Mexico

Tuesday 13th September 2016 – 7am…we woke up with a start! Drilling…hammering…sawing…right outside our bedroom window! The noise was horrendous. Little did we know that when we settled down for the night, workmen would appear at the crack of dawn to lay foundations for a new hotel! My goodness, we really needed to move somewhere quieter…so off we set to a dormitory at Hostel Mundo Maya…just across the road. Our next mission was to find a new camera to accompany us on the rest of our travels. We headed to the Mall at Plaza Las Americas. After spotting a few potential candidates we decided before purchasing such an important item, we wanted to research it first. Aaron would come back tomorrow better equipped to make a final decision. On exiting the Mall something landed on Aaron’s finger…an enormous grasshopper…he was a wonderful specimen and hopefully a taste of other insect sightings we would witness in Central America. Returning to our hostel we were accosted by a Mexican man trying to sell us timeshare in a new hotel complex. It took all our powers of verbal non commitment to finally escape him! At the hostel we siestaed…I awoke, jumped off my top bunk only to be informed by Aaron that there was a massive cockroach snuggled into my blanket right where I had been sleeping…oh my…the joys of travelling! We were hungry by now so popped along the road for fish and chips at a delightful 50’s style al fresco cafe. Everything was pink with Elvis playing in the background…it was charming and the food was delicious. Getting on the R1 bus we looked forward to a night on the town in the Hotel Zone of Cancun…where the famous Coco Bongo owned by Jim Carey resides. What a night of fun we had…drinks at Monkey Business Bar…dancing in the street…finished off with the biggest Margarita I have ever had in my life courtesy of Casa Tequila. Not keen on continually being offered drugs on the street we finally caught the bus back to our hostel in the hope that our cockroach room mate wouldn’t put in an appearance again that night!

Wednesday 14th September 2016 – Moving yet again to a new hostel (no wifi connection and the thought of sharing another night with cockroach roomy had spurred us on) we found an oasis…Hostel Haina. Finally, a haven. Double room, TV, fridge, air con and use of a communal kitchen…like a home from home…it was perfecto! While I blogged in our room, Aaron headed out into the humidity if the day to purchase that elusive camera. I was delighted when he returned…a new camera in his possession…an upgrade from our old Sony model…it would do the job very nicely indeed. A relaxing evening followed of reclining on the bed and watching American TV channels…comfort all round.

Thursday 15th September 2016 – Today I wanted to try out our new camera and what better a place to start than one if the most picturesque beaches in Cancun…Playa Delfines. Buses frequent the beach areas all day long…the most time you will wait is 10 minutes…and then…you are transported to a pure white beach of your choice. What a glorious beach it was too…sand as fine as sugar…the sea a spectrum of the clearest blues I have ever seen…it was stunning. We agreed to return the next day to do some sunbathing and take a few dips in the cobalt ocean…not today…our brand new camera needed to be put away first! That night, wandering through the local park Las Palapas, we happened upon a fiesta atmosphere vibrating in the air. Mexicans were partying, eating, singing and celebrating in all manner of different ways. We couldn’t work out why such amazing festivities were taking place. Only when we strolled onto the main road, that had been closed to traffic, did we realise that this was Mexico’s Independence Day. Lights were flashing everywhere and red, green and white balloons were in abundance before our eyes. On the 15th September 1810, Mexico became independent from Spain and today we were witnessing their delight at this. Aaron was superhero of the night when surrounded by locals he burst four balloons with four darts at a fair stall and won a little boy who was watching in the crowd a cuddly toy of his choice. The crowd erupted with clapping at his final dart and he was crowned balloon popping champion of Cancun! When in Mexico…do what the Mexican’s do and you’re bound to have fun is what I say! Back in our hostel we started reading, ‘Central America on a Budget Rough Guide’…we were excited to research our adventures to be in this tropical paradise known as Central America!

Friday 16th September 2016 – After breakfast we booked a day trip to Chichen Itza for the following day. This archeological site is 171 miles from Cancun so it made perfect sense to do the touristy thing and go on an organised excursion…not our normal way to sight see but it could get quite costly or even dangerous if we tried it alone. These are Mayan ruins and it would be interesting to compare them to other cultural, religious ruins we had seen in other countries. Happy with our plan we spent the rest of the day on the beautiful white beach of Playa Delfines…swimming…sunbathing and admiring the surf. Back in our air con room we had a short nap then decided to dress up for dinner…as it turned out not the wisest move we’d ever made! Little did we know that we were now very conspicuous to the downtown crowd of Cancun and stood out like a sore thumb. We dined on Mexican cuisine…downtown shifty eyes watching our every move…I felt really uncomfortable and was relieved to head off stopping at the supermarket on route for some drinks and chocolate. We marched along the main road aiming to get back to safety as quickly as possible when I noticed a taxi lingering in a darkened alleyway. His passenger and accomplice clocked us and jumped out…I saw menace in his eyes and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up to attention…I grabbed Aaron, voicing my concerns and sped to a well lit busy hotel lobby where our assailant would find it almost impossible to go through with his dastardly plan. I was astonished when he partially followed us…eyeing our whereabouts continually and texting on his phone. I eyed him back resolutely making him completely aware that he had been spotted. His gaucho grimace started to fall from his face as he realised his opportunity was slipping away. As he ambled off Aaron and I legged it round the corner to freedom and sanctuary…my word it would be a long time before I was in the mood to dress up again…that was a close shave…merge with the crowd as much as possible would be our new motto!