"Anyone who thought the small nuisances of life were bearable had never spent the night in a room with a mosquito"

Absolutely sick of mosquito bites and only 2 weeks in, these ones don't even carry Malaria. Read a great quote today from the book I'm reading, 'Tequila Oil: Getting lost in Mexico', "Anyone who thought the small nuisances of life were bearable had never spent the night in a room with a mosquito". Sums it up nicely. You can wear repellent, all your clothes and sleep in a sleeping bag liner and they still get ya. There are more opinions on how to keep them away than there are people giving the advice. Most remedies involve covering yourself in a horrible smell from eating garlic to rubbing onion skins on the skin, no thanks. Saying all this they are starting to irritate us a lot less than a week ago. Now for ruins and more ruins...

When we arrived at our hostel in Valladolid we met a nice English couple who are travelling for 10 months and have pretty much done and are doing a route very similar to ours (next door neighbours in our new hostel and were our neighbours in our previous hotel). We keep bumping into the same people along the way no matter how big the town, mad. Up early for a trip to ruins of Chichen Itza.

After some crazy colectivo driving we arrive at Chichen Itza on another sun filled day. Some of the buildings here are class and the pyramid of Kukulcan that is the postcard image for the Yucatan peninsula and the title background of this blog is the highlight of the site. Unfortunately the ball court was closed for restoration but there was some excitement in the day when a few Israeli lads started to climb the Pyramid. Security freaked out and popped up from everywhere and promptly kicked them out, the pyramid is the first building at the site so think they were only in about 10 minutes before being escorted out, looked like security deleted their photos too, harsh. One annoying thing about Chichen Itza is that they allow all the Mayans to sell their goods here (fair enough as their ancestors built it), most of the stuff looks well-made and would love to hang it on the wall at home but they hound everyone way too much. Hopefully we can buy a few souvenirs in Mexico City and post them home from there. Saw the sacred Cenote where a few dozens skeletons were found at the bottom after being sacrificed. Apparently the winning captain of the ball games they use to play would be sacrificed after winning a game but not surprisingly they changed the rules later on, probably figured out that some teams were throwing the game! Luckily one of the unpredictable colectivos arrived after a lengthly wait. Plenty of crazy travel stories exchanged back at the hostel over a couple of drinks and a planned trip to Coba ruins for the next day.

Not too many buses out to Coba and we ended up sitting beside a couple who were sitting beside us on the way back from Chichen Itza the previous day. They're travelling for about 6 months for their honeymoon on roughly the same route as us except twice as fast. We're told there is one bus back at 12.45 to Valladolid so we decided to pay for the chauffeur driven tricycle to get around the ruins quickly as the ruins are spread out over a massive area. You can legally climb these ruins so we make quick work up to the top despite the humidity of the rainforest (I think traveling by chauffeur might have helped conserve some of our energy!). Once up top you can see the rainforest from a 360 viewpoint and made the trip up well worth it. When we arrive back with plenty of time for the bus back to Valladolid a taxi driver tells us our bus left early and that next one is in 4 hours! Not believing him as he tries to charge us a fortune we wait until the bus should have arrived. It didn't, so the taxi driver was telling the truth after all. Thankfully we were with the other couple all day so with 4 of us and some negotiating we get a fair deal back to Valladolid (Less than 4 euro each to drive 60km, not too shabby)

That night we end up talking to an Indian guy who has been travelling for 7 years, just spent 2.5 years in Africa. He sells his paintings back home and uses the money to travel. Oddly he knows a lot about Roscommon and plays a few tunes with the guitar he travels with, one of which was a U2 song. He asks us if we like U2 in Ireland or do we think they sold out. We tell him that they are liked but Bono is a different matter altogether. The next day we visit the sites of Valladolid and try some Tamales, a Mexican dish made of starchy dough, which is steamed in a leaf wrapper. They are filled with meats, cheese, vegetables and spices (below is a picture I got online of them). For the weekend, moving onto Merida...

Top of Nohoc Mul at Coba

View of Rainforest from top of Pyramid at Coba

Sarah climbing Nohoc Mul at Coba

Great Pyramid (Nohoc Mul) at Coba

Lazy Day at Coba

Exciting stuff

Chac Mool

Pyramid of Kukulcan

Lads getting kicked out for trying to climb Pyramid at Chichen Itza

Happy Skulls

This game of Tic Tac Toe must have taken ages but O won out in the end, centre always wins

The Sacred Cenote

Dragonfly at Chicen Itza

Mayan traders at Chichen Itza

Valladolid

Valladolid Food Market

Dancing pharmacy mascot

Too weird??

