Mexico

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MEXICO

The border crossing from Belize in to Mexico was one of the easiest ones, with the local chicken bus dropping us off and picking us up at both official points. To be honest, we’ve had little trouble at any of the border crossings on this trip and there’s something quite liberating making your own way across each country on foot or by local bus rather than the safe option of taxi or fancy coach.

Chetumal

We’d done little research on Mexico as we’d not managed to pick up a travel guide on our travels, so we decided to stop first in Chetumal, Quintana Roo’s capital, the first town you come to after crossing the border. It’s easy to see Belize’s influence in Chetumal, from the buildings to many people speaking English. Devastated by Hurricane Janet in the 1950’s, Chetumal has few notable sights to speak of and is a mix of new modern concrete buildings and old fashioned wooden houses with porches and yards. Perhaps the biggest draw towards Chetumal is the duty free zone, a mini mall set in the no-mans-land between Belize and Mexico, selling all kinds of cut price stuff.

It’s a decent enough stop over for travellers and with the weather stormy, it was a great chance for us to get online and start plotting our Mexico route. We stayed in a great little hostel that had a kitchen so it was great to get cooking for ourselves once again as in Belize we were limited to eating out all the time.

Bacalar

After a couple of days organising we headed to Bacalar, 35km North of Chetumal, famous for two stunning water attractions - Laguna Bacalar and Cenote Azul.

Bacalar itself is uninspiring and although it’s full of holiday lets and guesthouses, we must have been out of season as it resembled a ghost town. We stayed in a pretty grim hostel that looked like it hadn’t seen any backpackers for a long long time. However, with the dorm all to ourself, complete with ensuite, we were happy enough.

Laguna Bacalar is simply gorgeous. It resembles the Caribbean Sea with its sparking indigo coloured water and at 45km long and 1km wide, it’s the second largest lake in Mexico. Unfortunately when we were there it was blowing a gale and threatening rain so the water wasn’t particular inviting. Donny of course went in for a dip leaving Sandy to talk pigeon Spanish to yet another local trying to sell something.

We left the laguna and headed straight for Cenote Azul, which we’d heard was the must see in Bacalar. Cenote is the Spanish word for sinkhole, a deep hole caused by limestone erosion. This particular cenote was like a small, perfectly circular lake with dark blue still waters. It’s a beautiful setting surrounded by thick woodland and a little lakeside restaurant. We wasted away the afternoon diving off an upside down boat in the middle of the cenote while the rain hammered down, causing chaos in the restaurant but not bothering us at all since it was warmer in the water than out of it.

With little else to do in Bacalar and in need of a little gringo interaction, we headed to the coastal town, Tulum.

Tulum

Tulum is a favourite amongst backpackers and is also now one of the top package holiday destinations. With its famous picturesque Maya ruins, poised on 15metre high cliffs above the stunning turquoise Caribbean it’s also a popular day trip for holiday makers in Cancun.

We arrived at our hostel only to discover that Ian and Jen, an English couple we originally met in Sucre, Bolivia and again in Antigua, Guatemala had just arrived also. After dinner and a few drinks, we’d soon caught up and had planned our week in Tulum.
First on our list was the Cenote Grande. The area North and West of Tulum has one of the largest concentrations of cenotes in the Yucatan peninsula. These freshwater holes are fantastic for snorkelling (and some for SCUBA diving) and for splashing around in. With map in hand and on our somewhat decrepit bikes from the hostel, off we went to the most recommend cenote, Cenote Grande via the supermarket for provisions. Sadly Donny (as ever) had bicycle trouble so it was a long sweaty walk back to the hostel for a change of bike before he could join in the fun.

The next day, with the sun shining, we headed to the Tulum ruins on our (t)rusty bikes. The ruins really are special chiefly for their unique setting with the turquoise sea glistening behind the looming grey edifices and with iguanas roaming everywhere you turn, trying to shelter from the sun. The site is quite compact and the ruins not as big as many other Mayan sites, but nevertheless they are breathtaking.

With the good weather definitely on our side, the following day we hot footed it to the beach at Akumal to swim with turtles. The water was quite rough and you had to swim quite far out to get a glimpse of the turtles, so with snorkels on, we all made the long swim out. After a while, we were finally rewarded when we came across a large female olive ridley turtle, happily grazing on the seagrass and unfazed by our presence. After a good look, satisfied with what they’d seen, Sandy, Ian and Jen decided to head back to shore while Donny continued to paddle around in search of more marine delights. Two more turtles and a stingray later, even Donny had had enough and joined the others back on land.

The other highlight of Tulum was an impromptu pub crawl. Put off by tacky pubs full of pumping beats and too-cool-for-school holiday makers, we headed down a side street in search of something a little different. We stumbled across a bar that had a Mexican band playing so decided to get in on the action. We were greeted personally by the band on entering the venue and with everyone in the packed room just staring at us, the four gringos made their way to the only table available. The band soon started up again and straight away the landlady of the bar asked Donny up to dance, much to the amusement of the locals. Other patrons of the bar soon followed suit, asking the girls repeatedly to dance, and by the end of the night we’d all been up dancing with the locals and were even bought a couple of rounds of drinks. In the mood, we decided to head to the karaoke bar before heading home. Donny and Ian took over, wowing the crowd with such delights as Enrique (Donny…again), Take That and Day in the Life by the Beatles , which was unfortunately somewhat lost on the Mexicans. Feeling pleased with ourselves, we stumbled home after a quality night.

