Mexico

Welcome to my first blog of the Mexican/Central America trip. I just spent 4 wonderful, fun days/nights with 2 friends. I met them in Greece last summer at the dive shop. We kept in touch and they invited me down to Cancun to visit before I headed down to Belize. We laughed the entire time! I forgot how beautiful it is down here. Turquoise waters, powder white sand beaches with palm trees everywhere. It’s paradise. We went to Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Isla Mujeres and Chitzen Itza. Everyday was an adventure! We explored Mayan ruins, went to beaches, danced at amazing clubs, and I even swam with a fenced in shark! It was really nice to be with someone who is from Mexico to show me some of the culture and teach me a bit of the language. It’s a great transition from The States to traveling alone.

I left Cancun Tuesday morning to take a bus down to Bacalar (about 35 km from the border). I was told by David (the guy from Cancun) that it’s much prettier and nicer than Chatumal (the border town). I said goodbye to the guys and hopped on a 5 1/2 hour bus ride to Bacalar. I sat in the second to last row looking out the window to the side with the luggage. I like to watch when people get on and off and make sure that my stuff is not taken. All of the sudden the guy that was sitting in the front row runs to the back of the bus and sits behind me. Then he picks up an empty bottle off the floor and sits back down behind me. He sat there for about 5 min and then ran off the bus when it stopped and peed behind the bus station. Apparently he couldn’t hold it any longer and almost peed in the bottle behind my seat. Gross!! He gets back on and sits in the front seat.

At this time I’m seeing signs for Bacalar. I go up to the front to get off and he says “Senorita, you don’t want this stop, you need the next one for Bacalar. It’s the main station in the town.” I thank him and sit down behind him. At that time, someone had reached in the luggage compartment and taken his bags. He yelled at the bus driver to stop the bus and took off running down the street after the thief. Crazy! All I can think is I wasn’t sitting by the side with the luggage and I really hope that my stuff is still in there! Luckily, it was.

A minute later the toothless guy next to me starts speaking Spanish at me. I have no idea what he’s saying. I only know a handful of words to get me by. So I just smile and say “No”. All of the sudden the bus gets back on the freeway and starts going south. I say, “Bacalar, Bacalar!” That’s where I need to be. The guy next to me says that I just missed the stop and he went up to the bus driver to tell him to stop so I can get off. I thank him and get my bags. I’m now standing on the side of the freeway in the middle of nowhere. I can’t believe it. I start walking down the street with all of my bags and head towards the town.

It’s a small town. Luckily a taxi came by after about 10 min of walking. I told him to take me to a hostel or hotel that would cost about $17-20. He takes me to the hostel. It’s a shack. I ask the guy for a room and he offers me a quad but tells me that there’s no one else going to be in it. That part is fine, but there’s no one in the entire hostel! It’s more like a secondary house in the back of their house. It has a patio and bathroom and a kitchen. I pick a bed and ask for sheets. Then I realize the door has no lock. I ask the guy (mind you, he doesn’t speak English and I’m barely scratching the Spanish surface) for a lock on the door. He says, “no, it’s not necessary”. Picture a wooden door with not even a doorknob. I’m thinking of all of my things are just out in the open. This hostel is $7/night. I see a place next door and ask how much their room is, they say $280/night! I mean, really!? It didn’t look that much better than the one I was in. Especially not 40 times more! So hostel with no lock, here I am.

I start walking through the lonely town to see a few kids playing in the street, stray dogs walking by and a beautiful park and lagoon. I went to dinner at an ok place for fish tacos and then walked to the “excursion” area. Normally, Mexicans run up to you because they want your money, but this time, no one even blinked an eye. I seriously, no exaggeration, am the ONLY tourist in this town. It’s dead. No one is at restaurants, no one is at the park. I saw one guy kayaking. I’m getting a little weirded out. I’m not too comfortable. At least it was nice scenery!

I decide to walk back to the room and take a cold shower and realize there’s no toilet paper. Oh well, I’ll just shower. As I open the door to the bedroom, I see a centipede run across the wall. I don’t see it now, but I’m laying in bed listening to chickens and donkeys and dogs and who knows what other animals are out there making noises. As I’m typing this right now, I just saw a 3 inch baby lizard crawling up the wall. God, get me through the night. I’m never going to sleep. My stomach is in knots and I’m a bit on edge. I’m borderline scared. I need to think positively and pray for the light to come out so I can head straight for the bus station to get the ferry to go to Belize. There I will be greeted by other yogis with a door that locks!

I’m holding on to Mimi’s Buddha rock foot all night for strength! What a crazy couple of hours.