Mexico City- October 12-17

I finally left the hostel in Cancun and started traveling again! Myself and two guys from the hostel flew to Mexico City on the 12th. We stayed at two different hostels, the second one being a lot nicer than the first. Since we were staying close to the center of the city in one of the nicer neighborhoods, it was safe to walk around so that's what we did for most of our time there. We saw a museum of anthropology, walked through one of the large park, around downtown, around our area and through a couple of markets. We also took a day trip out to see the ruins of Teotihuacan. The site was enormous and took us the full day to see. And the food from the street venders in Mexico city was amazing and pretty cheap! Tacos may be my new favorite food haha!

Teotihuacan from the Pyramid of the Moon

Tulum- September 30-October 2

Tulum is a small town about 2 hours south of Cancun that is located next to the ruins of the Mayan site Tulum. Four of us from the hostel left on Friday afternoon and drove down. The guy driving knew a place on the beach to camp so we headed there. Unfortunately 2 of us didn't have tents so we wandered down two lots from the campground and found a little hotel type place right on the beach.
Saturday morning we went to check out the ruins which were quite different from the other Mayan sites that I had seen. Tulum was a fortified site with walls all around it and was located right on a cliff overlooking a gorgeous beach. It served as a large trading center. There weren't as many large structures as the other sites but it was still pretty cool. We spent about on hour on the beach there and then headed back to the hotel.


The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing on the beach till we had to head back to Cancun on Sunday afternoon. It was one of the nicest places I have ever been and I really hope I get to go back soon!

Valladolid- September 19-20

Yesterday 2 friends and I took a trip out to Valladolid in the Yucatan. The city is located close to both Ek Balam and Chichen Itza which are both large Mayan sites. We arrived in Valladolid at around 4pm on the 19th and headed straight for a cenote. There we met up with a friend of one of the guys I was travelling with. He then took us to a small restaurant in town that was owned by a friend. The dinner was amazing as usual (I don't think I have had a bad meal yet in Mexico, unless I've made it :P).
The next day we woke up early, had a traditional Mexican breakfast and headed out to Ek Balam. Unlike Chichen Itza we were allowed to climb and explore the ruins which was really neat. The view from the top of the larger pyramid was impressive.

We drove back to Valladolid after Ek Balam for some food and to see the main square. There was a hotel there that was once the home of the Spaniard who I think founded Valladolid, but unfortunately we were not allowed to explore inside.


We then went to Chichen Itza. I'm glad I was able to go a second time because there was a large part of the site I was unable to get to the first time. I was able to appreciate a little more the extent of the site, and that's without even seeing the living quarters of the commoners that surrounds the main area. We then realized at the end of the day that we were there on the day before the fall equinox and went back to El Castillo to see if we could see the feathered serpent illusion. The Mayans designed El Castillo so that on the day of the equinox, the shadow along the side of the stairway with the feathered serpent looks like a snakes body. It wasn't as good as pictures I've seen of the day of the equinox, but it was still pretty cool.

Chichen Itza and Cenotes- Sept 18 2011

Yesterday I went to Chichen Itza. It was a full day tour offered by the hostel that included seeing the site and going to some near by Cenotes. The tour started off kinda slow cause we had to wait around a while before we could actually get going. Then the highway that they usually take was closed so we ended up taking another road which was slower but went through a lot of small Mayan villages. We were able to get a glimpse of how the people lived which was interesting. The tour guide, who lives in one of the near by villages, claimed 80% of the Mayan population lives without electricity. He also said not to feel sorry for them because it's hard to miss something you've never had. Apparently they are content maintaining their traditional lifestyle. The rest of the morning was all markets and a restaurant where we had a buffet lunch which was alright.



It was only by 2:30 that we actually reached the site. The site was enormous and spectacular! There were so many little architectural features, especially with El Castillo, that made the buildings truly awe-inspiring. At the end of the tour, our guide brought is directly in front of the north face of El Castillo and started clapping. The Mayans somehow designed it so that the sound from the clap echoes back as the sound of a bird in the area that is regarded as sacred.




After seeing Chichen Itza, we went to the nearby Cenote which is a naturally occuring sink hole filled with fresh water. It was beautiful and the water was cold which was nice after a long day in the sun. Unfortunately were were only able to spend about 30 minutes swimming in the Cenote and then were headed back to Cancun. I wish the would just drop the market stuff at the beginning and give you more time at Chichen Itza and the Cenotes! But it was an awesome trip anyways!

Balam at Hostel Ka'beh

Cancun- Sept 16 2011

Sorry I haven't updated this recently, haven't had too much to talk about. A couple of weeks ago a little kitten wandered into the front area of the hostel and fell asleep behind the bar. He had a huge cut down his back that was infected, he was malnourished and for a while couldn't walk on his back leg. So we decided to try to help him out and gave him some food and tried to do what we could for the infection. About a week later he was still hanging around so we decided to name him Balam which means "jaguar" in Mayan. Since then the owner of the hostel has taken him to the vet and got him cleaned up and the wound stitched. He is now acting like a normal kitten and being an absolute terror. But he's adorable and seems to be quite content. 
On Wednesday we went snorkeling with whale sharks! It was amazing! It was about an hour long boat ride out from Cancun. Once we were out, we paired up and the guides would move to where the whale shark were swimming. We then jumped in and swam like hell to catch up to it and to keep up. We weren't allowed to touch them, but we were close enough that we could have. It was seriously awesome! There was one point where the whale shark had dove down but we kept up with it on the surface, and when it started coming back up it was right underneath me! My biggest regret is that I don't have an underwater camera so I have no pictures :(.
After swimming with the whale sharks, we went to a small reef and snorkeled for about half an hour. I saw some of the brightest fish I have ever seen and saw a star fish in the wild for the first time! We also saw dolphins on the ride out, and possibly a sting ray. The whole day was a lot of fun. 
Last night was Mexico's Independence Day. There was some activities going on at the hostel, like a pinata, but a friend and I decided to go out instead into the streets to see how locals celebrated. Unfortunately we were a little late and missed the big show but were able to experience the energy and excitement. There were tons of people gathered in the streets, and it seemed every little square or park had live music and dancing. They definitely get more excited about it then we do about Canada Day! 
Other than that I've just been hanging around the hostel relaxing, meeting people and doing the occasional beach trip. Hopefully I will have something interesting to write about this weekend though :). Toodles!

Cancun- August 25

So I got through my first week of work at the hostel. It can be a little boring at times, but most of the time it's fun. Still meeting lots of fun people and getting to know the area a bit better. On Saturday we went out to a place called Coco Bongo. It's a club, but they have a show for a couple of hours with impersonators performing songs and acrobats that come down from the ceiling. It was an awesome show. I think I'm slowly getting use to the heat but it might actually take me a few months I think haha. Otherwise I've just been hanging out around the hostel and at the beach and enjoying life :).