30. 21- 28th Feb. Things always work out!

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21/02/08
I had breakfast with my friend Mari who can kick start just about anyones morning due to her bubbly personality. I spent the rest of the day by the pool with my Dutch friend Barry. I dont think i have ever read so much in one day before but i had time to kill before my flight and it was a relaxing way to do it. I shared a taxi with an English couple to the airport who were on the same flight to LA as me. As you do while traveling I bumped into a few other friends I made during my short stay in Fiji in the waiting room before my flight. When it came to boarding everyone (now bear in mind it was a huge 747 plane) started queuing up which formed a huge line as I just sat there in amusement. Why is it people do that? Its not as if the plane is going to leave without you and you have designated seats anyway! It was a long flight but an enjoyable one. It did make me laugh though as when i landed it was 1pm LA time on the 21st...and i flew off from Fiji at 11pm on the 21st! It was going to be a long day! Now when you land in LA you have to fill out a few forms as you do with many countries but I left one space blanc as it asked where I was staying in LA. I was hoping to book and jump on a flight straight to Mexico when i landed. Did that cause problems at customs! Once again i had to laugh since you can put anything down and they dont check it. LA airport is huge and I got told to go to terminal 5 to sort out my next flight. As it happens i couldn't book a flight that day but booked one for the next day. The lady I was dealing with me even helped me out with my accommodation and my transportation back and forth. The flight to Cancun, Mexico cost me $200 and was at 8.30am. The hotel cost me $70 f0r one night and being that i was use to paying $5 a night in Asia i almost had a heart attack! Waiting at the aiport for my free shuttle bus to the hotel you cant help but notice all the gansta wannabes walking around with their jeans down by their arse and wearing stupidly large gold jewellry weighing them down. I did talk to various Americans while waiting for my bus. When i eventually opened the door to my room in my hotel it felt like i had just won the lottery. The room was awesome...well i thought it was compared to what i had been staying in up until now. I got really excited about having a tv and fresh towels! After a hot shower followed by a few exercises I was in bed by 10pm watcing tv. It had been a bloody long day!ha

22/02/08
My cheap alarm clock that i bought in Thailand didn't go off but thankfully my body clock woke me up in time and i got the shuttle bus to the airport at 7am. All the Americans on the bus thought I was from OZ and couldn't believe that i had been away from home for so long. I had a bit of a problem checking in since the lady yesterday spelt my name wrong but things worked out as they always do in the end. As i was walking through customs I got singled out for a full body search. I got taken into a special room and no...i wasn't penetrated. I just had to take off my shoes and got man handled a wee bit. I did mention they should have carpets as the marble floor was freezing! The plane itself was empty. There was an old bloke sat by the window, the seat between us was empty, I was on the isle seat and the row on the other side of the isle just had one girl in it. It wasn't long till I was talking to the older American bloke sat by the window called Frank. Nice enough bloke but he kept talking about this imaginary girl called Jessica who was apparantly sat in the empty seat between us. I did get a bit scared!ha He then went on to ask if I was in a band! Luckily for me he durnk a lot of alcohol, got drunk and then fell asleep. Praying for normal conversation I started talking to the girl opposite me called Tera. As it turned out she was also going to Playa Del Carmen and was getting picked up by her mum at the airport. She offered me a lift. It was obvious she was from a wealthy family and she even said that her parents would be happy to show me around the area as they have a house their and spend a lot of time in that area. She said I was clean shaven so she was sure her mum was going to like me!ha She did say though i was to tanned to be English! Tera and I waited and waited for my bag (as hers was the first one out!) and in the end i just told her to go and find her mum as she would have been waiting. I finally found my bag in the corner of the building...god knows why and plus i lost my free lift to Playa Del Carmen. The bus there though was only $8 and i arrived ther by 6pm. It was already getting dark so i found a small hotel for $30 a night and got settled. I explored the surrounding area and ate Boritos from a food stall...im in Mexico baby! The lady told me that the sauce was only semi hot so i wacked it on, took a bite and then drunk a lot of water! I got talking to some American lads at the food stall about diving and they recomended an island called Utila which was a tiny island off Honduras. They said it was even better than the island Ko Tao in Thailand so that got me thinking...

23/02/08
I slept till midday and after a shower and some exercises I went to the internet cafe where i spoke to my Mum and Dad on Skype. I also spoke to my friends Duncan, Mat and Russel on msn which chhered me up no end. After lunch I stayed on the beach till sunset and watched a crazy girl dancing in the sand as if she was posesed by a disco loving ghost! I went for a power nap as I was slightly struggling with jet lag and then went for a walk along the main street at 10pm. It was becoming obvious that Playa Del Carmen was a place for holiday makers. It was expensive and there seemed to be a lack of travelers around. The island Utila was becoming more appealing by the hour. I was back in bed by 11pm and started reading my new book, The Kite Runner. I couldnt sleep and i think i drifted off around 4am. Had lots of things going through my mind.

