Cancun

Cancun was supposed to be the sun-sand-sea part of our trip. But just after we arrived, a tropical storm hit that lasted for most of the time we were there. After catching up on the sleep we lost as a result of our early exit from Havana, we went into Cancun town to get some genuine Mexican for late lunch. The burritos and tacos were definitely worth the walk in the rain.

The next day we were picked up by the tour bus at 7am for the trip to Chizen Itza. We were the first to be picked up - not much fun when the other people ARE NOT WAITING at the lobbies of their hotels as they are meant to be, and you end up waiting for them to be chased to the bus, which takes, oh, I don't know, forever. As a result we'd been in the bus for nearly two hours before we drove back past our hotel on the way out of Cancun. I was nearly homicidal, even Mark departed from character and was mildly irritated.

The drive out to Chichen Itza was over two hours long - broken up by a visit to a 'genuine' Mayan market, where La Bamba was (finally) playing on the loud speakers. Then finally to Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the modern world. It's a former Mayan city, but its crowning glory is the pyramid, whose ridges and steps and stones tell the time in five different ways - by hours, days, months, years and the 144,000 years or so it takes for all the planets to line up. There is another pyramid built inside the big outer pyramid, and when the sun hits the pyramid at the equinox and solstice, it's built so that strong rays of light appear to stream from the pyramids. 

It's also a bit of an acoustic feat - the top of the pyramid is a very early loudhailer, which allowed the chief to address the whole city. Also, if you stand directly in front of the staircases and clap, a sound effect is created so that your clapping sounds like the call of the colourful bird that lives in the area and that the Mayans held sacred. There's also a temple where (human) sacrifices were made, as well as a beautiful cenote (a sinkhole/watersource). Off the main courtyard of the town, there are less visited ruins which you can touch and walk among. After five minutes of looking around the day was disrupted by a massive rainstorm - and there's nowhere to shelter. Mark bartered a spruiker down to 30 peso (from 50) for a flimsy emergency poncho, which was reduced to tatters before it was out of its packet. It was pretty miserable, but still worth going.

Back in the bus and off for a typical tourist buffet, where you take a bit of everything and so it all tastes like nothing - only this one had Mexicans dancing with beer bottles on their heads. Pretty cool. Then to my favourite part of the day - a massive underground cavern/cenote. We decided not to swim in it, because we were still freezing cold from the rain and had only just dried off. But we really regretted this decision when we got down to the cenote, one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The photos don't do it justice at all. 

The next day started with rain, ended with rain, and rained the whole way in between. The wind was unbelievably gusty - and it all looked very beautiful from our hotel room window until it started leaking. We spent the day down in tourist Cancun - at a mall, unsuccessfully trying to use the free wifi, grabbing some lunch and checking out the local aquarium, where we got to pat a stingray (slimy) and watched people take part in a dolphin programme where they kind of rode them like waterskis. We grabbed dinner at a family Mexican joint, which was right next door to Hooters and shared outdoor seating. Considering I only have about four words of Spanish, I was very proud when my 'gracias' was so convincing the waiter told me I "could be a Spanish". Unfortunately, he told me my 'adios' could use some practice.

Another early start the next day - the only dry day of our time in Cancun - when we took a trip to the Isla Mujeres (off the coast of Cancun) on board a catamaran. We were dumped in the ocean after about an hour and snorkelled to the catamaran, about forty minutes away. There were plenty of tropical fish, despite the tropical storm which had churned up the water a bit, although the human life was pretty amusing too - especially the older American lady who hadn't figured out that flippers don't work on their own and you actually need to kick. It wasn't so funny for the wee Mexican dude who got the unfortunate job of dragging her back to the catamaran though. After the usual buffet, we sailed into Isla Mujeres. We had a bit over and hour to enjoy there, so we skipped the run of the mill looking market and rented a golf cart. We drove most of the way across the island (slight wrong turn meant we didn't see the 'main sights', but we did see a lot of genuine Mexican dogs on the alternative scenic route). Back on the boat, we cemented our friendship with Dave and Steve, a couple of Bostonian school chums who decided against their usual annual camping catch up and took off for Cancun, leaving the wives and kids at home. All three of the guys parasailed off the back of the catamaran in the late afternoon sun (I decided against... a very convincing excuse involving my contact lenses). 

We all caught the bus back together - but Steve left his towel on the bus. It was hotel issued - comes with a $25 charge if you don't return it - so we tracked him down and arranged to meet up for a beer in town later and return his towel. Tourist Cancun at night is pretty synge - lots of drunk dudes, lots of little kids selling Mexican bracelets on the footpaths, but the real kicker was the dude who had a massive boa constrictor for photo opportunities. Totally put me off my pina colada.

We didn't stay out too long - we didn't want to intrude too much on Steve and Dave's manly catch up., and we had a plane to Miami to catch the next day.