Mayan Museum

Templo de San Bernardine

Sarah cooking up a storm in the hostel

A pic I found of Tamales

"No peeing on the Iguanas and no sex on the beach!!"

Was raining on our way to the Ruins in Tulum but thankfully stopped once we arrived. The senor at the information desk told us a few guidelines about exploring the ruins and added this beauty of a line "no peeing on the Iguanas and no sex on the beach", he said it in jest, I think! The ruins were pretty decent and the setting along the coast on a cliff top made them more scenic than usual. We saw a few large Iguanas (pictured below) and were able to restrain ourselves! After the ruins we went to the beachside restaurant and had a couple of free drinks and guacamole thanks to the guy working in our hotel that I mentioned in an earlier post. Chilled on the beach for a while and watched pelicans diving for fish. One of the locals that was fishing with snorkeling gear speared a barracuda, picture of his impressive catch below. Chatted to an Aussie couple on beach who have been travelling for 8 months. They had been to Akumal (turtle bay) the day before and snorkeled with turtles which we had heard about already so we decided to give it a shot the next day.

Akumal or turtle bay was deserted, nobody on the whole beach so our plan of bargainning a few boat captains against each other fell through as only one place was open. We thought we agreed a price for him to take us out on the boat etc. but was more expensive than originally thought (I think he might have upped the price) so we rented the equipment for half the cost. The entire cove was very shallow so you could always stand. However, we still rented life jackets in order to float above the coral plus it was about an hours snorkel along most of the reef where the waves were breaking. About 20 mintues in we hit a few problems. First off, the current was strong and with the life jackets on we couldn't swim against it, secondly the water was shallow and the coral broke the water in a lot of parts, thirdly we were told to swim over the dark parts in the water (the coral) about 300 feet out. To sum up our problem was; the current was pushing us right into the razor sharp coral and we were surrounded by the stuff. Sarah's flippers were coming loose to add to the problematic scenario. As I was warning Sarah to float on her back to avoid the coral I had just encountered, another wave came and caught her and she grazed her leg on some coral. Then I got loads of paper like cuts from the coral on my hand going back to her. With the saltwater the cuts ware stinging and the waves continued to push us into more coral so after a panicky 5 or so mintues back to shore we just got out and did what we do best, lay down on the beach for the rest of the day. An American couple we got talking to who went out snorkeling saw no turtles so we didn't miss out but they did see a shark, a fish of the sea we would rather miss out on.

Final day in Tulum we walked to Gran Cenote (another one of those ancient freshwater caverns). I think the walking was more my decision than a group one. I said it was about 3km, after what felt like a 5km walk in the dead heat I folded and we got a taxi the rest of the way. Unfortunately we were about 30 seconds in the taxi before we arrived at our destination and the taxi driver happily took our 20 pesos. Karma won out in the end though as we got a free bus all the way back to Tulum, just a random friendly bus driver who stopped when he saw us walking. As has been commonplace so far on this trip, low season is in full flow as we were first at the Cenote. We ventured into the caves by water but kept our stay short and sweet with the constant presence of bats who were flying in and out of the cave. A fact we learned by observation, fish eat bat poo. So if a bat has rabies and a fish eats bat poo and a fish nibbles at us, do we now have rabies?! Saw a couple of scuba divers going into the cave, the biggest parts of the Cenote is underground. We left soon but not before I got a photo of the odd toilet situtation going on in the Cenotes bathroom (see pic below). My guess is a backup toilet for previous nights dodgy Mexican food... Next up the colonial town of Valladolid.

Tulum Ruins

View from Ruins

One of the large Iguanas we were advised not to pee on!

