Cancun

Trip Start Jun 16, 2008
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Trip End Sep 01, 2008


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Flag of Mexico  , Yucatan Peninsula,
Sunday, August 24, 2008

We arrived in Cancun early on Sunday evening and checked into the very basic but very cheap (fiver a night) Blue Hostel near to the bus station before heading to the hotel where Rachael had been staying with her boyfriend Miffy for the week. When we arrived we made our way up to their room before going for dinner in the hotel restaurant. After dinner we had a few drinks in the room before getting a taxi back to our hostel to check out the Sky Blue Bar on the roof of the hostel that supposedly had a jacuzzi and was open until late. When we actually got to the bar all that was there was rubbish music, rubbish bottles of beer, a dirty bath and a bolt on the wall where the seating was that gave an electric shock if touched/brushed against! When Ellie informed the barman he just laughed and said: "yeah we know!" In our guidebook it says of Blue Hostel that it isn´t one for people who like an early night and for once Lonely Planet hadn´t lied as the rubbish music continues, very loudly, early into the next day!
On Monday morning we got up and had a shower in the communal showers of the hostel then headed round to the hotel where we had arranged to catch the free shuttle bus for hotel residents to the beach with Rachael and Miffy at twelve. When we arrived we found the ´do not disturb´ sign on the door and two hangovers! In the end it was just me and Ellie fit enough for the beach so we hopped on the shuttle bus to the Beach Club where we gave a bogus name and room number to get into the place for cheaper. On the way in to the Beach Club there is a sign saying ´you are a few steps away from paradise´ and there are blue seas, sun and comfortable sun loungers.
By the evening I was a little burnt on my forehead but as I knew, and as I told everyone, it was going to go brown so it was fine by me! With it being Miffy´s last night of the holiday we wanted a good night so in the end it was decided that we´d do something really special and go to Hooters! It was an interesting experience and typical of Cancun which itself is tacky and sleazy but not cheap. After a drink and having maxed-out the Hooters vibe (including the part when everything stops and the waitresses and managers line up to do the Macarena!) we went to a couple more bars for some drinks before a taxi ride home where the driver tried to rip us off, meaning that it turned into a two-taxi ride home for me and Ellie because we didn´t want to pay double for the extra part of the journey to our hostel.
Tuesday afternoon was spent at the Beach Club with Rachael who unluckily for her was moving to our hostel, a far cry from the Radisson where she had been staying. In the evening we went for a meal where we did some maths and decided that checking into the Radisson the following morning would be worthwhile as we could spend the day in the pool there and eat at the restaurant to save on taxi fares.
Once we were up we lugged our bags into a taxi, said goodbye to our filthy hostel, and checked in with a booking on their free internet upstairs (a room for three people with two double beds - despite the fact that Rachael´s friend Laura was joining us that evening for a week, meaning that there was in fact four of us), to make sure we saved the extra pesos! The rest of the day was spent round the hotel pool. When Laura arrived in the evening we smuggled her bag upto our room for three!
Thursday brought a return to Beach Club, this time with Laura, but also a nasty surprise as my forehead decided to play snake instead of turning brown as expected so I now have a nice, new, red forehead. Having learnt from my mistake I went to the local flea market to purchase a fetching Corona baseball cap to replace my lost hat so I now sport a true ´Brit abroad´ look with my cap, sunburn and football shirts! Thursday evening was probably the highlight of our time in Cancun as we decided to go to Coco Bongo´s which provided a show that suits Cancun down to the ground with cheap drinking for tourists and all miming and all-dancing Kiss, Guns n´ Roses, Madonna, MJ, Queen and Jesus and his disciples impersonators! This show followed our pre-drinks in Coco´s bar with sleazy waiters and waitresses who are forced to do stupid dances and try and sell shots of spirits that come with a free grope to the punters! On Friday we were up bright and early at 12:30pm, having been partying at Coco Bongo´s until 5am, ready for our 1:00pm checkout and we went to the bus station to catch a bus to Tulum.
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