Marveling Mexico

So our final stop on this awesome trail across to Central America.... Mexico wasn’t meant to be the last stop but due to time constraints and money we had to make a few changes and head back home 7wks early, however we both wanted to end the trip somewhere we both had never been and Mexico appealed to us both. With changes made and our friend Rosa arranging to meet us out there we chose to take a month to explore this new land and totally new continent.

Our trip started in Cancun, we did fly into Mexico city but only spent a night there before heading out to meet Rosa. We chose Cancun as it was an easy place to meet and however much we were told to not go I wanted to see for myself what this tourist land held. Rosa arrived around 7ish and we were ecstatic to see one another after so long. We booked a hostel in town and were pleasantly pleased with our stay, it certainly didn’t feel touristy or over run and maybe because we didn’t venture down to the coast and stayed in the town we had more of a local experience. We were right near to the food area and enjoyed some real Mexican treats, local music and beer catching up on news from home, our main conversation being around the Scottish referendum and how it was for Rosa living in Scotland and being English.

We left the hostel the next morning, heading to the port to board our boat to Isla Mujeres, we had planned 3 days on the beach before venturing into the world of Mayan ruins and Mexican towns. As we took the boat across I was totally amazed at the sea in front of us, it was crystal clear, it felt like something you see in an advert and Rosa and I couldn’t stop saying ‘have you seen the sea’ we marveled in the beauty of it and knew the next few days were going to be a truly spectacular.

We had been recommended to stay at Poc Na hostel, it seemed this was the place to stay and we secured ourselves a private room for 3, the hostel was a great recommendation and had everything you would want, live music, beach bar, free yoga, Spanish classes and 2.4.1 cocktails, we knew we would be settled for the next few days. 

The main two islands in Mexico are Isla Holbox and Isla Mujeres, we knew Isla Mujeres was easier to get too and therefore busier but we were lucky it was quiet season and therefore the tourist hustle and bustle wasn’t as intense. Our time was spent lazing on the beach, making the classic English picnic lunch and enjoying evening beers embracing the white sand and being in awe of the rolling crystal sea.

From Poc Na our toes took us to Merida, for me Merida was on the Mexico’s cities which give me the feel of real Mexico, the colours and culture were just incredible and we enjoyed two wonderful days exploring the locals market, purchasing leather goods and eating delicious street food, queso being my staple diet in Mexico. The streets of Merida were so colourful and there was such Spanish authenticity when wandering the maze of rainbow streets. Our first night was spent dancing on the streets outside a local building with a Mexican band, a number of locals had come out and all were paired up dancing an enjoyable rhythm, celebrating the music with smiles and laughter, Rosa and I were pulled up by a wholesome cute, Mexican women who spun us around, and got us into the swing of how we move our hips to the beat. Rosa and I also participated in a salsa class at our hostel, which was great fun and I started to understand the basic steps Maderia had told me in Ubud when we went salsa dancing, the class was great fun, sweaty but a real experience into the waythe dance evoles and the body moves. 

We ate at two tasty local(ish) restaurants in our two days there and we all tried our hand at local dishes, me indulging in some sort of vegetarian scotch egg dish with tomato, egg and breadcrumb mixture, Sam and Rosa being served the opposite, feasting on a plate of Mexican infused meat. 

We took a day trip from Merida to Chichen Itza, our first sighting of the marveling ruins we had heard so much about. We took the early bus to Chichen Itza and spent a full day in awe of these colossal monumental ruins. With getting there early we luckily missed a lot of the tourist hustle and even managed a few moments of ruins alone, taking in the expanse of their size, overwhelmed, reading about how they become to be there and what the building may have once been used for it made my mind wander to a time when the Maya’s nested and ruled there. We manage to trail behind a few tours, learning about sweat lodges and sacrifices into the cenotes, these tribes definitely didn’t do things by half. It was incredible to wander and see the different inscriptions and images carved over the ruins, the skulls and bas reliefs prominent on the sacrificial buildings, enveloping the spell binding structures surrounding us. The day flew by as we read from our lonely planet and learnt with each step how life was once lived in this world and why Chichen Itza came to be in this dense land in the heart of Mexico. We headed home on our bus journey amazed at what we had experienced and ready to explore another ruins but in a very different landscape.

We left Merida content and full, pleased to have seen how the locals lived and experience firsthand events of how Merida flows and how interactions are in everyday life in this quaint town. 

