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Hound Dog

Oct 1, 2009, 8:28 PM

Post #1 of 8 (5197 views)

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Bacalar

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This is a most peculiar place. A beautiful crystal clear lake and cenote surrounded by an oddly middle class residential area and an adjacent nondescript town of no note. My guess is most shop in nearby Chetumal near the border with Belize. Housing adjacent to Lake Bacalar is or at least was overpriced for this out-of-the-way place so maybe it´s not a nice place to settle for all year residency if you are a gregarious foreigner and, to be honest about it, a few months there as your only place to be may induce you to go swimming in the lake with weights around your ankles and commit an exquisite suicide in peace .

Many may not realize that Quintana Roo was, until fairly recently, a territory lacking statehood and if you look at a map today and know nothing about the territory´s history you may wonder why the state capital is in Chetumal on the Belize border instead of the dynamic urban zone of Cancun. If you look at a road map,from the 1950s you will see that the only improved roads in the territory were around Chetumal and Bacalar and the rest of the territory all the way to Isla Holbox was considered undeveloped wilderness. Cancun was, of course an undeveloped wetland of no consequence whatsoever.

The vast interior between, say, Puerto Morelos and Bacalar was considered to be uninhabited which meant that this was a Maya stronghold where there were few"human beings" resident - just indians if you get my drift. This territory has a hugely interesting history over the past thousand years or more and we should discuss if for no other reason than to enlighten ourselves. I am too old to worry about this but as sure as the sun comes up in the east, they will mow this coast down to build highrise condos and hotels as far as the eye can see with sops offered to environmentalists that will be as phony as a Las Vegas Eiffel Tower. Then, when the time comes all this will be in ruins and it will be time to do it again. .

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Oct 1, 2009, 8:36 PM)

mazatlanlee

Oct 1, 2009, 10:10 PM

Post #2 of 8 (5175 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Bacalar

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Laguna Bacalar is a beautiful and intriquing place. Here's a link to my photos:

http://www.leejacobs.org/MEXICO-TRAVEL/Laguna-Bacalar/2727345_wRwQp

Enjoy! Lee
Lee's Photos: Beyond the Guardrails

Vichil

Oct 2, 2009, 6:46 AM

Post #3 of 8 (5157 views)

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Re: [mazatlanlee] Bacalar

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Thanks for the fabulous photos mazatlanlee. I had forgotten just how beautiful Laguna De Bacalar is. Perhaps we should have settled there after all. Those of you who value (mostly) undeveloped natural beauty should get down there soon because the last I heard they are building a huge new regional airport at Majahual for long range jets and, I believe, possibly a new championship golf course near to or next to the lake and they will be hauling in tourists from all over the world in there by the Airbus full. The great beauty of both Bacalar and Xcalak is in their isolation despite my lame joke about suicide after a few months.

Speaking of isolation, Bacalar is really just up the road from Chetumal so that is not a problem there. However, last I heard, the nearest medical clinic from Xcalak was about an hour and a half drive but I haven´t been there in some three years so perhaps the medical situation has improved. After the government opens up this area for massive tourist development there should be clinics and bars and looped tourists all over the place.

However there is always the protected national park at Lagunas de Montebello with its crystal clear and multi-colored lakes in the woods in Chiapas on the Guatemala border. There is a wonderful hacienda and museum of Spanish art near the park where we stay at every chance we get. In fact our wedding gift to Mexican friends who just got married was a night in the hacienda which they loved as did we. More about that in another thread I will dedicate to the Montebello Lakes. Getting there is half the fun.

Oops. Posted under the boss´s name by accident. More trouble.

Dawg

(This post was edited by Vichil on Oct 2, 2009, 6:49 AM)

raferguson

Oct 4, 2009, 3:54 PM

Post #4 of 8 (5097 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Bacalar - Yucatan history

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For those interested in the history of the Yucatan peninsula, I suggest Nelson Reed's book, Caste War of Yucatan. The indian uprising almost drove the white man out of the entire peninsula, in the period around 1850. Fascinating.

If you want to go further back, look at "Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and the Yucatan", by Stephens. The illustrations are good as well.

Both well worth the read.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

Vichil

Oct 4, 2009, 5:00 PM

Post #5 of 8 (5086 views)

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Re: [raferguson] Bacalar - Yucatan history

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We love Stephens book and have had fun trying to retrace their trips. Lots of names have changed but we discovered some fun ruins and Haciendas retracing some of their trips.

smokesilver

Oct 4, 2009, 6:37 PM

Post #6 of 8 (5067 views)

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Re: [Vichil] Bacalar - Yucatan history

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A great thread Bubba et al. Thanks for the wonderful pics Lee. FWIW I have looked at your pics before. Great stuff. I keep telling my wife that we have to go farther south than in the past.

Hound Dog

Dec 26, 2009, 9:14 PM

Post #7 of 8 (4610 views)

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Re: [mazatlanlee] Bacalar

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Laguna Bacalar is a beautiful and intriquing place. Here's a link to my photos:

http://www.leejacobs.org/...acalar/2727345_wRwQp

OK; so perhaps I should not be reprising mazatlanlee´s photos of this extraordinarily beautiful lake but Dawg is shortly headed for Calakmul from San Cristóbal de Las Casas and will not be able to resist also revisiting this marvelous place in Quintana Roo after a three to four year absence. There are lots of beautiful and crystal clear lakes and ponds in the south of Mexico but this place is truly special. This part of the southern Yucatan Peninsula has great and, often, isolated natural attractions you should not miss if at all possible. More later.

Hound Dog

Dec 27, 2009, 3:50 PM

Post #8 of 8 (4534 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Bacalar

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The sad thing is that both Bacalar, Xcalak and other points on or near the Caribbean just above the Belize border will soon be developed and become vulgar tourist traps. It is inevitable so get down there now and enjoy these places as isolated, primitive and extraordinarily beautiful areas before the government turns the place into another crass Cancun resort for drunken American kids and old fart cruise visitors.

I hear that they have built a huge golf complex at the once mysterious Bacalar the charm of which was its melancholic isolation. They just don´t get it.