Two Wise Nomads

While the El Chepe train started in Los Mochis (los’ m’ cheese), we read that the next town on the line, El Fuerto was a lot nicer  – one of Mexico’s pueblos magico – there are 111 nominated magical towns in Mexico – and also meant you could board the train at a lot more godly hour at 8.20am rather than 6.  We had tried to see if we could get the hotel in El Fuerto to arrange a ride but failed.  We were told at the local taxi booth that it was 1300p ($100) for the 75min journey – actually 200p cheaper than that the hotel quoted.  

We drove through Los Mochis; it looked very “Americanised” with lots of malls and American brands everywhere.  El Fuerte was far more authentic with old colonial buildings and cowboys everywhere. The women wore beautiful brightly coloured cotton skirts.  Our hotel – Hotel Posada del Hidaigo – was famous as the birthplace and home of Zorro.  I had no idea he was an actual person.  While the hotel had done a fabulous job in making the hotel feel authentic however it was a bit of tourist trap with the check in staff trying to sell us various tours before we had even got our key. The hummingbirds feeding at the entrance was special.

The town was lovely and got very basic once you left the main square.  Much like Morelia, we noticed that as far as foreign tourists were concerned, we were among the youngest. No backpackers again. We had a bit of a wander before returning to a lounger by the pool and a late lunch.  The hotel was empty, certainly a lot more staff than guests and yet it was hard work getting any service. It almost felt like they were staying in the same hotel as us. There were a family making a bit of noise in the room right next to us even though there were 3 empty rooms each side of us. I got up around 10pm and gave the 4 people at the front desk a bit of a spray.  They didn’t understand much except that I was pissed off. Made me feel better.

We walked along the river the next morning; it was teeming with bird life.  It had a bit of a Pampas (Bolivia) feel to it.  We crossed a bridge and followed a path until it basically came to an end – we were meant to find some really old cliff drawings but failed.  It was a lovely couple of hours but the rising temp forced us to return to the sanctuary of the pool.  It was 28C by 11am. On the way back we did a bit of a detour and stocked up on booze and miscellaneous including my favourite queso (cheese) flavoured crisps. They are up there with salt & vinegar.  We met another Canadian couple who had just done the El Chepe trip but going the other way.  They made it sound lovely which got us excited.  We spent the afternoon drinking and chatting away with them before getting a table for the “Fable of Zorro”event.  A charismatic local dressed as Zorro serenaded and danced with all the ladies while the men got to dance with a slightly less charismatic backing lady.  Deryn saw Zorro making a bee line so she dashed to the toilet, thereby missing seeing me fling the female assistant around the dance floor.  Her head was spinning by the time I was done.   Deryn returned only to be pounced on again by Zorro and so had her turn being swirled around the dance floor.  It was a fun night.

The hotel was packed as a tour group of elderly Americans arrived late afternoon.  We found at 5.30am that they were obviously in El Fuerte to catch El Chepe.  The shuttle form the hotel left at 7.30 and these elderly folk needed a couple of hours to have a leisurely breakfast and check out. FFS.  The train was very comfortable.  We had tried to book a seat on the right hand side – far better views – but could not do so.  It wasn’t really a problem as you could move around the train and there were quite a few viewing points – from the dining cart to hanging out the open window between the carriages. The 4 hour trip to Bahuichivo turned into 6 hours – a couple of times we just stopped with no information as to why.  In addition, the views were not as spectacular as we were expecting but impressive none the less.  

We were met by Manuel from Rancho Cabanas San Isidro at the station.  He was the nephew of the owner of the ranch. Two brothers – Mario and Tito – ran the place with the rest of the family living on site. We were joined by a family from Austria who were visiting their son Roberto and his Mexican partner Tanya who now lived in Mexico. It was a 45 min drive to the small town of Cerocahui where the ranch was located.   We all had our own very cute little cabin – each had a little pot belly fireplace but given how well the cabin was insulated we did not use ours – even though the temperature got down to single digits overnight. We were given a 3 course lunch in the common room then Manuel took us on a 11km hike back down to Cerocahui.  The landscape was beautiful – quite unique – partly due to the area being at the bottom of the sea millions of years ago and also being carved out by the forces of water in creating the canyon.  Our late start meant that it was dark by the time we got to the village so it was iPhone torch for the last 20 minutes. 

The next day Mario had planned a full day visiting the small town of Urique 2650m down in the bottom of the canyon.  The plan was to walk down from the Mirador but when we found out it was walking down the road we decided it would better to drive down and do a walk along the river to a town 7km away. The drive down was an adventure along a narrow winding dirt road with sheer drops cliff side.  Urique was a authentic rural town with plenty of cowboys and brightly coloured dressed ladies.  Once again there were loads of locals just sitting around as if waiting for something.  No idea what and when I asked Mario I could not get a satisfying answer.  Its been a common feature of rural Mexico. Urique was also distinct for having its main road double as a runway. It was supposedly for medical purposes but given the number of narcos operating in the area, there was scepticism around its purpose. Either way, the takeoff would be intense.

The walk to the town of Guadalupe was pleasant.  Had a lot of fun playing with the kids in the town’s school.  They pretended they hated having their photo taken; they would run away squealing when approached by a camera but would soon sneak back to enjoy it. Thankfully we did not have to walk the full 7kms back as Mario met us half way in the van.  It was nearly dark by the time we returned to the ranchos.  The Austrian family, bar Tanya, all headed off for a temazcal experience (a sauna – rocks in water and no fire in Mexico).  We huddled around an outside fire having a few drinks until it got too cold an we moved into the indoor fireplace. It wasn’t long before we (I?) were doing shots of an artisanal local tequila called Sotol. Things were a bit hazy (for me)by the time the rest of the family arrived and we sat down for dinner. 