Our next stop was to Palenque, we head decided to stay next to the national park next to Palenque ruins, we had been recommended a communal area called El Panchen which had a number of different stays, we found ourselves settled in a treetop bungalow deep in the jungle, surrounded by beautiful howler monkeys swinging and singing in the trees above us.

With arriving early we used our first day to settle in and enjoy jungle life, so different from the city streets we had been exploring, the jungle felt so tranquil and calm and just where I wanted to be at this time in the trip, it felt like the last few days had been busy sightseeing and bus journeys that it was nice to just be back in nature relaxing. The day was beautiful and is one of my fondest of the four weeks travelling Mexico; we put the hammock up, read, wrote in our diaries and relaxed watching and listening to the sound of monkeys above us and the insects in the trees around us. That evening we dined at the local pizzeria Don Munchos and drank copious wine, dancing to salsa played by a local band and laughing continuously at the venue we were in and the magic of the surroundings we were having the pleasure to explore and enjoy!

The following day we headed into the national park to embrace Palenque’s ruins, the ruins are set in the jungle and stir such depth and beauty within you, the beauty of the surroundings is mesmerising and just takes your breath away. The main difference for me from Chichen Itza was that Palenque definitely has less of a touristy feel due to it being less of the trail, it also allows more exploration of the ruins, allowing you to climb and discover inside the ruins. Like Chichen Itza, Palenque had a real grand feel to it, you could imagine royalty living and breathing here, with the grand courts and observatories used for special occasions. It was amazing to watch the archaeologists at work, digging out more buried treasures and excavating the splendor of the buildings left. I loved seeing the bas reliefs that had been excavated and seeing the grandeur of the images once carved.

We ended the day climbing high onto one of the main ruins and the expanse of the view was just mind blowing, we could see across the whole of the ruin site and the sounds of the howler monkeys was just so intense, I had never heard anything so loud but still so distant. It was spectacular being so high up and having an experience like this with two of my favourite people, we sat for a good hour just taking it all in, being so thankful for our time together, our time here and our last country offering sites such as this.

That night we took the bus to Lake Bacalar, our last night bus whilst travelling and sure to be at the top of the worse night travels that year. We had been told about Bacalar by a friend, I had a real image of what it would be like, a peaceful lake, serene living , all the accommodation being circled around the lake, hammocks and tyres to float about in. When we arrived we all had to take a step back and found there was a lot of similarities in what we wanted, but also a lot of differences, the main one being that there was hardly anyone there. It was a strange reality in terms of wanting peace but also wanting there to be some sort of buzz. Our first choice of accommodation didn't work out so we chose to head to where the lonely planet recommended, this turning out to be a nice spot and one we all felt comfortable to stay and relax for a few days. Lake Bacalar is named the lake of seven colours and throughout the day it was truly beautiful to watch the changes in the colour and the radiant blues gleaming through. Our stay in Bacalar didnt end up being for as long as we had first intended, however we did get into life on the lake and we did bask in the serenity of nobody being around. We marveled in midday picnics, daytime reading, napping and a lot of good chats. On our last day however things did take a turn for the worse when Sammy was bitten by fire ants and took a bad reaction to the bites which saw us head to hospital for an emergency shot in the bum and an hours stay leaving Sammy dosed up and tired.

We decided with that to head off from lake 'back in time' and head to Tulum for sun kissed coastline and eco friendly beach huts. The journey was quick and easy from Bacalar to Tulum, our bus driver indulged us in some oldskool house music bombing along the highways arriving into Tulum town centre without much of a plan, meaning our next challenge hit us right bang in the face.... where to stay.

I knew I wanted to stay on the beachfront, it was the last two weeks of our trip and Sam and I had decided to use this time to take stop and enjoy the weeks without night buses, day travel and dodgy accommodation. Sadly Tulum town didnt offer anything that suited, meaning we headed down to the beach to see what was available there. After a jaunt up and down we managed to get a good deal on a beautiful cabana Diamonte K, which was right on the rocks, looking out into the ocean, dreamy.

Tulum gave me a mixture of feelings, some amazing, some not so, as a holiday spot it would be perfect, as a way to end travelling, (with not much money) it wasn't so great. Tulum is set up with the town and then a few miles away is the coastline, where all the eco lodges are, therefore meaning to get from one place to the next you either have to get a taxi, bike or walk, walking and cycling is fine but late at night it isn't that safe as there is no lights and the roads are pitch black. We managed to get a few taxis for a decent price (as season was quiet), our walking legs came into good action (and my fear of pitch black roads). Rosa stayed with us for the first few days of the trip and we enjoyed our last week together soaking in the Caribbean waves, sunkissed sands, reading and relaxing, we discussed every topic possible and it was beautiful for me to watch my bestfriend and my husband getting to know one another so well, there was a few nights where i retired early and those two stayed up, laughing over sneaky praying mantas and sharing coronas.

