Hard to believe it is now a month since we left oz shores,and at the moment we are on the shores of the Caribbean Sea.Anyway to backtrack to the Gulf of Mexico. Last time we were on our way to Merida and so we spent Easter there. Arriving there on the Wednesday before saw us in a hostel called El Jardin with a handyman/waiter called Manuel. Gary could not keep Fawlty Towers out of his head but however there were no real mishaps. Easter Thursday saw us getting a local bus to Progresso 3/4hr north to the seaside - the gulf - and there we spent a couple hrs under a coconut tree on the beach. Nice white sand and a gentle rolling wave (no surf). There are restaurants on the beach (on the sand I mean) with south sea island type roofs and there you can sit and eat,drink and run into the water to cool off in between courses. A nice interlude. We spent a couple days around the town itself also. We had anoher buis trip to Celestun on another part of of gulf. It was easter saturday and everyone was off to the beach - 3in 2 seats and packed in aisle right to the door. 90km took 2 & 3/4 hrs and poor Gary had to stand the whole way. Eventually we got there to get on a boat trip to the nearby river and biosphere area to see flamingos. Not many but what there were was great to see - lovely pinky/orangy colour. Again lunch on the beach. The bus trip back was better as we left before the rush.We did have a bus mishap there in that one bus for another trip was not running so a local lady took us under her wing and we got a "local local" bus to a really little town and from there in a "taxi" to our destination - some ruins. Now the taxi - imagine a motorbike with a beanchseat attached to the front of it- the seat is on a frame with 2 wheels and an overhead cover and we are looking out forward and the driver is on the motorbike behind us. It only went about 10kms an hour and took about 15mins to go a few kms and on the seat was us and the lady and her young daughter. And we returned the same way. Taxi and then local bus. The trip was the laugh of the day and the ruins were okay by the way. Our last day in Merida saw us doing a bit of housekeeping - took the washing to the Lavendria . 4kg of clothes washed for approx A$10. Yes you have the clothes weighed. After Merida we caught a bus east and 2.5 hrs we were in Valladolid - for 2 nights. Our first afternoon saw us head out to a cenote - a freshwater sinkhole. In this area there are underground rivers and there are many areas where the ground has subsided and these sinkholes have formed. The one we visited saw us walking down 73 stairs from ground level to access the cenote, Beautiful clear cool water to swim in with tree roots growing down from the sides of the hole into the hole. It was open at top. The great pity was coming out fresh and cool into the heat. That afternoon we also came across a local chocolate "factory" WE had a quick tour and tasting for free. The factory is actually local mayan women making the chocolate all by hand from the raw material - no machinery involved. We did buy some chocolate - our easter treat ( not a single easter egg or bun was seen) and then decided to have a cold chocolate milk drink from their shop. The waiter gave us a Jenga game to keep us amused and said it wouldn't be long. After several goes at Jenga we finally got our cold drink but only after we saw a staff member return from the local shop with the cold milk.It was good despite the wait and we evens at Jenga. Our visit to Valladolid was to see the famous ruins at Chichen Itza .They were good but once again it hot and there were hundreds there. So it was back to town to swim in another cenote located within the town. The hostel here saw us have our first experience of a shared bathroom on our travels. It was relatively clean but a la caravan park style so was glad it was summer and not a winter breeze whistling through.We enjoyed Valladolid as it was a smaller town and was easy to walk around in.I even went out early at 6.30pm by myself for a walk - something I haven't done up until now. So today we moved onto Playa del Carmen on the Caribbean. A tourist mecca - think Gold Coast only much much more. We are in a beach shack type hostel with a beach a few steps away.
