Advertisement
Published: December 19th 2008
The flight to Cancun was uneventful, we filled up two forms on the plane customs and immigration cards, with strict instructions from the crew that if we lose them we pay $50 for a new one, so i was careful not to misplace it. The immigration in Cancun is very quick, it was customs that took time. From there i bought a shuttle bus ticket to downtown bus station then crossed the street of the bus station and waited for buses that has a sign going to Punta Juarez where I can catch a freey to Isla Mujeres. The kind driver dropped me off at the ferry dock, the only other passenger pointed to where i should head down,"por ayi" he said and off I go. Bought my ferry ticket and hopped on the ferry, tooka good 20 minutes, dark clouds looming a bit chillly, quite a surprise as i was expecting tropical temperatures, apparently the north winds is affecting the weather pattern so quite chilly here at night as i found out on my first night here. I was asssigned a 6 dorm room with ensuite toilet facility, only one bed available so have no choice, i got the upper
bunk next to the mosquito screen for windows, my roomates seem not friendly and completely ignored me as i get my stuff into the locker and sort my things. Got out and looked for a restaurant i am starving, chose one that has lots of people, they have 2 cervezas for the price of one, sweet! After dinner I chilled out in the dorm and listened to my ZEN, then fell asleep and never got up my bed again, i felt so tired decided to just hang out in my bed, even the noise of a band playing at the bar in the Pocna hostel(where i am staying) did not entice me to mingle and socialize, I was slip in and out of sleep getting woken up by noises, roomies goin gin and out f the room, loud chatter, music, stayed put in the room though, fatigue seems to have caught up on me, i slept really well despite the fact.
The next morning woke up at 9am and walked around to find breakfast, found some travel agents sorting out snorkelling trips for tourists so i signed up for one with lunch included. I was supposed to get picked
up at 1050 am but no one showed up, 30 minutes later i walked down to the office and the dude seem surprised I was till there, he rang someone and they picked me up again, found the boat with 2 locals and 2 nice Swedish girls, they were there for ages and we waited some more until3 Mexican dudes came along and we left, the Mexicans welcomed us to their country, they are very nice lads from Puebla, They liked the Swedish girls a lot, they are very handsome says one, pretty i said, realizing what they meant.
We snorkelled around a lighthouse and we have to wear salvavidas to our protest but the captain of the boat says it is a requirement as no fins are given to us, so other than the masks, you have to have the vests, there is not much corals though so I dont understand why we cant wear fins, anyway the fish around are nice, not as many as i expected but a good day snorkelling anyhow, we saw a few barracudas which scared me a bit, also remembered in Kribi, Cameroon where Dave and Jo and I cooked up these barracudas,
one of the most delicious fish i have ever tasted! The lunch was included we had a tasty fish for lunch marinated in achiote. The fish is called Sierra. We went out back of the restaurant and saw the guys preparing them for grilling.
While getting lunch ready, we can also opt to touch a nurse shark named Monica Lewinsky because it sucks(literally), but i decided not to do it, you pay a contribution or donation but i flet the poor animal is being exploited, being pulled from wherever it was on the cage just to amuse the crowd gathered, poor thing have no time to be left alone.
There was also the turtles, different varieties, there was a guide explaining but in Spanish so i wanered around myself, we touched them though we were not supposed to. quite slippery and rubbery at the same time. Hopefully on this trip i can volunteer to care for them. After this we headed back to the port, said goodbyes to the Swedes and the mexican dudes and head on to the hostel. Another noisy night, the scandinavians in our dorm are still quite snobbish and keeping to themselves, and the other
girl roomie brought a boy home tonight. hmmm.. time to move on.
The next morning I checked out and since i paid for 3 nights i wasnt expecting to get it back but the reception lady was kind enough to refund me. off I went to the ferry dock not a lot of tourists are leaving, hopped on a collectivo when i arrived in punta juarez to the bus station in Cancun, bought my ticket and took forever for us to get called for the bus departure, one of the buses i think was broken and made us all fit into one, we were already on the bus when the locals starting getting off then on again, we could not understand what was going on, all of us tourists are mostly at the back on the bus, we figured they will let us know if we need to change buses or whatever, eventually we left and 2 1/2 hours later we are in Tulum. Out of the bus station Evaristo gave me a brochure of his hostel called Tranquillo, i opted to go there first since it is on the same street as Weary Traveler, where i did not
really want to stay there as i read it is quite nosiy and tons of bedbugs, and though sociable atmosphere not my priority at the moment.
My hostel is owned by a guy from Boston, his nephew Nate whom i met as i entered the door is friendly and also staying in the dorm i am in, he leaves for Boston though tomorrow. Nice ambience here quitye and chill out place.
