La Selva Mariposa Tulum

... back to Merida, so we had a quick coffee before I said goodbye and got dropped off at the bus terminal an hour or so early. Brendan came to the terminal from his hostel and we headed off to Chetumal, a border town with Belize where we would have to change buses. Not a very eventful day, except the 200 peso exit fee from Mexico which ****** me off! Driving through Belize you could notice the differences, especially as we got further from the border. Different style houses ...

... out until it was time to go.
The snorkelling trip was a bit of a joke - there was absolutely nothing to see!! We did get to see the Mayan ruins on the cliffs though so the 250pesos wasn't totally wasted!!

We had lunch on the beach and then went back to town. In the evening we ate in an Argentinan restaurant and then went to the Weary Traveller hostel and had a game of gin rummy with some of the backpackers staying there.

... bus to Tulum. Tulum is the largest of the cities built on the coast. It is at the south end of the modern highway which runs from Cancun to Tulum. It is a Mexican tourist/backpacker paradise. A taxi driver helped us find an economico cabana on stilts for $35 a night with no electricity and no running water but in an amazing location right on the gorgeous, white beach with very few people and just steps to the Mayan archaelogical ...

... girl behind the counter would not sell it to us. Time for Marine to use her great Spanish and persuasion skills - "we wont say where we bought it, we will wrap it in a bag and hide it ..." The girl was nearly sold when a policeman passed by. Freeze. But he continued on and the Bacardi was sold !! Great victory of Team Chic's, we drank the whole bottle that night and the guys were really impressed !

The following day was time for us to say goodbye. We were ...

... I got burnt to a crisp. During the afternoon we met some Spanish guys who hardly spoke any English which meant I really had to pull out the Spanish which I did, surprisingly successfully. I also met a woman from Argentina who is a Spanish teacher in California and so I had some free lessons on the beach! We spent the whole day on the beach and it was so nice to be able to relax and not worry about ...

... we trucked along at a good clip, see above re: Frank and the Mexican way of driving). Good thing we have 4 wheel drive. We got home in under 2 hours and check into our hotel, where we enjoyed the first HOT shower we´ve had since we touched down. Ahhh... Simple things, huh? Tomorrow brings more adventures. A cenote, perhaps? We will have to wait and see what the weather has in ...

Nate and I woke up at 8 AM feeling well rested and ready to hit the beach. We went downstairs for our light breakfast. The Mexican sweetbread, mango juice, and coffee were just what we needed. After our "trip briefing" with Janet where she gave us suggested restaurants and beach areas in Tulum, we headed out. Our first stop was at a ...

... the quiche uprisings in guatemala. He then brought up the idea that there is a balance of good and bad, and the uprisings start when the dark begins to outweigh the light. but he fears that the dark is getting so strong ( in this instance represented by individualism, commercialism) that it could outweigh the light creating chaos. I disagreed with him to a point. i don?t think it?s a balance, i think it?s a war between dark and light.. a spiritual ...

... Sun Palace, Xpu-Ha, Cozumel). It wasn't a big deal for us, because we had the day at Xel-Ha, seen it in Tulum and will be there shortly in Playa del Carmen. Landscaping at this hotel is top notch. I loved the waterfall and garden paths that they created at the Aventura & Spa and they even had a roman bath perfect for use during bad weather (covered ...

... essentials, including feta cheese and olives and fresh bread (nothing like roughing it!) and vodka cocktails (in Ursula`s suitcase came a bottle of grey goose and a bottle of red wine as birthday presents!). Waiting for a hurricane had never been so fun. Well, until it gets dark out anyway. Around 8ish it started raining and getting progressively windier as we hung out in the lobby with a few other guests. Around 9pm, the power went out (this 4 hours before the ...