First month in Mexico

Hi All,

It´s been just over a month already! Doesn´t time fly when you are having fun! Michelle may have filled you in on most of what has beeen happening but I thought I would get of my arse and type something myself. We have been mad busy and traveled over 800 miles, so I warn you now that it´s going to be a long one so might want to print this off for bed time reading!

Well first of all I was gutted about England and what makes it worst I reckon we would of beat France in the semi, so after that you never know. If Ronaldo stays at Utd it should be a very interesting season for him!! The way we got knocked out I was glad to be away as all the papers and news at home would have done my head in and wouldn´t be surprised if they are still mentioning it now!

Well our first stop after Cancun was Isla Murjares (Island of Women). It was a nice chilled out little island and it was good to get away from the hordes of tourists. We hired some mountain bikes and toured the island for a few days. Michelle wasn´t happy with the exercise, but I was glad to sweat some of the alcohol from the system. The island was great for finding nice secluded spots of beach to yourself and chill out without any worry. At night you could dine in some fantastic cheap restaurants with lots of fresh fish on the menu from the days catch. Of all the fish I have eaten, I have not heard of any of them but they taste nice all the same! Before my travels I was a cod man and maybe the occasional kipper and what ever they put in fish fingers, so it´s nice to open my horizons! On the women front whilst Michelle is not looking, was not bad at all!

After Isla Mujeres we traveled to another island of Cozumel about 80 miles south and is Mexico´s only Caribbean island and made famous by Jacque Cousteau diving documentaries (you older ones will now all about them) It is now one of the worlds top diving destinations and was the main reason for us coming here.
The second day here was the world cup final so was one of my priorities was to find a pub showing the game. This brought us to the local irish bar, Riley´s, which was about as Irish as some of there football players! It did resemble a pub with lots of British memorabilia so was nice enough! It was owned by a Canadian couple who were brilliant and typical bar owners as in drinking as much as the customers! We had a great laugh with them and they looked after us for the next few days! They didn´t seem to know much about socce, so I was their new best friend in explaining how things work, as you all know it went to ET and penalties and things got a bit confusing as in, they were drunk and so was I, so having to explain the rules of what happens was a bit confusing and then Zidane had to get sent off to make things worse. When I mentioned it´s the same as ice hockey penalty shot out it all fell into place and that was fine! The best thing about meeting them was they introduced us to a couple on the island who specialize in private dive tours for rich Americans. They were able to take us out for 2 full days of diving and it only cost us 150 GBP each which is cheap. We have not dived for 3 years so we were both a bit nervous at first but they really looked after us and got us back into the swing of things in no time. The diving was some of the best we have ever done and had a fantastic time. We seen loads of brilliant bright and colorful fish and very large ones upto 4 ft, just like being apart of finding nemo! The best things we seen were Turtles, which we got to swim along with as they were so friendly. Also a 3 meter nurse shark, which look scary but can´t really hurt you unless you really annoy them, a family of lobsters, eels, stingrays and the local toad fish, which have a face like a toad but a body of a fish, very weird! We loved the diving and can't wait to do some more but will probably not be until Belize in a few months time!

After Cozumel we went to Tulum which is a small town back on the coast of Mexico. It is famous for its picturesque Mayan ruins on the beach front, which were some of the first to be seen by the Spanish invaders back in 1518 as they sailed past it (again something for the older ones!) This was the fist of many archeological sites that we are going to visit and it was a nice start. I know a lot of you would of found it boring and probably would of preferred to lounge on the beach but I love the history of the place and it lived up to what I have read before I came away. Because it is on the coast and close to many holiday resorts it can get very busy so we got up very early and were the first ones there and got lots of nice pictures which I will download some time for you to visit and view. When we left a few hours later the car park was full of coaches and annoying American tourists so was glad to get there early.
Also at Tulum just outside the town was the largest underwater caving system in the world and we did some snorkeling. I loved this but Michelle was a bit nervy as some of the gaps we had to swim through were very tight and she got a bit claustrophobic. I could understand why as the place was like a maze and without the guide we would have been lost! It was a great place with loads of stalagmites and stalactites underwater and it just looked like you were swimming through another world. It was also great to get out of the heat and swim in ice cold crystal clear water.

After Tulum we went to what I would say was our first non real tourist Mexican town, Valladolid, about 80 miles from the coast. We both liked it here as it was a very warm and friendly place and what we expected Mexico to be like. We arrived on a weekend which was a bonus as they had a mini festival in the local park and it was nice to see all the locals out with the family enjoying themselves and have a great time. It felt like a real nice community and we were made to feel very welcome which was nice. They had lots of food stalls which were great and beyond cheapness nothing over a pound. I always thought I would never have anything hotter than a curry but Mexican food bring heat to an all new level, you can´t order anything without chillie being offered. Michelle proved this by getting a fresh coconut for something sweet, had some lime added and then were offered the chillie, which surprisingly she refused! I don´t think they enjoy their food unless they finish the meal dripping in sweat!
Valladolid was a stop of point for the Yucatan´s most famous Mayan ruin, Chichen Itza which was built in the 8th century. The main temple, El Castillo is based on the Mayan astronomical calendar, it has four stairways each with 91 steps and plus the top platform which add up to 365 the number of days in the year. Amazing how all the different cultures from around the world came to the same conclusion by just watching the stars! To top this off, they also built the pyramid so precise that at certain times of the year the shadow from the sun hitting the pyramid mimic the creep of a snake and will coincide with the start of each season. Clever eh! This was in honor of the fertility god, so had to make sure Michelle didn´t get to close!
One of the other things here that impressed me was the ball court. This was the size of a football pitch, but each side had a great wall with a vertical loop about a meter in diameter and about 15 meters from the floor. They are still not sure of the exact rules and believe a few different types of games were played, some with hands some with feet (resemble anything!) The aim was to get the ball ( a piece of rubber) through the hoop and the losing team would be sacrificed to the gods and there heads left on spears! The modern day footballers with all their millions don´t know how lucky they are. Maybe if their life was in the balance you might see England win the world cup!