24/02/08
I woke up to my alarm at 10am as i had arranged to talk to my sister at 11am. I headed down to the internet cafe and spoke to my sister and Isabel (my beautiful neice). It was then i found out that my dog, Lady, had passed away just before Christmas. My family chose not to tell me when it happened due to it being Christmas and i think they knew I wasn't looking forward to being away from home during that time anyway. I spoke to my parents after speaking to my sister and even though i didnt want to sound upset I think they knew i was a bit upset...but parents have that ability to know when things are wrong. They said i sounded "distant." I changed my flight back home to the 29th April to be back for Neil and Staceys wedding as they are really close friends to me and i didnt want to miss it. I had a lovely fish lunch listening to live music in the street but then headed back to my room to clear my head. I don't mind admitting there were a few tears dropped when i got back but i think there would have been something wrong if i wasn't upset. After all, Lady had been in our family for many years and my sister and I bought her from a zoo in Suadi Arabia. So in a way i suppose i felt she was my last link to my days back in Jeddah. My head did get cleared though and I went back down the internet cafe to look at the prospect of going to Utila. I didnt realise how far away it was! I was going to have to travel by road through Mexico, Belize and then catch a ferry to Honduras. The idea of traveling though got me excited and at the time i think i needed it. I went down to the beach, sat on some rocks watching the sunset and made up my mind. The best advice you get are from other travelers so if you dont take it then your a fool to yourself. Utila it was! Needing a drink I went to a bar where you sit on swing like seats and got talking to an American couple. They had just retired and were missing their son. The lady said I reminded her of him and a bloke took our picture but put a milk carten infront of me as he said that I would be on there soon as a mising person as they couple were going to adopt me!ha They even offered me a job back where they lived working in their bar bless them. I did get my photo taken with some promotion girls as well so that put a huge smile on my face! It was a night i needed and was in bed by midnight.

25/02/08
I woke up in the morning feeling refreshed and with a new spring in my step. I checked out and booked into a hostel on the main street called Palamars. Bring on the bunk beds! Every now and then i do feel like i need some time on my own but two days was more than enough. It was time to make more friends. It was $12 a night so a lot cheaper as well. Straight away I met a bloke called Francisco from Argentina. We decided to spend the day relaxing on the beach and it was Francisco that got burnt. Funny as im the one who is English! As Fransisco spoke Spanish we went to the more local looking cafes down the side streets as that is where you find the cheaper and better food. For $4.50 we got a three course meal and a dink. Thats more like it and the food was great. Back at the dorm we met a few other lads. One being a very well spoken Englishman called John. He could not sound more English if he tried! There were a few others we met and they were all mainly from South America and spoke very little English. Most of the conversations going on were in Spanish. Directly outside the hostel was a bench where we spent the early part of the night getting to know some of the other people in the hostel, drinking a few beers and watching the world walk past. Bearing in mind we were on the main street we recieved many looks from holiday makers walking past. It must have ben a sight. A large group of people from many different backgrounds all trying to have one conversation. I love that part of traveling though. Fransisco and I moved on to a bar andwe both ordered the cocktail Sex On The Beach...we did't look to gay!ha We ended up at a bar that was situated on the beach with awesome surroundings. Even though the music was loud you could still hear the waves crashing in against the shore. It was a fun night and didn't get back till 4am!

26/02/08
You have to take the good with the bad and the bad was that the dorm was roasting hot, my feet hung over the edge of the bed and the cleaners cupboard was right next to me bed meaning that it was impossible to sleep in. Fransisco couldn't handle it and to be fair he was only on holiday anyway so he checked into a hotel room that morning. I walked down to the beach, bought some tropical fruit from a food stall and sat on the sand eating away enjoying the views. I booked my flight to Honduras at the internet cafe for the 28th which cost me $200. I also took the opportunity to phone home and tell my parents that I was doing well as i know that i worried them a little from my last phone call after finding out Lady had past away. After that i headed back down to the beach and found Fransisco easy due to his red raw back!ha Once again we stayed there till sunset. We bought some beers on the way back and spent most of the night on the hostel balcony with about 20 other backpackers. Out of the 20 people there about 15 of them were Spanish speaking so for the first time I felt alienated but it was in a good way. The few of us that didnt speak Spanish were still involved in the conversations but just with laughter (even though we didnt know what we were laughing at!) and a lot of head nodding! It was good to feel how others feel if they don't speak English in a crowd of people speaking English which happens to many people while traveling. It must be tough! I spent a lot of time that night taling to two girls from Argentina called Paula and Augustina as well as Fransisco and John. Later on that night we found ourselves on the beach watching a fire show that one of the lads from our hostel was performing. Even John gave it a try but he had done it before in Thailand and was quite good as well. I learnt that Paula worked for a magazine back home but also worked for a circus. She was one of those trapeze artists...very fit! We ended up at one of the clubs on the beach and had another fun night. Being a gentleman I walked Paula back around 2am but to be fair i was still knackered from the night before!

