The beach at last!

I am now in Cancun the famous international beach resort. I have not actually been to the beach as yet. The part where all the hostels are is in the town so I have to get a bus there but I shall be going as soon as I am done here. Since I last wrote I have seen the sights of Veracruz, whizzed through Villahermosa and am now on my penultanate Mexican stop.

My full day in Veracruz consisted of a lot of walking around the town and various sightseeing, it had a good atmosphere as most Mexican cities seem to on weekends from what I can tell. After that I went to the bus station to get the bus to Villahermosa, unfortunately there were not as many buses going there as I had been led to believe and despite getting there at 8am, I had to wait till 1pm to actually get the bus.

After a 6 hour journey, which was made easier by the company of the lovely Claudia who was the girl next to me for the journey, I arrived in a very hot and sticky Villahermosa. I had decided to take a night bus to Cancun to save on a nights accomodation and as the journey was 14 hours this was quite a good idea. I found my hostel after a few minutes of walking and the guy who ran it was very hospitable, I actually wished I could have stayed another night for further free internet and coffee.

The next day I locked by bag up at the luggage room and proceded to stomp around the centre of Villahermosa in the 30 degree heat (not a particularly good idea). I went to a lonely planet suggested restaurant for lunch which was called the Riverside Riviera or something like that. The setting was fantastic, a 4th floor dining area with a great view of the Villahermosa river. The food and serive were great and I managed to have a steak at last as well as soup and god knows how much bread for under a tenner with a couple of Coronas as well, absouloute bargin. To be honest I had not been expecting much from the place itself, it proved to be a hot, sprawling place but had a few impressive highlights and some great memories to take away.

The bus journey to Cancun began around 8pm at night and finished at 10am the next morning, it was long and difficult to sleep. After a few hours I did at least find an empty double seat right at the back. This provided me with some amusement as the toilet was back there and there was no inidcation as to when it was occupied and the lock clearly was not very good. Therefore many people walked in on others and a couple of people even managed to pull the door handle off whilst others were in there. It helped pass the time at least. Also amusing was a Dutch guy on the bus who looked a lot like Mick Hucknall, it amused me untill I got the very irritating Simply Red song Fairground stuck in my head and couldnt sleep because of it.

I struggled finiding my hostel, more due to me having jetlag from the bus and wandering around in a 30 degree heat than it actually being difficult. The hostel is pretty rubbish but I expected it as I had only paid 3 pounds a night to stay there, at least it has air con. So here is my itinerary for the upcoming weeks, subject to change due to potential issues with transport and places being full around the Christmas/new year period.

11,12,13 December - Cancun, Mexico
14 - Chetumal, Mexico
15 - Orange Walk, Belize
16 - San Ignacio, Belize
17,18,19 - Flores/Tikal, Guatemala
20 - Guatemala City, Guatemala
21,22 - Panajachel, Guatemala
23,24,25,26 - Antigua, Guatemala
27,28,29 - Santa Ana and around, El Salvador
30,31,1 - Copan Ruinas, Honduras

This will probably be my final update from Mexico then. I really love this country and I would not rule out returning for a 3rd trip over the next few years. Off to the beach!