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Published: February 4th 2011
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Chetumal
The first boat Today's blog is not about visiting anything. This is about leaving Mexico and arriving in Belize.
For my last day in Mexico, I woke up at 7am (no alarm) and went for my breakfast. After that I finished packing and left the hostel around 8am.
I knew this was going to be a long day of travelling, as I had to get on the bus to Chetumal (nearest city to the boarder and then get a water taxi to Caye Caulker, a Belizean island. This may have sounded simple but after a fair bit of internet research, we (there were 2 other people leaving a day after me) hadn't found a definite timetable or if there were any direct boats.
I had gone to the station the day before and checked the timetable and prices: 1st class to Chetumal was 182 pesos. Or I could go 2nd class to Bacalar (about half an hour away) and then get a colectivo or other bus to Chetumal for about 20 pesos. At least that's what some of the people in my hostel reckoned, because when I asked the bus station lady, she said I would have to get a taxi as there
Chetumal
Customs! was no public transport between the 2.
Because I was leaving early (Chetumal is about 3 hours away and the info found pointed at a water taxi at 3.30pm) I decided to take my chances and bought my ticket for the 8.30 Bacalar. At the bus station, I met a girl who'd been staying in my hostel and getting the 8.10 first class, almost making me wish I had gone for the same, just for the chat on the way.
At 8.30, my bus pulled in and on the front, it announced “Chetumal”, obviously, not a guaranty that that's where it was going, but I was full of hope. As we pulled away, I asked the controller if I could buy and extension and how much it would cost. He said “yes, of course. But you have to buy it when you get to Bacalar. It's 22 pesos.” Yeah me, I had just saved myself 48 pesos, and with the amount of pesos I had left in my pocket (I really didn't want to have to withdraw anymore), every centado mattered.
Everything went as planned, with no bus changes, so I got to Chetumal at 12.15. As I walked around
Caye Caulker
The view when I woke up (it's the mosquito net in front) the station trying to find someone who could tell me how to get to the pier, I heard this voice shouting “How did you beat me!?” That was the girl who had taken the 1st class 20 minutes before my 2nd class and was just stepping off the bus. Double yeah me! She was off to Guatemala, so we went and did our own business. Someone informed me that I could buy my boat ticket from the bus station, so I went and did just that. It was 460 pesos or 37.50 USD. A bit strange when you think the exchange rate is roughly 1/10, but it suited me as I barely had 50 pesos left and wanted to pay in USD anyway. At the counter, the man told me I had to get a $5 taxi as there was no public transport to “Muelle Fiscal” (the name of the pier), so I went to get the taxi. I had exactly 61 pesos left in my pocket and I knew this was the last thing I had to pay, so I was just relieved when he announced the fee was 50 pesos.
As I stepped off the taxi, a man
Caye Caulker
The view from the kitchen of the hostel (with free use of the canoes!) in a green polo shirt greeted me “Hello amiga! Ticket to San Pedro?” When I told him I had already purchased it, he said I shouldn't have as it was more expensive from the bus station. Thinking about the 2 people still in Tulum and coming the next day (I had promised to e-mail them any useful info I found along the way) I went and had a chat with Rolando. “For your friends, 30USD each, tell them to ask for me.” I was cursing myself for buying from the station... I should have known better... I left the green man to go next door to Waterjets (the company I had my ticket with), where they announced I had to pay a further 16 pesos pier tax, to which I replied I only had 11 pesos left. In the end I had to pay 1 dollar and 5 pesos – not happy (especially as I checked with green man and he said they didn't charge that). Thinking back, I should have just refused and asked for my money back as nobody told me about the charge and then got a 30USD ticket next door... But never mind!
The boat was at 3pm, so I had a couple of hours to wait. I just sat in the shade and typed the Tulum blog,.That kept me busy for a while.
We had to be ready for customs at 2.30 and as the officer strolled in at 2.45, I was having a chat with a Canadian called Mario who was living in San Pedro (the main town on the other island we were stopping at). Once all passports got stamped and the dogs had finished sniffing our bags, we boarded and left just about on time in what I was told was “quite choppy” waters. It was my first time on a non-ferry boat so I didn't know how I was going to cope with it, but I was fine and ended up chatting to the Canadian all the way to San Pedro (a couple of hours). There, we all had to get off to go through Belize customs (thankfully nobody noticed my illegal import of one orange!) and then get on a smaller boat that would take us to Caye Caulker. I got chatting with 2 couples on the half hour journey, but they were staying in higher level accommodation than I was, so we said goodbye on the docks, as they got in their taxis (golf carts) to their hotels, while I started the short walk to “Bella's”, the hostel I was hoping to stay at. I stopped at the (only) ATM on the way to get some Belize Dollars and was a little surprised when I looked at the notes and saw the Queen of England staring back at me (it used to be a British colony). When I got to my final destination, it had gone dark and I got a bed for 20 Bz$ (2BZ$=1US$).After a quick trip to the supermarket, I settled around the table with the other guests, for some food and chat, before grabbing the opportunity of an early night, which turned out to be quite a bad one due to the loudest snoring of the trip yet. So for the second time (The first one was in Campeche), I had to try and go to sleep with my MP3 player on, only to discover that Fleetwood Mac makes me want to sing and dance rather than sleep. Eventually, the tiredness got the best of the next band and I went to sleep until the morning.
When I woke up and walked down (my bed is on the mezzanine) I saw outside the hostel for the first time in daylight (last picture) and that just finished waking me up!
Mexico summary:
I have enjoyed my 3 weeks around Mexico and been impressed every step of the way by the kindness and helpfulness of the local population. I have vastly improved my Spanish (they speak English in Belize, so I'll be having a break for a few days.) I have not sampled or enjoyed as much local food as I probably should have (everybody raves on about how good their food is and I didn't really think it was anything special from the bits I had...) I have met some great people, travellers and residents and got the gentle introduction to Central America I was hoping for.
On the budget front, I finish the Mexican leg at £19.77 per day, but reckon it could be done with £15 (need to work on the haggling). Belize is supposed to be a lot more expensive and I think with the boat costs, I might struggle to stay within the £30/day budget, but only time will tell...
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DELPHINE
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JE VEUX VENIR!