New Years and entering Mexico

Well, I am back in North America! Mexico anyways :)

December 31st turned out to be a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed spending it with Megan. We had lunch at a cute cafe south of the hostel, enjoying the two-for-one special on the pina coladas ;) After we got our errands done and had lunch, we headed off in search of the Cake Lady.

The Cake Lady is this marvellous woman who bakes cakes in the morning, and sells them from a push cart in the afternoon and early evening. She makes all kinds of cakes and pies - key lime, coconut and chocolate pies, and chocolate fudge cake, with chocolate or caramel icing. There are also brownies! She sells them for 4-5 Belize dollars, or about $2-$2.50 USD. They are so delicious, that I could eat them every day! Well, I almost did!

Megan and I had Key Lime pie (I´d previously had the chocolate, with chocolate fudge icing), and strolled off, well on our way to sugar comas. At one point, we both noticed how slow we were walking (its hard to walk and stuff your face!!), and we both laughed about how we´d become so ´islandized´. It was about then that I heard someone call my name.

¨Someone¨was Mike Leslie, who, along with his financee Jasmine, was also staying on the island! Talk about a small world! We chatted a bit, and then decided that we would probably run into each other again during the new year´s celebrations.

Megan and I ambled along, and then, glutted on pie headed to the dock and then the beach to take some photos. The way I see it, I don´t have all that many years left until I should hang up the bikini in exchange for a modest one-piece :) Anyways, Megan and I agreed we should record what remained of our youth and act out America´s Next Top Model (or maybe Canada´s!). We snapped a bunch of shots, giggling the whole time.

Later, we spent some time in the hammocks near the hostel, me reading (I was working on Seabiscuit!) and her writing in her journal. There were several other hostellers hanging out too, and they turned out to be some very nice and funny Brits! Pete, Andy, Taro (and I can´t remember the 4th name!) and I got along great. They were really nice, inviting me into their group. Megan and her Andy had dinner plans wth the German group from the night before, so it was good to be included in another group! She left, to meet Andy and get ready for the night.

I ate dinner with Andy at Fran´s hut (Baracuda!) where I ran into Mike and Jasmine, plus the two guys who I shared a cab with from Granada to Managua, one early morning 2 weeks and 4 countries ago! Travelling is so random. Then we all had a few drinks at the hostel before hitting the street just after 11pm. We walked to the south end of the island, near a place called ¨the cut¨ which is where a hurricane a few years ago created a small channel. There was a club there, packed with people. We had a few drinks and enjoyed counting down to midnight not long after. Several people jumped into the water at midnight (not me!) and we all posed for some fun photos.

There was a whole stack of fireworks that went shooting off in all directions including horizontally, scaring people at first, because several were at face and waist level. It turned out ok though, no one was hurt. Once the fire works were done, we left the club (called Lazy Lizard or Lounge Lizard) and headed towards the other club, closer to the hostel. I caught up with Andy and Megan there, as well as Mike and Jasmine.

Inside, the low ceilinged club was overwhelmingly hot and crowded. Balloons and streamers hung from the ceiling and there was a black light on at one end. We didn´t stay long - it was just about impossible to breath. Tired, I headed back to the hostel, said goodnight and went to bed at about 1:30am.

I slept well, and was up by about 7am, getting showered and packed before heading out into the early morning rain to have breakfast. Megan and Andy didn´t come, so I ate by myself before taking a few final pictures in the morning light. I caught up with them at the ferry dock, and we all boarded the 8:30 am water taxi to Belize City.

At the water taxi station in Belize City we confirmed the bus tickets we bought the day before, and then passed the 2 hours reading and chatting until the mini bus arrived. The bus was packed, with all of the 20 or so seats filled, plus most of the seats that swing down into the aisles. We finally left just around 11.

The trip to the border took about 2 or 2 and a half hours, and we were entertained (slightly) by the passing of a bike road race of some sort. Initially we worried that there had been an accident, but several bikes soon flashed by.

