The Last Leg South in The Yucatan
Felipe Carrillo Puerto,
Known by locals as just plain Carrillo Puerto, why.....who knows, the word puerto in Spanish means port and I don't mean the drinking kind....you know the kind where ships come in. Carrillo Puerto is nowhere near the water and is about 65km west of the Caribbean on 307 100kms south of Tulum. Not much of a tourist town however it is a cultural and spiritual center for the modern day Maya people & was the capitol of the Zona Maya during the 19th century and early 20th century The Santuario de la Cruz Parlante was built on the site of the Talking Cross which the remains of have been moved to a nearby Maya village. Nonetheless the site still retains an air of mystic powers for those who believe.
Today the town serves as a crossroads for 307 north and south and the highways headed west 184 & 295 to Valladolid and Merida. Because of this, the main street through town, Avenida Juarez (307) is lined with small restaurants, hotels and the local market. There is a bus station and a colectivo stop where you can get transportation to Chetumal and points north as far as Cancun. Carrillo Puerto has become my favorite coffee stop on the way to Cancun, the Oxxo on 307 north bypass has the best coffee I have had in Mexico, of course I am no coffee expert, I like it because they have a cappuccino machine, fresh brewed coffee, flavored creams and it is always clean and the people are always courteous. All of that in one spot, sometimes hard to find in Mexico. The market is a fun place to walk through and buy necessities for survival such as machetes with hand tooled leather cases....not made in China. Many food products, spices popular in Maya cooking and cookware are also abundant. Open air meats hanging in butcher shops, fresh seafood and vegetables of all types are plentiful, bring a cooler and you will enjoy your visit, if you don't find anything that interests you you can always use the cooler for cerveza fria for the rest of your road trip.
Lemones (lee-mone-ess)
Can't say enough about this town, three topes and two taco/empanada stands. Oh and a whole heard of Mexican Road Hounds. Lemones is south of Carrillo Puerto and 7kms north of the highway headed east towards Mahahual and Xcalak. As I said earlier, can't say enough about this town, literally.
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