The day after my cenote tour I decided to go to the bar with some
of the volunteers from the hostel. I got in for free because I wasn't
drinking (I am on antibiotics). I ended up running into the people from
my tour which was really great and hung out with them. It was nice to go
out and see people I knew instead of just the staff from the Mayan Monkey - as
much as I love them.
The next day, heaps of people from Mezcal ( our other hostel) came
and chilled out by the pool. I had woken up late and missed breakfast but
was looking forward to cooking up a pasta lunch. I had gone up to the bar
for something when Johnny (one of the guys from my tour who had actually walked
me home the night before) walked into the bar. We said hi and I
said "are you hungry? I am cooking lunch!" So I ended up with a
lunch buddy. The funny part is that when he went back upstairs the other
guys thought I was just a random girl that offered to cook for him hahaha.
We all chilled by the pool that day. Enjoying the sun and
having fun conversation. We (of course) went for tacos and then one of
the guys (Raphael) asked me "do you want to go to Isla Mujeres
tomorrow?" "For sure," I said.
By the morning we had a group of 16 of us heading to Isla (Mujeres).
Rounding up 16 people is not an easy task but we got 4 cabs all at the same
price, 16 ferry tickets and all 16 of us on the ferry. Team work!
The ferry ride was interesting. Seven of us went up to the
roof of the very where there was some (not so good) live music playing.
We tried singing along but it just didn't work.
And then there were 7. We couldn't find the other half of our
group, we waited but were unsure if they had actually got on our ferry (which
we did we later found out) so we walked across the street and rented ourselves
2 golf carts so we could drive around the island.
Our first stop was the most incredible water I have ever been
in...even better than the Whitsunday Island in Australia. The clear water going from clear,
to light blue, to turquoise with a backdrop of a blue sky...colours so perfect
and bright it looked like a filter on Instagram but #nofilterneeded. It
was breathtaking and we were all like kids at Christmas playing in the
water. I could've stayed there forever. Not only was it the most perfect
scene but the temperature was perfect as well.
We walked down to the lagoon which wasn't as nice so we decided to
hop in our carts and take a drive around the island. I don't know why it
is but golf carts always seem so much more fun than cars especially when they
are at full speed - because you are still going super slow.
We were waved down by some people on the side of the road.
They were offering for us to go into a beach club for free all we had to do was
buy lunch. So we drove in, parked the carts and walked down to the
restaurant. Almost $20 for a pizza!!! I know this is pretty normal but
not for Mexican standards especially when you can get a full lunch and a beer
for under $7. We left. A staff member said "you don't
want to stay for the best pizza?!?" "It's a little
pricey." I said. "That's because it's the best pizza!" "Not
for that price." The place was empty anyways.
We kept driving. Damon had a speaker so we had music playing
in our cart which of course makes everything better. We saw a
little street to our right so we turned around and parked the carts. We
walked down to where there was some construction going on. The guys
walked passed it and peeked down the side of the building. We could see a
pool and what looked like a beautiful private beach. "I'm gonna hop the
fence," said Raphael. "I want to get some pictures." Ummm
not me. Damon and Oskar went with him. I went back up to the
others and told them so they went in to the place (which was a resort) and we
were told we could use the beach if we ordered lunch. The only thing we
couldn't use was the pool.
It was stunning, a blue pool looking out on to the beautiful
perfectly blue water that is Isla Mujeres. Tons of pictures were taken
and I took some time to just enjoy the refreshing water. After about 20
minutes the waiter got mad that we didn't buy lunch so we were asked to
leave. But Sherri kept mentioning a restaurant we had driven by and
wanted to go there for lunch. It was her Birthday so I was totally down
for where she wanted to go. I took the keys and hopped in the drivers
seat...yup, sure did. I would like to add that I am the better driver out
of the guys :).
It was nothing special, it was pricey but we were hungry so we
stayed.
Before we go on I would like to mention that at this point Mexico
was dry...dry as in no alcohol (unless there was food). There was an
election so night clubs and locations that sell alcohol such as OXXO (like our
Mac's Milk) were not selling until Monday. To be honest, not having any
alcohol while out for two days was great...I mean not even a beer, it was
great!!!
As we were leaving, the waiter comes up to us and says that
we short changed him so I went to check the bill. "Donde esta la
cuenta?" I said. "No," he replied. I looked at
Raphael who is fluent in Spanish and Oskar who is Mexican and said "there
is no bill." So they started asking the waiter where the bill was
but he refused to get it or tell us where it was.
All we wanted was to see the bill and check to see who didn't put
in enough, to see where we went wrong. We had no problems paying what we
owed but we wanted to double check it. The others kept offering the money
and we told them "no, we are not paying until we see where we went wrong,
until we see proof."
A huge argument broke out and the waiter said he was gonna call
the cops which Raphael, Oskar and I were fine with...but it was an empty
threat, the guy was trying to scare us and it didn't work. It then got
physical. Oskar had the bill fold with the money and said he wanted to
see the bill, the water got aggressive with him so now a scene started. I
walked up to another table that was obviously watching. I told the woman
the problem and she said "they have to give you the bill!" A
few minutes later some other guy from the restaurant came up and just told us
to leave, so we left.
Unfortunately when we took the round-a-bout we lost the others we
tried to find them but no such luck. And then there were three.
We stopped out at a look out, hopped over a wall and climbed up one of
the zip-lining towers to get some good pictures. We then kept
driving as we were going to go to the Mayan Temple that was at the very bottom
of the island.
The Temple itself wasn't much to see but where we were was
incredible. There were stairs we could walk down that led you around the
edges of the island.
