OK, well quite a lot has changed since my last entry and the part of my brain that deals with planning and making choices has been working overtime. However, I’ve now made a decision that I’m really happy and excited with – and that is to re-jig my itinerary and not leave Mexico for a couple more weeks now. A surge of romanticised feelings about this crazy colourful country have arisen in me all of a sudden and I just don’t think it’s time yet for me to leave here yet. Therefore I’m letting myself float on and join in with an idea proposed by Graeme from the hostel in Oaxaca - it actually sounds too good to miss and I'm really looking forward to it.
Basically, Graeme’s idea is to hire a car between 4 of us (Steve’s coming too and another girl called Jessica who I haven’t met yet, but who Graeme knows through his voluntary work) and set off on a road trip up through Baja California – the long, thin, finger like peninsula that stretches down from Tijuana on the Pacific coast. It’s a part of Mexico that I never thought I’d get round to seeing, but the more I read about it the more it appeals. Whale watching, beautiful Pacific beaches, sampling wine in one of the ‘New World’s' hottest new regions, and generally feeling the thrill of the open road (in a car with the company of mates, as opposed to on a Mexican bus with aggressive a/c and rubbish dubbed American films!) are all things that will be on the agenda now I’ve agreed to be in on the idea. At first I thought it wouldn’t be possible – what with my plans to head down to Belize this weekend and continue with the itinerary that I spent so long (and so many dull rainy London days) mapping out. However, the more I thought about it, the more the whole idea of throwing it all up in the air and changing things around appealed to me, and loads of other factors began to swing the vote in favour of me saying yes to the road trip.
Firstly, somewhere along the line over the past few days the idea of Belize began to make me nervous. Revisiting my guidebook, reading other travellers’ reports on-line, and chatting to other people I met who had been there, I just kept facing a general consensus that Belize City in particular (destined to have been my first stop) is a dodgy, crime-ridden place where no-one is advised to go out after dark, let alone women on their own. Now I’m not usually swayed by scaremongering, and I know full well that anywhere has the potential to be dangerous. However, a bit more research indicated that there don’t really seem to be any hostels in Belize City, suggesting that it’s not much of a travellers’ hang-out anyway. I couldn’t find any Couchsurfers who I fancied the idea of staying with either, and the thought of sitting it out in an expensive hotel on my own, while feeling edgy about venturing round the city left me cold. True - the beaches and wildlife of Belize do still sound lovely, and I knew that I could probably hook up with Sarah and Mike (the travellers I met in Palenque) if I made it further east to the Cayes by the weekend. That would have been a long hard coach slog down the coast through Cancun, though, and, much as I have enjoyed the Yucatan up until here (Merida), I have heard that it rapidly gets tackier, less Mexican, and more plasticy and pricey once you venture further down.
I did have plans to stay with David, an interesting sounding Couchsurfer who is film-maker in Cancun, and I thought that might have made it worthwhile. However, an apologetic e-mail appeared in my inbox from him on Monday, explaining that he had been whisked off to make a documentary about fishermen, and would now be out on a boat in middle of the Atlantic until Christmas or something (?!), so that put paid to that! Couchsurfers are beginning to let me down more and more, I’m afraid (Tamara, who was meant to be hosting me here disappeared into thin air - meaning I had to check into a hostel here in Merida), which is a bit of a bummer. However I can’t let this colour my judgement of the scheme in general, and the great people who have hosted me and helped me out so far. I’ve had some lovely messages from Rebecca recently, and can see her remaining a close contact, and then there’s Ricardo who, as I’ll come to explain, might come back onto the scene now I’m changing my plans.