It rained all night- apparently.  Our train was due at 12.20 so we left at 9.45 to spend some time in the local village which was a bit of challenge given the rain.   We have noticed a lot of dogs in this part of Mexico with most of them looking really skinny and mangy.  So we bought some dog food and fed some of the locals (dogs) . Our 12.20 train did not arrive until  nearly 2pm, again with no information provided as to it running late.  Not a lot to do in a tiny little village station waiting for the train.  Once we were on our way there was little to see given the weather plus it was getting dark. The destination was Creel, another Pueblo Magico. Our hotel – Maria del Tio Molca – was a 5 min walk from the station and yet we had someone met us to drive us to the hotel.   We understood why when we got there – we would never have found it as there was no signage and it looked like a house. Our room was in a motel like wing; while the room was fine there was absolutely no facilities and the area outside our room smelt of cats pee – we think it was the smell of the plants. 

It was a dash outside in the rain for a quick meal before retiring for the night. It rained all night and all the next day so apart from breakfast down at the Best Western in front of the fire and then across the road to La Cabana for dinner, we pretty much stayed in all day. We also did a slightly longer dash to the laundromat which was a bit of an oasis given its roaring fire.  A real shame our ‘hotel’ didn’t have a lounge with a fire.  The rain stopped overnight, and while the weather still looked a bit dodgy, we decided to hire some bikes from the 3 Amigos and explore a few of the local canyons. The bikes were brilliant and they also provided helmets and gloves (which were a godsend given the cold).  

First stop was the Valle de las Ranas (Valley of the Frogs) and the Valle de los Hongos (Valley of the Mushrooms) just 5km outside of Creel.   We enjoyed riding along the dirt road surrounded by rural Mexican life as much as the interesting shaped rocks.  The amount of rain over the previous 36 hours meant lots of the road was under water which made for interesting riding – we had gained some experience from our Isla Holbox trip.  Next stop was meant to be Lake Arareko but somehow, much to our pleasure, we found ourselves 1km from Valle de los Monjes (Valley of the Monks).  Initially we had decided not to visit them because we thought it was too far but we were so glad that Deryn’s Map.me decided to divert us there. It was amazing. These towering rocks that looked like monks (funny that!).  We had it to ourselves for the first 30 minutes until a tour bus arrived. 

While riding back down the road we came across a sign saying Creel to Arareko Tarahumara bike track.  Perfect. However it soon became clear that the actual track was under water so we had to sort of follow it on the slightly higher ground amongst the pine forest. It was magic.  At one point we had to cross the river which meant carrying our bikes and wading thigh deep into a reasonably fast flowing river.  We both made it without any major incident. We arrived at Lake Arareko after a 10 minute wait under a tree for a heavy shower to pass.  The lake was a unique u shape, but apart from that, nothing special.  Map.me was telling us that we basically had to retrace the way we had come to get back to Creel.  Bugger that, so we carried our bikes across the river and followed a hiking trail (again carrying our bikes a fair bit) until we found a rideable track.  Funny enough we passed a couple of local kids carrying their bikes but going in the opposite direction. It was then a matter of using Map.me to find our way home.  We took a few wrong turns, asked locals for directions and poor Dits even had a slight crash before we eventually found the road back to Creel.  It rained for the last 45 minutes or so but that just added to the adventure. We made it back to 3 Amigos 3 minutes after our 4 hour cut off time. 30km with over 400m of climbing.  Perfect.  We were covered in mud and soaked but felt fantastic.  Best day for a while.  

We felt a million dollars after a hot shower, a beer and a feed of chicken wings, pizza and salad.  I dashed to the laundry to pick up our stuff from the day before and drop off our muddy gear. We were back in our room, tucked up for the night by 6pm.  We had to check out by 12 the next day and our train wasn’t due to 15.38 (plus 2 hours!) so we had a chilled morning before checking out.  We climbed the local mirador (via the laundry) to admire the statue of Jesus and sweeping views of Creel.  After our day yesterday and a bit more sunshine, we could understand why Creel had been designated a Magico Pueblo.  Our train was 2 hour late again but at least Creel had a few more sights to entertain us as we waited.  We arrived in Chihuahua at 11, got ripped off by a taxi as had to pay 150p for a 5 km journey (the hotel told us the train taxis are a mafia that beats up any outsider taxis trying to get business – it costs 50p going the other way).  Our hotel Doroteo Hotel Boutique was another converted homestead. It was beautiful.

We spent 3 lovely days in Chihuahua.  Plenty of long walks exploring the old part of town; watching the locals in the main square and even a trip to the movies (Ford v Ferrari – great) in a very American mall. Deryn made a trip to the Mammoth museum which she said was amazing. A full skeletons oF a mammoth plus dinosaurs etc. She got chatting to a local who said if we needed any help to call him. Lovely people.  We tried to have some fun one night but it was all a bit too hard.  We did however find the most delicious shrimp ya os in Mexico. Surprisingly there were very few dogs in Chihuahua and certainly not of the little type. We saw one. We treasured these last few days as we knew it was the last of our 8 months of speaking Spanish.

Our flight to Tijuana was effortless while the crossing into the US via the Cross Border Xpress was also although we were again disappointed at how miserable the US border security people are. We grabbed an Uber (Mexican driver) to our lovely hotel in the heart it the Gaslamp district of San Diego. 

And a note from Deryn….

Getting lost is not a fate to avoid, but a destiny to be embraced. 

We arrived late after yet another epic chepe 2 hour train delay, into Chihuahua our final destination in this trip to Latin America.   We awoke to a glorious sunny day but somehow I felt sorrowful. We began our usual meandering around the local Plaza del Armas, cathedrals and museums. I started to take in all the small things that I would miss from this adventure. Dogs, dogs, and cats (actually we only saw 1 dog in chihuahua and yes it was a chihuahua), not being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet, the beautiful bright colours of the clothes of the indigenous people, being immersed in Spanish, tacos… Many people have expressed that they couldn’t move around like we have. I am struggling to imagine not doing it. The natural wonders that we have seen, the physical challenges that we have faced, the chance to see a little of the way many other different cultures live. We have been unbelievably fortunate to have had experience.