Pelicans fishing

Old School fishing

Spear fisherman and his catch

Barracuda

The Long Walk

Gran Cenote

Sarah escaping the bat cave

Scuba divers

The back up toilet

What are Cenotes and why the fried chicken is always recommended at El Asadero's

Arrived in Playa Del Carmen, and our hostel was a lovely open planned place but an absolute hotbed for mosquitos. Must have been so many that they finally moved on from Sarah to myself so I have now have a collection of bites to rival Sarah's impressive collection of all shapes and sizes. Took it easy our first day and planned our upcoming week. Biggest decison of day was which hammock to lie in, seriously. Playa Del Carmen is itself very touristy and cruise ships dock for the night which ensures their 5th Ave. is a street where you will be hounded by every shop/bar owner when you go for a stroll. Beautiful place but similar to Cancun in regard to prices/shops/clientele etc.

Next day we headed to Cenote Cristalino for some swimming and the natural high jump there. "Cenotes are created by an underground river system and are fresh water sink holes that the Maya considered to be sacred. Mayans believed they were the entrance to the underworld". There is a small cave to explore in the water but we cut this short due to the two hives of wasps that we saw when we got in the water so on to the main area with the high jump. Not the biggest/scariest high jump at about 20 feet max but despite Sarah being there before and seeing people jumping in and surving to tell the tale, I waited to see someone with my own eyes to test the depth before venturing the jump myself. Wasn't too high and the fish that constantly nibble away at you while in the water were more of a fear in the end. Luckily, this will be the first of a few Cenote's on our travels.

After the Cenote, it was back to the beach in Playa Del Carmen for more lounging about in the sun and water. If you can't be bothered reading our lenghtly blogs i'll sum up what we do in a few words - go to beach/beautiful place/swim/drink beer/eat tacos and lounge about in sun all day, all happily and guilt free may I add : )

Tulum was the next stop and ya gotta love the colectivo buses they have in Mexico. If you arrive and want to go somewhere they will fit you and your rucksack in no matter what the scenario. So we arrived in Tulum and went to our beautiful hotel (went upper class for a nice sum of 13euro each). A guy from Mexico City working there gave us about a 30 min talk on where to eat, go and do in Tulum and gave us loads of advice on the where to visit on our travels. We will also take up his offer of going back to him for advice on where to go in Mexico City. A place he recommended for food was our next stop (El Asadero's) and after about 5 mins of throwing shapes and speaking the odd word of spanish we got our fried chicken. During the awkward ordering of food Sarah asked what do you recommend, to which she responded "fried chicken", we were later to discover the fried chicken was the only thing on the menu! We're trying to pick up the language as it gets embarrasing sometimes and we're bound to pass through a few places where Spanish will be our only option. Tomorrow ruins of ancient Mayan capital Tulum, it's beside a beach, of course!

Wasp hive at entrance to cave in Cenote Cristilano

High Jump, Yes, I'm still as white as ever!

The cenote and it's clear water, which makes jumping  in from a height feel even riskier

How to live the Paradise life (On a budget!)

Unbelievable day today, we booked a trip to Isla Contoy which is known as Paradise Island around these parts. Its odd, we booked the trip on Isla Mujeres which could easily claim to be a paradise island in itself so expectations were high for Isla Contoy. We bargained hard for a discount on this trip so we could go (luckily for me Sarah is ensuring we stick to budget) and we were glad we did. 

First up we went by boat to do a bit of snorkeling over the reef. Isla Contoy is the beginning of the second largest reef in the world (2nd to Great Barrier Reef of course), it extends all the way to Honduras and is about 1,000km long. The reef and Island itself are protetced so after a lecture on how long it takes a reef to grow back if you break some off, we hit the water (hit it gently!). It takes 150 years for coral to grow 1 metre if your wondering. Saw plenty of Nemo like fish and beautiful coral during the snorkel and then back on to the boat to make our way to Contoy. Myself and Sarah sat over the front edge of the boat on the trip to Contoy and luckily we did as we saw several giant turtles, baracuda's, sting rays and some starfish. On the island we did a  guided tour and saw some crabs, giant land birds (some fly over 150 km/h) and the local pet sting ray Mariana who returns each day for lunch and is happy to allow people to pet her in exchange for some pescados. Shockingly soft to touch, I know what my next slippers  will be made of! We had a savage BBQ'd white fish on the beach and wandered aimlessly for an hour by ourselves.

Back on Isla Mujeres we sorted out our accomadation for our next stop on The Yuacatan, Playa Del Carmen, more beaches, Cenotes (cannot wait to see/do) and general laziness. We finished up a great day on the beach while watching the  sunset over the ocean. Oh and somehow we adopted a dog that followed us everywhere, even sat beside us for dinner (Thankfully, he looked most unrabid like).  Next up, boat back to Cancun and Collectivo to Playa Del Carmen...

