Zombies in the Yucatan!

Not actual zombies, just us!!

It's only every now and again that I suddenly realise, oh Mon Dieu, I'm such a place! After all the time I spent wanting to go travelling and it's only when you remember that and realise where you are, that it hits you.

At the moment we are in Tulum, in the South of the Yucatan. Mexico has been a bit of a blur, as we've now been here for a week and are only just getting over the jet lag.
When we arrived in Cancun we realised it was spring break, but to be honest all I wanted to do was sleep! Still, the day after we arrived we had an early start at 6.30am for a day trip to Ek Balam and Chichen Itza. Our first stop for the day would actually be a cenote for an optional swim. Cenotes, or sinkholes are a big geographical feature of the Yucatan peninsula because the peninsula rose out of the sea when the sea level changed, and it is mostly made of limestone, which erodes easily. The one we visited had a massive cave over it with a hole in the ceiling that let light through and although most people had brought swim wear with them, only a few of us went in. It was a little bit weird... I wouldn't have liked to snorkel it!

After we were off to Ek Balam. It's the smallest site between Coba and Chichen Itza but still has a number of ruins that have been excavated, and a pyramid that you can climb to the top of, unlike Chichen Itza where it's no longer permitted. Being less well known, we also found that there were hardly any people there, unlike at Chichen Itza, where it can get quite crowded. Afterwards, we had a quick stop for lunch, before heading on to Chichen Itza. Much like with Te Matatini and Fox Glacier, we again seemed to be in the right place at the right time! For one month during the spring and autumn equinoxes, a serpent appears on the side of the pyramid in the afternoon sun, and by chance we had timed it just right!

The whole site dwarfs Ek Balam, but I liked Ek Balam just as much - they're both impressive in different ways and being able to climb the pyramid at Ek Balam was just really cool.
We got back at about 8:30pm that night and it probably sounds quite lame but we spent the whole of the next day in bed. We needed it! We were feeling so zombified. Also, we had considered going to Coco Bongo after visiting the ruins but there was no way that was happening, so after a whole day in bed we were finally ready to partay!

Coco Bongo is potentially the best club I've ever been to. It's $70USD in, but for that you get an open bar. I'm not sure when I'll be able to drink another Margarita. The whole night is so much fun. They have themed shows on every half an hour, think Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera.

In between that they play all the best music, constantly fire off streamers and confetti, and throw giant balloons around the room. Ciaran's not a clubber but he had an awesome night too, I think it would be pretty hard not to have a good time there.

We then moved on to Playa del Carmen, or simply "Playa", as everyone refers to it. I instantly preferred it to Cancun, where aside from the hotel strip which is just lined with resorts, there really isn't much going on. In Playa you are right on the beach without having to be in a resort and the strip that runs alongside it has lots of bars, restaurants and shops, so there's much more of a town feeling to it. Still feeling like zombies, we slightly over ordered for dinner, but the food here in Mexico is so good and cheap (£5-£8 for us to stuff ourselves), I'm not sure I'm ever going to get bored of tacos or guacamole. The tacos here are soft, not like the crispy ones at home, that break when you take a bite.
The hostel we were staying in, "Hostel Playa", was really cool, with big spacious dorms containing full size lockers for each person and a huge communal space with hammocks, sofas and even a big double bed for lounging around on. We did escape for a day of luxury though, as my parents close friends Lisa and Dave were staying in a resort just a couple of kms away, so we joined them for a day of all inclusive (definitely made the most of all you could eat and drink there!).

Now we're in Tulum, which will be our last town before heading on to Belize! The night we arrived we got absolutely wasted on, wait for it: two mojitos and a margarita each. I don't know if it's the jet lag or the fact that we hadn't eaten much in the day but they didn't even taste that strong and we were hammered! It seems that the further south we move, the more laid back it gets. Tulum is a bit of a hippy town. We had wanted to stay down on the beach in a cabana but the reviews weren't sounding too good, so we decided to stay in Tulum Pueblo instead, which is the town part of Tulum that straddles the state highway. No lockers in the hostel here, which is a bit disconcerting after we've had them in the last two towns, but oh well, we just have to keep hold of our valuables.

Yesterday we went to another set of ruins at Coba. It was a nice, slow day of just wandering around - the excavated part of the site is more spread out than Chichen Itza and walking between the structures took longer but we were in no rush!

Luckily the clouds had come over for the day so we didn't have to sweat it out like we had done at the other Mayan ruins. And afterwards we had time for some pork a la Mayan tacos before the bus back. We also seem to be getting into a nice evening routine of happy hour, followed by dinner, followed by more drinks, though I think I need to cut down on the beer!

Today Ciaran is doing his diving refresher course in some cenotes nearby. I wish it was my thing... Maybe as we travel on I might feel differently. Anyway this afternoon we're off to yet more Mayan ruins, this time here in Tulum, before catching the 00:45 bus to Orange Walk in Belize. No sleep for us tonight! It should take around 5 hours, depending on how long it takes at the border. Not sure how I feel about arriving in Belize when it's dark...