Conga lines and fire extinguishers

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Landing back in Cancun after three and a half weeks in Cuba was a complete sensory overload! However, after a steady diet of grease and rum, Steve - my Australian travelling buddy - and I were ready to try something different . . . .

There are two parts to Cancun: the hotel district and the downtown area. The latter is the cheaper by far and thats where we stayed. We spent the first few hours just taking it all in - the billboards, MacDonalds, the motorway! Everything seemed so shiny and new and we didnt really know what to do with it all! In fact, we both spent a good hour mulling over the first restaurant menu we saw, wanting it all!

Despite the contrast between Cuba and Mexico, it still wasnt what we had expected from Cancun. Most Mexican towns have areas that are nothing more than a mass of global chains and thats what we were seeing here. Even when we went out to find a bar later (to drink anything but rum) it didnt seem to be happening. That was until we got a taxi to take us to the other side of town . . .

We were assured that all teh good clubs were in the hotel zone so ten dollars each (outrageous price!) bought us a taxi there. For fifteen minutes we drove along the coast which was lined by skyscraper hotels, three or four layers deep. It was the most built up coastline I´ve ever seen.

We got out of the car at the end and were floored! A whole crossroads with super club, after super club and scantily clad ladies trying to charm people into one or the other. In the end we settled on a (cheaper) , smaller one called Conga - definitely the low budget option. While all the other had fire eaters, stilt walkers and acrobats ours had balloon animals, an occasional obligatory conga line and a little Mexican who appeared every half hour to unleash a fire extinguisher on the crowd. Still, because it was cheaper it was maybe the only club that had attracted some Mexicans as well as wild American college students.

The next morning we got out of there as quick as we can - the guilt of that kind of indulgence got to us . . . and besides it was time to get back to Guatemala!

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