27/02/08
In the morning I checked my e mails for a confirmation that i was expecting from the company i booked my flight to Honduras with but i had recieved nothing...a bit worrying as my flight was the next morning! I sent them an e mail and went to a dive shop called Dive Mike where i had arranged to do two fun dives at midday. The divemaster leading the dive was a Danish lady called Mia. I had to laugh as i had been trying to forget Danish Mia from back in New Zealand! The two dives were ok but the other customer i was with had not dived in 7 years so both dives were shallow dives and the current was very strong and the visability wasn't great. But any dive is a good dive. I was back in the internet cafe later on that day and i had recieved an e mial saying that could i please fax over a copy of my credit card and passport for security reasons. So with an email stressing that things need to get sorted asap due to my flight bing in the morning I done so. I met my friends on the bench outside our hostel and chatted away for a few hours. One of my South American friends, Joaquin admitted that even though we had been talking to each other for hours over the past few days that he didnt have a clue what i had been saying...i admitted the same! We still enjoyed each others company though. Paula was helping me out trying to arrange transportation to Cancun to get my flight in the morning that i was hopefully going to be on. It was hard work even for Paula never mind if i had had tried to do it. I was going to have to get a bus at 3.30am but i had no choice...but i still didnt know if i had a ticket for that flight anyway! All i could do was to keep checking my emails (sending them shitty ones as well!!) throughout the night. It was a cold night as well so we were all sharing body warmth up on the balcony. I had the pleasure of snuggling up to Paula. We were playing cards and i found out that a deck of cards from Argentina only have 48 cards...how weird is that! Paula and I were walking around the streets after midnight looking for a internet cafe that was open ad thanks again to Paula we found one. Once again...nothing! I sent another shity email and headed down the beach with Paula where we spent a few hours enjoying each others company under the stars. Very relaxing where it should of been a time i was pulling my hair out. But how can you get stressed when your in a place like that in great company?! At 2.30am i recieved an email saying that the cant read the fax with my details on and could i please resend it...i told them to shove the flight as they hadnt taken the money out of my account yet. It looked like i was staying a few more days! The dorm room was full but i ended up back at the small hotel i stayed at when i first arrived. I finally got to sleep around 4am after a very busy day!

28/02/08
My alarm went off early in the morning as i was due to spend the day with Paula and Augustina on a trip but i was far to tired and needed some sleep! I paid for another night with the intention of leaving the next day by bus. I was going to make my way down to Honduras by land and sea. I had fruit on the beach again to kick start my day and arranged my bus ticket for the next day to Chetumal which is further own the coast towards Belize. I went for a long walk along the beach and past about five different model shoots taking place there and then. I found a relaxing spot and sat there till sunset reading my book. I met my other friends later on and John decided to come with me to Belize which i was really pleased with. He was good company and a reall funny lad. Everyone was joking though how noone can seem to leave Playa Del Carmen. I think John had been trying to leave for about two weeks and everyone knew what trouble i had been through over the past few days. The night was spent all crouded around this one small bench which everyone seemed to love talking away to each other in any language they could. I said my goodbyes to the friends i made there including my good Fransisco, made arrangements with John to meet him in the morning and went back to my hotel room. I had the pleasure of Paula's company that night and it was a great way to end another chapter to my traveling days.

Once again that was another destination checked of the list and I left with the knowledge that I had made some great new friends, got some great new memories but most importantly...I realised that everything always works out in the end whether you worry about it or don't. I had a few tough moments in Playa but with them tough times there was always something good waiting to happen just around the corner.
So my plan now was to head down the Eastern coast of Mexico with John by bus to Belize, cross the boarder and then travel through Belize to a port where i could catch a ferry to Honduras. Then catch another ferry to the small island of Utila. I was doing all this on just someones recomendation that i met one night at a Borito stall. I love traveling...its so random!ha

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Photos

The American couple that wanted to adopt me!
The swing like chairs at the bar were awesome!

Sitting on THE bench!
Fransisco is on the left, John is sat behind me.

Looking exhausted on the last night!
Paula and Fransisco.