Our flight to Mexico City was a tad late leaving Cancun, but that was only the start of it.  We had to wait 45 minutes for our rental car transport before it dropped us off literally 600m down the road.  We then had to navigate 45 mins across town to our hotel for the night – because we had landed at 8, we had booked our hotel on the outskirts of Mexico City.  Logic being that travelling across Mexico City after 9 would be less stressful and we could get away easily in the morning.  I got ejected from the navigator’s seat within 5 minutes due to excessive volume.  Deryn was far more composed but it is without doubt the most insane journey we have driven. From heading up tiny laneways to try get back on route, to having to dash across 4 lanes in a roundabout to get to the needed exit and most importantly avoiding buses and trucks that took no prisoners.  But we made it against all expectations. This was with a GPS – there is no way anyone could do it with just a map.

We got away late morning on our trip to Toluca to avoid the worst of the traffic. The motorway system being built linking Mexico City to Toluca is really impressive. Their height makes me wonder how earthquake proof the are though. Our hotel Doubletree by Hilton was a lovely hotel but located in the worst part of town.  Awful.  We grabbed an Uber to take us to the town square – about 4km away.  The centre of Toluca was surprisingly lovely.  However the first thing we really noticed was that there were no tourists.  It was heaven!  The main cathedral was really impressive – it would have been a great gig to be a cathedral designer in South and Central America post the Spanish conquest.  We then visited the Cosmovitral Jardin Botanico – a glasshouse with stained glass windows and some incredible flower displays. The cactus garden was also really impressive.  

On a whim we decided to visit the Museo de la InquIsicion – a museum with lifelike dummies being put through all the forms of torture as happened during the inquisition.  Some of the stuff they did was appalling, particularly what they did to the women that were accused of being a witch is beyond belief.  We were not allowed to take photo’s but of course Dit’s took a couple. They simply do not do the place justice.  People think ISIS are barbaric!  We grabbed a cheap feed then headed back to our Gulag.  The next day was chore day – planning(Deryn) and recording(Sean).  We managed to find a Walmart on an attempt to get some air so stocked up on a few essentials. They sell everything – from toothpaste to motor bikes.  

It was an early start to the next day as we wanted to get to Nevado de Toluca – a 4900m volcano nearby – before the expected weekend crowds.   It took about an hour, partly because speed was limited by the number of speed bumps and potholes. every town in Mexico is entered by travelling over at least 1 speed bump on entry and exit. You can be travelling 80km/hr so you need your wits about.  It was 50 pesos  ($4) each to get in to the car park before clambering into the back of a Ute (another 50p each) for the last 30 minutes up the mountain.  You get dropped off at a small car park at 4300m before climbing the last 300m (about 1.1kms) to see the luna (lake).  The place was packed – we passed quite a few locals who were cycling, running or walking the 7.5kms to the top. Impressive at that altitude.  The view at the top was great but spoiled slightly by the fact that we could not see across all the plains because of cloud.  The walk down was a lot easier, we jumped straight into a Ute for the return journey.  A breeze.

It was an hour’s drive to Valle de Bravo one of Mexico’s Pueblos Mágicos. Valle de Bravo is a weekend bolter for folks from Mexico City, so while it was touristy it was for local tourists.  The town is located on the shores of a very large man made reservoir, providing 20% of Mexico City’s water.  It’s basically an outdoor adventure capital. Heaps of quad bikes, 4 wheel drives and aquatic activities.  We had a bit of fun finding our Airbnb as the address was basically a neighbourhood with the only clue being photo of a bush in which our host has hidden the key!  We gave up after an 30 mins and ensnared a friendly English speaking local to call our host and try get more direction.  It was still 15 min before we found the key.  The house was a lovely little cottage in this communal courtyard behind a locked gate.   It was a bit smelly and damp but once we had all the windows open for a while it was fine. 

We had a burst of energy so spent the next 2 hours walking from end to end of the town.  The most attractive part of the town was up the hill away from the waterfront.  The main square and cathedral (go figure) were lovely.  It was also a lot less touristy.  We headed home for some cards before heading back into town for a bit of beer and tequila bender.  The size of the tequila shots were impressive – a quad me thinks back in Aus.  We still managed to have a game of cards when we got home so thats a win – impressive effort from Dits keeping up with the wolves.  The next day was a struggle, made far, far worse for me after skulling about 150ml of straight alcohol.  We thought it was water because it was a 4l bottle.  We asked the check out girl if it was water – Dits had a suspicion it could be booze – but she gave us the impression that it was water.  Anyway, the hair of the dog does not work with that much hair.  I made it out for a quick breakfast and then dinner, but that was it.

The next morning we hiked to the paragliding launch spot.  Valle de Bravo is world famous in the sport of para and hang gliding arena. The hike was an interesting walk through different parts of the town before heading into the pine forested hills.  It was basically a non-stop climb for about 500m. It took us about 90m to reach the top; it was well worth it.  A bunch of paragliders arrived at the same time as we did so we got excited that we could see some launches  – unfortunately we did not see one until we were half way down.  None the less it was a lovely spot to spend an hour chilling in the sun and feeding the local  blue blackbirds. For the last night meal we headed to a rooftop restaurant to watch the sun set over the town.  We can understand why the locals love this place.  The shopping was incredible with a lot of top end local artisan shops.

It was another early start to the day as we needed to drive nearly 4 hours and spend possibly up to 3 hours doing a horseback ride to visit the nesting site of Monach butterflies.  The butterflies fly The 2500kms from Canada at the end of summer to spend the winter in the warmer climate. What’s amazing is that it takes 2 lifetimes to reach Mexico with the ones arriving here being born in Texas on the journey down.  Dits picked El Rosario Reserve (El Rosario Santuario de la Mariposa Monarca) as the spot because it was close to Morelia and supposedly one of the least touristy. The drive there was lovely through thick woods – it was incredibly mountainous – reminded us a lot of the Guatemalan topography.  We arrived at the El Rosario Reserve, it was literally a one horse town.  There was a sign pointing to the reserve but the place looked deserted.  A local leant out of a nearly house and told us to head in.  He came over and explained the journey – he had 3 large holes in his shirt which already was in a challenge to constrain his rotund belly.  It was 250p each for the horse and another 290p for the guide and park tickets. We were warned that if it rained we would not see any butterflies.  We thought it would still be a nice ride in the forest.  We had a horse each but our tubby guide was on foot.  It was a 5km hike with over 550m of climbing. He only required one breather – and to be fair so did the horses – about 3km in after a particularly long climb.  Never judge a book by its belly.  Unfortunately it was really cloudy so we saw only 1 butterfly.  Rather than 10s of thousands.  A bummer really.  The ride down was a bit more challenging but we made it with no more than sore legs.  On to Morelia.