At the border the lines were slow (but the bathroom was great - for Central America) so all was well. One Canadian couple had a problem though. It seems that when they entered, they´d been confused, or lazy or both, and hadn´t gone through immigration and gotten a stamp in their passport. As this is a federal offense, they were informed that they would spend the night in jail - so they unloaded their baggage from the shuttle and headed back inside.

We went through Mexican customs without trouble, and the shuttle brought us to the terminal in Chetumal, arriving just after 3pm. It was just barely too late - with a long, sluggish line up, it was impossible to get our tickets for the 3:30 departure north (me to Tulum and Andy and Megan to Playa del Carmen). So we were stuck in the terminal waiting for the 5:30 departure. Starving, we ate at a small resteraunt, and then Andy and Megan headed out for a much needed beer.

The Canadian couple who had been detained at the border showed up too. It seems that they paid a ¨fine¨to sort stuff out. They were of the opinion that they´d been scammed....but if they didn´t cross the border properly, I´d say that they were lucky that a bribe solved their problem.

The ADO bus we took towards Tulum was gorgeous and comfortable (though way over airconditioned - even with a jacket, I shivered) and we watched movies on a plasma tv (not a chicken bus!). I slept, and woke shortly before arriving in Tulum. I said goodbye to Megan and Andy (miss you!) and then headed out to find a place to stay. It didn´t prove easy.

So far, it has been pretty easy to find a place to stay on this trip. Only once has my first choice not had an open bed. Tulum was a bit different. I spent 2 hours, walking to each hostel and then to about 6 or 8 hotels around town. All were full. Tired and sweaty, I finally stopped to ask a cab driver to help. I was lucky, and found a very nice English speaking man who tirelessly took me from hotel to hotel for another 90 minutes. Fed up at one place, I asked how much it would cost to sleep on the couch in reception. Told 100 pesos (just under $10) I agreed, and paid the cab driver before the hotel guy could change his mind.

I was worried not a few minutes later, when some trouble occured. The cab driver had left, and the guy at the reception desks´boss had found out I was staying on the couch. Unhappy, 5 of the employees gathered for a rapid spanish discussion. In the end, they set up a pallet on the floor of a dorm for me, where I spent the night.

In the morning, I discovered that my bed was moldy and gross. Ah well, there was hot water! Friday morning was bright and sunny, and I had at least slept well. No itching so far :)

I headed back into town, and bought a bus ticket for the afternoon bus to Chichen Itza, and then had breakfast at a lovely cafe. I then headed back out to the ruins area by collectivo.

Tulum is a pretty famous area of ruins, overlooking the beach. I walked around for about 2 hours. Thank goodness I pack light, as with nowhere to leave my stuff, I´d brought it with me. I saw people with day pack bigger than my pack :)

Tulum is in a beautiful setting, and had one or two interesting buildings, but overall it felt more like a park than Mayan ruins. I enjoyed it, but it wasn´t overwhelming. I stopped to watch a group of men dressed in traditional outfits. They were playing flutes and drums, and four of the climbed to the top of a tall pole. At a signal from a man on the ground, they all started down - hanging by their ankles from a rope at the top of the pole, and slowly unwinding in a slow circle around the pole.

I took another collectivo (a van that collects people, and doesn´t neccessarily head directly where you´re going) back into town and had some lunch. I made a pit stop at the internet cafe and then borded my bus to Chichen Itza at 2:30.

Enroute, we watched ¨Once upon a time in Mexico¨, dubbed in Spanish. Very appropriate. I got off the bus in Valladolid, and found accomodation without too much trouble at the Hotel Lili. Settled, I headed out for a walk and some photos.

I ended up a bit lost, but did have fun. In the early evening, as the sky was darkening, there was a family - 3 women, a daughter and a young boy, sitting at the side walk. The boy was screaming - not from pain or anything, but just for fun I think, as young kids do. I said hello as I walked by, and he was pretty scared!! I stopped, and pulled out some stickers, but that didn´t help. So I squatted down by where he´d been sitting and screamed a bit too. He laughed so hard, as did the others. I left smiling :)

Tomorrow, I´ll head out early, on the 7:15 am bus to Chichen Itza, and then onwards to Merida in the afternoon.

All the best,

Eileen

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