Had lunch at Dona Tina, a local place recommended by evaristo, I had the chicken adobo but not as good as the Filipino dish, very different. Met other travellers in the hostel, made fiends with a Swiss and a French guy and chatted with them for a bit before going to bed. I was really tired, i walked to a feria in town, they have rides and games and also a campaign podium where some candidate is announcing his govt platform to the crowd, and they have fireworks as well, quite fun reminds me of childhood in the Philippines.
Opted to see the ruins today, had a pamcake breakfast in the hostel and tried to find the shuttle to the ruins of Tulum, I saw a van
accross the street and aske if it stops in the ruinas, they said yes but forgot to let me off at the ruins, and have to walk 10 minutes back, the driver did not charge me though, he said gratis!! Found signs to the ruins, followed it and bought my ticket, my first mayan ruins, not that impressed, but nice location, next to the ocean, went down the path to the beach and had a brief swim in the cold water with a lot of surf. Then decided to walk back to town and took me almost 2 hours to get back as I made a very long detour, made it back anyway, starving and stopped by a tacoreria on the side of the road, very delicious for barely 3 dollars!!
Back at the hostel started drinking sol beer with Pierre a French dude then started with rum and naranja mix, been drinking for 3 hours, then I retired to my room and passed out, woke up at 1030pm they were still at it, Ivan the Swiss guy joined in and a Canadian dude as well, i went for cheap tacos then started drinking again. Lots of fun as
the owners tld us of their story on how they started the hostel etc. It rained a bit then past midnight off to bed.
The next morning Pierre was in bad shape, i decided toleave for Valladolid today,said my goodbyes and off to the bus station, the bus is late and Pierre caught up with me atthe station, he is headed for Playa del Carmen, with a very strong alcohol breath still and feeling sick he was just laughing it off!!
2 hours later I arrived in Valladolid, looked for the La Candelaria hostel, 30 minutes later still cant find it, turns out it shut down and is now a private home, I sat in the park bench nearby to assess the situation and decided to look for another one, Hotel Zaci was inviting, though a bit expensive but with a pool!! Started walking in the direction of the bus station, turmed around and saw Helene a Swede and Larsh a Dutch dude that just came from Cancun and also was at the La Candelaria, we all walked to calle 44 and try to find a place together, we looked at one hotel. quite basic, we looked at
Hotel Zaci, quite nice, 3 beds with a fan for 145 pesos each person(just over 11 dollars), we took it amd headed to the plaza to get lunch then to the cenotes for a quick dip. We asked around where to get the collectivos and then decided to take a taxi there for 150pesos for 3 of us and the driver waited for us. The 1st cenote, Samula, we went down to the cave and it was fantastic, with roots going down the water from the top, there were some black fish, the water was cold and deep in places, quite a good swim, just the 3 of us then a hoard of tourists came we left quickly and went to the Dzitnup, another cenote, this one a few people there and the water colder you can touch the stalactite and the water is quite deep as well, the swimwas very refreshing.
Back to town, had a quick shower and walked to town, visited the House of culture place next to the plaza then went to look for a bar, we found out had a few drinks, margarita, frozen drinks etc. quite a fun night then off to bed
as we start early the next day we want to be the first at Chichen Itza. Took the collectivo,we were one of the first there, we stood in line for tickets and then at 8am they open and went in right away and took photos of the biggest site the El Castillo pyramid then went back to the entrance to find breakfast. The Chichen Itza site is the most famous so hordes of tourists came after a few hours. You cant climb the el Castillo anymore because people write graffittis there and the one sculpture I want to see Chac mool is gone, sent to Mexico city we looked for it everywhere! This is a reclining statue seen on every postcard and travel magazines, went to a gift shop and read on one of the brochure that it left Chichen Itza.Took us 3 hours to explore all the temples there was a big ancient pelota court as well, I saw this on NG one time, really impressive!
Fell asleep on the bus on the way back to Valladolid. Had pork tacos from a small restaurant near the hotel then went to the pool to chill and relax. Then visited
a few churches to pass the time by and had a good dinner at a small restaurant where we had lots of cocktail drinks, i was wasted after 3 margaritas and a few sol beers so I went back to the hotel while Lars and Helene partied on some more and did some karaoke, the streets at midnite was quiet, only the tourist police are out. Apparently they got back at 4am had a dip in the pool then to bed. We woke up around 1130am and got ready for the bus to Merida. The bus took 4 hours due to traffic and lots of stops, then in Merida we have 3 hours to kill so we just had dinner and hopped on a nice ADO bus to Palenque, took 7 plus hours, we arrived around 330 am and hopped on the taxi for the hostel Nacha¨n'Kaan, we got a dorm on the roof for 50 pesos a night, bargain!!! The dorm looks like beds in a cheap hospital, 10 to a big room. Nice and clean though.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 16; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0476s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
lorena
non-member comment
wwoowowow
¡¡¡¡ VIVA MEXICO !!!