Water, Ruins and Buses - Tulum Ruins and off to Cancun!

Our night in the thatched roof cabin was enjoyable, and we woke up with the birds. We went down and sat down for breakfast with some of the other people staying at the hostel while the son of the lady we'd met yesterday brought us breakfast. 

It was amazing. And beautiful!

We checked out but left our stuff. We had use of the bikes for the morning/early aft so we biked across the road over to the Tulum Ruins. Paid our entrance fee and walked around the grounds. Since we didn't have time for a proper tour (and really just wanted to swim) we headed for the beach. 

the last time I saw these sunglasses.. a massive wave knocked them off shortly after this pic.

This fella guarded our stuff while we swam

After our swim in the ocean we headed back to the hostel, changed clothes and let them dry in the sun for a bit before hailing a cab and heading to the bus station to catch the bus to Cancun. 

The bus ride was uneventful and much shorter than we'd anticipated. We didn't realize we'd arrived and had to scramble to get ourselves off the bus after confirming with the driver that we were indeed in Cancun. 

I'd picked a hotel right near the bus station, knowing we were basically just spending the night before catching our early morning flight back Toronto. We checked in, met the desk guy who'd moved from New York earlier that year and had the accent to prove it. 

We opted to go to the bus station to exchange our vouchers for tickets (and after it taking over an hour and a lot of arguing in Chetumal we had learned not to do things last minute) before wandering around the city to see what we could see. 

Which, apparently, is not very much. 

We walked up and down the main "strip" of Cancun, and eventually just stopped on a side street for a Corona before heading back to the hostel. Asked the New Yowrk-uh for suggestions on somewhere cheap to eat, and he pointed down the road. 

We walked in the direction he indicated and saw an open-air food court with activities going on in the middle. We opted for "traditional" Mexican food (I had something vaguely resembling tacos.) and watched what appeared to be a mass exercise routine. 

Due to our early morning ahead we didn't stay out too late, and went back to the hostel. Our room was full of people so we got our things all packed and ready to go so as to not disturb them in the morning. Crawled into bed, played some ipod solitaire and eventually just passed out.

Next morning - up early, back to the airport and home. :(

Beachside to Swiss Family Robinson Hostels - Caye Caulker to Tulum

We woke up early to make our way to the water taxi office and then to the pier. Said our goodbyes to Blackie and made our way to wait for the boat.

The boat ride was relatively uneventful. Cleared customs in San Pedro, arrived in Chetumal and waited for our bus to take us to Tulum.

The Mexican buses were awesome in comparison to the little passenger vans we'd gotten used to in Guatemala, although extremely cold. Big cushy seats and movies (although in Spanish) to watch, it was living the lap of luxury after windy roads and broken down vans.

We arrived in Tulum late afternoon. Grabbed a taxi to take us to our hostel, Posada Las Mopaches, which was just outside of the town and right across the street from the Tulum archaeological site. When we came in we were greeted by the woman who ran the hostel - and not just a hello but full hugs and kisses.

Our bags were taken to be sprayed with pesticides before we went to our rooms while she gave us a run down on how things ran at the hostel. We were handed bike locks, reflective vests and keys and explained what to do with each. We were then given bicycle's to use to get in and out of town.

The hostel grounds were amazing. The rooms were all in Swiss Family Robinson style buildings, with tall thatched roof ceilings and screened in walls. Lots and lots of greenery and a few different common areas to enjoy.

The best part, however, had to be the multitude of animals that roamed about. 4 little Mopaches, from which the hotel takes it's name (Coati Mundi), 2 cats (one of which was an extremely affectionate siamese) and 3 very old dogs who did little more than lay about in the shade.

As should be obvious from all my other posts, I am no stranger when it comes to animals and take every opportunity to pick them up, hug, squeeze and what not.

We got ourselves settled in the hostel room, had (warm!) showers and headed out on our bicycles into town to explore, get some food and perhaps do some last minute shopping.

Dinner was enchiladas and mojitos. Meg opted for the chicken enchiladas covered in "red" sauce while I opted for the same but with "green" sauce. I'm still not certain what "green" really consisted of.

We wandered around, checking out various souvenirs and I opted to buy a hammock for myself, despite talking myself out of one every other day on the trip, entirely because it was my favourite colour.

As it got dark we realized we should probably get started on the bike ride home. Our bike lights provided little help in guiding us home and I was thankful for the bright and reflective vest that at least made us visible to the cars behind us.

