Wow..cannot believe a week has already passed! So far we are having a great time and seen some lovely places....so here is the run down....
We arrived in Cancun about 5pm...got a bus to downtown Cancun for a bargain of £5. It was really easy getting to the hostel as it was right next to the ADO bus station..Thank god..didn't really fancy walking around with the backpack on for ages- it was hot!
 |
| View from the top of the Hostel |
With full bellies and a brief Spanish lesson with Raph we headed back for some much needed sleep.
We woke on Wednesday with a "let's go get em" attitude...today was adventure day to explore Cancun on foot (got to save those pennies - we have a budget to think about now)
We are staying in downtown Cancun, which is nowhere near the beach - Cancun is about the beach right? - so we decided to walk there.....2.5 hours later and a lot of sweating we made it.
The beach area of Cancun is called Zona Hotelera..and that is what it is..... a massive beach front spanning 25km with hotels sprawled all across it...not quite what we were expecting. However the sun was shining, the sea was warm and crystal clear blue and the sand was soft - we relaxed here for the rest of the day.
Feeling that we had seen quite a bit of Cancun already, it was time to head out of this city...a 3.5hr bus ride took us to the famous Chechen Itza... I think the photos can express how marvellous they were....
We explored the entire site in 2hrs...which was a little annoying, as our bus back was not for another 3 hours. Luckily we had befriended and Ozzy girl called Brooke, chatted and drank beer with her in the scorching heat.
A lesson learnt today.....get a guide book or hire a guide when visiting archaeological sites - the ruins were amazing, but we did not have a clue what they were about and why people were clapping at them all day... Research later on in the evening explained things, click here to find out some info.
On Friday we woke up really early and decided to make the most of the day. A 30 minute boat ride, 140 pesos later, we arrived at Isla Mujeres.
A small little island just off Cancun. It was lovely and we both wished that we were staying here. Lots of little restaurants and cute bars in the town centre. 1 of the street sellers recommended a great place to eat seafood and gave us a map so that we could find our way there by foot. OMG - it was so hot and after walking around 5km, we contemplated hitch hiking the rest of the journey. A much needed beer was downed once we arrived at Playa Lancheros.
We had lunch which was not fish – out of our budget (grrrr!), guacamole, salsa and tacos!
We stayed on the beach for a few hours enjoying the sun and sweating some more!
Later on we decided that we would club it up and with the help of the “hostel guy” we choose The City as our night spot (apparently the biggest club in Central America). 30 pounds each bought us entry and an open bar which ensured that we had a good night.
Saturday = hungover day! But as I said to Roland “it´s not every day you´re in Mexico” so instead of wallowing in our bed, we caught the R1 bus back to the beach area and got off at km 12 to one of the rare public beaches. A great way to mend a sore head!
In the evening we stumbled across a Plaza which was surrounded by cheap eats and locals enjoying their Saturday night. We found a great restaurant, really cheap and sampled 2 typical Mayan dishes. Finished off the evening with Churros – yummy yum yum!
Sunday, another day, another bus. 400 pesos and 4 and half hours later we arrived inMerida.
A lovely colonial city … in fact the capital of the Yucatán. We explored the town by foot and visited the main area which was a largish Square in the middle of the city. All around the Square were buildings to visits, including the Grand Cathedral and Casa de Montejo.
Trip back to Cancun was a late one – we arrived back at 10pm … straight to bed!
Goodbye Cancun …Monday we travelled to Tulum. 2 hour bus ride and 100 pesos later, we arrived at our new home for the next 4 days.
The hostel -Posada los Mapaches - was a lot different to what we had got used to in Cancun … it was more of an eco-friendly hostel. Our room was very 'at one with nature'
The hostel is run by a really friendly family with Mama Chelo running the place. They made us feel very welcome and advised us on the best places to go. 2 things I love about this hostel is that bikes are included in the room rate and they serve the most amazing breakfast.
Once settled in, we explored the area near our hostel and found a really lovely beach.
In the evening we rode in the dark to Tulum town centre (about 2km away). I feared for our lives crossing the main highway just outside our hostel. We found a really nice cheap Mexican restaurant and had our first Burritos for 1.50 pound each.
No comments:
Post a Comment