Five in the morning came very early. For those of you who aren't up at that hour, it's still dark. In fact, quite dark here in Campeche. But I wanted to catch the earliest bus to Uxmal, three hours away so I could be there before the tourists start to arrive in droves around noon.

So I stumble to the bus station, unable to flag down a city bus to drive me the five blocks or so. I'm not sure what was up with that. I was waving, nodding, walking toward them... but they blew right by me. There are no noticeable signs indicating where the bus stops are, so I assume you just flag them down. It worked once... but whatever.

"The next time you're on a Mexican bus..."
It's another second class bus. There is no first class on the route to Uxmal anyway. But yet again I'm quite impressed. It's air conditioned. The seats are comfortable, and the overall experience is superior to anything I've experienced in my few trips on Greyhound. Can I just say, though, that the next time you're on a Mexican bus... don't sit where you can see out the front of the vehicle. Some things... like sausage production and Andrea Mitchell without makeup... are better unseen.

I reasoned that either the driver's life or fortune depended upon him arriving in each town ahead of schedule. You know how curvy roads wind up and down hills... and how buses usually go very, very slowly on them? This guy was negotiating tight turns at probably 40 miles per hour. People, luggage and pieces of the bus were lunging back and forth as he powered through the winding road. At one point we were passing another vehicle and were probably 2/3s of the way past when he realized the approaching cement truck was within seconds of pulverizing the front half of our bus. He slammed the brakes and pulled in behind the tiny car.

"The solution: an insanity alarm."
The people in charge of the buses have tried to put a stop to the maniacal Mexican bus drivers. The solution: an insanity alarm. When the driver goes above a certain speed (usually 95 kph or about 60 mph, I think), a buzzer and light above his head go off.

Me and the Magician's Temple

There are two problems, however. First, while intended as the speed limit for open highway... the driver tends to think this this limit also applies to windy, narrow roads. Second, the driver doesn't really pay attention to the buzzer anyway. Lights were flashing and buzzers buzzing most of the way to Uxmal. Even though I reminded him, I was afraid he'd barrel right past Uxmal in his hell-bent run to his destination.

But anyway... Uxmal was very interesting and I think more beautiful than Chichen Itza. (It's OOSH-mahl, by the way) Uxmal is set in rolling hills, rather than the flat plains of Chichen Itza, so it allows for sweeping views of the structures spread across the landscape. Also, Uxmal apparently contains some of the most advanced, complex Mayan architecture around. I don't know a lot about it, but I could definitely notice a difference between the two. Much more ornate decoration at Uxmal. There are photos.

"I got a little nervous that I'd missed it."
There were some nervous moments catching the bus on the way back. It doesn't actually go to the front door of Uxmal. It just stops on the road that passes by. I managed to ask, in Spanish, when the bus passes and was waiting fifteen minutes early.

Waiting for My Bus

I waited half an hour and got a little nervous that I'd missed it. It was five hours till the next one and with three hours to Campeche, I didn't want to wait around. I started contemplating how I could track down a couple of tourists I'd met who were heading south. Finally it arrived and I waved down my first long-distance bus. Pretty easy. The driver would've even made change but I was prepared. I love this idea of not needing exact change on public transit. We should try that in the US.

I'm at an internet cafe that has headsets with microphones hooked to all the computers. I've seen this in several places and have decided to try it out. You can make phone calls from computers to a phone on the other side for about four cents a minute. That's less than a tenth of what I'd pay from a public phone. Anybody remember when it used to be free? I used to use Dialpad.com to call people for free and talk for hours. Now they charge and it's not such a great deal within the US, but from overseas it's fantastic. My account isn't activated yet for some reason... but I may be calling you soon.

I have a night bus that leaves just after midnight tomorrow night. It's first class and will take me seven hours south to Palenque, home to even more ruins and a small town nearby.