Cancun.

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The drive into Cancun was dismal. Did not recognize anything from 20years ago. It was definitely much bigger. As per usual we drove around in circles figuratively and actually. Finally made a stop before The Weary Traveller, which apparently was not our hostel. It was stated the name searched for was Mexico Hostels. Turns out they are one and the same.

The entrance is tiny. The reception desk small. One TV in the entrance serves all the roomsof which there appear to be about ten. I occupied room four which had a terrific view of the washing machines. The towels cost 5pesos each and were decent; the pillow cases were long in coming; the sheets thin; the bathroom without shower curtain and stifling hot without AC; the bunk beds wobble enough to make one seasick and so unstable a fart set them a-trembling. The ceiling fans were luckily disengaged otherwise decapitation would have resulted in the case of Lynn, Min and Me. Fans on the side wall were available for air movement. Between six people we had two keys and we did manage not to be left standing before a locked door.

Arriving at our destination before dark, which was unusual in itself, we acquired a lock and chain for a 50 peso deposit and settled our stuff into the lockers.

The street where one finds the hostel is anything but pretty. Bars play loud music to attract the drinkers; cars and taxis whiz attending to business; people walk with plastic bags full of food from the Comercial Mexico; tourist lumber by with the weight of laundry on their shoulders and locals stroll in family groups to find something to buy or eat. It’s an ugly street!


I decided to ride the bus to the Zona Hoteles. Counting on the map, over 125 hotels are situated along both sides of the lagoon. The bigger hotels have ocean frontage. Shopping malls, the biggest being La Isla, and smaller shops are close to the hotels. Restaurants from Burger King to Bubba Gump to Pat O’Brien’s to Planet Hollywood are interspersed with all the other business ready to grab your money. It is crass, indecent and ugly. Did not even visit this area 20 years ago. Never need to visit it again. Twenty Kilometres of artificial, overdone architecture.

Min, Hills, Chad and English Paul decided to come along. The original plan was to get off and eat. Accessing the scene and assuming correctly that things wuld be tooo expensive, we decided to stay on the bus and do a round trip back to our hostel.

Chad and Paul got off to find a good time. While in Cancun, Chad found a very good time in the shape of a cute tall blonde. Don’t know yet how often he has found a good time. A delicate topic since some of the other men are not finding good times. Only one young woman on board and I’m not asking her anything about how she find a good time. Most of the time she looks like something’s crawled over her liver.


The locals use the bus to go to their hotel Jobs. With the smallest hotel having 200 rooms and the average being let’s say 500 there are an excess of 62,000 rooms to attend to and with an average of three people per room 186,000 visitors to feed and clean up after.

I spoke to a Cancun resident while riding back on the bus. She agreed that almost everyone in Cancun is somehow connected to the tourist business. The place was selected by computer as a prime spot wherein to develop a tourist destination. And have they ever done that. Who has not been to or dreamt of coming to Cancun?

Did not get upin time to spend the day at Isla Mujeres. Did ask a travel agent on the ugly street about glass bottom boat rides and he sent me to Aquaworld across the street from the beautiful Grand Melia Cancun hotel. Went on the bus again; signed up for a 350 peso submarine ride; enjoyed the air conditioning of the Aquaworld gift shop; did not even buy a t-shirt and waited for the 2:00 departure of the ’submarine’.

In the meantime went across the street to the Grand Melia Cancun. This is the hotel I was meant to stay at!

I asked for a map or folder and a lovely man was ready to give me 50$ worth of coupons including buffet lunch, massage and drinks … all if I traded in my submarine ticket and spent the afternoon at his hotel! AND I WOULD have done … except I wanted to see the tropical fish and the truck was leaving next morning.
Lesson learned? … travel as usual …alone and participate in all the unexpected surprises, characters and goodies that come along. Then again there is safety in numbers, it is affordable and I may never have accomplished this adventure alone. Am drinking to avert the “pissed off” occasions which is mostly about lengths of stay and places passed by!

So the submarine …. Good experience…saw one tuna and dos tortugas. A Japanese guy was leaning over me most of the way taking shots out my window. My memory stick was full … worst luck…. Good thing there were no sharks or whales…as if….

Went out to the ‘submarine’ by cruiser and then boarded. The thing never did go underwater…just the windows were underwater… and the whole time we were very close to the bottom. I think they just went around a small circle … underwater who can judge. I was happy to see the three creatures and the mostly dead but some live coral. Enviously looked over to where people were snorkling.

On the way back stopped to buy food which I then ate upstairs in the hostel kitchen. Also worked on WiFi and talked to other hostellers. Ate again at the restaurant next door with Min.
Did laundry for a long time. When it came time to rinse a water hose put the water into the machine. Forty pesos later I had damp t-shirts. Have to send them home so I can wear my quick drying stuff.

One more night in the drunk as a sailor bunk bed and in the morning it was off in search of a watch for as little as possible and with water resistant qualities. Had to wait for the shop to open at nine; picked a square faced, no-numbers-or-dates watch made by Q&Q, whoever they might be and paid 150 pesos.

The time of departure was delayed because Lynn and Rob had left their visa card in the bank machine. Luckily they found it. We were of heading for English speaking Belize and got out of town without driving around in circles…. Will never forget two and half hours trying to get out of MexicoCity.

Driving …. Driving …. Driving and into Belize. Lookng forward to Tulum and Belize City and some days on the reef. Would go to the Blue hole but can only swim in a pool and have no diving license. Chad and Dave and English Paul all went down. More power to them.

Am looking forward to the beach and the feel of the Caribbean Breeze on my face and body.

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