Isla Contoy (Paradise Island)

Frigate Bird

Mariana the Sting Ray

Isla Mujeres Sunset

Isla Mujeres Sunset

Tequila Nights lead to thoughts of a Mexican wrestling career....

We spent the first couple of days of Mexico on the beach during the day and chilling with a few cervezas at night. Our plan of going to the Hilton to use their sun loungers for free fell through as its closed down now, probably cause everyone is using it for free! Saw a few baby turtles breaking through their eggs on the beach, seemed to be cordoned off by a local hotel on the beach so turtle soup will be on the menu for a while to come! Was a Tequila night in our hostel and I get a feeling most of the hostels in Mexico have a free Tequila night. I don't mind the Tequila at all here but not a fan of it at home, don't know if its the quality or the setting or a combination of both. Whatever the reason, free Tequila is better Tequila!

We went to Puerto Morelos the next day with one of the lads we met in our hostel. Guy called Aaron from Montana who took a semester out from college. Very relaxed surfer type person, one of a very few Americans who bother backpacking from what I can tell. Israeli's seem to be everwhere (have already met quite a few of them). Morelos was a small nice town on the beach with zero toursits so was nice, cheap and quiet. Approaching thunderstorm on the horizon never unfolded so Sarah kept on building her tan while I still tried to get a red burn base down. The Mosquitos have taken a liking for Sarah as she is currently sporting about +20 bites but she's in her element in this lifestyle of laziness.

We only got to hear the Dubs game online as nowhere was showing it, sounded like a brilliant game and I'd say there was a few sore heads for the few that made it to work the next day. One of the best weekends of sport I can remember so it must be a good omen when we travel. So if you want Ireland to win the world cup, please donate money to the send 'Mark & Sarah away so we can win WC 2014' fund. Cash donations of any size welcome!

For the EB crew that went to Cancun I can testify 'Coco Bongo' is still going strong (from the outside anyway, wasn't paying $60 to see the inside) and that the local rival 'The City' apparently featured DJ Mark Doyle that night (see promo poster below). Also got a Mexican wrestling mask Rey Mysterio style, its the first step for me to try and break into the wrestling scene here in Mexico. I'm currently building my dramatic back story at the moment with Sarah as the woman that drove me to the undergorund wrestling world, Seanie B - I'm sure you have some pointers into the lives of wrestlers. Next stop is Isla Mujeres, so up for ferry in the morning...

Turtles just coming out of eggs

Playa in hotel Zone

Sun Terrace at our hostel (pre free Tequila night)

Sarah and Aaron in Puerto Morelos

The thunderstorm that never happend

'The City' Cancun, feturing DJ Mark Doyle, 17th Sep

Live from Cancun Rey Mysterio -v- The Red Headed Gringo

Viva Mexico, fireworks and Tequila don't mix

Touchdown in Mexico and the weather is a balmy +30c. The day we arrive happens to be independence day here and streets are jammed packed for the start of the celebrations. Once we settle into our hostel we headed down to the main plaza in downtown Cancun in time for the 11pm 'Viva Mexico' rally call and what I can only assume is their typical disregard for firework safety. After the climax of a fireworks display there was a subsequent rain of fire. Now when I say fire I exaggerate but everyone around us was immediatley wiping the post firework debris and sparks from their clothing before being set alight. Maybe their Tequila soaked clothing was highly flammable?!

Once fire free we strolled through downtown and got ourselves a 'Michelada', pretty much a spicy beer with Tabasco, chilli, salt, lemon and a few other spicy ingredients. The locals were knocking back the Michelada's by the gallon but it's tough to drink a beer that has a follow up kick similar to the of expeience eating a whole chilli in one. We drank enough of the Michelada to say we tried it but I think a simple corona & lime will suffice next time! Having slept only about 4 hours in the last 50 hours the fireworks and chilli's kept us going but the bed was calling so we could get up at a reasonable hour and saunter to the playa for a day of relaxing in the sun. Objective for the beach next day was to go to the Hilton (one of a few hotels not all inclusive so you don't need a wristband) and pretend were guests so we can use their pool and sun loungers freestyle...

Independence Day Celebrations - Viva Mexico!!!!

Michelada - Spicy beer