Mexico – Playa del Carmen & Tulum

We grabbed the bus from Cancun to Playa del carmen and checked into a small shack next to the beach with a straw roof. Some random guy hustled us for 50 pesos for helping us find a place to stay, even though didn’t even need help – all the hotels and hostels were located next to each other… later that day we saw a black thing flying into our room. We figured it might be a roach and started looking for it. However, we could only find a crab(!) on the wall our room. We then chilled out with some rum, coke baileys and beer on the beach. Afterwards, we went to party it up at the clubs in the city. There were heaps of people at the clubs and and a nice beach town atmosphere. [...] Read more

Mexico – Cancún

We arrived in Cancún in the late evening after a three hour bus ride. We checked in at the top room in a nice little hotel with a way too long and narrow staircase. The minute we left the hostel to explore the city, we bumped into a pill-popping 40ish techno-fan. [...] Read more

Mexico – Chichén Itzá

Early in the morning we went to Chichén Itzá by bus. The busride took about an hour. Chichén Itzá is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Maya name “Chichén Itza” means “At the mouth of the well of the magic water.” [...] Read more

Mexico – Mérida

Mérida is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state Yucatán and the Yucatán Peninsula. We arrived in the evening and check into a backpacker hostel in the city center. We stayed at a very small dorm room with four beds and no lock on the door, but it was alright as we were only planning on staying for only one night. The staff was very nice and they offered free Internet access. [...] Read more

Mexico – Campeche

We were lucky to find a great, old and nicely priced room at Hotel Campeche with a little balcony and shiny tiles covering both the floor and the walls. The room was huge and all three of us got a queen sized bed – quite a difference from our accommodation in the Lacandon Maya village to say the least. In addition, the hotel was located in the city center, right next to the main plaza. [...] Read more

Mexico – Yaxchilan, Bonampak & the Lacandon village

The next morning we got up really early and left the hotel at 6am(!) looking like tree zombies. A quick breakfast consiting of eggs and fruit awaited us in the middle of nowhere after driving for about 1.5 hours. Then we continued towards Yaxchilan. Yaxchilan is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful states along the course of the Usumacinta. We traveled towards Yaxchilan first by minibus then continued our journey with a motorized canoe on the wide Usumacinta River which was surrounded by jungle. [...] Read more

Mexico – Palenque, Misol-Ha & Agua Azul

The next morning we went to the pyramides located in the jungle just outside Palenque – a spectacular site! Palenque was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the seventh century. We rented a guide who was just chilling out next to a schrubbery in the midst of the forest. He spoke broken english and gave us a tour through the jungle, wheras about 1400 pyramides in all sizes where located. Only 15-20% of these were excavated, the rest were still covered with mud, while the big ones, covered with thick jungle, rose tall as mountains in the horizont. Our guide showed us where the wolf spiders resided (spiders that leap towards you and sting/bite hard!), taught us about the plant life, showed us how the Maya’s painted their buildings and explained their most important rituals. Then he took us through the greatest pyramides in the ruins of a great white colored town from the ancient times.
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Mexico – Veracruz

Thursday night we said goodbye to Mariana and Maite, and left Mexico City for Veracruz (a city with about 2 million inhabitants). Veracruz was the second most important port, after Havanna, when the Spanish arrived during the colonial period. As, a conseqeunce the whole city is located next to the ocean. The port is huge, but the beaches are not that nice [...] Read more

Mexico – Mexico City

After a ten hour plane ride from London Heathrow to Mexico City I had watched Wolverine and some tv shows, gotten almost no sleep and had a jetlag of doom! I´ve only experienced a major jetlag once before and was not feeling very comfortable. However, picking up the luggage and going through the everlasting lines of immigration went rather well. Considering the amount of people at the airport, I still consider it rather amazing that Santiago and I met up only after a couple of minutes later. As Santiago is a good mate, he let me stay in his house and we drove straight to his place – a beautiful house in the north of Mexico City. Even though I knew Mexico City is huge, I was still baffled by its size while driving to Santiago´s home from the airport. [...] Read more