Back at the hostel we got cozy in our room, took advantage of the free wifi and prepared our bags. We were leaving the hostel, checking out the ruins at Tulum and then catching the bus back to Cancun for the night before flying home. 

"I know I'm happy to be on the road again, but now I'm worried my luggage will fall off..." - Lanquin to Flores

Our ride from Lanquin to Flores was LONG. Incredibly long.

We were up early, ate some amazing breakfast at the hostel restaurant, and picked up our bagged lunches that we'd asked for the number before. Curiously enough, mine was tagged with "Aranna". Even when I write my name out, it is still somehow confused. 

We argued with the bus drivers that showed up to pick up passengers (all going to different places) about what bus we were to get on. Again, not having printed vouchers was becoming an issue. He didn't believe we had paid, I showed him the confirmation on my iphone. Eventually, however, it was decided we would be on the already very full bus.

The trip started out fine, slowed down by a street market but generally seemed to be making decent time. However, soon enough things slowed down completely. 

The bus started making questionable sounds and after a bit more driving we stopped on a gravel road in the middle of a banana grove to investigate. First it was assumed our tire was flat, but that didn't seem to be the case. I took a guess that it was the axle and it turned out to be the case. Without any other parts available, the rope that was currently being used to hold our luggage on top of the bus was removed and used to secure the axle until we could get to a garage. 

Back on the road we drove for about an hour. Tired and exhausted, the hungover other travelers were grating on our nerves (well, mostly mine, as Meg has the divine ability to not have to hear them). We came to a garage and pulled in. Somehow they had a part to fix the bus with. It took about 2 hours but they fixed our bus and we were back on the road, luggage once again secured and making decent time. 

back on the road, thank god!

11 hours later we arrived in Flores, a small town that is something of an island, although it is connected to the main land by a road. The town itself is comprised of 3 different towns, but we stayed in Flores proper. 

Once again, we were happy that we had booked our accommodation ahead of time, as it seemed to be difficult to find somewhere to stay. We opted to stay at the Hospedaje Yaxha, a small guesthouse situated above a restaurant. The people running it were expecting us, and though they didn't speak any English were happy to try to communicate with us. 

Tired and starving we showered and went for a walk around town in the hopes of finding somewhere open that we could get a drink and some food. We managed to find both at Cool Beans Cafe. The free wifi, cheap beers and amazing nachos were enough to entice us in. 

It wasn't a late night, however, as we were off to Tikal in the morning... and had a 4am wake up call to contend with. 

The Long and Winding Road - Antigua to Lanquin

After the volcano trek we showered at the hostel (cold showers, I might add - not exactly what I was hoping for after working up a sweat and then cooling off in the chilly mountain air), walked to the square and found a bite to eat. Went back to the hostel, crawled into bed and woke up the next morning ready to make our way to Lanquin.

Our first foray into what would be a few separate days of travel throughout Central America, we climbed aboard the 15 person passenger van and made ourselves comfortable. The back seat was already taken by two couples from the UK that were heading in the same direction as we were. They asked where we were staying and we told them that we were staying at El Retiro, one of the hostels that had been recommended to us by the folks at Bamba.

We drove through a rainbow

down the hill into Lanquin

The drive wasn't all that exciting. About 8 hours all together we made a few stops along the way for food and washroom breaks. The last hour of the trip was the most confusing - we turned off a paved road to venture down a long bumpy dirt road.

The grounds at El Retiro

Lanquin is a small town. There are only about 4 hostels, not really any hotels to speak of, and not too much to do. More than anything, it is used as a starting point to Semuc Champey, a natural "monument" consisting of limestone pools along the river that are crystal clear as well as a nearby cave system and spots where you can tube down the river.

We were happy to have made our reservations at the lodge before leaving as we found out that everything in town was booked up otherwise. The resort was gorgeous - small cabins that had 2 main floor rooms and 2 loft rooms above. We opted for the lofts, since they were less expensive. A super simple room with just a bed and a light, with the thatched roof above us. No door to speak of, the entrance was closed off by essentially a towel.

The grounds were gorgeous. Nestled along the river, there was a large bar/restaurant that did a huge buffet dinner every night for 50Q (about $6.50). Meg and I both signed up and couldn't wait for dinner. We each had a shower and headed down to hang out on the hammocks that were hanging for all to use.

As should be obvious from all my travels, when one of the hostel workers showed up with a puppy, I was immediately in love. We played with the dog while waiting for dinner to be served.

Once it got dark and we were full of food, we headed to bed - the next morning we were off to Semuc Champey as well as the Lanquin Caves.