Going to the Yucatan

Hello all,
Well, we leave for the Yucatan in about 24 hours. This is our first international trip in two years, and a very well needed one! Our schedule is we leave San Francisco International tomorrow evening, and will arrive in Cancun Mexico late Tuesday afternoon. We'll leave almost immediatly for the town of Valladolid, and will get there early evening. I don't have the exact dates in front of me, so the schedule I will provide may be off by a day or two. All will become clear. We will be in Valladolid until 12/26; then we leave for the old colonial city of Campeche. From there, we'll go to the bustling city of Merida; after that, Isla Mujeres, an island near Cancun. We'll spend our last night in Cancun and return on 1/6.

This will be an amazing trip. We will be surrounded by Mayan and Toltec ruins; we plan to see the famous ones at Chitzen Itza and the slightly more remote ones at Ek Balal, along with other sites. We will also see some biosphere preserves, and some other wonders. We've both always wanted to visit this part of Mexico, so here we go!

For the record, we will not be affected by the drug cartel violence that is ravaging other parts of Mexico. The gangs that are fighting are mainly based in Northern and Western Mexico. Ciudad Juarez (Juarez City) on the border with Texas is one of the hotbeds of violence; tragic situation. Other places we've visited and love (the Copper Canyon Area and the beautiful state of Michoacan) also have had tragic massacres. The Yucatan is in the far Southeast, we will be ok. You do have to watch your back travelling internationally, but you have to do this in many cities in the US as will. We are experts at this.
We'll be making periodic reports. I'll try to write some info about the Yucatan tomorrow if there is time. The next possible entry will be Wednesday, after we have had some time to explore Valladolid. If I have any energy, I'll post Tuesday night after we arrive there, but ... don't count on it.
That's it for now. Happy holidays, and if you do read these, please comment from time to time... it's always great to hear from folks while we are on the road!
Oh yeah, since some of you know me as Paul and others as Geof, I'll identify myself as PG - I think that's how I did it from Nepal and Japan two years ago.