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The Magic Hostel San Cristobal
Much better than our previous hostel Where to start..its been a while since we last wrote?
We set off from San Cristobal at 6.30 in the morning along with the 7 guys from Manchester Uni. We got a tour bus that would take us to some waterfalls, through the Chiapas Mountains and then on to Palenque. The waterfalls included one from the film Predator...although no one could say for sure. They were still beautiful and great fun to swim near..we also drove through the area of Chiapas where the Zapatistas reside so we saw some crazy political murals. The guide never stopped talking although it was in Spanish so most of us didn´t really know what was going on. Palenque was amazing...crazy setting in the middle of the jungle and lots of noisy howler monkeys (they sound like dinosaurs). It was extremely hot walking up the ruins but worth it for the incredible view over the jungle and surrounding valley. After visiting the ruins we were taken into Palenque where we waited for an overnight (13hr) bus ride to Tulum. A spectacular storm was witnessed on the journey..fork lightning for miles around. But we are learning slowly...lots of clothes meant that we slept most of the
Henry getting a haircut
Very trusting...but needed! way!
We arrived in Tulum at around 6am to watch the football. Met loads of other Brits at the hostel and we all went to watch the match...which put everyone in semi suicidal mood for the rest of the day, until people realised that they were on the Caribbean coast and could console themselves with a swim in the beautiful blue sea and kick back with a cerveza. We stayed in a hostel in town called 'The Weary Traveller'. It provided breakfast and dinner so ended up being a great deal, and it also had a pretty active night life too with everyone drinking in the courtyard for most of the night. This was compulsory for us as our room was considerably worse than all the others...reminisent of the stiflingly hot Mazute prison cell. Oh well, being British we dealt with it as best we could...! The next three days were spent at the beach and in the hostel drinking 70p bottels of rum and playing cards.
On Sunday we visited the ruins above the beach at Tulum, which, apart from the fat middle aged Americans had a beautiful setting overlooking the coast. Henry A had yet to
Chiapas countryside
Like Jurassic Park! buy any flip flops and the walk down the burning road at 2pm made him realise the error of his ways. I did however find a single right foot flip flop in a bush and walked around the ruins in that (better than none I thought)...lots of funny looks from Mexicans and Americans.
On Monday we went to visit a Cenote which joined with the sea. Cenotes are underground rivers where the top has collapsed, or they can be caverns. The one we went to was in the mangroves and we spent a good few hours snorkelling about for 50p, we then had lunch and decided to visit the reef on the other side of the road. The reef was pretty amazing although the visibility was hindered by the mixing of salt and fresh water and the hot and cold water...it made for some very wierd sights. We then went back to the cenote and swam abuot for a bit longer..we were trying to get through to another section of the cenotes but the mangroves were too overgrown. We ended up snorkelling for a total of about 5 hours for a total of about 10 pounds for the day.
Agua Azul
The trousers have been washed! The next day Henry M went to some other cenotes to go diving with a load of people we´d met at the hostel. You dropped into a pool where everyone could snorkel, before descending into the network of caves that run underground. You are allowed to go upto 60m into the caves on a standard PADI certification, which when the caves are pitch-black and filled with staligtites seems pretty far! The first dive was just a basic swim around, but the second one was amazing...halfway through the dives we surfaced in what is called "The Bat Cave", a huge air pocket covered in huge staligtites and bats everywhere...all very impressive indeed. We bought an underwater camera so hopefully some of those shots might come out...
Whilst Henry M went diving Henry A remained at the hostel nursing a sore bum, upset stomach and running some erands. We decided we would head to Valladonid on our way to Merida, so we cuould see some more ruins and some more cenotes. Our last night in Tulum (Tue) we went and stayed in a cabana (hut) on the beach. We bought a few beers and thought we would spend the night
relaxing next to a palm. Five mins after sitting down some Mexican students invited us up to their camp site (all of 5 metres away) for vodka and chit chat about Mexican politics and music..The definite highlight of the night was when one of the girls was sick on Henry A's leg and then proceeded to pass out face first into the sand...she was v drunk. We all then went for a swim to try and wake her up a bit (and wash off sick) which at that time in the morning, in that state of mind, was pretty entertaining...it all ended up being great fun and we drank until 2 in the morning when a torrential downpour sent us running for cover in our cabana. We then found out that thatched palm, while looking lovely, is rubbish at keeping the rain out...we had to reside ourselves to the fact that it wasn't luxury accomodation...and to be honest we were far too gone to really care. The rain eventually stopped but the beds were soaked, oh well it was better than concrete floor.
Our bus to Valladolid was a 11 the next day so after an early swim we
had breakfast and headed into town to catch the bus. We went straight to sleep for the 2 hour journey and upon arrival found a very peaceful (for that read slightly dull, no more rum parties for a few days!) hostel with a private room....off to more centotes tomorrow and to see more ruins. So cultured!
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Mrs. Worm
non-member comment
Long time, no see
Finally we get more updates! Have been wondering how you guys were getting on, but I see there's no need to worry. Ruins and beaches look amazing I must say. Hope the underwater shots come out as well. That'd be nice to see. Election hot topic with the students at the moment? Enjoy life and let everyone know what we should be jealous of. Keep snapping those sights. Missing you back home... Lol xxx