The 3 hour drive to Valladolid was reasonably uneventful.  The road itself was pretty good with very little traffic. The only nuisance was the frequent, and at times very hard to see, road bumps.  They tended to be near towns so at least you knew when to expect them.  We passed a few policia road blocks with very little engagement until we didn’t.  The first cop that spoke to us didn’t speak English so an English speaking cop was called over.  He prattled on, mostly in Spanish, and then asked for Deryn’s license.  He checked it and started pointing at the speedo while pulling out a notebook.  When we asked what was going on,  we sort of guessed that he was fining Deryn for going too fast over a speed bump.  Yea right.  Deryn challenged him if there was a camera.  He then offered that we could pay the fine here or at the police station (I heard this same one back in the Transkei in 1986!!).  “Cuanto cuesta – how much”.  “Mill peso – 1000p – about $75”.  “Police station”.  There was a bit more too’ing and fro’ing before he suddenly told us to go. That we did!

Our hostel Hotel Hacienda Margot, was strangely in the middle of a residential area in Valladolid.  It was a grand old house with our room out back overlooking a pool.  The room consisted of 2 rooms, a huge lounge with a bar and our bedroom.  Deryn had found a well regarded cenote (pronounced See-not-ay) nearby called Ik-Kil – famous for the roots that dangle down into the water.  It was only a 15 min drive (we did consider cycling but decided it was too far and too hot).  There was some very large buildings at the entrance to the cenote so it must have been impressive when the plane was opened but it had decayed into something far less so.  The CD tote itself was certainly magic – and thankfully once again not too busy.  The water was 26m below ground and pretty chilly – which made it all the better given how hot it was outside. 

We headed back to our oasis for a swim and a game of cards.   I needed to get some laundry done so the local garden boy (mid 60’s) – Pepe – guided me on bikes to the local lavanderia.  Very nice of him.   Given that we had been sitting in a car for a while, we decided to walk the 2.4km into the town square.  The houses were amazing – so many of them had shrines of the Virgin Mary out front.  We weren’t sure if they were permanent or as a consequence of the Day of the Dead Festival – which runs from late Oct to early Nov.  A few of the old houses were being replaced by very sophisticated modern houses. The Mexicans certainly have a lot of style.  We grabbed a dinner in the square and proceeded to have the worst meal we have had on our travels to date – my chicken lasagne was still frozen in the middle!!  The square filled up with mostly young Mexicans, dressed in white with their faces painted ala day of the dead.  They then joined a procession which wound its way around the town as part of the DoD celebrations.  

The next morning we headed out to see the ruins of Chichen Itza after a lovely breakfast served by our hosts.  We planned to get there early(ish) to avoid the crowds and the heat.  Chichen Itza is one of the grandest of the Mayan ruins – it was inhabited from about 600AD to 1200AD – once again with no real idea as to what led to its abandonment.  It was already busy by the time we got there, so after paying a local 50p to park on the side of the road (the official car park was 70p) we headed into the crowds.  The ruins certainly impressive in their size.  The main pyramid – El Castillo – is 30m high and with each side being 55m long. The ruins had It had a feel of Tikal about it but a lot less covered in jungle.  I was a bit disappointed at the number of craft stalls inside the ruins.  As for avoiding the heat and people, nope.  It was packed and hot.  They can get up to 2.6m visitors a year – I reckon most of them were there today.  Another weird thing – there were loads of African Americans. It became a feature over the next few days – in fairness it was really the only area that I (not Deryn)would visit again in the Yucatan Peninsula.  

We returned home to hide from the heat before deciding to walk back into town but to take a different way this time.  We reflected how it was great to be based in a residential part of the city  – we normally encamp to the old part of the city.  It was really nice to see up close how the locals live, you get a better feel for little things – such as them sitting on doorsteps or their grandiose shrines. Thankfully our meal tonight was better than last nights.  We have both enjoyed Valladolid  – finding it so much less touristy than further south. It was almost devoid of tourists.   Also its a cool name to say!!

The next morning it was was off to Merida, a 4 hour drive away.  It took us a while to get out of Vallidolid and then we ended up on the wrong road so spent the first hour on backroads going through local towns rather than the 4 lane highway.  We were very happy with that outcome.  We stopped in one little village to have a look at the impressive cathedral in the square but didn’t last long outside given the heat.  Once we got back on the main road it was boring.  The landscape never changes. It must be pretty infertile as there is no farming – just miles and miles of dense but spindly jungle.  Maybe it has something to do with the meteorite that plowed into the area back 66 million years ago!   Just before we arrived in Merida we had to pay a highway toll – 185 pesos ($14) – the road must be owned by Macquarie.

Merida was a lot bigger than we expected.  An interesting fact was that Merida had more millionaires than any other city on the planet at the turn of the 20th century thanks to the henequen plant which was used for rope.  However all the haciendas went bust in the early 1920’s as the demand for the plant died.  Interestingly Merida also has the third largest Historica Centro in Central and South America behind Mexico City and Cuba. Our Hotel Medio was in the heart of the area which was perfect.  The hotel was probably a stately home when Merida was at its peak, it was beautiful although full of mosquitoes (been a real feature of Yucatan).  

I hadn’t been well so Deryn “went off to do the Walking tour with nobody in particular, sweat dripping down my back as we learned about the bishops and the very wealthy Mérida family and their grand residences. The sculptures of Rodrigo de la Sierra, and visited a gallery showing the history of the conquistadors- excellent”

Deryn and I spent many hours wandering the streets of the historica centra – loving the colours and styles of the many beautiful homes.  A lot of them were in disrepair, but equally a lot of them were being renovated as more and more Mexicans (mostly older) are moving to Merida. Partly because it has the lowest crime rate in Mexico but also because of its thriving art scene.  Our second night in Merida we decided to to visit a few of the pubs and enjoy some mescal and tequila as well as check out the ancient game of ballgame played in the town square.  The square was packed by the time we got there but we got to see some traditionally dressed locals trying to bang a ball thorough a hoop using only their hips. Not the most of exciting games I have to say but I guess given that the losing team gets sacrificed, it has suspense.  Obviously not in this case.  We met some (odd) Americans who had decided to relocate to Mexico – far cheaper than the US!  Not sure that would work for us though. We had 3 nights in Merida and, like Valladolid, really enjoyed getting away from the flashy glitz of coastal Yucatan.  

