Mexico - the Final Chapter!

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March 18

Headed to Merida on the bus, 2 hours - buses a great way to travel here, cheap and efficient. Nomadas Hostel in Merida is great but our room was hot, we soon found out why there were 4 fans in the room! Met lots of interesting travellers during our stay there including the amazing Connie, an 81 year old grandmother from Michigan travelling on her own! The hostel pool was a great place to relax, with several hammocks strung across the water. Had a huge thunderstorm in the late afternoon which cooled the place down for a while as being inland it was generally hot and humid. Went down to the plaza, a very large leafy square in the middle of town, and visited the cathedral of St Ildefonso, the oldest church in Latin America. People here are very friendly and want to stop and tell you about their town. Tried a traditional pork and chicken dish cooked in leaves for dinner. It was a holiday in Merida so they had traditional dancing in the square that night which was really cool, men in white outfits and Panama hats, ladies in beautiful embroidered white dresses with lace. The maypole dance was particularly impressive, but the piece de resistance was where they each balanced a tray of drinks on their heads while spinning round and round!

March 19

Got the 8am bus to Celestun on the coast - 90 km from Merida too 2 hours on an old bus that stopped at every village. Took a boat tour to see the. flamingos, also saw lots of sea birds, including brown pelicans. Only saw about 15 flamingos, there are fewer birds there now as tides have risen over time. Stopped for a swim in a fresh water swimming hole, befor a very exhilarating trip back on the speedboat, Indiana Jones style bouncing across the waves, a crazy driver/choppy sea combo.. Had a nice seafood lunch at a cafe right on the white sand beach. A good day out and cooler than the city. Had oven fired pizza for tea back at the hostel, food in Mexico so good and cheap (think I may have said this at least once before!)

March 20

Another hot day, took the bus out to Uxmal with Sharon and the girls from Minnesota and a rather odd Canadian called Raymond. Uxmal is an amazing Mayan ruins site, we were so pleased we went out there, as you walk through the gates you are confronted by a massive beehive shaped pyramid, there were a lot of detailed inscriptions on the various temples and they were well preserved. The Mayan ruins around Mexico are all different shapes depending on the particular tribe. It was 38 Celsius out there according to a Japanese guy who took a reading at the top of one of the ruins! We got around quickly so we could get the lunchtime bus back, too hot to dawdle! Visited the hammock shop on the way back to base and bought ourselves a large hammock which they posted home. So many in different colours it was hard to choose! Called in to see the grand old home of the Montego family back in the 16 th century, which is beautifully preserved. Back at the hostel, we chilled out in the pool for a while, then took a free Mexican cooking class, hostel has lots of free stuff including salsa lessons, a guitar player at night, a good breakfast, amazing since the hostel was only about $30 double a night!). We helped the chef make the traditional Yucetan puc-luc dish, thin pork slices marinated in sour orange and lime then cooked on a wood BBQ, and chayaitas, which are tortillas flavoured with with chaya leaves and deep fried, pumpkin seed and tomato dip, and onions cooked on the fire in foil. We were able to eat our meal for a grand sum of $2 each!

March 21

Today is the spring equinox! Took a mid morning bus to Valladolid, about 2 hours away, it is easy to get around Mexico by bus as they run frequently to everywhere. Met two Kiwis at the bus terminal, our first since we left home! Valladolid is a really nice small town ( apart from being very difficult to pronounce, say it like Bayeedoleed) and hotel Zaci was very good value about $50 double, central to everything, with nice rooms set around a courtyard and a big pool. Found a great place to eat, the Mexican equivalent of a food hall (the Mercado). In the afternoon we hired bikes and rode out to the Dzitnip cenote (sinkhole formed from collapsed limestone, usually filled with fresh water), got a bit lost on the way but the locals are always willing to help out with directions, made it out there in very hot conditions , I felt a bit overcome by the heat, but quickly recovered with a swim in the cenote, which was beautiful, with clear deep azure blue water, although the artificial coloured lighting was a bit of a distraction. Cycling back after 5 was much easier as it was cooler. Found a good restaurant for dinner and had an amazing kebab. As with a lot of places in Mexico, there was a guitarist playing and/or singing while you eat which is nice. Tonight a large family group decided to turn it into a karaoke night by doing an item each, with mixed results!



