Screw Cancun

Basically, Cancun was everything I thought it would be. We ended up having English military men staying in the hostel. Don't get me wrong, they were all lovely guys, but I don't think they had decided which way they swung yet. All of them had some form of encounter with the lady boys who were popular around our back end of Cancun (no pun intended). I'll leave what they got up to to the imagination, but they went out in dresses and came back missing most of their clothes. It was all very amusing to watch.

For the cultural side of things we went on a tour to a cenote (an underground cave with a lake in it) and then to Chcichen Itza. The cenote was gorgeous and Chichen Itza was very interesting as we had a guide explaining everything to us. However he was quite militant and I got told off a few times for falling behind which made me feel like I was on a school trip. But I am now officially quite nervous of the December 21st, 2012 doomsday predictions. By the sounds of things, the Mayans were so ahead of their time they put the 60's to shame. They invented mathematics and had a distinct understanding of time, much more so than us. I would recommend looking it up, but the Mayans over here firmly believe in either a massive change or the end of the world, and they make a compelling case.

We are now on La Isla Mujeres which translates to the island of women (it's misleading, so far I've seen crusty hippes everywhere and quite a few men). But it was named that by the Spanish for a reason I coudln't here as the tour bus had air conditioning that was so loud I couldn't hear the tour guide. We made it over on a ferry and it's instantly a different pace of life. Our hostel (Hostal Poc-Na) has a beach bar and stucco cubby holes where we sleep. Beautiful beaches and much quieter than Cancun - this is more what I had in mind! Not the hedonistic horror that is Cancun. I didn't come here to lose brain, I came here gain an adventure.

But as I sip my Corona I feel I am ingnoring yet another English traveller who has joined us along the way. But before I go, I'm just going to add that a Norwegian guy who was travelling around with us for a while woke up this morning in the middle of the street and had been robbed by a lady boy. He had no idea that he had left the club with a lady boy and the look on his face was priceless when we told him...

First Days in Mexico

So, we finally made it, and I tell you it's only by the skin of our teeth. So many hiccups - Rosie had no visa despite me calling in advance and enquiring and being told one wasn't necessary. Minor heart attack there. Then a mad dash to the gate with the sign saying 'gate closing.' Another cluster fuck at JFK and made it on to the plane with 4 minutes to spare. We never would have made it on if we hadn't adopted the 'while in Rome' attitude and pushed our way through like a couple of genuine New Yorkers. We have decided to leave our Englishness where it belongs - back in the UK where it gets you nowhere. Although, on our first flight we ordered bottles of wine and the American flight attendant looked at us a bit strange, and as she walked away whispered to her colleague "They're from the UK." We then realised we were the only ones on the flight who ordered alcohol. Boring bastards.

But now we are Cancun in a wicked hostel and have already made friends with 2 Aussies - Simon and Priscilla, and a Norwegian guy that none of know the name of. But we've spent the day together and it seems like too much time has passed to ask him his name. So we refer to him as Mr Norwegian and 'dude' to his face.

Our first day was spent in a bit of a daze, but ended up walking into some little hut with a very drunk and friendly old guy beckoning us in. It turned out to be one of the local bands practicing their reggae. So we stood around and drank beers with them, watching them play We also had our first Mexican spliff handed to us, which made us feel so welcome. We went back to the hostel and drank some more, after which I died a sorry but satisfying death in bed while Rosie continued carrying the torch for the both of us.

We woke up today and all went down to the hotel district where you can get to the beach. Had my first proper Mexican tacos washed down with a corona, and then a Montejo, another local beer. We finally made our way to the beach with the most militant life guard I have ever experienced. We couldn't go too far out, we couldn't go too far either way - I felt like it would have been easier for him to put us on a leash instead of blowing that bloody stupid whistle at us constantly. But the waves were high - it was fun but I feel I exposed more of myself to everyone than I wanted to. But all the girls had the same problem, so I'm sure the blokes were happy enough! We made sand castles - I made a phallic shape, another made boobs, another mayan ruins, another a proper castle.

A bit of site seeing is on the cards tomorrow, but tonight we are going down to the local square to join in the Dios de Los Muertos celebrations. Roll on the adventure!