Cancun
Aug 18, 2010I flew in yesterday and have been exploring Cancun ever since, except for a brief sleep break last night. I am staying in Cancun Centro (the city), but I took a bus to the hotel zone (bus R-1, leaves from Av. Tulum side of ADO bus station) yesterday to check out the beaches and I must say that they do live up to the hype.
I would not want to stay in the hotel zone though, there is nothing mexican about it… Right now I am about to board the bus to Merida, the largest city in the area.
Somewhere between Merida and San Cristobal
Aug 19/20, 2010It´s the middle of the night and I am on the bus. It is a very comfortable one, except for one tiny little detail – a deaf asshole of a driver who has radio playing on FULL volume (and the sound system is, unfortunately, quite spectacular).
Anyway, I might as well write about what I did on the 19th. It was pretty fun – I took a tour of Maya ruins in Uxmal (about an hour away from Merida) and in nearby Kabah. There was a nice guy from Canada there, who was also travelling solo. Actually, I find that it is easier to meet new people when you are traveling by yourself – although I am really wishing that Ehsan was here with me 
San Cristobal de las Casas
Aug 20, 2010San Cristobal is a curious little town in the mountains. It reminds of Cuzco in Peru. The only problem with it is that the weather sucks.
Right after I got to my hostel from the bus station this morning, I hopped on a tour van to nearby Mayan villages ‘Chamula and Zinacantan. I don´t know how the local Indians mange to preserve their identity so well, it is pretty amazing. I am not going to say any more about them here (wikipedia these if you want), but this “Today´s Mayan Village“ tour was much more interesting than that of the ruins yesterday. Not that I could fully enjoy it because of the cold, the rain, and lack of a travel buddy (there was a friendly Mexican-British couple, but couples tend to mostly stick to each other so it did not go as well as the tour of Uxmal did).
Don´t get me wrong – I loooove being here 
Hopefully though someday I will be able to travel abroad with a significant other, that would be just the icing on the cake!
San Cristobal de las Casas
Aug 21, 2010I spent the entire day on an outdoorsie tour of the area – caves, then waterfalls, followed by pretty but otherwise unremarkable lakes. Was not bad, although I am getting pretty sick of the cold and the rain. Can´t wait to get back to Merida and Cancun!
Met the same Mexican-British couple today, they were so cute and all over each other, it just kept reminding me of my Azizam back home Just five more days! Had dinner with them after the tour at a creperie (is that a word? Sounds like one)
Palenque
Aug 22, 2010I was not too excited about today’s tour after yesterday’s waterfall that was pretty much impossible to see because of all the fog. But Agua Azul and whatever the second waterfall on the way to Palenque was, were actually very nice. Great views, amazing weather, and the drive was not as tiring as it was yesterday.
The ruins in Palenque were very impressive on their own, AND they turned out to be in the middle of the jungle! I have seen glimpses of the jungle before, but this was really something
I keep seeing the same faces these last few days – Anna and Andy (the Mexican-British couple I mentioned, with whom I have been touring San Cristobal 3 days in a row), the Danish couple (who actually turned out to be friends with benefits, as they cheerfully explained over lunch), Andrea, British woman from New York whom I met in San Cristobal and then again in Palenque, etc. If the world is small, then Mexico is tiny!
Merida
Aug 23, 2010
I don’t have anything special planned for today, just want to relax a bit after this last hectic couple of days. Which is why I picked a hostel with a pool and splurged $18 on a private room Tomorrow I will visit Chichen Itza and make my way back to Cancun. I am not sure how I will be spending my last two days there – I will either visit Tulum one day and go to the beach the other, or just spend both days on the beach. We’ll see