Happy with our 5 days of fun in the sun, we persuaded Ian and Jen to head with us to our next stop, Isla Mujeres.

Isla Mujeres

Our sole reason for visiting Isla Mujeres was to swim with Whale Sharks. From August to September the whale sharks gather in the Caribbean somewhere between Isla Mujeres and Holbox to mate and feed. Tour operators and travellers alike have cottoned on to their presence and it’s now high on the list for any visitor to the Yucatan.

There must have been about a dozen boats waiting to take people out to visit the whale sharks on the morning of our trip, and it seemed like the water might be a bit crowded full of would-be whale shark snorkellers. But in fact the sea seemed to be full of sharks, with fins and gaping mouths to be seen in every direction. Typically, when the guide asked who wanted to go in first, our hands shot up immediately and soon we plopped into the water for our encounter with the biggest fish in the world.

And what an encounter it was. Looking ahead, an enormous mouth loomed out of the murk, heading straight towards us. In awe, we watched as the shark veered away, only to be replaced by another, cruising past only a couple of metres away. The size of these creatures is difficult to describe, they are just so much bigger than us. But as well as their scale, what is remarkable is the way they look- neither clumsy nor ugly, they are beautiful, graceful swimmers, with white spots shimmering in the overhead sunlight, and powerful tails propelling them languidly through the warm sea.

We went in the water four times with the sharks and still felt as though we could have kept doing it forever- it was the sort of heartstopping experience that leaves its mark with you and, of course, one that we will never forget.

Isla Mujeres itself is a beautiful island 15 minutes from Cancun by ferry. Only 7km long, with subtropical temperatures and mellower than Cancun and neighbouring Playa del Carmen, it’s easy to see why it’s popular. However, having overdosed of late on tranquilo living and with Cancun’s waterpark ‘Wet n Wild’ calling, we cut short our stay and made our way back across to Cancun by speedboat, no less, courtesy of our friendly whale watching tour guides (and a small bribe).

Cancun

We decided to stay in downtown Cancun away from the hotel zone not only to try and capture the ‘real’ Cancun, but also because we’re skinflints and Cancun is very overpriced. Cancun is what you’d expect, incredibly overdeveloped and Americanised, however, we found it quite easy to like the place by just accepting it for what it is and going with the fast flow.

With Jenny and Ian’s departure imminent, what better way to say farewell than a day out at a water park. Cancun’s ‘Wet n Wild’ operates on an all-inclusive deal so you pay your entrance fee and then all rides, food and drink are free. It saves having to worry about cash and allows you to just focus on the fun! The typical Brits that we are, we ensured we got more than our money’s worth by eating and drinking to excess, and splashing about on the flumes until we were forced to leave. Particular faves were the lazy river, trying to flip the rubber rings on the flumes, the margaritas, and getting soundly beaten at volleyball by local kids.

Ian and Jen headed off early the next morning and so, all alone again, we packed up and set off to our next destination, Plaenque.

Palenque

Palenque itself is uninspiring, with most visitors using it merely as a stopover to visit the nearby ruins and waterfalls. We decided to stay closer to the ruins in a little place called El Panchan, a tiny cluster of wooden cabanas and camping spots set in thick jungle. We had a great wee cabana all to ourselves but although the jungle setting was pretty cool, it was all just a bit too new age and hippy for us. With quite a lot to see and not a lot of time, we opted for a day trip to the Palenque Ruins, Misol-Ha and Agua Azul organised by our Cabana owners.

The ruins at Palenque were our third set of Mayan ruins and, not being particularly well read on the subject, were frankly quite similar to the other ones we've seen. This probably doesn't do the achievements of the Mayan people much justice but at least we're honest. What we can say is that they are situated in a beautiful forest setting and we had a very pleasant wander around!

Misol Ha is 18km from Palenque and is a 25m waterfall with picturesque backdrop and fern lined trails. It’s no Iguazu but was nice all the same.

Agua Azul is more impressive and comprises numerous pools rapids and falls. It’s a pretty 2km walk upstream and the waters are alive with butterflies. We also had the chance to swim and spent a refreshing hour cooling off in the cold waters and mucking about on a rope swing with the locals.

(Don't think Lonely Planet are going to employ us on the back of the last three paragraphs, sorry).

It was a brief visit to the Palenque but we felt it was enough and we soon moved on to our next stop, Veracruz.

Veracruz

Villa Rica de La Veracruz remains very much off the gringo trail and we felt it the perfect stop en route to the Pacific coast. Although not the most exciting , we quite liked the town as it was a nice place to just chill out, go for walks on the seafront, and to catch up on some homeward bound organising.
With over a month left of the trip, but with little cash left, the weather in Mexico being pretty dismal, the worries of no jobs and everything we’d need to do when we got home, we decided to cut short the trip by a couple of weeks and limit the travel to just 2 more destinations. We both wanted to get more of a holiday feel before travelling home and after lots of consideration, decided Acapulco and Mexico City would be our final 2 places.

