Cancun & Isla de Mujeres, Mexico
2nd-4th April 2012
The flight over was a big turd. Because we hardly slept the night before, my plan was to use the 6 hour flight, to catch up on some sleep. But the captain alerted everyone on the plane to the bad news, that we were being followed by the turbulance turd. it was annoying, everytime I was just about to fall asleep, that little turd started shaking me awake.
The fun of flying didn’t stop there though. Once we arrived in Cancun, the pilot made another announcement, this time sounding pissed off. the airport authorities in Cancun wouldn’t let him dock the plane and was later told to turn the engine’s off so they could tow the plane instead. While we waited in this confusion the pilot stayed on the intercom to tell us jokes, like; What did the left foot have in common with the right foot? they where sole mates. I was hoping this wasn’t how the rest of the trip was going to be. For now, I’ll mark this one down as a one-off. Maybe I’ll come to eat my words later on, who knows.
After the mess at the airport, we eventually got our bags, then used what little spainsh we knew to get a bus into downtown Cancun. We, well actually Jen had a rough idea how much the bus would cost (50MXP), so when we walked past all the dodgy taxi drivers and even dodgier looking ‘tour’ companies, we could hear all the bullshit prices and stories…“there is no more buses today”, “i will take you for 10USD, each”. 10USD is 130MXP, way more than what we paid for the bus.
Now everyone knows the downside to using public transport, the smell. I’m not saying that this bus wasn’t clean, it was, in fact it’s the best bus I’ve ever been on, thanks ADO. But as we where leaving the bus, one mexican, lets call him Pedro, decided to give us a ‘welcome to Mexico 24hour brewing burrito fart’. Nice one Pedro, that wreaks!
We found our hotel quite easily, checked in and made for a local park, which we read about in the lonely planet. Walking to this park felt like walking down one of those lanes some people have at the back of their house. You know, the dodgy looking one’s with bin bags everywhere. First impressions of Mexico and Cancun downtown…dodgy, sketchy, however u say it, i’m keeping my eye out for dodge balls everywhere.
Anywho, the park was awesome. they sold quesadilla’s for $15MXP (70p). We ate till we where full and checked out the rest of the park. They had stalls of random things to buy (useless for backpackers) and things for kids to do. face painting, go karts, etc.
The next day we made it to Puerto Juarez and caught the boat to Isla de Mujeres (Island of Women). We stayed 2 nights, hiring a moped to do the leg work. Riding around the island, all of 12km, we saw turtle’s and Mayan ruins, which for Mayan ruins, they where pretty crap, nothing like the one’s in the postcards. We chilled mostly, ate some cheap food. We even tried some sea food one night. After seeing crabs in Canada with arms the size of chicken legs, I thought i’d order crabs. Crabs here are rubbish. The stupidest sea animal you can eat. Actual retards of the sea. They gave me 7 or 8 little shits, with hardly any meat on them!! I felt like i’d been fooled – where the hell is the meat?!!. Never again. Land animals only!! Sea food is rubbish, except fish and chips (normal sea food).
I burnt the hell our of my arms riding the bike everywhere. Literally, lobster red, no wait, i’m not even using anymore sea food references. More like an Irishman on the beach kind of red. lol. We’ve all seen them and you know who you are!! My skin’s only now starting to feel better, but peeling like a snake (land animal). By now I was glad to be leaving Isla de Mujeres.