Stunt Double

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I just saw two camels?!

So, over the Christmas holiday break, Katy and Ellie went away for a week of Mayan/Caribbean sea adventures, and it was brilliant.

First things first, follow this link to watch Volaris’ (the airline) safety video, it is genius http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfffbkNwmPY . We had two main destinations, Chichen Itza and the ruins there and then Tulum, where we spent the majority of our time, with the ruins, beach and Caribbean Sea. We travelled predominantly by bus, which did not wholly go without fault (terrible films, over the top air conditioning, missing a bus; the usual fun and games).

In Chichen Itza we stayed in a “deluxe tent” at an “eco” hotel and campsite, located if not in the back of beyond, at least in the beyond. It was actually a small plot of land in the forest with some tents and an open air kitchen and bathroom, and some terrapin turtles, which was cool, but not quite what we expected.  We were informed of one guest having seen a baby tarantula in the bathroom.

Chichen Itza, although it is one of the main tourist attractions in Mexico and therefore rather busy and full of street sellers, still retains its grandeur and ability to impress. The main pyramid is just huge, but that’s not all there is to see. It was a veritable city in the jungle and the ruins extend much further than we had ever expected. Whilst wandering around the ruins we were constantly followed by the sound of jaguars roaring. Don’t be alarmed, they weren’t real! One of the key wares sold inside the ruins site was something you blow into to make this jaguar sound, and clearly the sellers had had time to practice, it was quite realistic. The Mayan people are still around, and at a bus stop earlier we were listening to some people speaking in Mayan, which was really cool, it sounds pretty different, with lots of clicks. As we’d spent the day travelling, our energy ran out before we had seen all of the ruins (it was a valiant effort though, we assure you) so we headed to the nearest town for some dins (where a moth exploded on Katy’s glasses).

 The character and randomness of the campsite was multiplied when we returned after dinner to a power cut, it was incredible dark, and quite spooky, but hilarious (Katy got freaked out by her shorts, twice!). However, it did mean that everyone was in bed by 8:30, our spiritual home?

The next day started and ended very well, the middle bit wasn’t so grand. By pure chance we had ended up staying in Yokzdnot, a town whose Mayan name means “village on a cenote”.  To the cenote then! Cenotes are incredible natural creations which are just far too beautiful to belong to this world. Perhaps the best way to describe them is as wells, massive, deep, wells that form out of the limestone. Clear freshwater oasis’s surrounded by jungle foliage. This particular Cenote had an accompaniment of swallows circling continuously above the water. Taking a dip in one, just Ellie and Katy, it seemed the perfect way to start the day, though it should be noted it was rather chilly! Later we attempted to get the local bus service to the Chichen Itza bus station, but being Christmas Eve, and in “the beyond”, no bus turned up. We waited at the palapa bus stop for 2 entire hours and not one bus nor taxi went by; needless to say we missed our ride to Tulum. 

Eventually we did make it to Tulum, after a chilly bus ride which had as entertainment a show about American road signs and traffic…. Tulum did not disappoint. We were lucky enough to have ended up in Mama’s Home hostel. We think it wins title of best hostel we’ve ever visited. Within minutes of being shown into our dorm with 4 beautiful new friends we were informed of the forthcoming Christmas Dinner laid on free by Mama and co. Don’t mind if we do! Our new pals had big plans to get up early on the following day (Christmas Day) and bike to the ruins to enjoy it without tourists and then ride to the beach and they didn’t hesitate in asking us to join, an invite we happily accepted. Katy was pathetic and tired so lasted until the unearthly hour of 9.30pm before calling it a day on Christmas Eve, we fell asleep with excited thoughts of ruins and jungle the following day.

CHRISTMAS DAY!!!

Christmas day was amazing, definitely memorable. We only had one injury, so we would say it was a success. Ellie kicked the day off by throwing herself off her bicycle on our way to the ruins as an emergency braking system. But we made it to Tulum just before all the tourists started pouring in from all corners of the globe. Another morning dip, this time in a wavy Caribbean under the beautiful Mayan ruins, not a bad way to start Christmas 2011.  Stunning blue sea and white sand beaches seemed to be the order of the day. After an explore of more impressive ruins we took the bikes and headed to the aptly named “El Paradiso” beach. Lunch was salad, the healthiest Christmas Day we’ve had to date. After more swims and walks in Paradise, meeting a friend of Alan Ginsberg (impressed Laura?) Jen, Ellie and Katy decided to cycle home. Felix’s instructions had been fairly clear but apparently we decided to ignore them. After cycling perhaps an hour in the wrong direction and ending up in what was arguably a jungle route, we decided to ask for directions. This being Mexico the only road back home was the one we’d missed waaayyyy back. Only option was to turn around, crash violently into a smoothie place in desperation for sustenance and continue our way home. Good smoothies though and it was a highly enjoyable ride regardless. Bloody tired by the time we got back to the hostel. But fear not, the Yuletide celebrations were not over; room 6 had big plans for a fish dinner at a local recommended restaurant, with cocktails to boot. If there was one phrase we overused during the week, in defence of anything slightly excessive it was: “it’s Christmasss!!!”. Indulgence was a key ingredient of the holiday – judge us if you will, it was Christmasss!!!

Boxing Day we went to Grand Cenote in Tulum, which was a lot shallower, but had more of a cave system. We took snorkels, and though there wasn’t that much wildlife to sea, you could dive around in the caves and through the stalactites. Katy had a big eye.

On the 27^th, Katy, Ellie and Jen went on a trip to Sian Ka’an, the local and very extensive nature reserve. There is jungle, huge lake-like cenotes, interesting animals and plants and Mayan ruins. We started the tour with an hour long float down a river, which was hilarious. You perch lying precariously on a life-jacket and float down stream, trying not to get dragged into the mangroves. The seemingly weak current turned out to be pretty strong when we tried to walk back to see a baby crocodile, it took a long time and a lot of effort (and laughing), but it was worth it, baby crocodile! We discussed Torchwood with Sarah, a 6-year old American girl, and the very real probability that the mangroves were actually aliens. After our float, we walked back to the boat, drove across the massive flat, very bright cenote/lake, and had a fruit break (never thought we could eat too much fruit: we ate way too much fruit). We then went for a trek through the jungle, trying to avoid the very prolific, very poisonous scaly trees, and climbing very steep ladders to a high-up lookout. We then stumbled upon the Muyil Mayan ruins, which were extensive, and very overgrown. It was really good having a guide who knew about the Mayans, and good doing a trip with kids, because they just wanted to climb everything and go inside all the rooms, so we got to all be proper explorers (a bat nearly flew in Ellie’s face, that was a new experience). We were then treated to a lovely traditional lunch, it’s interesting how different the food is in each region, the frijoles were black!

On our final day, we went snorkelling to Akumal beach, which we heard had great wildlife. After swimming around for a while and seeing only sea-grass (“not exactly the Great Barrier Reef”- Katy) we swam further out and found the coral reef. The coral reef was fantastic, all sorts of different life there, with squidgy looking sponge brain coral, and delicate, brightly-coloured leaf exoskeleton coral. Then there were the fish, not bothered by us at all, we ended up head butting a few accidentally. Our favourite was the big pastel fish; Katy’s least favourite moment however was when she found herself in the middle of a school of sword fish. We saw sting rays, and, the piece-de-resistance, 3 massive turtles! It was fantastic to see them in their natural habitat, just having a little sea-grass snack. One came up for air right next to Katy, she was very close, and very cool about the whole thing (Ellie has the irrational fear they will bite her toes). It was a brilliant end to a lovely trip, and a very memorable way to spend Christmas 2011. Happy new year everyone.

K & E