Next it was onto the Isle de Holbox, which was exciting as we had heard some good things about it.  It was nearly a 4 hour drive from Merida, mostly along the same boring 2 lane expensive, highway.  We arrived in Chiquila to be greeted by lots of red flag waving locals trying to tempt us to park our car in their car park while we are on the island.  We settled for one close to the ferry – 300p for 3 days.  After a 30 minute ferry ride we set out to get a taxi – which on Holbox are golf carts – but we decided the 1km walk was not a problem as we had lightened our luggage by leaving a lot of stuff back in the car.  Holbox had a really nice vibe – the streets were all beach sand lined with lots of casual restaurants and shops.  Our hostel Tuuenben Holboxeno unfortunately did not have a similar vibe.  It was 400m from the beach and had a vibe of a run down motel.  The owner Hector was lovely but unfortunately our unit was very sparsely furnished and with the smallest double bed I had even seen.  Not sure how it got its 9.1 Booking rating??

We hired some bikes the next day and rode down the beach to as far was we could go.  The intent was to go to Playa Mosquito, but very soon gave up that idea, as as the name suggests, the little critters were ravenous.  We just beat a storm back to our hotel, a storm which lasted roughly 18 hours and turned the whole town in to a lake.  It was incredible. Thankfully having bikes meant we could ride down the street/river (mostly) but for pedestrians it was a lot more challenging trying to to avoid eating getting wet.  A lot of the golf carts got stuck and had to be pushed out. We decided to do a pub crawl through the town so started at the beach side bars closest to our place so we could watch the sun go down.  It was beautiful until around 6pm when the mossies hit in force.  We have never experienced anything like it – they were insatiable, not even a t-shirt was enough to stop them biting.  The rain must have disturbed them because there is no way the bars would be able to operate if the situation occurred every night.   Thankfully by 7pm the frenzy had abated and it was more just a matter of making sure you had repellent on.  It was a fun night in which we managed to have a drink or 2 at half a dozen pubs.  In one of the pubs I bought a round of mescal including one for the DJ as a thank you for his set.  

The following day the rain was gone and we spent a lovely 4 hours down on the beach lazing on recliners under a thatched umbrella – not cheap at 200p ($15) each, but well worth it.  I am sure a large part of our dissatisfaction with the Yucatan coast has stemmed from the fact we have encountered poor weather and hence brown, rough seas rather than the calm, turquoise seas seen in the pictures.  It would make a massive difference. We headed back to the mainland the next morning – deciding to get a taxi golf cart because the roads were still underwater.  The drive back was a breeze, so much so that we had a 4 hour wait at the airport for our flight to Mexico City and back into the highlands.  I can’t say I will miss the heat or the mossies!

We grabbed a flight on our new favourite airline, Volaris, to Cancun from Oaxana.  For the first time our flight was late, it left at 5.45 when it was meant to leave at 5.  What was hilarious is that the flight was ‘on time’ until 5 min before departure time at which point departure was changed to 5.39 and the flight remained ‘on time’.  Cancun airport was very modern and it was not long before we were at our Flexicar rental to pick up our 2 week rental for a mere US$170.  Car rentals in Mexico are ridiculously cheap.  It was past 9pm before we headed into town – the place certainly had more of a Surfers / Miami feel than anyplace we had been in Mexico so far.  Our hostel  – Nomads Hostel & Bar – was really cool.  We checked into our massive room and then joined the festivities on the rooftop bar to devour a chicken burger each and an ice cold Corona.  It started raining as we went to bed and did not stop for most of the night.  It was torrential.  

It was still raining the next morning when we started our journey to Playa Del Carmen.  On the way out we drove along the Zona Hotelera – a thin strip of land with water on both sides that basically ran from the centre of town out towards the airport.  It was hideous – back to back massive hotels full of overweight tourists.  The road from Cancun to Carmen was lined with these massive resorts, all trying to outdo each other with the most opulent entrance way. It was pretty tacky.  We stopped at the small seaside town of Puerto Morelos.  The weather was still average so it was a brief stop, might have been pleasant in nice weather but wasn’t the best in the rain.  It took us another 40 min to reach Playa Del Carmen. It was a smaller version of Cancun with a slightly more chilled vibe.  We had booked ourself into a nice hotel called Antera Hotel & Residences for a night. While very flash it was still only US$72 pn.  We couldn’t check in so had to kill some time wondering around the town.  It was packed with American tourist and the prices of everything reflected that fact.  We did manage to find a restaurant that had a special of tacos and Cervesa for a mere 120 pesos each ($A10).  

Deryn went to meander around town while I went to talk to a local salesmen about his tequila shop. I ended up buying a US$100 bottle, sort of as a favour to him.  I met Deryn back at the hotel, headed up to the roof for a swim and then walked the 6 blocks to the local Walmart store to buy some provisions.  The store was immense. I grabbed some nibbles,2 bottlers of Merlot for Dits and some Ron for me.  We had a couple of pre’s before heading down to the beach to take advantage of the 2 or 1 specials. A couple of mojitos  followed by some Pisco Sours for old times sake.  The place was certainly starting to come alive which made for an entertaining walk home.  The cops had set up a roadblock outside our hotel, with dogs, and were searching anyone walking past.  A lot of guns!