After Chichen Itza we went to the largest city upto now on our travels, Merida. It was a nice enough place and for me just a larger version of Valladolid but a bit cheaper which is always nice! The first day didn´t start to well as the bus dropped us off at a bus station not on the map, so took us a while to find our bearings and then even longer to find some accommodation because it fell on a weekend. After about 2 hours of walking around in similar heat you are getting at home but with a heavy ruck sack! In the end we got lucky and found a lovely place. It was an old colonial house which from the outside looked nothing special, but in the centre was a luscious green courtyard with a fountain and our room looking over this with a nice veranda. The owner was very friendly and shown us around his house which was like a museum, loads of the old telephones, grandfather clocks and family portraits. Had a feeling his family used to do alright! He tested our Spanish to the limit or should I say Michelle´s, as I was just lost! He gave us loads of tips and places to visit. One of these places was once again the Mayan ruins of Uxmal. We bumped into another English couple and arranged a trip with them. They have been traveling for 10 months of their year long trip and been to some of the places we are going to visit so was good to bump into them. Uxmal was different from the other sites as it was less touristy and set in the jungle which made it a bit eerie. The Mayans that built this were more peaceful and didn´t believe in human sacrifices. You could see this difference in the sculptures and masonry, as it was more ornate and skilled. This was all in honor of chac-mool the rain god for this dry region. I could see why, it was so hot and humid I was hoping for a bit of rain myself!

From Merida we traveled back on ourselves to Chiquila to visit the island of Holbox. We should have done this from Cancun as only 2.5 hours away but the coach departure times were not very good and we hoped by traveling to larger towns that the times would get better. They didn´t and we were stuck with the 23.30 6 hour trip. What made it that bit more exciting was the reports over the last few months of bandits in the area, robbing the buses. We really wanted to go, so we risked it. Luckily everything was o.k. and we only bricked it when 3 armed men with machine guns got on board at 3 in the morning as I was half a sleep, but then realized they were solders looking for bandits. The color of my shorts and the nail marks dug in my arm from Michelle would tell a different storey!!

We finally arrived at Chiquila and got the ferry over to Holbox and managed to find a nice room very quickly. As it was 6 in the morning we decided to get a bit of shut eye. I was in the bathroom having a read! And I heard Michelle screaming like a banshee and I came running in the room to see what was up and there on the wall near the curtain rail was a 4 inch scorpion! Not something you want to see in your room, I don´t mind sharing with the odd lizard and spider but something that can kill you is a bit much, I wouldn´t fancy waking up with that crawling up my leg in the night. I got my trusty lonely plant and reluctantly smacked it, which I though would do it, oh know it was hard and didn´t appreciate me whacking it with a book and went mental running all over the wall and squirting its venom. I was shaking like a leaf and spoiling myself for the second time in a few hours and sweat dripping, Michelle skitzing and me having the prospect of trying to hit it again this time with it ready for me. So I bit the bullet and whacked it as hard as I could and left the book there until I heard the crunch. This time it was dead and I could relax and get back to my book, whew! The next few days we didn´t sleep too well and got into the routine of checking the room for an hour before we could sleep!

The main reason for coming here was to see the Whale Sharks. Utterly amazing, we went on a boat trip which cost 650 pesos each(roughly 33 quid each) We were about 20 miles from the island when we spotted our first Shark, yes first, we saw in total around 12 or more, here was me half expecting not to see any at all. They are such amazing creatures, huge but graceful and can grow to about 20 meters and are the largest fish in the sea. Even though they are part of the Shark family they only eat small shrimp like creatures which are only a few millimeters in size and they sift the water eating millions of these a day, we were in no danger. We snorkeled with them, staying at least 2m away so as not to disturb them, the smaller Sharks, around 7m! Were pretty quick though and it was really hard keeping up with them. We also saw huge Manta Rays feeding at the surface, 2 Hawksbill turtles getting it on, a pod of dolphins and then the daddy of them all, a 12m Whale Shark, about as big as a bus, if not bigger!!! We had both been feeling a little seasick so the guide asked if we wanted to go back in the water and swim with the sharks again (you don´t feel as queasy in the water as opposed to on it!) We said yes and I´m so glad we did, next thing you know this huge beast is heading right for us, mouth agape, less than 2ft from us, we were amazed on the size of his tail from the top to bottom was the same height as Michelle, he was so calm and slow it was amazing, we swam with him for at least 10 minutes, I think this has topped the list of one of the best things we have ever done! Money well spent really.

After Holbox we had to go back to Cancun as Michelle has been having problems with her teeth since we did the diving in Cozemel and been in lots of pain. Her Dentist at home must have done a poor job on her filling and left some trapped air in the tooth so when we were re-surfacing the air expanded and made the tooth very painful. The British embassy put us in touch with a brilliant dentist and she has had to have emergency root canal treatment which is very painful and takes for ever. We have been in Cancun about 5 days and she is now on the mend and we are due to head west on a 9 hour bus journey to Campeche in the next few days. It´s been a very expensive week but luckily we can claim from our insurance.

So that's all from me, you will be glad to hear and I will keep you updated in next months installments!

I hope you are all well and let me know of any news.