Page 69 - Phonebox Magazine September 2008

Mexico to Guatemala ...
used to rub over the person they are praying for. And lots of the local alcohol even giving shots to children. The church itself is beautiful inside (previously made by the Spanish), but is different to ours back home. There are no chairs so people sit on the floor, every few days they put fresh hay down and people burn candles on the floor. Around the church were glass boxes, each with a different saint in them for people to pray to the relevant saint.
It was also very noisy, with kids playing and
playing intricate Mexican guitar with a heavy Spanish Mexican influence, followed by a drum band and fire shows on the first night and hugely energetic percussion and salsa groups on the second night.
During the day we visited the
Mayan ruins, set in jungle in
the Palenque National Park.
Although smaller than some of
the sites in Central America,
Palenque contains some of the
finest architecture and sculpture produced by the Mayans and set in amongst the jungle gave it a real discovery feel and took us back in time.
Next we headed over to the town of Merida, travelling yet again by Mexican bus, complete
Making a splash at the Cenotes
people talking. We were not able to take any photos inside as the locals believe that photos take away your soul. The locals do know there are different religions and don’t mind other people having different beliefs, but unfortunately for them a lot of missionaries are coming to the villages trying to convert them to what they believe is the correct religion for them. These missionaries even spent $4 million on converting the bible into the local language. Maybe this money could have been a lot better spent on a school or a hospital,
The view from the horse drawn cart at the Cenotes
with TVs (dubbed in Spanish) and quite a lot of leg room - definitely a lot better than our national buses! Merida was another nice little colonial town but we didn't do much there, apart from having a pool party with
our group one evening in the hotels swimming pool. We did travel out of Merida for the day by bus followed by horse drawn carriages along a rail line to visit some of the best Cenotes in the area.
Cenotes are some of Mexico’s best
kept secrets - huge magical caves
filled with beautiful blue coloured
water where massive jungle vines
hang from the ceiling along with
stalagmites and the sun beams in
from natural holes centered in the top.
We spent the day in three different
Cenotes (each one a new and
amazing adventure) and each time
being taken between them by horse
and cart, fighting off the horse flies and mosquitoes as you can’t wear repellent or sun cream in the water. We had a brilliant day, and it’s definitely in our top 10 list of things we have done this so far this year on our travels, especially as it was such a cheap experience.
Our next destination was to get to Playa del Carmen, with a stop off at Chichen Itza on the
Chichen Itza ruins.
way. The ancient Mayan ruins which are one of the new seven wonders of the world. Chichen Itza was a major regional focal point in the northern Mayan lowlands boasting different architectural styles from different cultures coming together. Although the heat was almost unbearable, places like the temple of a thousand warriors and the high priests temple were amazing and worth the visit.
After our visit to the ruins we headed straight on to Playa Del Carmen, the most rapidly expanding town in Central America and giving Cancun a run for its money in terms of popularity for a beach resort style holiday. Although very popular and busy, Playa still has a more chilled atmosphere to it. Our Hotel, that had been booked in advance, was perfect with a big swimming pool complete with pool bar, volleyball net and water polo. Also the rooms were very big with a massive bed and in a great location. The actual beach itself was fantastic, as for the first time we witnessed the colour of the Caribbean sea and immediately jumped into the sea, getting out every now and again to top up our tans. It was a great beach and the bar served the coldest coronas and sweetest Pina Coladas!
Attracting people with a good amount of money meant that a huge street has gradually built up with designer and tourist shops as well as endless restaurants, everywhere we
Old village lady.
which would be more needed. It was a really interesting half-day trip.
In need of something new we headed down to Palenque for some time in the jungle, our accommodation being only a couple of Kilometres from the Palenque park and ruins. As soon as we crossed over a little footbridge towards our hut the place started to come alive with howler monkeys making plenty of noise and the siren sounds of insects high up in the tree competing equally in noise. During the evenings we were entertained by highly talented musicians with an acoustic trio
Mark at Isla Murejes in the caribbean sea
ate had great food. For a couple of nights we explored the town as well as playing volleyball in the swimming pool with some of our travelling friends.
For the next couple of days we moved onto the famous Cancun, party and resort capital of Phonebox Magazine 69