian coat out of the hold and wore than for the last hour.
My apartment is awesome, it’s actually an Air BnB, I didn’t realise that when I was booking it. I have a full kitchen, including a coffee maker, toaster and microwave. There is also an outside sink and clothes rail for doing hand laundry, so on my shopping trip I bought laundry powder. I can’t remember the last time I did hand washing!
The walk to the shop was bloody hot, it is so much hotter than Mexico City, Taxco and Oaxaca, but then have they altitude. As with Playa de Carmen we are at sea level here, but it feels even hotter than Playa and there was not a cloud to be seen in the sky. I came back form a half hour walk dripping with sweat.
The area of Chetumal I am in is very residential, I even passed a school on my walk and every other property seems to have dogs and they absolutely loved barking at the stranger in town. Thank gods they were all behind fences! So far, this town doesn’t appear to be as run down as Oaxaca or the back streets of Playa, it fact where I walked was very pretty and all the streets were tree lined so there was a lot of shade, unlike Playa.
Yet again everyone was very friendly and helpful and thought I spoke Spanish. I did try with one guy, I asked him where the ATM was – he didn’t understand me – lol – but he spoke extremely good English, as did the handsome guy in the Oxxo shop. However, the little girl who spoke to me outside of the clothes store, which I had a quick browse in, understood me when, in Spanish, I said I didn’t speak Spanish and asked her if she spoke English. Well, it’s a start, my confidence is growing and most of the time I seem to be understood. I just wish they all spoke more slowly so I can understand more of what they are saying.
5th July – Saturday
I went for a 5 mile walk today, not that I intended it to be that long. Chetumal is a small pueblo so I actually covered most of the main tourist area in that time. I started by finding an ATM as I thought I had no money, turns out I still had 500 pesos, but that goes absolutely nowhere here. Then I strolled down to the Museum of Mayan Culture, but before I went in, I had a look around the market, which is opposite. It was quite lively and not very dissimilar to the one in Oaxaca, places to eat, buy clothes and raw meat all in close proximately to each other. I need to buy a loose-fitting dress but I think I will wait until I get to Guatemala, I hoping it is cheaper there. In fact, I need to buy a couple of loose-fitting dresses or tops as the ones I brought from London are tight and make me very sweaty.
The museum was interesting, especially learning about the Mayan counting and writing systems, seeing the models of the Mayan cities, including Teotihuacan, which I went to when in Mexico City, and Tikal, which I plan to do on my first stop in Guatemala, and learning that they believe the underworld has 9 levels and is ruled by 9 Gods.
After the museum I strolled down the central high street to the sea front. It was deserted, but then it was midday and very hot. I had a walk along the promenade in hope of finding lunch and a beer but had to divert as the sun was too hot and nothing was open. I think I’ll head there tomorrow evening and see if it is any livelier. From there I found a place to have a beer, they only sold sea food and it was expensive, but I did find a tortas shop on the way home, which is 25 minutes from the sea front.
I was so hot and exhausted, I had a cold shower and a 30-minute cat nap.
A band has just started playing across the road, I’m not sure if it is just some people practicing or a night club – I will have to investigate when I go to get dinner. I noticed yesterday a cocktail bar (hole in the wall kind of bar) next to the oxxo shop so I might head there, there is also a bbq chicken place nearby – yep, I’m beginning to feel hungry and thirsty – time to get out of bed and away from this awful music from across the road.
6th July – Sunday
I didn’t go out last night. Well, I did go to the Oxxo shop, if that counts. The music was a band but it was for a birthday celebration in a hall next to my room and there was no-one at the cocktail bar, so I went back to my room. I spent 4 hours sorting out my website, most of which was on the Bluehost helpline. Having my IPS problem solved, I faced a second problem, the site was not accessing my SSL. The first Bluehost guy, I was with him for over an hour was useless, his final solution was for me to delete the site and set up a new one. I did this only to have the same problem. The second guy was far more helpful, in fact he was a super hero, and although it took him almost two hours, he resolved my problem. Basically, I had set the site up in Word Press (the site I use to create the website) but it was not appearing on Bluehost (the site that hosts the website), and was not properly linking to my first site so it wasn’t accessing my SSL. Anyway, problem solved and I can start adding my diaries and photos to my website for the world to see – lol
Today is my last day in Mexico, and the fullness of my thighs and waist are telling me this is a good thing – I have been eating for too many carbs and far too much fat. A diet and more healthy food is in need, I hope Guatemala can fulfil this criterion. This morning (after burger and chips!) I went to the Centro Cultural De Las Bellas Artes, which is an art deco building built in 1926 and has an antitheater style stage where they hold regular performances. It was very pretty. After that I went into the Museum of the City of Chetumal, where I learnt a lot more about the history of Mexico, especially Chetumal, and Maya culture and how the Mayans were exploited by westerners (British and Spanish). It did make me ponder, as in Mexico City one tour guide explained how, when the Spanish came, no-one lost and no-one won, but I don’t actually see how that is true. Mayan culture is still present and strong, but Spanish culture seems to dominate, and the fact that the Mayans were exploited and there was a 50-year war, really does make me wonder where this no-one lost or won came from. I also learnt today that this area of Mexico, Quintana Roo, not only has a strong Mayan and Spanish influence but also a Caribbean one, which you can see from the style of houses. The museum was all in Spanish so I had to use G Translate the whole time, which was tedious but I’m glad I did. I leave Mexico with an understanding of its roots and culture, which I never had before. It has been an awesome visit, I have done and learnt so much. I hope to return again one day, especially to Mexico City, as there is still so much there that I would like to do and see.
I will go for one last walk this evening, but first a cat nap😊
Later: My 1-hour walk turned into almost three. I took a different route to my normal one down to the water front so I could see the Mega Escltura, which was mega and ugly, and a statue of Bob Marley! I walked along the front and stopped for a very delicious dinner of pescaldillas, I had the mixed, so two prawn and two dogfish, they were a delight to the taste buds and topped with lettuce, onions and avocado. I washed them down with a beer and then continued my walk. By now it was dark and the water front had come alive with lots of restaurants and bars and empty openair(ish) nightclubs. Before my turning heading into town and back to my room there were lots of street food stalls, market stalls and even an outside disco. The atmosphere was alive but I was sweating like a pig from pacing my walk too fast.
I was going to walk all the way back, but after sheltering from a short down-poor I realised I was only person walking up the high street and there were no street lights. It actually started to get a bit scary, especially when I saw a large group of guys loitering on the other side of the road. Luckily, I was next to an Oxxo, so I nipped in and bought water and a juice, they didn’t sell beer! From there I called an Uber, much to my relief he arrived immediately. I am so glad I didn’t try to walk the rest of the way, there really are no street lights, and even though it got busier up near mine the two back road leading to mine were pitch black. I am now happily locked away in my room and looking forward to arriving in Guatemala tomorrow late afternoon.