Chicken Pizza and an Island of Women

I´ve arrived and hit the ground running! First of all, I stand corrected on my opinion of Cancun...The city is colourful, buzzing and full of character - at least, that is the case in the downtown hub of central Cancun where my (fantastic) hostel was. However, I saw a very different town when we drove through the main resort area. In this part of town, huge sterile, impersonal hotels take over the skyline and it´s a shame that most people staying in these resorts - and lining the pockets of the Hilton family - will probably not see, smell or hear the real Cancun.

The hostel I stayed in was a great introduction to backpacking life! It was clean, colourful and run by an extremely friendly team. Dinner and breakfast were included in the price and were had on a table outside with all other hostellers. A great way of meeting people! 

On Day numero uno I went on a tour of Chichen Itza (also known by the alias of Chicken Pizza) - a Mayan temple holding a "new seven wonders of the world" accolade. It was a pretty impressive ruin and is renowned for its accuracy as a calander. It unfortunately suffered from what so many of these world-popular attractions suffer from: 1) too many tourists of the American persuasion 2) too much tat for tourists to buy. Nonetheless, it was interesting and worth seeing.

I then spent a night on Isla Mujeres, a small island (where pirates used to store their women friends) about 20 minutes´ boat ride from Cancun with some lovely people I met in my Cancun hostel. The hostel I stayed at was located directly on the beach and had a strong new age vibe (lot´s of enviromentally conscious, aging hippies camping or hammocking on the beach front).

Returing to land, I embarked on my first Latin American bus journey to Playa del Carmen, a beach resort about an hour outside Cancun. Latin America is famed for it´s excellent and cheap bus journeys that travel through the breadth of the continent. Being an avid bus user (thanks London) and supporter of public transport, I am actually looking forward to the hundreds of bus journeys I will have over the next few months (although don´t quote me on this - I am fully aware this feeling may change!!)