The calm before the storm

The next few weeks comprised of a rather eclectic mix of reasons to lie around not doing much.

The only exception to this was a trip to the ruins of Chichen Itza. These ruins consist of one imposing temple, surrounded by a number of other somewhat less impressive crumbling structures.

 At the temple in Chichen Itza.

After wandering around the ruins, and sweating off half our body weight, we hopped on a bus followed by a ferry to the beautiful island of Holbox.

Holbox

If anyone asked you to imagine the perfect island setting, this was it. Fine white beaches with clear blue water, breathtaking sunsets and a quaint little village with friendly locals. Of course, this was when Erik and I got sick, and spent most of the time in our room convalescing. We did manage to get in one lovely bicycle ride around the island before our respective ailments (an ear infection for Erik, a throat virus for me) struck.

Picture perfect!

After four days of relative island bliss, we took the ferry back to the mainland for our next destination: Tulum.

Tulum

The town of Tulum is not very appealing and resembles a noisy truck stop rather than a holiday destination. What makes it an attraction for travellers are its exceptional beaches located about 3km from the CBD. After taking a taxi to the beach we realized that the only place we could afford to stay amidst all the fancy resorts was a little shack on the beach. Other than its proximity to the ocean, it had very little going for it. The 'cabin' consisted of rough sticks cobbled together with large gaps in between (presumably so that the many bugs on the beach would also have somewhere to sleep). The bathroom stank of rotting animals. There was a consistently thick layer of sand on the floor and the 'shower' consisted of a cold water hose pipe sticking out of a wall. Erik, of course, loved it.

Having said that, the beach itself was very beautiful, with fine white sand and clear blue water.

We also visited the nearby ruins which were particularly impressive due to their spectacular ocean backdrop.

Awesome ocean backdrop at the Tulum ruins.

Our next brief stop, Playa del Carmen was nothing to write home about, so I won't.

Cozumel

After just one night in Playa del Carmen, we hopped on another ferry to the island of Cozumel. The island itself was very quaint and appeared to have lots of interesting things to do such as snorkelling, swimming and riding a scooter around the coast. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do any of these due to a tropical storm that had us holed up in our room for three solid days. The rain didn't stop for a minute, streets were flooded, children were kept home from school, it was even on the local news. Our most exciting outing was a walk in the rain to watch The Great Gatsby at the cinema. Sadly, we left before we really got to enjoy the island much, but it was still a lovely place, and we choose to remember it that way.

(all our photos are pretty waterlogged, so unfortunately none are included)

Isla mujeres

We then headed to another island, Isla Mujeres (Women Island), hoping our luck with the weather would change. After a day or two of more rain, the weather finally cleared up, and we could begin our visit in earnest.

The island itself is also very quaint, with a pleasant coastline and a number of bustling pedestrian walkways. On day three, after the rain finally stopped, we rented some bicycles and took a ride to the local turtle sanctuary where they breed turtles and then set them free into the ocean.

Erik chilling with a baby turtle.

Erik sipping on a local drink called a Michelada (beer, salt, lime and tomato juice - tasty!)

The following day, we booked a boat trip to swim with the massive whale sharks which are known to frequent the ocean near the island. Naturally I was terrified (sharks, even the non-carnivorous kind, are not my favourite). Despite being convinced that I wouldn't return from the trip with all my limbs intact, we climbed on the boat at 8:30am and headed out. The water was incredibly choppy, and we spent most of the journey being jounced around and getting completely soaked. Due to the bad conditions, the sharks were really difficult to spot, and after six hours in the boat with no luck, we headed back (about which I felt a strange combination of relief and disappointment).

The fateful non-whaleshark swimming trip.

Erik would not be deterred, and promptly booked another trip for us on the day after next. On the morning of the second trip (perhaps in a instinctive attempt at self preservation) I started to get sick again, and I had to be left behind. Erik returned triumphant! He admitted that it was actually quite scary, and that I likely would have died from terror. So it all worked out well in the end.

Erik's close encounter of the whaleshark kind.

Cancun airport

It was finally time to return to the mainland to begin the next big leg of our journey to Cuba. Unfortunately, before we could leave, we had to endure a rather unpleasant ordeal at the airport. Erik is still so incensed that he can't bring himself to write about it in the blog. So I'll do my best to summarize:

As I've mentioned before, when entering Mexico through Tijuana, we had simply walked over the border as there were no officials anywhere to stamp our passports. At the time we thought this was really strange, but chalked it up to lax border control.

Two and a half months later, at the airport it turned out we would end up paying (literally) for this oversight. We had to visit the immigration office to sort out the mess. After standing in numerous queues and filling out endless forms, we stood before the grumpy immigration official desperate to get on with it so we could check in. The official, who Erik likes to refer to as 'the dickhead' gleefully proceeded to tell us we had to pay a hefty fine. Erik was not pleased. After much arguing and fist clenching, we ended up paying the fine anyway and were finally free to head off to Cuba. (Erik would like me to mention that he maliciously left a chewed piece of fingernail on the floor as retribution).