Merida

Mexico

November 2006
3 days

Merida
18th to 20th November 2006

Back to civilisation and a proper bed! We all went out and had cocktails and a yummy dinner... This is where we had that photo taken of us in Sombreros for the Seasonal Greetings photo we sent you all.

We all took the bus the morning after to go and see the Sink Holes (Cenotes!) that are underground caves with fresh water in them. Riddled with stalactites or stalagmites (can never remember which are which) and tree roots reaching down from the rock above trying to source water they were great little hideaways.

You had to be nimble to climb down the vertical wooden ladders to these sinkholes. It was quite dark with the only light coming from a hole in the rock above which gave the water a creepy feeling as not quite knowing what might be living down here.

We got to these sink holes on a horse drawn carts on railway tracks. A rickety ride but we got to see three different sinkholes and each were unique in size and appearance. The last one we visited had a hole in the ground above big enough to jump through and three very brave members of the group (Matt, Paul and Amber) took on the challenge and leapt in to the darkness for the four second fall to the water below.

This took tremendous guts so well done guys and Amber who jumped last and got a nice bruise to prove it.

Chinchen Itza
Then we were back on the bus east towards Playa Del Carmen and we stopped for a few hours at the infamous ruins site Chinchen Itza.

I´d been here 10 years previous but in the middle of summer so enjoyed the temperature a lot more this time around. It´s a huge site and the main pyramid, once again designed by the Mayans, was cleverly done so on the winter solstist you get the impression of a Snake climbing the sides of the pyramid... the planning that went into this back then was outstanding.

Also the site had superb acoustics so that a leader could stand atop of this pyramid and speak to thousands of followers without the need to raise his voice as of course there weren't any loudspeakers!

A very interesting site and after our tour we were back on the road to our final destination, the beach resort of Playa Del Carmen, where thousands of tourists flock to each summer for the beautiful beaches and clear Caribbean waters.

That night we found a great club in the resort offering free drinks to girls (I wonder why!!) and it extended out on to the beach. They played mad techo, cheese, salsa and ragaton along with hip-hop - what a mix!, i don´t think I will be forgetting that Gasolina song and SY was up for a spot of Salsa! Later two from our group who we had our suspicions about finally got it on....so that was cool. At 2am we were listening to Bob Marley on the beach drinking cocktails and looking up at the stars, whilst the waves broke gently on the sand.

Life is good!