We played a few games of cards upstairs on the roof before escaping to our air-conditioned room. Breakfast the next morning was part of the package in a funky cafe called Yum Yum and it certainly was.  We headed to Walmart on our way out to do a ‘big’ shop for our AirBnb which we had booked down in Tulum.  It was quite enjoyable cruising around a well stocked supermarket shopping for goodies.  It was then an 1 hour drive south to Tulum and our beach home.  Once again the road was lined with huge, grandiose resorts.  God knows how they fill them.  We turned just before Tulum to head down to Tulum beach, the first 4 kms was fine but then it became a crawl along a tiny road crowed with cars.  The ocean side of the road was again back to back resorts, such that you could not see the ocean.  Our AirBnB Coyote at Loco Tulum was actually a hotel room with a massive window that opened onto the mangrove swamp.  Magic once you got used to the sulphur smell.  

We got access to the ocean through a resort – in peak season you pay to enter and pay (via ordering in the restaurant) to use the beachside loungers. This is pretty much the only way to access the beaches as the whole beach front is side by side resorts. And no public access.  The beach looked pretty average due to the murky, choppy and seaweed inundated water.  No calm, incredibly coloured water you see in the brochures. We ate our breakfast food for dinner as we found our package included breakfast at Loco Tulum, can’t turn down a free meal.   We watched a couple more episodes of Unbelievable before turning in for an early night post our rather boozy one the night before.  

We got up early to try get to Cenote Dos Ojos before the crowds.  We arrived at the restaurant at 8am only to be told it did no it open until 830.  Just our luck.  We sat and read the paper (we had access to their internet) and chilled before enjoying a hearty brekkie of eggs, beans, bread, juice and coffee.  It took us about 30 min to reach the Cenote – the drive along Tulum beach took a fraction of what it took the day before.  We paid for access to Dos Ojos at the main access gate and then had a confusing 30 min drive past multiple canotes until we found Dos Ojos.  All the other Cenote required us to pay additional $, in some cases up to 400p each.   We finally found Dos Ojos, paid another 190p for snorkels and a locker and we were off.  Dos Ojos was packed with scuba divers but very few snorkels.  A cenote is a limestone cave or pit filled (mostly) with water.  The Yucatan Peninsular has over 6000.  We went to Ojo 1 and was amazed at the colours and depth of water which led to many submerged caves – snorkels were allowed to enter the caves while divers needed a guide.   We then headed to Ojo twos which was in a a sort of sunken area.  It was a lot longer and if you put your head under water on the east side you could watch the divers making their way down the tunnel from Ojo one.  It was beautiful and we basically had the place to ourselves.

We decided to check out Tulum for some lunch and to gauge whether it was worth spending Sun night there.  Once we found the Main Street – which was actually the highway through the town, we could feel and see the appeal of Tulum.  Still not enough to spend a day there, preferring to head to a Mexican magical town- Bacalar and its freshwater lake of seven colours. The drive back to Tulum beach was a nightmare because of some road works – but far worse for those driving into Tulum.  I headed up to the roof kitchen and pool to prepare our early dinner.  Turns out the roof area was only for people in the building, we ignored the rule and made ourselves at home.  The breeze was lovely (essential for keeping the mossies) at bay, plus the view was amazing for the sunset.  Dinner was tostadas with plenty of fresh produce.  Yum!  Karen, an Aussie from Bondi joined us.  She was travelling by herself while her apartment complex was being renovated. She was a freelance travel writer so was helpful in providing tips.  We also met a Canadian couple – Matt and Crystal – who helped me make a dent in my very nice bottle of tequila.  I got up at 3am to watch the. AB’s get smashed by England in the semifinal. 

The next morning we headed down to the beach via a club we had access to and lay on the lounges for 3 or so hours. It was lovely.  In the end we had to by two coffees which cost 160p ($A13).  The room still hadn’t been made up so we returned to the prohibited roof to lay by the pool and chill some more.  We then walked a km or so down the road to visit another cenote.  It felt more of a small lake than a cenote but it was still cool.  It was very dark because of how deep it was.  Very refreshing. On returning to our AirBnB we bumped into Matt and he invited us to join them for dinner on the roof to eat all the fish they had caught that day.  Snapper,Tiger fish and Yellow fish.  The chef from Loco Tulum was going to cook it.  Hell yes!  So we had this amazing meal of fresh fish and salad.  The Tiger fish was incredibly dense, but delicious.  We also polished off the rest of my tequila and a few bottles of wine.  It was a fun night.

The next day we headed off around 11 for our 3 hour drive to Bacalar.  We stopped in Tulum to grab some pharmaceuticals being offered in a lot of the shadier pharmacies.  The drive to Bacalar was a breeze – the roads were incredible and deserted.  Our hostel – Yak Lake House– was right on Lake Bacalar and had a very nice vibe to it.  Less posy than what we had experience so far but still a lot of very beautiful (and younger) people.  Dits and I fitted right in – except we were at least 20 years older than everyone. Ok and not as beautiful.  We went for a swim in the lake – it was waist shallow with a bed that your feet sunk into ankle deep.  Quite strange.  Stunning though.  We then went for a walk to find some $ (solo effectivo at Yak) which involved walking back to the motorway.  We got caught in a torrential downpour on the way back so dashed into a dodgy cafe for some pretty good ceviche and a beer.  When we got back to Yak we found the lakeside bar very cheap (45p for a red wine and 40p for double tequila) so couldn’t resist. We played backgammon and I did a lot more press ups than Deryn.

The next day was a very chilled day – enjoying the lake when the sun was out and then having kip and reading when the inevitable downpour happened. It will be sad to leave this place tomorrow but the ruins of Chichen Itza beckon.  

We grabbed an early flight out of Mexico City to Puerto Escondido, down on the Mexican Pacific coast.  We flew Volaris and once again it was effortless.  Dits had told me that the temperature down in PE was similar to that of Mexico City – like hell it was.  A furnace.  It was 32 C and humid – felt like 38C!  Our hostel – Selina Puerto Escondido – was right on the main beach Zicatela and was massive.  It was a maze of rooms over multiple levels.  We had a room right at the top of the cliff that the hostel was built into – like a lot of the hostels along the beachfront.  It was a brutal climb but thankfully the views made it worthwhile although a balcony would have been perfect.  It had a pool at our level – as well as the main one on the ground floor.  However be both agreed it was overpriced for what it was – perhaps prices were elevated because of the world surf event happening in a few days time. 

