He´s a Mexican Indian - How´d that be?
We had a full day travelling to cross the border into Mexico.
They have a random procedure for stopping and searching people as you cross the border you press a button like at a pedestrian crossing. You can guess what happened when I pressed it - fortunately no body cavity searches just a check of my back-pack to confiscate my drugs and booze.
The Mexican buses were well comfortable with reclining seats and air conditioning - they even show films although we saw one film about 3 times - I was glad when I discovered how to turn the sound off!!
We arrived late in Playa del Carmen and went straight out for dinner. Some of us went to a restaurant built inside a grotto of caves at a place called Alux. It was really impresive but we only had starters because it was a bit pricey - we walked around the caves after diner. (I forgot my camera but will try and get some pics to upload).
Our hotel in Playa was pure comedy - Posada del Cowboys - it was above Roy Rogers Cowboy store (Mam you would have loved it for your line dancing gear!) There were statues of horses jumping out of the building. Our room had patio doors that opened onto a square surrounded by four brick walls - someone elses room had holes cut in the floor and a car rental booth outside - quality.
Please excuse the Paraguay shirt - I bought it back at the start of my travels when I´d forgotten that they were in our group!
I had planned to go diving - our guide used to work in Playa and was going to sort us out a good deal - his friend wasn´t around and as we were leaving at 5pm anyway I decided to leave my diving until New Zealand or Oz and do a proper PADI course in one go when I have more time.
Instead of diving we went to visit the Mayan ruins of Tulum. Tulum has a fantastic location on a cliff top facing the rising sun looking out on views of the Caribbean.
In Maya, Tulum means "Wall" - there is a wall running around the city.
The earliest date lifted from the site is A.D. 564 (the inscription on a stele (statue)) This places Tulum within the Classic period, although it became much more important later(1200 - 1521 A.D.) during the Late Post-classic period. Tulum was a major link in the Maya's extensive trade network. Both sea and land routes converged here.
There were lots of lizards running around - some of them were massive.
The best bit about the site was the beach - it has an isolated location and the water was fantastic for swimming.
When we got back to Playa we walked around the shops and the beachfront before catching a bus up the coast to Cancun.
We arrived in Cancun and had a group meal at a place near to the hotel. Our hotel was in the old town and although there was all the facilities we needed all the bars and clubs were in the hotel zone - so we travelled there by taxi for a big night out! The hotel zone is just a huge strip of hotels and is extremely commercialised. There were cruise ships moored and the place was just full of American tourists - not very Mexican at all - you even pay for things in US dollars rather than pesos.
However on the way through the hotel zone disaster struck as we realised there had been a big power cut and the roads were jammed - the club we wanted to go to was closed and loads of people were just milling about. We decided to stay and find a bar that was open - the bar we found (Slices) was packed - all lit by candles and as I was with four girls (hello Jen, Liz, Catherine and Caroline) we got a warm welcome and some good seats - The bar was full of American college students who were entertaining to watch and just kept shouting random things - as there was no music the barman were trying to entertain the crowd. One of the barmen kept jumping on the bar and shouting at our table "Hello England" although we were stone cold sober and couldn´t muster the Whoop-whoop response he required so he got an reserved English "hello" instead!
After a few drinks and no sign of the power coming back on we called it a night.
Next day I stayed in the old town and caught up on Laundry and e-mail and got ready for the next travel day. I also said goodbye to Bjorn my German room mate and met his replacement Matthew from New York.
They have a random procedure for stopping and searching people as you cross the border you press a button like at a pedestrian crossing. You can guess what happened when I pressed it - fortunately no body cavity searches just a check of my back-pack to confiscate my drugs and booze.
The Mexican buses were well comfortable with reclining seats and air conditioning - they even show films although we saw one film about 3 times - I was glad when I discovered how to turn the sound off!!
We arrived late in Playa del Carmen and went straight out for dinner. Some of us went to a restaurant built inside a grotto of caves at a place called Alux. It was really impresive but we only had starters because it was a bit pricey - we walked around the caves after diner. (I forgot my camera but will try and get some pics to upload).
Our hotel in Playa was pure comedy - Posada del Cowboys - it was above Roy Rogers Cowboy store (Mam you would have loved it for your line dancing gear!) There were statues of horses jumping out of the building. Our room had patio doors that opened onto a square surrounded by four brick walls - someone elses room had holes cut in the floor and a car rental booth outside - quality.
Please excuse the Paraguay shirt - I bought it back at the start of my travels when I´d forgotten that they were in our group!
I had planned to go diving - our guide used to work in Playa and was going to sort us out a good deal - his friend wasn´t around and as we were leaving at 5pm anyway I decided to leave my diving until New Zealand or Oz and do a proper PADI course in one go when I have more time.
Instead of diving we went to visit the Mayan ruins of Tulum. Tulum has a fantastic location on a cliff top facing the rising sun looking out on views of the Caribbean.
In Maya, Tulum means "Wall" - there is a wall running around the city.
The earliest date lifted from the site is A.D. 564 (the inscription on a stele (statue)) This places Tulum within the Classic period, although it became much more important later(1200 - 1521 A.D.) during the Late Post-classic period. Tulum was a major link in the Maya's extensive trade network. Both sea and land routes converged here.
There were lots of lizards running around - some of them were massive.
The best bit about the site was the beach - it has an isolated location and the water was fantastic for swimming.
When we got back to Playa we walked around the shops and the beachfront before catching a bus up the coast to Cancun.
We arrived in Cancun and had a group meal at a place near to the hotel. Our hotel was in the old town and although there was all the facilities we needed all the bars and clubs were in the hotel zone - so we travelled there by taxi for a big night out! The hotel zone is just a huge strip of hotels and is extremely commercialised. There were cruise ships moored and the place was just full of American tourists - not very Mexican at all - you even pay for things in US dollars rather than pesos.
However on the way through the hotel zone disaster struck as we realised there had been a big power cut and the roads were jammed - the club we wanted to go to was closed and loads of people were just milling about. We decided to stay and find a bar that was open - the bar we found (Slices) was packed - all lit by candles and as I was with four girls (hello Jen, Liz, Catherine and Caroline) we got a warm welcome and some good seats - The bar was full of American college students who were entertaining to watch and just kept shouting random things - as there was no music the barman were trying to entertain the crowd. One of the barmen kept jumping on the bar and shouting at our table "Hello England" although we were stone cold sober and couldn´t muster the Whoop-whoop response he required so he got an reserved English "hello" instead!
After a few drinks and no sign of the power coming back on we called it a night.
Next day I stayed in the old town and caught up on Laundry and e-mail and got ready for the next travel day. I also said goodbye to Bjorn my German room mate and met his replacement Matthew from New York.
posted by Phil at 9:45 PM
2 Comments:
Sounds gorgeous especially Playa del Carmen.
Jen
x
Mr Simpson!
Sorry I haven't been in touch. I have just skimmed through the last 3 months worth of travel data and am troubled to see how much of an anorak you are becoming! Maybe when you get back we can go and visit some weaselite ruins together, or perhaps conduct some studies on the prefered habitat of the common newt? Alernatively, we could just get p*ssed out of our boxes and talk a load of b*llocks! Hope you are having a good time mate. Will be in touch soon.
Mr Purkiss
P.S. The girls are with me and send their love xx
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