Cancun, Mexico to Caye Caulker, Belize

Hello everyone, sorry I haven't had time to update this blog...internet access is pretty sparse (and so is free time!) I also don't currently have pictures uploaded to the computer, but that will surely follow soon.

Jeff and I began on Wednesday the 20th, landing in Cancun, Mexico on a typical muggy day. After the hassle of the airport, we took a bus to the center of Cancun and wandered around until we found a hostel, which ended up being a small place painted with art and graffiti called Hostal Quetzal. It has sort of a bohemian atmosphere, located across from a park with strange architecture and loaded with interesting characters. You sleep in bunk beds in a large room with everyone else, and everyone shares common kitchen and living rooms, which is why it's so cheap! We had a lot of fun there meeting the travelers that came through.

During the stay in Cancun, we visited a few ruins, the perfect beaches near the big hotel strip, and ate some expensive seafood, but it seemed too far onto the beaten path, so we packed up on Saturday and headed south to Tulum. Traveling with us were two people our age from Australia who had been tooling around the US for 7 weeks.

Tulum is a small beach area 2 hours south of Cancun. Again, after several hours of wandering around, we finally found our hostel, which is located at the end of a 10km-long road that winds through palm trees and along small hotels and cabanas. The hostel is actually more of a commune...we stayed in thatched roof huts called cabanas, with mosquito nets over the beds, and cooked and ate outside. Out back, there' s a cenote, which is one of several deep freshwater pools that are connected by underground caves throughout the Yucatan peninsula. We snorkeled in the cenote, which apparently houses and alligator.

The beaches in Tulum were basically empty, probably due to the swine flu scare, so we took advantage and played a lot of frisbee and basically chilled out with other people from the hostel. Out of 20, we were the only Americans. On one of the days, a few of us took some broken down bicycles and headed up to the ruins in Tulum. This was a very hot, humid hour-long bike ride north along the ocean. The Tulum ruins sit on top of a cliff along the ocean, and are surrounded by three land-side walls. There are several small-ish temples all build of light stones, and I think the charm of the place comes not from the size but from the location. About a millenia ago, Tulum served as a trading port for the several Maya city states along the coastline, and you can tell it would have been an interesting place to live.

After a few days on the beaches of Tulum, we decided to head south to Chetumal, Mexico, and then into Belize. The bus ride was about 4 hours, and we got to see a lot of the Yucatan countryside and the roads knifing through jungle. At the end of the ride, we ended up in a small town in northern Belize called Corocal town. People in Belize speak English, because the country used to be a colony of Britain. The north, however, is very poor and full of a lot of Spanish speakers. This was more of a stopping point on the way south, so we hit the sack early in Corocal, and the next morning headed south into the former capital, Belize City. The bus ride was on a broken down old school bus, and they blared Mexican radio the whole way down, but it was quite an interesting ride. The Belize countryside contains miles of sugar cane fields and small towns surrounded by dirt roads...much like the American midwest actually.

When we arrived in Belize City, we caught a ferry out to an island called Caye Caulker, which is where I am right now. This is a very small island (3 miles by 200 meters) with a population of about 1200 people. The entire town is covered in sand, and the place feels so laid back...the motto is Go Slow. I've been laying in a hammock for most of the day staring at the Caribbean feeling the strong breeze and relaxing with people at the hostel. Tomorrow, we'll be going snorkeling off the coast, which should be very interesting!

I'll add some pictures very soon, and will update again soon if possible. Hope all is well back home!

Ian

BLOGGING FROM CLASS!!!!

Welcome to my travel blog for our trip to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and Guatemala. My friend Jeff and I will leave at 6:00 AM, Wednesday the 20th of May.

For now, here's a map with our outgoing (blue) and returning (red) flights so you can get an idea of the geography of the area. Check back soon!