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Hound Dog

Jan 23, 2010, 2:56 PM

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Drivng from Chiapas to Calakmul and Other Sites

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In February we plan to drive from our home in San Cristóbal de Las Casas to Calakmul and several other Mayan sites on the Southern Yucatan Peninsula via Palenque over Highway 199 and then on to Escárcega and points east on Highway 186 toward Chetumal. We hope to take at least one of our dogs along. While we are quite familiar with the drive as far as Palenque, we are wondering if any of you have tried this with dogs in the past and, if so, what your experiences were on that journey. We may drive as far as Bacalar if time permits but we may also just use Xpujil or other places where lodging is available and visit various sites over several days from that base. We would appreciate any advice from those of you who may have explored this region including the sites you would most highly recommend in that area including whether or not dogs are allowed to roam with us upon some designated reserves. That´s probably not allowed in crowded sites but we will be traveling to some pretty remote spots during the work week where we anicipate spare crowds.

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Jan 23, 2010, 3:04 PM)

yucatandreamer

Jan 23, 2010, 6:40 PM

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Re: [Hound Dog] Drivng from Chiapas to Calakmul and Other Sites

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Since Calakmul and surrounding areas are in the biosphere and and it is considered to be an ecological preserve, I suspect that roaming dogs would not be allowed. There are local people who control the entrance to Calakmul ruin site as well as INAH rangers. We stayed at Rio Bec Dreams (without dogs) but they had Cabanas and might take your dogs www.riobecdreams.com/ The people who own the place are very knowledgeable people who have lived in the area for some time. They are an English or Canadian couple and would be worth emailing about taking dogs around. I can recommend Rio Bec Dreams as long as you do not set your sights too high. It was pretty obvious to me that they were barely hanging on to their dream and could have used some help and an infusion of funds. I do not know about the handful of other hotels in the area but they all looked a little seedy. We stay at the Debliz in Campeche(next to the ballpark) which has the sister hotel at Calakmul and I know the Campeche one is a a little seedy. The sites in that area are not heavily trafficked but do have more visitors than you might expect. I have never been the only guest at any of the major sights off of the highway between Balamku and Bacalar. Some of them get tourist buses. Any of the larger sites have guards and controlled entrances.

We did take our dogs when we rented a house in Bacalar. We drove from there to the various sites but it took a few trips to see all the places we wanted to see. The day trip to Calakmul from Bacalar is a long day. The road off the highway itself is 60 kilometers and takes about an hour and a half to drive safely.

Hound Dog

Jan 23, 2010, 7:35 PM

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Re: [yucatandreamer] Drivng from Chiapas to Calakmul and Other Sites

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Thanks, Yucatandreamer. That was the kind of feedback I am seeking. We don´t mind if lodging is "rustic"and had a lot of fun staying in rustic cabins run by indigenous folks when we visited Yaxchilán and Bonampak in the Lacandon Forest in Chiapas. The lodging we stayed at there was in nearby Lacanja Chansayab and the owners were very hospitable.

Preliminariiy, at least, I´m thinking we may have to leave the dogs in San Cristóbal but I´ll call the place you suggested. It sounds like Bacalar might be a bit too far from the ruins which are our main goal on this trip.

Thanks again.

Bob