We unpacked and then headed down to the beach for a swim.  The sand was scalding and swimming was a real challenge because of the very strong waves dumping onto the beach.  We lasted 5 minutes fighting the current before heading back to the hostel for a swim in the pool and to clean out the sand which had filled our togs.   We went for a walk along the beach – it was end to end party bars with beachside lounges and umbrellas – all basically set up for spring break type activities.  It was thankfully low season so it was very quite.  We met a local called “Hector the Protector”, who was there to cater to tourists every need.  He called himself the protector because he protected tourists from getting into trouble with the local police.  It was too hot to be out so we headed back to the hostel and chilled there for the afternoon eventually morfing into a card session.  

The next morning we decided to brave the 3km walk down the beach to a restaurant recommend by Taylor – Koko.  It was really hot waking along the road so we moved town to the water which made it a lot cooler.  The restaurant was very basic but the coconut encrusted prawn and fish tacos were amazing.  We managed 3 each – served by the owners young kids.  We tried to walk back to our hostel but had to bail out and grab a taxi because it was just too hot.   We grabbed dinner on the beach and enjoyed a few mescals watching the sun go down. 

The next morning we grabbed a taxi to the local bus station before jumping on a local bus for an hour ride to San Antonio.  From there it was a simple matter of grabbing a taxi to take us to our AirBnb on Mazunte beach.  We had been given a number to call when we go close, which we did but the lady on the call could not understand us so we handed the phone over to taxi driver who then drove us to a hostel at a nearby beach.  Problem was it wasn’t our Airbnb so we had to grab another taxi to take us to our correct location.  The Airbnb was literally 20m from the beach although we were a bit put off to find the room uncleaned when arrived.  Mazunte beach had a really hippy vibe and was certainly a lot older than Escondido – and a lot more basic.  Our Airbnb’s location was amazing but outback was a tip and the room lacked a few comforts – such a chairs to lounge on.  There was a hammock on the deck at least. 

We jumped into our togs and headed for a swim (again having to manage the huge swell) before walking down the beach to grab a late lunch.   We were planning on having a quite night but got roped into grabbing a beer by a Pom called Piers.  Piers and his French mate Boris had consumed some mushrooms earlier in the day so were in full flight – very entertaining.  They had been drinking with a German mathematician called Collier (Dr Collier).  We then pulled in an Hungarian called Psy into the foray.  Our quiet night turned into a 6 hour bender, going to a couple of bars and trying hard (not very successfully) to get our tripping companions not kicked out of them. It starting raining about 11pm and by the time we headed home we literally had to wade through a river to get home.

It was a slow start the next morning with still plenty of rain.  We grabbed some breakfast then tried unsuccessfully to buy some bus tickets – had to get them online.  We decided to check out Punta Cometa via the national park headland.  We spent a lovely couple of hours exploring the wind swept and wild headland with amazing views of the ocean.  Punta Cometa is famous for its sunsets but given the state of the weather, there was little point hanging around for it.  We headed back to our beach and grabbed a dinner at the closest restaurant to our room due to the torrential rain.  Piers and Psy joined us for dinner – Piers had very little recollection of the previous evening’s events so it was fun filling him in on the details!  

We had decided to bus all the way to Oaxaca the next day and flag an overnight stay in San Jose del Pacifico to sample the mushrooms, as our bender had made us a bit gun shy.  It was a 10 hour bus ride and required getting to Pochutla by 8am.  We booked a taxi the night before which didn’t turn up so I had to wonder through the village to find one.  Thankfully there was one around.  The bus trip was not too bad – the bus was large and air conditioned with a few spare seats so Deryn and I could stretch out.  There were a few stops to stretch our legs and grab some food before arriving in Oaxaca at 7pm.  Our hotel  – Casa del Sotano – was lovely and only a 10 min walk to the main square.  It was relatively upmarket and inhabited by older travellers rather than the younger backpackers we had been used to.  Lots of old(ish) ladies.  It was the first thing we noticed about Oaxaca, a notable number of older, reasonably affluent Americans.  A lovely, cultural and safe city serviced by direct flights from the US; bound to happen. 

The first day we spent getting to know the city, doing laundry and planning ahead.  We booked a rental for the next day to see some of the further sights – Hierve el Agua, the world’s widest tree and maybe a Mescal tour.  We were planning on a quiet night but bumped into a couple of Aussie’s (they own a luxury surf resort in Fiji called Matanivusi – sounds amazing).  Anyway we got a bit carried away with the mescal for me, wine for Dits and beer for the Aussies. A great night but not helpful with a roadie planned the next day. 

We picked the car up at 9 from Eurocar – US$39 for the day.  Once we had sorted the fact that we had booked for the next day, we were off.  The roads were pretty bad with load of speedhumps – Reductos – so it was slow going. Our route was thrown into a wee bit of confusion when we came across a roadblock only to be told the motorway is closed.  A small challenge for navigator Dits and it wasn’t long before we were winding our way through mountain passes and remote villages on your way to Hierve el Agua.  We saw the odd sign pointing to Hierve so kept going.  At one staged we were stopped by the military who wanted to know how we had got there.  Luckily we had paid 10 pesos each to drive through a gate a few kms back so we showed them that and we were back on our way.  

What was meant to be an 80 minute journey turned into 120 but we made it.  The rock formations were pretty cool, with a few live springs bubbling away including a very hot one that had been curtained off to stop tourists burning themselves.  It was a pretty long walk down to the bottom of the ‘waterfall’ formations but certainly worth it.  I cooled off in the rock pools up top afterwards but Dits’ couldn’t be arsed getting changed.  We followed the traditional route back to Oaxaca and both agreed, Deryn’s route was preferable as for one, you didn’t have to navigate a mountain road that was very similar to the worst of NZ ski field roads.  It was however quicker.  We stopped for a feed at a roadside cafe – chicken soup and tapas.  I thought it was expensive at a total of 120 pesos ($A9). It was then another odd, rural route to Arbol del Tule, in the centre of Santa Maria del Tule. The incredible tree is the approx 1600 year old and has a circumference of 42m.   It was very cool!!  

