The bee exists! After years of watching the cartoon bee on the Simpsons yelling “aye chihuahua!!” we couldn’t believe our eyes when the real thing appeared on the tv in front of us. Of course we had to take a photo…
Entry to Mexico
After over-nighting in Rio and setting a new world record for the most customs clearances in a two day period (7 in four countries) and passing the rigorous 5 minute inquisition to simply transit through Miami for 3 hours, we finally landed in Cancun.
The first thing we did on landing (after a Mexican beer at the airport) was jump on a bus to Playa del Carmen which was about 45 minutes down the coast. Although a little touristy and still in the tail end of spring break, the white sand and aqua waters of Playa were absolutely stunning!
Playa del Carmen
The week was leading up to our two year wedding anniversary and Playa del Carmen was a beautiful setting to splurge a little on accommodation and enjoy some sunshine and cocktails. Much to our delight the margaritas were delicious and we didn’t suffer from the once familiar margarita hangover that had made us both wary of tequila.
We took advantage of the American tourism to indulge in some tex-mex to segue into Mexican cuisine and had some great guacamole prepared table side.
We mostly relaxed in the sun but Dave did commemorate our wedding (and the broken finger he received on his bucks party) by stumbling down a step and breaking one of his toes on the day of our anniversary (this had nothing whatsoever to do with the obscene amount of cocktails and beer he had drunk in the preceding hours).
Isla Mujeres
Recommended by multiple people who were all very correct (thank you!), Isla Mujeres was way less touristy, had whiter sand, bluer water and cheaper beer than Playa del Carmen… so we were very happy!
Not much to report on activity here, the average day consisted of sitting on the beach, taking turns at SLOWLY reading Harry Potter in Spanish and drinking $5 buckets of beer.

$5 buckets of beer on the beach. Awesome!

More beer
We did sneak in a couple of days to be cultural, hitting the ocean side ruins of Tulum and the grandiose Mayan ruins in Chichen-Itza. We based ourselves in Cancun for the trip to Chichen-Itza but torrential rain made it impossible to see more than the hotel, the hotel restaurant and the bus stop


Ruins at Tulum


The pyramid at Chichen Itza

The mural depicts the captains of each team in the ball game. Note that the captain on the right has been beheaded, presumably for losing. At least they didn't have to face the British press after a defeat...


Rows of skulls around a platform for human sacrifice

A lizard hanging out on the sacrificial platform in front of the pyramid. He doesn't seem too worried though...

Dave vs Mayan warrior
Oaxaca was a beautiful little city and a highlight of our time in Mexico. Set up really well for tourists, however without a tacky touristy feeling


The church in the centre of Oaxaca. A blue bride gets ready for her wedding on the right
After eating all the wonderful food in Oaxaca, we couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing it again, so we signed up for a cooking course. Following a trip to the markets (and attempting to remember all the names for the different chillis!) we spent a couple of hours cooking several dishes before sitting down to enjoy the fruits of our labour. Not sure if we can replicate it back home, but we’ll give it a go!


Our food preparation area. The picture on the right are all of the ingredients for the Mole de Fiesta!!
A windy mini bus ride tested our stomachs and took us to the south coast town of Pochutle where even the locals couldn’t understand our determination to stay. We then spent the next 3 weeks enjoying the beaches.
Mazunte
Our first beach stop was Mazunte where we stayed in a beautiful cliff top French run hotel. Three days by the pool, waking up to fresh fruit and freshly baked honey bread set the scene for our wind down journey home.
Zipolite
Keen to slow down, we stopped for 8 nights in the beach side ‘town’ (2 streets of restaurants, hotels and mini-marts) of Zipolite.
Zipolite, loosely translated as ‘beach of the dead’, is so called because of the strong currents and powering surf. Knowing we couldn’t swim much, we found a perfect hostel with an ocean front balcony where we spent the rest of the week doing not much else than getting a bit of sun, reading in hammocks and chatting to the ex-hippy owner, before grabbing dinner and falling asleep to the sound of pounding surf.
The general store ... with the key ingredient for the beach!
Puerto Escondido
It is with full but heavy hearts that we will remember our time in Puerto.
On arriving to the lonely planet ‘our pick’ to the only room available, we were delighted to find ourselves in a top floor apartment with a view of the ‘Mexican pipeline’.
Dan talked a lot about the family vibe of his hotel where a lot of surfers stay long term over the surfing season. We saw this first hand while, watching the stunning sunset over incredible surf, we got talking to a friendly group of guys that included a world class big wave surfer and his mates who were talented enough to brave the waves
On our first walk on the beach we were blown away by the strength of the water and the size of the waves up close. We were also a little glad we couldn’t swim here when the beach was lined with washed up sea snakes.
Just after admiring the power of the surf, sadly one morning we stepped outside our room to a frantic bird’s eye search for one of the surfers who hadn’t resurfaced with his snapped board after wiping out. He was found over one hour after disappearing from view and tragically didn’t make it. The overwhelming sadness on the beach and the hotel was all encompassing and it was touching to see how the guys spent the next few days dealing with the tragedy, including an emotional sunset surfer circle.
Puerto Escondido marked the end of our “chilled out” holidays and we started to embark on the long road home. A bus ride along the coast brought us to the famous Acapulco. After the sparse calm of the Oaxaca coast, the traffic, sounds and crowds in Acapulco were a rude shock to our senses.
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