Henry s

After Merida I went across to Playa del Carmen for a bit a relaxation before heading home...Playa is still a pretty big resort town now but not in the hyperactive American style of Cancun, more Europeanised and relaxed, while still having lots of good quality nightlife and beaches. I met a couple of medics from King's, Anita and Steph, and a guy from Glasgow called Matt in the hostel here and basically spent the next couple of days with them having lots of fun, drinking far too much and sleeping far too little! About the only thing I did here of any real note was a couple of dives, which were notable for 2 main reasons. The current here was so strong that you barely had to swim at all, just drift along which was pretty ... read more

Having left the guys early in the morning to get back to Mexico in time to avoid spending the night in Chetumal I don´t really remember any of the journey (other than the fact that I slept for the whole way and always had lots of space on the bus...could have been because I smelt?!) Caught the bus to this tiny little remote town south of Tulum called Mahahual. Again, it is meant to be amazing to dive there as the reef has loads of wrecks which are easily dived. This is what I had planned to do but when I arrived I discovered that there were no hostels in the town...only a few expensive hotels or really shabby beach cabanas, which when you are on your own were still fairly expensive...anyway, so I decided that ... read more

I arrived in Cancun glad to have seen Cuba but also especially glad to be back! I went and dropped my stuff off in a hostel and grabbed a sandwich, before heading into the Zona Hotelera (the "American" bit of Cancun where all the bars/hotels etc are...it looks like something out of a film/your worst nightmares). I had arranged to meet up with Louise (a friend from Nottingham who I used to work with in Stealth who was there with her family on an all-inclusive trip). I arrived at the bar a bit early and sat having a beer at the bar. Now this was not a normal bar like you would expect anywhere else, but one where audience participation was seemingly part of "the experience" and encouraged at every opportunity...congas around the restaurant/bar, bar staff ... read more

It seems like ages since I last wrote and so much has happened since Henry left it is pretty hard to know where to begin… I moved into the hostel on Isla Mujeres to stay there until my flight to Cuba. On the first night I met a whole load of girls from Edinburgh and went out for a few drinks with them and Simon. They had rented a golf cart for the day and so thought that being lazy we would drive around rather than walking. The barman of the club told us about a house party on the other side of the island and we thought we'd go and check it out. On leaving the club however there was a small problem…the golf cart was gone. After wandering around for a few minutes we ... read more

We had a very smooth journey from Valladolid to Isla Holbox (olbosh) along with Ben and Effy. We had to take two different buses and then a small ferry for half an hour out to the island. It was very different to anywhere we had been previously...a great deal more undeveloped but this served as quite a refreshing break. The only mode of transport on the island was golf buggies and all the roads were sand tracks. We had been advised by an English couple in Valladolid of where to stay and found it to be the cheapest...we had a room at the back of the hotel for four...with one person sleeping in a hammock. On our first full day we investigated prices for trips to see whale sharks and to hire a golf buggy. We ... read more

Where to start..its been a while since we last wrote? We set off from San Cristobal at 6.30 in the morning along with the 7 guys from Manchester Uni. We got a tour bus that would take us to some waterfalls, through the Chiapas Mountains and then on to Palenque. The waterfalls included one from the film Predator...although no one could say for sure. They were still beautiful and great fun to swim near..we also drove through the area of Chiapas where the Zapatistas reside so we saw some crazy political murals. The guide never stopped talking although it was in Spanish so most of us didn´t really know what was going on. Palenque was amazing...crazy setting in the middle of the jungle and lots of noisy howler monkeys (they sound like dinosaurs). It was extremely ... read more