{"id":7704,"date":"2023-01-16T03:12:06","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T09:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theworldoffroad.com\/2\/?p=7704"},"modified":"2024-12-06T03:29:03","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T09:29:03","slug":"caribbean-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theworldoffroad.com\/2\/caribbean-breeze\/","title":{"rendered":"Caribbean Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ custom_padding=”20px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row module_class=” et_pb_row_fullwidth” _builder_version=”4.16″ width=”89%” width_tablet=”80%” width_phone=”” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” max_width=”89%” max_width_tablet=”80%” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|desktop” animation_style=”fade” make_fullwidth=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/theworldoffroad.com\/2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheWorldOffroad_Temperidis-01596.jpg” title_text=”TheWorldOffroad_Temperidis-01596″ force_fullwidth=”on” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_post_title author=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ title_font=”Fjalla One|300|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”72px” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ width=”70%” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

We bid farewell to Mexico with a sense of nostalgia, drifting from the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula into the Caribbean, southward to the English-speaking Belize, and from there, into the jungles of Guatemala…<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Akis Temperidis<\/strong>
photography: Akis Temperidis & Vula Netou<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

9,295 kilometers in Mexico, over 165 days\u2014five and a half months, give or take. It seems like nothing, really, but as we flipped through our journal, we realized that 76 of those days we hadn\u2019t traveled a single kilometer. That\u2019s because, in every town or village, we\u2019d usually say, \u201cLet\u2019s stay one more day here.\u201d<\/p>\n

A love affair with a country, despite its vastness and the notorious violence of the drug cartel \u201cstates within states.\u201d We didn\u2019t meet any danger traveling from Tijuana to Chetumal, but while we were there, a massive uprising tore through border towns, with burning cars and deaths in the prisons. A one-day civil war broke out in Culiac\u00e1n when the police made the fatal mistake of arresting El Chapo\u2019s son, the leader of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel.<\/p>\n

Toss in a few bodies of gang members, left in black plastic bags here and there, and you\u2019ve got yourself a newsworthy snapshot of Mexico. But as a traveler, none of that touches you. You\u2019ve got to be really unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.<\/p>\n

How many contrasts we lived through in this land… The greatest one? The cultural chasm that separates the mountain villages of Chiapas from the hotel zone of Canc\u00fan. On one side, the indigenous Mayans, scraping a living from the land with little expectation of anything from the Mexican government, and on the other, American capital that\u2019s bought up vast swathes of Caribbean land, transforming it into gated luxury compounds, expensive malls, and five-star hotels.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Mexico\u2019s version of Miami. Not by chance, the only Mexico many people know is Canc\u00fan, and that is no more Mexico than a postcard. We wouldn\u2019t have even come close if we didn\u2019t have Greek friends there, who hosted us during the Christmas holidays and gave us a glimpse of something beyond our Spartan lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Let me paint you a scene from the high-end \u201cGreek\u201d restaurant Ilios, where they\u2019ve managed to fuse pita gyros with kitsch dances by curvy Mexican women in tunics, smashing plates to the soundtrack of\u2026 you guessed it\u2026 Zorba. It was cultural shock, sure, but the kind of strange wonder that you just have to experience.<\/p>\n

We wouldn\u2019t have lived in Canc\u00fan, but we\u2019d trade our trusty Iveco for a sailboat docked in Isla Mujeres (Island of Women), where you can set sail for months, exploring the Caribbean. Maybe in another theworldoffroad (theworldoffshore?),<\/i>\u00a0maybe in another life\u2026<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/theworldoffroad.com\/2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheWorldOffroad_Temperidis-0900.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_number_counter title=”spent in Mexico” number=”165″ percent_sign=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_number_counter][et_pb_number_counter title=”kilometers driven” number=”9.295″ percent_sign=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_number_counter][et_pb_number_counter title=”days we took a siesta” number=”76″ percent_sign=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_number_counter][et_pb_number_counter title=”kilometers on a bike in Chiapas” number=”90″ percent_sign=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_number_counter][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/theworldoffroad.com\/2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheWorldOffroad_Temperidis-01116.jpg” title_text=”TheWorldOffroad_Temperidis-01116″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/theworldoffroad.com\/2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheWorldOffroad_Temperidis-2240.jpg” title_text=”DCIM100GOPROGOPR2240.JPG” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]