Blogs from Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, North America

April 2nd 2012. My first dives in freshwater - Mexico, Cenote dos Ojos... Cavern diving. One of the most amazing dive experiences ever. The most amazing things are the visibility in these caverns. It is fascinating and amazing. looking through maybe 50 or more meters of freshwater and not really blurry. Just amazing crystal clear water...... read more

I didn't expect to be making life or death decisions on our last day in Cancun. All I wanted was a haircut and shave for the clean look in front of Amei's ever present photography efforts. Of course, just as I was approaching the barber chair, Amei's worries about possible dull and reused HIV contaminated razor blades now concerned me. Ah what the heck, now we can't even get a clean shave without worrying. Well, we were in the back alleys of central Cancun, next to a local dilapidated outdoor market with hanging meats, dirty food carts and the offensive odors of open sewers. The $2 cost for the shave overrode my caution and I went for it. Immediately, my fear of infection was replaced by pain. The dull blade simply pulled and plucked my chin ... read more

On arrival in Tulum on Sunday afternoon, we checked into the Weary traveller, which is on the main road (which happens to be the highway). Behind the reception there is a rectangular courtyard with a long wooden table running its length. On one side there are dorm rooms, and the outside walls and doors are painted with a brightly coloured mural. On the other side, is the communal kitchen and BBQ, as well as a small bar. At the back of the courtyard, there are a few trees, with washing lines and hammocks strung between them. It looks nice - but the dorms are crowded and the bathrooms aren't very nice - the toilet in my dorm had a corrugated iron door, for example, and there is no hot water. We had a walk around Tulum ... read more

Our trip was one of extremes. Not in terms of high adrenaline extreme sports but in terms of a scale of enjoyment. I should have known that what happened when we arrived at Cancun airport would not be the only time I would get stressed out this trip. There are certain things that people should never say whilst at an airport, not even if they are a joke. Whilst waiting to go through passport control a very drunk man struck up a conversation with me. You know what it’s like talking to someone when they are drunk and you are sober, add to that the fact that I had been travelling for 25 hours and to say it was an effort to be polite would be an understatement. As we neared the front of the queue ... read more

"Experience, Travel - these are as education in themselves" Euripides From the miasmic gloom of London town where nearly everyone wears black or grey, looks a deathly shade of pale, misery etched on the faces as they face the return to work (if they haven’t been made redundant) after the Christmas break to the myriad of colour that is the Yucatan Peninsula - Part Two of my 2011/12 travelling adventure has officially begun. SE Asia, you will not be forgotten but now it is time to look to the next 3 months – travelling and volunteering right through Central America with the most wonderful Sandy Maletschek. From Cancun to Panama City – through Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, (possibly El Salvador) Nicaragua, Costa Rica and finally Panama itself – back to the UK to celebrate both our ... read more

I had been looking forward to Tulum for months - white sands, Caribbean turquoise waters, hot sunny days - it didn´t disappoint in the slightest. In my reading, I had noted the unwelcome developments and commercialisation of the area, slowly chipping away at its charm. So it was with some surprise that I arrived at my accommodations for the next week and saw how rustic it was. It was a very simple adobe hut with palapa (thatched) roof, a bed, a mosquito net around my bed, mosquito nets and shutters in place of windows but with a private bathroom and hot water. It was not much different from the simple room I stayed in on a beach hut in Thailand 14 years ago, albeit with a 21st century price. The beach itself is the stuff of ... read more

So here I am on my travels once again and this time it’s a whirlwind tour of Central America.My flight took me in to Cancun and it was full of sun loving Brits who would be spending most of the time on the beach – God love 'em:-) My first Destination was Tulum, a couple of hours south of Cancun on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. On my first night in Tulum I statyed up as long as I could to get over the jet lag (Mexico is 6 hours behind GMT) but had to hit the sack at 20:00. The next day I was still adjusting to Mexico time and was up very early to hire a bike from the hostel and set off to one of the main attractions of Tulum, the Grand Cenote. ... read more