We found a spot where the guys hung there feet over the edge and
took a nap and I just sat and listened to the waves crash and watched some
snorkelers. It was a perfect spot; in fact, we were at The Cliff of
Dawn. The eastern most part of Mexico. The first spot in Mexico to
get touched by the morning sun.
We wandered the paths for a bit and then decided to head back to
the beach as we wanted to be there for sunset.
On our way back we got flagged down. We were late bringing
the golf cart back so they went out to bring us back and then we had to pay for
a full hour for being late. Geez, kicked out of a resort, a fiasco at a
restaurant and a search party all in one day hahaha ... more things to check
off on this trip.
The water didn't seem as perfect at this time of day but we had an
amazing time. We sang, we did handstands, the guys made a naked lady out
of sand, we took photos and watched the sunset...the perfect end to the perfect
day.
We caught the ferry around 8pm to head back to Cancun. This
time instead of live music they had some dance music so we had a dance
party...again, no alcohol just totally buzzed from a perfect day.
The taxi's were charging too much money so we walked half way back
and then found one that we were willing to pay however we returned too late to
grab our bus to Valladolid so Raphael and I had to check back in for the night.
They were a little surprised to see me at the reception in the
morning ... I had to explain that yes I am leaving.... "see I am wearing
my backpack I am leaving right now." I was then told "Emmie you
are now Mexican!" Hahaha with how dark I am right now it could be
possible.
Raphael and I were heading to Valladolid a town an hour outside of
Chichen Itza. Our buddy Damon joined us! We got to the hostel
around 11am, checked in, went for lunch and hopped on another bus to Chichen
Itza.
I was having bank card issues again that I sorted, or should I say
thought I sorted out during lunch but got them sorted the next day thank
goodness.
Chichen Itza - Bucket List Day #2
I wasn't excited...I was a little worried. I don't know what
I had hyped up but it was a place I wanted to go to and I was hoping to not be
underwhelmed. Plus someone had told me it didn't live up to what they had
expected so I was unsure...however!
It was incrdible!
We unfortunately didn't have a guide. By the time we decided
we wanted one it was closing in an hour and the tours with the guides were two
hours. But; I had a question for the guide and here is the
information we were given.
Chichen Itza is built on another city. The Mayan's believe
that old cities had good energy so they built the new cities on top of the old
cities.
Up until 2005 you could actually walk up the steps and go into the
temple and see the statues but people started defacing it with graffiti so they
shut it down so now you are only able to walk around the outside of the
buildings - you can't even get close enough to touch them.
You don't need to touch them though to feel the great beauty that
they are you can just see it and feel it. We spent an hour getting
pictures on a side of the temple where the steps are crumbling and right before
the place shut down we sat down on the grass just looking at the incredible
temple and took it all in feeling at peace. Another wonderful place to
check off my list but also a place that took my breath away just like Machu Picchu.
One of the greatest things I got to do that day was video call my
mom and show her the temple. She got to see it with me, it made me a
little emotional but I didn't show it. Technology has changed so much
since I started traveling and I have been so grateful for it this trip,
especially when I can share moments like this with the ones closest to me.
We said goodbye to Damon as he had to head back to Cancun because
he was flying home the next morning and we headed back to Valladolid.
Raphael decided to leave the next morning for Holbox (prounounced
Hallbosh) and I was going the next day.
Lucky for me the next day over breakfast I met someone going to
the Pink Lakes, and I am always down for a day trip (well most of the
time). So off to the Pink Lakes.
My new friend was Nuhba and we had a blast...we laughed the whole
entire day over nothing, just silly random shit. We spent most of
our day on buses and by the time we got out there we literally had 20 minutes
to take pictures before the last bus came, or we would have to hitch-hike which
I was not down for. There were guys offering motorcycle tours but I
wasn't keen on them and we didn't have a lot of time so we snapped a few
pictures and left.
They are actually quite interesting...really pink water - natural
of course - which is caused by an algae. The water is blue in the morning
but when the sun comes out and gets hot it activates the algae causing it to
turn the water pink. They are also privately owned as they get salt from
the water.
We were gonna try and go to see the flamingos on our way back but
we were on the last bus so we had to miss them. It took a few hours to
get back as we had to wait an hour and a half in the next town for our other
bus so we went for dinner at the same restaurant we had lunch at. It's a
quaint little place called Ricardo's with really great food. Super cheap
for a lot of food including little appetizers they bring out when you order
drinks...two thumbs up from me.
The next day I left for Holbox Island. A place with
hammocks in the water and it is said to be a paradise. I went with my
friend Virginia that I was supposed to meet in Bacalar and decided to skip
it. However we ended up at the same hostel in Valladolid so decided to
come over to the island together.
So here I sit looking out at palm trees and a pool surrounded by
backpackers. I wasn't keen on the hostel when I first arrived. I
walked over to Raphaels hostel to watch the Soccer game and then we headed with
a bunch of others to the beach...one being one of my dorm mates at the Mayan
Monkey. All of the people we were with were staying at the same hostel as
me so it was nice to meet some people and have decided to not switch to
Raphaels hostel - which is where I had been planning to stay for awhile but I
can't be fussed to move - and stay here.
Yesterday we walked down to the hammocks on the beach and just
relaxed with a few beers. It was literally heaven. The water isn't
like Isla but the hammocks definitely make up for it. Seriously, who ever
invented hammocks was a fucking genius and pray to you for you are my God.
Today we are heading to more beaches and then going to see the
bio-luminescence. Now I'm living the island life in Mexico. It's a
dream.
- Mi Vida
Hermosa -
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