So, yeah, yesterday I made my decision (also very much influenced by the fact that I really got on with Graeme and Steve in Oaxaca, and am longing for good, entertaining, possibly British company at present). I phoned Bambabus to see if I could change things round with my pass and they couldn’t have been more helpful. Saul and Arturo from Bambabus, if you ever read this, thank-you so much - and if I get to meet you, I will give you both a big smacker! I found a cheap flight on-line from a nearby place called Ciudad Del Carmen back to Mexico City for tomorrow (this is where I’m going to meet with the others once they’ve hired the car) and, according to Bambabus, it is fine for me to put the part of my buspass that covers Belize and Guatemala ‘on hold’ - or use it on other routes in Central America when I make my way down there again. I’ll probably have to pay up for another flight at some point to make up for lost time, and maybe miss out a couple of places on my original itinerary, but I think I’m going to gain so much. Baja sounds beautiful, and I’m now thinking I might incorporate a ride on the Copper Canyon railway too - and perhaps even a journey further east to Monterrey where Ricardo is from. Yep, I’ve been back in touch with him (he gave Baja the vote as opposed to Belize, which helped me with my decision making), and he’s saying he’d like to see me again. Not quite sure what to do there, but I won’t start ruminating on all my thoughts or feelings about it now, though, or I’ll be in this internet café (which incidentally seems to be the courting ground of all Merida’s lovelorn teenagers – I can’t turn my head without seeing them all smooching over their frappucinos!) all night.
So gosh, with all of that out of the way, I had better say something about Merida – my current destination. Well, it’s not as picture-pretty as Campeche, but I’m liking it a lot, and feel as if I’m getting a true taste of the Yucatan here. A taste of the Yucatan? Well, that seems to involve hammocks (‘the’ sisal-crafted souvenir from here – and most people from the area really do sleep in them as opposed to beds as they’re so small-space friendly and comfortable), salsa (the influence from and proximity to Cuba really is evident here), and wonderful Yucatecan cuisine.
The food, from what I’ve tasted so far, is spiced differently (a lot of the meat is marinated and red in colour, rather like tandoori) and tangy on account of the use of lots of citrus fruits and colourful pickled vegetables. A new favourite Mexican thing of mine is ‘salbutes’ – crisp slightly oily corn tortillas, piled high with pickled onions, radish, shredded turkey and avocado. Mmm, a riot of colour on the plate and a veritable symphony of taste on the palate… Plus, with a sustaining portion of two costing little over a quid, they are a total bargain at a fantastic little market-side cafe called ‘La Reina Itzalena’ that I discovered not far from my hostel.
It was here that I went with a new room-mate called Ali last night for a bite to eat before watching a free concert in a local square. We weren’t quite sure what this would entail (someone had mentioned it to Ali earlier in the day and we just decided to go along). However, it turned out to be a very popular event for the city’s older community, who were all out in their glad rags ready to salsa until midnight (putting us to shame as we were knackered and headed back to the hostel to bed at about 10.00!)! It was a wonder to watch and really made us giggle, warming our spirits. Kind of like a school-disco for the over-50s, we could see silver-haired ‘senors’ (some in baseball caps and almost indecently open-necked shirts) prowling round the edge of the dancefloor, checking out the ‘senoras’ – many of whom had quite matronly figures and grey hair, but whom were revered and treated like beautiful princesses by their dance partners. They danced fantastically, and made Ali and I positively look forward to being old ladies. The whole scene seemed to suggest that romance, rhythm and style (well, a certain type of style!) can be part of old age, and it really made us smile.
So that, and a bit of a tour of the city (Merida is great for free stuff – the tourist board here offer 2 hour walking-tours that you don’t have to pay a peso for) was what I did yesterday (oh, and I also checked out Merida’s market – a bizarre, tumbledown place where parrots were sold next door to pornography, and little tin trays of yellow-hot chillis tumbled over into just about everything else on display). Then today I did Chichen Itza, as my photos show. I felt at had to do the tour, having come this close to the famous-site - and I have no regrets that I did go to see it. However, it was pretty touristy, hot and exhausting, and I think it brought me to the conclusion that I am now feeling pretty ‘pyramided out’! I don’t think I want to see another Mayan ruin for quite some time now. However, heading north again tomorrow, I don’t think I will. I’m not quite sure what the next week or so will entail, nor how much I’ll be able to get on line. I’ll keep on writing though and the stories will be with you at some point.
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