Day 37 (morning) - Ahh, if only all days could put a smile on my face like this one did.

In the morning I headed out of Comitan towards the Carretera Fronteriza, the "Last Frontier", a lonely road that goes for hundreds of miles alongside the Guatemalan border on the Mexican side. It is known for heavy drug traffic, and Lonely Planet warned of numerous military checkpoints. I did not encounter any however, only a gorgeous road through misty jungle and mountains in the distance.

I reached the "Lagos Montebello", which are pretty but not especially so. A couple of them had an attractive deep blue colored water, but honestly they are no different than any of thousands upon thousands of other pretty lakes. The locals had the access roads to the lakes all blocked off with toll booths and wanted 10 pesos from me. I balked initially but on the 4th road where I attempted to try to get in, I finally caved and paid the money. I snapped a few shots of the lakes and headed back out.

From the lakes I went a bit further along the Carretera Fronteriza, beyond where the last tourist shuttle stops. It felt very adventurous out there on the remote road, in lawless land. After just a short while my imagination got the best of me, and I got scared and turned around :)

Next stop on my way to the border crossing was a place of some more Mayan ruins, named Chinkultic. I had a very enjoyable time there because I ended up being the only person! The ruins included a small village area, and next to them a steep hill atop of which is a partially restored temple pyramid commanding remarkable views over the surrounding lakes and forests for dozens of miles. It was very picturesque and peaceful there, as I imagined people centering their lives around this place centuries before me. Here's a video from the top of their outlook pyramid.

I spoke with the young guy at the entrance for nearly an hour -- he wanted to learn a few English words to better direct tourists (such as, how do you say "por alli" ("that way") or "juego de pelota" ("ballgame")). He said he didn't know why no one else showed up today -- normally 300 - 400 people a day visit, but yesterday there were only 40, and today I was the only one. Weird! The skies were darkening quickly though so I had to cut things short and bid him adieu, and head to the border crossing with Guatemala.