We took a day trip to Akumal which was recommended by our good friends to swim with sea turtles, the day was mindblowing, however it shared its good and bad as sadly we witnessed a death after a man drowned snorkelling. So with the amazement of seeing these beautiful marine reptiles and watching Rosa squel with delight as they swam underneath her feet we sadly had the cold hit of reality that life is short and whilst one person is having the time of their life another is losing theirs.

Rosa chose to take off for a couple of adventure days, i think what we witnessed in Akumal made her feel life is short and to take challenges when available, so we said our goodbyes on the Thursday and off she ventured back to Isla Mujeres.

It was suddenly so strange for Sam and I to be back alone, we had spent the last part of a month and a half travelling with family and friends and suddenly we had this last 10days to be in each others company again. We stalked out our favourite eateries and enjoyed amazing fish enchiladas at El Captains (Tulum Centre), Finally tasty fish tacos at Maetaoes (Tulum Beach), Something different but delicious thai food at Mezzaine (Tulum Beach) and if pizza is required, its always required in my life then Salepepe (Tulum Centre) does huge tasty real Italian pizzas.

We chose to head back to Akumal for two days and had two great days snorkeling and swimming with the turtles, my mind is still blown when i think about them and the pang of happiness at such a special experience, they glide so gracefully and their statue but beauty just make me smile so much, those two days were definitely two i will hold dear as i just feel experiences with sea life like this is a rare delight and having this trip allows these experiences to happen. We basked in the sea on and off all day and fully immersed ourselves in Akumal beach life.

We visited two more ruin stops, again very different from the two we had been too but defiantly two of the best. We first went to Tulum ruins which is set on the coastline, looking down onto the sea, like Chichen Itza this is a popular tourist spot so was busy however you could feel the royalty that once may have lived here and the money and trade that was passed through this port town. The ruins felt very grand and with the shore in front it felt a place for the wealthy.

Coba was our next ruin stop and this was a bus ride away, out into the jungle like Palenque, however very different to Palenque as a lot of the ruins are still hidden away in the midst of the Mexican jungle and its set across a large expense of terrain. It was a murky day also and the atmosphere just felt right for the ruins we were exploring. At one point the rain fell so torrential we had to hide under a ruin for some time as we weren't equipped with waterproofs and our fake havianas were set for muddy puddles. The day was great even with the rain and i enjoyed that it was packed with tourists, which allowed the enjoyment of wandering and reading about each ruin, temple and home. It was a lovely day away from the beach and broke the last week up with a day out to see another part of Mexico.

Either that night or the following we experienced the most terrifying, exhilarating (i can say that now), noisy and raucous storm, it started at around 2am and for 3hrs Sam and I literally lay in bed freaked out by the thunder claps surrounding our hut and the palm trees being struck around us. We could see the forks of lightening hitting the ocean and the rumble of thunder rippling the sky, i cant deny it i cried and did think were going to die in our last week, how ironic. The storm eventually moved on at around 5am and the next morning our cabanas stay was a mess, sand had been washed away, palm trees were brown and drooped and the sky looked sad, no sun out to play for a few days.

We managed to catch some sun for our last couple of days though, after a few days of being in doors, we danced a merry dance when we woke to find the sun beating down and were straight onto the beach to bake away for our final few days, Mexico had definitely been an adventure, a one with great memories and one with bad but whatever i was pleased we had marveled this wonderful land and seen what it had to offer.

It was time to head home though with a one way trip to London, 8.5 months on the road, coming home 6wks early but feeling ready for normality and seeing some well loved faces. The trip had been an adventure of a lifetime, i felt so pleased Sam and I had took on this adventure together, as Mr and Mrs Austin, making memories of our own and exploring these lands in the way we chose. At times such challenge but so many times insane experiences and mind tingling events, the trip had really proved everything i had wanted and made me learn so much about me, my husband and our relationship, ready for the next adventure with a move to the North and starting a nest with a quieter life. 2014, what a year, what a perfect adventure. 

Merida

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

Palenque Jungle

Surveying the Ruins at Palenque

Palenque

Lake Bacalar

Our cabana in Tulum

Exploring Coba