Back to Mexico
We spent a couple of days in Flores after our visit to Tikal trying to figure out whether to continue to Belize and the beach, or head south to Antigua to enjoy Guatemala. In the end, the exchange rate and cost of things in Belize scratched that away, and the trip to Antigua took 12 hours by bus which meant it would take a full day of travel to get to Villahermosa for our flight back home, even though it looked pretty close on the map. That along with travel and lodging expenses convinced us to head back and try to hit the beaches along the coast of Tabasco, north of Villahermosa.
We managed to realize that all the money we spent in a bus, a cab, a boat, and another bus to get to Flores was about the same as booking a "tour" group to take us all the way back to Palenque.
The rest of thr trip was pretty uneventful. Everybody seemed really tired and worn. On the way back, I was able to confirm my suspicion. There was a sign on the road saying that the area was subject to the San Andres accords and that the federal government had no jurisdicition in that part of Chiapas. It wasn't a threatening sign and my understanding is that Zapatista violence to travellers is rare (if not non-existent). I tried to catch a photo, but the car was too bumpy and crowded with people for me to get a good shot.
Once in Palenque, over lunch we had to make another decision. Should we head to Tuxla Gutierrez and San Cristobal de las Casas. Overland travel had proved to be slow and time was starting to run out. In the end we decided we would head north and try and find the beach.
So from Palenque we headed north to Villahermosa and from there north to the coast. Using a cartoon type tourist map, we figured we would go to Playa Miramar west of Frontera, Tabasco. We even found a bus that would take us there. Many hours later, close to sunset we get dropped off next to a major highway and a road that to us looked like it had no end. We assumed the beach was at the end of it.
