Also, the microphone on my video camera is not very good. I apologize for the videos that do not have the music being played. You may want to mute your sound.
After arriving in Cancun on the 9th of March I met some really nice travelers on the bus. I befriended Herman the German, and he and I have been traveling off and on together for a week now. We both ended up staying at a great hostel where we met a few other chaps. We have all visited Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum together. I have named our group the Hostel Homies. They have nicknamed me California Bob...as most people know we cannot choose our own nicknames. However, I have embraced this new name and have even introduced myself as such on more than one occasion. Saying that I am from the U.S. carries certain negative connotations to some, yet saying California appears to have the opposite affect most times.
The beaches of Cancun are beautiful. The gigantic hotels that line the shoreline however are hideous. So I spent most of my time looking straight out into the ocean. Although, one cannot help to look right and left often and see these large buildings and tons of Americans. Oh did I forget to mention that it was “Spring Break” for American Universities right then? Well, it is and drunk Americans are everywhere!!! Is it ironic or just unfortunate that in an attempt to remove myself for m the American influence I find myself at times surrounded by it?
So, I escaped to Chichén Itzá whcih are some beautiful Mayan Ruins. They say that this site served religious purposes for the Mayan. While being there one can certainly feel a spiritual presence. The huge temples, sports fields, observatories, and huge cenotes where they sacrificed people was very interesting to say the least. Beyond the Mayan's ability to devise a calendar that is more accurate than our modern one, their control of sound was beyond impressive. The ball field where they played games, sometimes leading to death of the winners and losers, doubled as an echo chamber. A single clap could be heard at least seven times before fading out. Also, if you are standing in front of the large temple a clap loudly a funny thing happens. The sound carries into the five chambers at the top of the temple. The sound waves then reverberate within those rooms changing from a clap noise to the same sound that a unique native bird makes. The Mayan believed that it was sound that connected the living to the spirit world.
On the way to Chichén Itzá we stopped at a cenote that we could swim in. This was really cool and I could not help but flip in for a swim. As this site was a few hours from the coast it was really hot. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves in the cool water.
Cancun was way too touristy in all the wrong ways for me/us so Harry and I moved on.
Isla Mujeres is an island north of Cancun. It is incredibly beautiful. The sandy beaches are long, the water is clear and the coral reefs are full of colorful life. While there for two days I snorkeled, wrote and read on the beach. Reading has been a cornerstone to my beach time. While I do spend a great deal of time enjoying the beach scenery I have also been able to engross myself in books. In order of finished books so far I have read Mark Twain-Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, James Redfield-Celestine Prophecy, Herman Hesse-Sidartha and now I am nearly done with Daniel Quinn-Ishmael.
The Hostel on Isla Mujeres was great. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed another day while my Harry AKA Herman the German moved along to Playa del Carmen. The Hostel was amazing with the beach volleyball court, beach access, hammocks, beach bar, cheap and good restaurant, live bands and more. The first night I was there Lucas from Argentina put on a Magic show....I mean what else could a person ever want. Here are some pictures I took just before I left one morning.
From Isla Mujeres I went back to Cancun and then took a bus to Playa del Carmen to meet up with the Hostel Homies. I had no idea where they were staying and needed to check my Facebook.com email. By the way Facebook.com is HUGE!!! Everybody and I mean everybody no matter what country they are from is on that thing. I checked myself into a hostel close to the bus station. When I went to check my email on their computer sure enough there was Herman the German and English Ethan sitting there. Coincidence?
Playa del Carmen has a really pretty beach and warm water. We hung out there for the day and then went out that night. Our Hostel was nice and clean. The was a roof top bar that we hung out at before everyone went to a club together at one in the morning.
The next day Harry and I went to Cozumel. This is a really beautiful island with sandy beaches on the north side, and great coral reefs on the south side. The day we arrived on the island we went straight to snorkeling after we rented a scooter to get around the fairly large island. The next day we continued our snorkeling adventures and beach gazing as we drove around the entire island. Cozumel was a blast and I even was able to see the cruise ships that stops there for the night. It still stung a bit to know that the cruise I missed would have placed me on the island a few weeks prior. However, it did not bother me again once we drove past.
From Cozumel I took a ferry back to Playa del Carmen and then a bus to Tulum. Our first night there started out very uneventful. However, we found a local fair or festival going on that night. There were hundreds of people still partying when I left at 3:30 in the morning. The band continued to play and people were dancing most likely until the sun rose.
The Tulum Mayan ruins are situated right up against the ocean. Even though it was a cloudy day it was still quite an experience. The Hostel Homies were all there and together we had a great time exploring the sight.
No comments:
Post a Comment