Beach anyone?

The country is the home of tequila slammers, the sombrero, guitar playing singers to serenade us, tacos and burritos, and of course corona beers with a slice of lime. Where else but fabulous Mexico, and it's wonderful to be back here after an absence of too many years. I previously visited Baja California twenty years ago, but now I am on the other side of the country visiting the yucatan peninsula for a sticky beak at the world famous resort towns that line the coast. The yucatan is by far the most popular destination for tourists in Mexico and is often described as not the real Mexico. I believe that the gulf coast is indeed the real deal ... it's the big time, the world's playground on a massive scale. Mexico is a latin american powerhouse with 100 million inhabitants and sporting a free trade agreement with the United States. The difference is stark between Central America and Mexico regarding the sheer scale of everything and this takes some readjustment but I am glad to be here.

To recap from the previous journal ... I jumped on a bus out of Belize City as it was time to move on and north is the plan. It was only two hours on a chicken bus to the Mexican border and the driver waited for his passengers as we completed both sets of border formalities. I was dragging the chain a bit as the only tourist on board but rushed back to the bus and my fellow passengers as soon as I could. We then went on to Chetumal in southern Mexico all for the princely sum of $3.00 US. I then booked on a very flash Mexican bus north to the booming resort town of Playa del Carmen. My arrival time was 5:00pm and for the first time on this trip I had genuine problems finding accomodation. I went to at least six hotels and if they weren't booked out the prices were way out of my budget range. So I continued trudging around with my backpacks on and started to think that this was not the gig I had signed up for, when finally I stumbled across a quality hostel that had a bed. Inside I immediately fell in with a friendly group of travellers eager to welcome a slightly frazzled Aussie into their midst with a cold beer. Now that was more my kinda gig!

Playa del Carmen has a beautiful beach with snow white sand and warm waters and is absolutely heaving with tourists from all over the world. The population of this resort town grew by 25% last year and fortunately was spared from the devastation of Hurricane Wilma a few months ago. The hostel crew (including an Aussie from Melbourne) had drinks the next night and we dedicated a few shouts to honour Australia Day. We then went out for a good night on the town with literally hundreds of venues to choose from.

I then moved on to Cancun in an effortless one hour commute. The sense of culture shock coming to Mexico from Latin America was having an effect, and I was wide eyed to be travelling on a six lane freeway after the roads of the past month. The freeway to Cancun was also dotted with huge resorts and the lingering effects of Hurricane Wilma are obvious everywhere. Many of the hotels in and around Cancun have yet to reopen for business and hundreds of trees along the coast look either punch drunk, or have been knocked down completely as Wilma tore through this part of the Yucatan peninsula. I checked into a brand new first rate hostel in Cancun and then jumped on a local bus from downtown to the Zona Hotelera beachfront. I've had a lot of interesting experiences on buses over the last several months but Cancun is the first time I've experienced two terrific singers with guitars happily entertaining the passengers with Mexican songs. I reached into the pocket for some hard earned to show my appreciation for this quality performance.

My first visit to Cancun beach was an interesting experience. I parked in an empty spot on a beach that is pretty prime real estate for sun worshippers and thought I had made a good start. I then applied some sunscreen and prepared to fry, but was getting slightly strange looks from some Mexican locals who were lazing by the wall. There has been very ordinary weather on the caribbean for the last week and this day was very cloudy but I couldn't feel the sun at all and kept glancing up to the sky. What was the caper? I finally twigged that I had parked under the shadow of a ginormous beach resort built right on the beach so I sheepishly grabbed my stuff and scurried away out into the sun. Welcome to Cancun beach, where some of the beachside resorts are absolute monsters! I prefer a bit of serenity, as the actors put it so nicely in the great Australian movie The Castle, but note Cancun beach itself is sublime with crystal clear waters and features incredibly fine and white sand that is the most amazing I've experienced. Relaxing in Cancun on the Yucatan coast comes highly recommended featuring heaps of sun on the beautiful beaches amidst a thumping downtown nightlife. As a matter of fact dear reader,........... basically all of you should be here now!

"To gaze is to think." Salvador Dali

Top 3 Hotels/Restaurants
Colores Mexicanos Hostel - Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Pizza Pazza Restaurant - Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Blue Hostal - Cancun, Mexico

Top 3 Sights/Activities
Beach - Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Nightlife - Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Nightlife - Cancun, Mexico

As I continue my travels, until next time it's signing off for now.

Tom

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