March 22

Slow start today with a late breakfast at the food court, took a taxi out to Samula cenote, much easier than biking! Our driver offered to come back in an hour and pick us up for $10 total. This cenote was also very cool, a deep sinkhole with a huge tree root through the centre of the hole. Got the afternoon bus to Chichen Itza (for those of you who are sick of ruins, this is the final one ha ha), it was the day after the equinox so it was very crowded (imagine how crowded it was on the day of the equinox!) Why? Twice a year, at the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun makes a shadow shaped like the body of a serpent down the side of the huge pyramid El Castillo, which has the head of the serpent at the base. No one really knows if this was this was coincidence as the Mayan people were masters of design, science and mathematics. Amazing Mayan technology?! However we didn't like Chichen Itza nearly as much as Palenque or Uxmal. As it is closer to Cancun where all the cruise ships dock, it gets a constant influx of large tour coaches and is set up for the tourist market big time, so the ruins are somewhat spoilt by a trail of souvenir stalls around the entire area with pushy sales people, which the other Mayan sites we visited didn't have. Went back to Valladolid and our food court for a roast chicken dinner for $4.50 which was tasty and filling. Every meal we have had since we arrived in Mexico has been good! Valladolid also has a nice town square, like all Mexican towns. Nice places to spend time on a warm evening, and often have a band playing, as there was tonight.

March 23

After a final breakfast at the local food court, Blu shook hands with the lovely old gentleman who ran our cafe and we took the bus to Tulum, 2 hours. Accommodation here more expensive as we were now in the tourist district closer to Cancun. However, across the road was a huge supermarket so we were able to buy food for lunch and breakfast there very cheap. Took a couple of the free bikes from the hotel and biked down to the beach, about 3 km, it was a lovely white sand beach, thr surf was up as there was an onshore wind. Had an amazing seafood pasta for dinner , a yummy cheese sauce with octopus and shrimps Another hot day.

March 24

Made an early start to visit the Tulum Ruins, just a 2km bike ride away, these Mayan ruins are less well preserved and smaller, but in a spectacular setting next to the ocean. Took the midday bus to Cancun, a 2 hour trip and then straight over to the ferry for a short ride to Isla Mujeres, entertained en route by a guitar player and singer! Of course you are asked to tip the entertainer but don't have to. Off to our hostel, couldn't find it, no signs, finally guessed where it must be, got a cold beer and waited for the owner to come. Place turned out to be a lemon, a very hot dark room, no A/C, a trickle shower, shower rail fell down.... It was hot and humid so we went over to Playa Norte nearby - a long white sand beach, warm water, lots of families enjoying the beach as it was Sunday. Had a pizza in the Hildago street mall which was full of restaurants and tourists from North America.

March 25

Had own breakfast from supermarket at hostel, then took a snorkelling trip, 8 people, driver and guide, great trip for 40 bucks, had about 1.5 hours at our first stop, lots of fish and coral, Memo our guide took us through the water which made it feel very safe, then we went over to the underwater statue museum which was very unusual. There was a full size car, rows of statues a bit like the terracotta warriors albeit a lot smaller of course, and other stuff, very impressive, but the water was now choppy so it was hard work! A real struggle to get back in the boat, so tired! Went across to shore and had lunch, BBQ fish with salad and rice, cooked by our crew! All included in the price and complete with a turtle farm and a tame shark you could pose with (we declined)!When we got back to our hostel, our room had not been serviced as advertised and there was no-one to complain to, so we decided to leave and found Hotel Carmelina round the road, it was much nicer with a balcony and AC and a good shower, for 20 dollars less. Enjoyed sitting on the balcony watching the world of Isla go by!

March 26

Our last day on the island, enjoying our balcony view, had a supermarket food breakfast then hired bikes from our hotel and biked down to the end of the island and back, head wind coming back, very tough! Had nice fresh fish lunch, of shrimp ceviche and fish Veracruz style at the local market cafe (cheap) then siesta time, had a swim in the late afternoon at Playa Norte, a strong wind today but the water is about 30 degrees -nice! Went shopping in the evening to get myself a large Mexican handbag so I could fit the ipad into it when out and about.

March 27

Today we farewell Mexico, after a wonderful 18 days travelling around. We loved Mexico, it is colourful, the Mexican people are friendly, polite and warm, proud of their country and culture, and we have seen some wonderful sights during our time. Most people say "ola" to you as they walk past you in the street and are happy to help with directions, we felt safe at all times and no one tried to rip us off, quite the opposite (just a couple of poor accommodation experiences). Mexicans love loud music everywhere and sometimes it is just too noisy, but on the other hand, it is fun to come across someone serenading you in the street, or local people in traditional costume dancing in the square. And the food, as I am sure you will have gathered by now, is awesome - we didn't have a bad meal the whole trip! However I think if we had just gone to tourist areas like Cancun we would have had quite a different experience. So, we are off to Cuba - coming up next!

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Photos

Uxmal
amazing

Serpent Image, Chichen Itza
only seen on Spring Equinox