I was dubious about coming to Cancún but it was actually great.
First of all I am staying in a totally sick hostel. It's standard fare to have breakfast included with your stay but this normally means DIY bread, jam and butter and maybe some cornflakes if you're lucky. It does not mean an exotic fruit plate - cantaloupe, mango, star fruit, apple, banana and papaya and a second course of something hot and delicious. My first morning it was spaghetti bolognese. A little unconventional sure, but perfectly tasty.
As if breakfast isn't enough, the price of a night also includes dinner. What?! Totally amazing. And it's a good dinner too. Chips and guacamole or pico de gallo followed by delicious chicken, tacos...you get the idea. The best part about the dinner is being able to meet everyone at the hostel and it gives the place a friendly, community feel.
Unfortunately for me the weather in Cancún has been far from ideal and I didn't see a lot of sun. Basically there is f*** all to do in Cancún that doesn't involve the beach or going out and getting wasted.
On my first afternoon I had lunch at a local restaurant. Quesadillas are always good but even better on a blue maiz tortilla. Must try in Mexico. I also tried a flota (not sure of the spelling) which is basically a deep fried tortilla filled with chicken served with cheese, lettuce and sour cream. Delicious.
Day two Anne, Irene and I met at breakfast and took a walk to a market near the hostel. Being in Cancún a totally invented tourist area meant that everyone in the market is pushy, trying to get you into their shop by whatever means necessary. It's not the way I like to shop and the other girls felt the same so we quickly got out of the market and headed back to the hostel.
That afternoon I headed to a shopping mall nearby desperately needing another pair of shoes. Currently I only have my thongs - I don't count my hiking boots because they are taking the one way express back home asap and thongs are not good for walking long distances. I picked this particular mall as it has a Converse shop and Chucks in Mexico are the same price as in the US. So now I actually have shoes I can walk in, that I can take to my cold weather destinations and I actually like enough to take back to Melbs. Win!
Day three Anne, Irene, Seth and I decided to get out of Cancún and visit a nearby island regardless of the weather. Luckily we did cause the weather was still s*** and it's better to be in s*** weather where you can still do stuff and not trapped back at the hostel in Cancún. We had to get to Peurto Juarez to catch the ferry and this was a little adventure. We took a collectivo (a group taxi) and first of all only ended up paying 4 pesos for all of us, when it's meant to be 6 each. No idea. The guy who takes the money started talking to us, found out we were heading to Isla Mujeres and promptly spent the rest of the ride telling us about a great tour we could take around the island. Said tour is 360 pesos which isn't a bad price for what was offered, but given the miserable weather snorkeling and swimming with sharks didn't sound all that fun. We politely said no but he just wouldn't let up. Finally at the ferry terminal we managed to shake him off and buy our tickets to Isla Mujeres for only 130 return.
Once at the island we headed to the beach and funnily enough the water was warmer than the stone cold showers back at our hostel. We only braved the water was far as our ankles. Even though it was a comfortable temperature the thought of freezing after getting out wasn't very appealing. So what to do? Find a bar and have a beer naturally! The bar advertising buying two beers and getting two free tequila shots sounds perfect. Cue the worst tequila shot of my life. It was awful. But the beer was good. After beers we headed to lunch and picked a restaurant on the shore. While cold it was picturesque. At this point we sort of walked around but it was cold, rainy and miserable and soon the lure of undercover got us again. So we enjoyed two pitchers of delicious cocktails and by the time we languidly enjoyed these, it was getting dark and we decided to head back to the mainland.
It's not really possible to go to Cancún and not go out. So Friday night was the night. We went to a place called Señor Frogs which was having its 24th birthday, a powder party. The entry fee to these places is kind of steep but once you're in it's an open bar. Our group from the hostel was guided to a table with unopened bottles of rum, tequila, vodka and mixes awaited us. Then every once in a while a staff member would come over with shot glasses and some sort of horrid blue mix, which of course I drank every time. Certain songs would play and all the staff would head to the stage and perform a choreographed dance. Countdowns would appear and at the end the staff would walk around the club throwing yellow, orange and pink fluro powder. Of course the night soon became us smearing our hands in the powder on tables and wiping it on each other, throwing ice at each other and down our tops and then later drinks too. Around 3am a bunch of us decided to leave and went across the road to a little burrito shack. Of course I was drunk hungry but seriously this burrito was incredible! An excellent end to my night.
Back at the hostel it took so many face wipes to get enough of the powder of for me to feel alright about getting Ito bed. The worst part is my hair. I really need to wash the powder out but there's no hot water so the thought of this is unappealing. So I've decided to brush it out the best I can and wait until Florida to wash it out. I'm sure it's perfectly normal for people to fly out of Cancún with radioactive colours in their hair...
Considering the day of drinking on the island and amount of alcohol consumed at Señor Frogs, my hangover was not bad. Thankfully I was prepared with Gatorade and downed this like it was my lifeline and slept until I felt sort of normal. Braving breakfast was the right idea cause this morning we got ham and cheese quesadillas, perfect hangover breakfast. Then it was time to attack myself with more baby wipes and organise my laundry hoping my powder covered clothes will live to see another day. Which they did! My jeans turned up perfect. My tshirt is still a little orange and yellow so probably will need another wash or two. I think quick action on the washing saved the day here.
Oh and I got another tattoo. Please no emails Mum. I will not regret this. It's a nice little reminder of my time away and bids farewell to the Spanish speaking portion of my trip. Tomorrow, hello USA!
What to do in Cancún...
1 Beach.
2 Party.
3 Get out.