Final Days in Mexico - the Carribean Coastal Ruins of Tulum then Chetumal
 
Checkout was 12 (boo hoo!) but that still meant you could eat breakfast so with no avail Ads and I prepared our stomachs to eat as much food as we could so that we didn't have to pay for any more food that day!!! Breakfast appears to have about 8 courses; cereal, fruit, omelettes, meat pie, hash browns, toast, pancakes, refried beans, fruit, croissants and even cake!!! After managing about 4 courses we very heavily packed our bags and left our luxury all inclusive lifestyle back to good ole back packing!!! Carrying an extra two stone between us in beer and food, we boarded the local bus, but unfortunately this became packed hot and sweaty and today my claustrophobic head was not up for coping with it so swiftly we exited after which I collapsed on the side of the road right in a mossie nest, nice! Ads dragged me up and we started the hike to the bus station still being eaten alive by the swarm stuck to us!! To cut a long story short a taxi it finally was, so the two of us and 50 mozzies got in and frantically with the driver tried to swat them all on route, joy!
 
That day saw us on the road again following the Carribean coastline to a small town called Tulum where more famous Maya ruins exist .... A joyous bus journey for Adam saw us joining the local screaming kids at the back (roll on being an uncle ha ha!) then after 2 hours of going mad to buzzing game boys n 'kids stuff' noises, we arrived in Tulum to the roaring heat! The town was a cool place, reminded me abit of the hippy town of Nimbin in Oz many years ago, it had lots of cafes, juice bars, craft places and a relaxed feel. Adding to this our accommodation for the night was a mud hut cabana on stilts amongst a jungle type setting with the tunes of Bon Marley playing, despite being a very hot and airless night it was kinda cool.
 
The next day we joined the swarms of tourists at the ruins, as this site was smaller than others the abundance of others there was in your face quite abit but despite this the ruins were beautiful. Set right on the carribean coast overlooking an azure sea, white sand, palm trees and idyllic bays, it was just beautiful and a far cry from the high rise hotels of Cancun, if only we had had more time to stay here...... Hurrying round the palaces, numerous temples cheekily guarded by the many Iguana's proudly poking their noses in the air, it was then back on the bus to the Mexican border town of Chetumal.
 
They say Chetumal has an American feel and that is true, on arriving in the outskirts the wide tree lined boulevards, large shopping outlets were a far cry from the many shacks and stunning blue lagoon towns we had passed on route here. On departing the bus I was hounded by a guy shouting 'Belize' at me at which he was pointing to this battered out old greyhound bus with 'Belize Express' on it, which if 'Express' meant 5 miles an hour then I could have believed it...... already we were starting to see what lay ahead, oh for the luxurious air conditioned seats on Ado, god I am a transport geek! The guy was cool though recommended some accommodation for the night which turned out to be sound then happily took the 5 pounds off of us for our 'Express' bus journey the next day across the border to Belize!
 
Chetumal wasn't bad for a border town, probably the best and most modern border town we have seen yet! The atmosphere was buzzing as some famous guy was in town doing some open air singing stuff we think so roads, pavements and central reservations were crowded with locals trying to get a sneak preview! We wandered down to the sea front, the turquoise water seemed to have disappeared and was replaced with a browner version, eeek and very randomly young kids were buzzing round the local monument in mini electric cars for hire, very weird.... Treating ourselves to our last Mexican meal (plus a hot dog for Adam for desert) we crashed in our lovely bright turquoise on the outside and orange on the inside hotel, sort of excited but quite nervous about destination 14 Belize!!!