Acapulco

Acapulco was to be our final stop before Mexico City and our only visit to Mexico's Pacific coast. Famous as the glamorous holiday destination for 1950s hollywood stars, it’s now popular for thousands of vacationers from both the US and other parts of Mexico. The people flock here for the beaches which are strung out around the broad expanse of Acapulco Bay and with the beautiful backdrop of the bay, another water park in town and the sun finally shining, it was the perfect place to spend our final week. We went ‘upmarket’ and forked out for a two star(!) hotel with pool and air con, proper luxury compared to some of our recent hostelries. It was a great way to wind down after such a long period of travelling and we spent days at the beach fending off millions of vendors trying to sell us anything from tanning oils in suspicious looking bottles to wooden models of ships (how the hell did they think we would get them home?). We also visited CICI's water park and behaved like children for a day, especially loving the cliff diving simulator which hoisted us up on a cable and released us to swing out across the water like a pendulum.

Mexico City

So this was it- game over, the end of the line, our final destination- Ciudad de Mexico. We travelled from Acapulco by bus during the day, a strange mixture of excitement and dread filling both of us as we neared this huge city, the last stop before returning home to face the harsh reality of getting back to a normal life.

We had been told differing accounts of Mexico City by various travellers along the way, some saying it was dirty, poverty stricken and dangerous, and many others telling us it was an amazing, exciting and beautiful city. We definitely would concur with the latter assessment- our experience was entirely positive as the limited part of the city we saw, mainly the Zona Rosa, west of the centre, was modern, cosmopolitan, clean and full of exciting things to see and do. Obviously this doesn't tell anywhere near the whole story of Mexico City as there are many other parts which are rife with crime and poverty, but just like any other city, Mexico is a mixed bag and certainly has lots of appealing qualities.

The two highlights, apart from our four star hotel and the awesome Argentine steak restaurant nearby, were the Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling and the Club Americas football match, both of which we had been longing to attend. Lucha Libre is just like WWF wrestling in the states but with weird PVC masks and midgets. It was a hilarious evening's entertainment as we watched little guys getting thrown about by big guys before overcoming all odds and pinning the big dudes, as well as the women's wrestling which was possibly even more funny. The crowd loved every minute and so did we.

Club Americas are the biggest and most successful football club in Mexico and they play in the Estadio Azteca, a massive stadium with a capacity of over 100,000. It was amazing to finally get to see a big Latin American football match and experience the famous fervour of the crowd. The result was 2-1 to Americas and in case you're wondering, neither of us can remember the name of the opposition! Anyway to be honest it was more exciting watching the fans and wondering whether it was all going to kick off with the dozens of riot police in the stadium!

Well, that just about wraps it up; we made it to the airport and jetted off home after 9 mind-blowing months. Our experience was one of unparalleled extremes: so many unbelievable highs coupled with only a few lows; the coldest, hottest, highest, driest, wettest and most awe-inspiring places we have ever been; and the some of the most interesting and fun people (and animals) we have met. If anyone who we met along the way reads this we just want to say thanks for being cool or weird or both and maybe we'll meet again sometime.

Sandy and Donny 2011.

Ps. Can't believe how lame the list below is given our track records. Sorry for disappointing fans of our usual disasters!

INJURIES SUSTAINED SO FAR

Donny

No. of injuries: Three (3)
1st Injury sustained: Gash to the right knee
Severity: Minor (but antiseptic wipe and large plaster required)
Location: the bedroom, Empedrado Hostel, Mendoza
Cause: collision with wooden bed board while attempting to kill a mozzie during the night

2nd Injury sustained: Cut to the right hand side of face
Severity: Minor
Location: Spider Park, Parque Machia, Villa Tunari, Bolivia
Cause: Bitten by Mickey, alpha male spider monkey, after startling him while picking up banana skins in his vicinity

3rd Injury sustained: Cut to right foot
Severity: Minor but quite deep and lots of blood and bandages
Location: Lago Izabal, Guatemala
Cause: Standing on broken glass while looking for fishing bait barefoot in a river bed

Sandy

No. of injuries: Three (3)

1st Injury sustained: Blow to top right of head
Severity: Minor (not even a bump, but loud noise made when bumped and slight nausea felt)
Location: a long road, La Falda, Cordoba
Cause: Walked in to a stupidly low sign

2nd Injury sustained: Blow to already gammy knee, small cuts to right elbow + left heel + right big toe and big bruise on left arm
Severity: Relatively minor (knee required bandage support)
Location: on a small boat in the Atlantic Ocean
Cause: Turning too quickly while climbing up stairs to the top deck. NOT alcohol!

3rd Injury sustained: Cut to right arm
Severity: Relatively minor: 1 stitch required + anaesthetic
Location: Inti Wara Yassi, Parque Machia, Villa Tunari
Cause: Using cucumber as bait when wrestling food from tejone Louis. Louis attacked, bit Sandy, ate the cucumber AND the rest of the food

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