The guys checking the car back at Eurocar spent more time trying to find a chip in the windscreen, than I have seen anyone spend on an entire car.  We passed thankfully. The next day was another chill which got Dits and I enthused to hire some bikes and bike the 10kms to Monte Alban.  We headed out for a ‘nice’ meal although I hadn’t pre-warned Deryn so she ordered chicken salad whereas I ordered encrusted shrimp!  The food was amazing We watched the first episode of Unbelievable.  It most certainly was – hard viewing. But needs to be told.  We picked up our bikes, paid the 80pp ($6) for a 5 hour hire and set off.  It was fun cycling through a different part of the city, after about 30 mins we reached the outskirts of town and started climbing. And climb and climb.  350m of it – from 1550m to 1900m.  It didn’t feel too brutal, just went on and on.  The ruins once we got there were impressive.  Monte Alban flourished from 200BC to about 600AD, after which it was abandoned. No one knows why – a very common theme amongst a lot of these advanced, ancient civilisations that we have visited on our travels.  The scale of the main plaza was impressive. It was also really well maintained.  We spent over an hour just strolling around the place enjoying the open spaces and relatively few tourists.  The cycle home literally took a third of the time it took us to get there.  We found a really cool cafe on the ride back for one of the best meals we’ve had  in Oaxaca – La Biznaga. It was then back home and start to prepare for our 2 week roadie in the Yucatan peninsula. 2 week car rental for A$190.  Go figure.  

We arrived in Mexico City early evening, customs was a nightmare with a huge and slow moving queue.  However once we were through things moved quickly – we prepaid for our taxi at the ‘Official Taxi” stand (320 pesos – A$24) for the ride to Casa Pepe, our hostel for 3 nights.  The taxi was a new car and worked like a charm.  We very quickly came to realise that Mexico (City) is a modern, sophisticated country submerged in a developing country. Casa Pepe was lovely.  We had a huge suite on the 3rd floor, with a balcony overlooking a bustling intersection in Centro Historico.  It was magic. The hostel had a trendy bar on the roof with a very enthusiastic DJ which / whom we enjoyed for a couple of hours before going to bed and trying to sleep through the bar noise.

The brekkie at Pepe was on the roof and not too bad.  We decided to do a walking tour but within 5 minutes Deryn suddenly ‘lost’ her phone and so unfortunately we had to head home to find it.  The pitch of our tour guide’s voice and the over use of ‘like’ forced us to bale.  We did our own tour and enjoyed the  delights of Centro Historico: the Zocoalo – the square made famous by James Bond’s Spectre; The Cathedral just off the square and also the Templo Mayor ruins (we didn’t pay to get the closer look).

We then went to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, (free on Sundays).  Outside it abides by Neoclassical/ Art Nouveau architectural stylings, whereas the interior is pure Art Deco. Now home to some famous murals – including some by Diego Rivera, husband of Frida. You may have noticed that the first couple of sentences were a cut and paste.  Walking around we came across some cool street art, fantastic street side tacos – $3 for 3 tacos and plenty of people selling things.  Everyone is selling – we hadn’t seen anything like it since Quito. Around 5 we headed back to the Pepe roof bar expecting our hour of free margaritas – not so, it was on from 7 to 8 and quite possibly in another bar.  Anyway to console ourselves we ordered a 1.5l jug of margarita with a saucy sounding local tequila.  It was ambitious but we conquered it easily. 

Next day was shopping day at a mall that required conquering the underground and then a 30min walk through a very affluent part of Mexico City.  Some of the houses were spectacular – but with loads of security.  The mall had every top end brand  imaginable, not really what we were after but I managed to get some jeans, sneakers, undies and some sunnies but unfortunately Dits left empty handed.  We Uber’d home – again very cheap and efficient.  We spent another couple of hours wandering around the town, enjoying the sights, smells and sounds. We had dinner at a dodgy local place but where bombarded by a some hard techno coming from nearby.  After dinner we tracked the source – my goodness, there are some hard core people in Mexico City.  They would scare the bejesus out of 90% of Aussies and Kiwis.  It was basically an outdoor bar in an alley way. A bit to hardcore for us so we snuck away to watch a nice movie in bed.  

We got up early to head to a local market to buy some spicy sauce and tequila to take back to Aus with us. On the way we passed through the chicken market – millions of chickens must pass through the area every week. It was then off to Aus for an action packed 2 weeks but so We are glad that we are coming back to this exciting, spicy place.  

Well it’s now 2 weeks later.   Deryn had booked us in for 2 nights at the Guest House Aldama in the Coyoacán part of town.  Aldama was a family home (5 generations) in which we had an en-suite room. Like so many if the house in the area – you walked through a small door which opened into a massive courtyard and a substantial house(s) around it.  The first night we headed out for an early dinner and then crashed.  Jetlag flying from west to east is so much worse than the other way – all to do with flying against the spin off the earth apparently.  

It was a tough night sleep but we forced ourselves to get up early so we could get to the Frida Kayla’s home – The Blue House – before it opened.  We got there at 9.50 and had about 12 people ahead of us in the queue. We were then told that there was potentially a 40 min wait as the pre-booked tickets and groups had priority.  Thankfully we did not leave and we were inside by 10.20.  It was magic.  What an incredible woman.  They had one of her quotes painted in each room – my favourite was 

“Perhaps they expect me to wail and moan about ‘how much I suffer’ living with a man like Diego.  I don’t think the banks of a river suffer by letting it flow”.

We spent the rest of day (split by a 2 hour kip) exploring the area.  Initially I thought I preferred Centro Historico but by the end of the day I had switched.  Coyoacán was a lot more residential and consequently had far more street stalls and more village type feel.  More like Manly than Darling Harbour. We grabbed a couple of mescals with lime and worm salt – a smokier version of good tequila – before heading home for another early night.  

The next day we tried to do the free bike tour but the bikes were no longer located at the two spots we found the day before. Very odd. The main square, Parque Centenario was being prepared for some bicentenary celebrations so it was getting filled with tarpaulins, seats and heaps of cops.  We had some more mescal and then grabbed another delicious meal in a local bar.  We head to Puerto Escondido tomorrow, a bit sad to be leaving Mexico City, but who knows, we may be back as we spend 6 weeks travelling around this massive country.