Easter: Cancún & Isla Mujeres

It's been ages since I last wrote. Apologies.

Even though I have been on several trips since, I guess I should start with my Easter adventures since they have been a major highlight of this year abroad.

So, first stop was Cancún. Wasn't particularly bothered with the whole massive clubbing scene but used it as a stop off for the rest of the trip as it was cheap to fly in. Unfortunately this meant that the airline was as bad as ryan air. I couldn't even get all my 2 weeks' luggage on despite how lightly I'd packed, leaving me to nicely ask a girl to put my guidebook and a pair of denim shorts in her bag to take on board since mine was overweight. Baggage trauma aside, the journey in itself was pretty cool. From the air I could see so many colours (I presume from the coral reefs?) as we flew over the peninsular and I was unable to distinguish land from sea, since so much of the land around Cancún is lagoon. Unfortunately I have no pictures of this so you'll have to take my word for it being sincerely COOL.

We spent the afternoon on the beach taking in the scenery, the clear turquoise sea, the little boats on the horizon, the soft white sand and... the giant beastly hotels. But if you kept your back to them then it was okay. The water was warm, the sun was hot and the cocktails came in a hollowed out pineapple with a face. In the evening we went for dinner: fajitas (not usually available in Mexico but in the touristy areas seen as 'typical Mexican food' and burritos (also not Mexican but Tex-Mex) were on the menu so of course we indulged in such regional specialties... lol.  Following that, we went for a yard of beer. Pretty cool as it comes in a giant tube and you get to pour your own out of the tap. Saw a nice lady do a fire spinning show, went back to the hostel, chilled with the lovely hostel folk and went to bed. 

 Day 2: Isla Mujeres.

Took the ferry across to the island and arrived at the hippy hostel Poc' Na. Bob Marley playing, the majority of people there with dreads, own private section of beach with hammocks, palm trees and a beach bar. This is the life. Headed down to the beach and chilled on the sunloungers, out for a meal in the evening and back to the beach bar to claim our free cocktail.
 

Day 3: Isla Mujeres.

Went snorkelling. Took a boat out to the reef with our guides to the snorkel spot and threw ourselves off the edge into the water. Our guide was a kid but he knew exactly where to go and we saw some amazing sealife. Beautiful coloured corals, rainbow fish, bright yellow fish, Dory from Finding Nemo, a big long grey fish, sting rays (I think), underwater statues (blatantly placed there on purpose but still cool) and loads more little fishies. We swam out to the lighthouse which was cool but the tide was quite strong and it was a bit scary as we neared the rocks on a few occasions but everyone was fine. I was not happy, though, on the boat cos the water was quite rough and with each wave it rocked back and forth, making me verrrrry queasy. The boat took us to a seafront restaurant where they served us red snapper (I think) which was delicious and we could have as much as we wanted :) 

 

Later we went back to the beach for a chill and in the evening Emma and I found a place that did proper fish and chips with tartar sauce. Amazing. They even had malt vinegar and beer batter. We were very happy customers.