Buenos Aires to Vegas - The Trek

My bus ride from Cancun went by in a blur. I must have slept for the vast majority of the 15 hour ride and before I knew it we were cruising through the Chiapas highlands as the sun was rising. There was a thick fog in the tree covered valley below which caught the morning sunrise in a spectacular way. Up here the temperature was decidedly cooler... to the point I had to don my long pants and hoodie again! San Cristobal is another colonial town that is situated in the Chiapas region of Mexico. This region is fairly high up and is covered in pine trees and undulating grassy hills. The cooler temperature, fresh air and untouched surroundings was quite exhilarating and beautiful to look at. San Cristobal actually hangs in a little depressed valley which we descended into. Sunrise in the cloud covered Chiapas highlands The town, as you might expect, is post-colonial and has retained much of its character such as narrow cobbled streets still intact after many years. The buildings are ...

I´ ve dedicated a whole blog entry to this day as it was pretty hilarious! Despite my initial preconceived notions about Cancun of it being a tourist cesspit, I had heard really great things about the nightlife. As it was a Saturday night, John (Eng) and I decided to book tickets to the famous CoCoBONGO nightclub in the Cancun Hotel District. 4 days of calm in Isla Mujeres was going to be replaced by a huge American-style party extravaganza. We were booked on a party, bed and breakfast package. Once we got off our ferry, we took a cab to hotel Sotavento at the yacht club. The hotel was of similar style to Pocna with everything in white and in a Greek villa style however the hotel was much larger and more professionally run. The hotel district in Cancun is like a separate city. One long highway stretches along the coast which is totally obscured by huge resort complexes that dominate the entire seafront. Moving into the centre of this area, there are large marketplaces and just a...

Isla Mujeres means Island of Women and I had heard great things about it from some of the people staying in Tulum . It got its name from the conquistadors who, when they arrived on the island, saw many depictions of the Mayan moon goddess. This led them to believe the island was a shrine for women. The tourism network in Mexico, the Yucatan peninsula especially, is very well setup. A bus was on hand within 20 minutes of me purchasing a ticket at the Tulum terminal and within 2 hours I was in Cancun and in a taxi to a ferry where I only waited 10 minutes before boarding a massive catamaran that took just 20 minutes to reach the island. We crossed over perfect turquoise ocean and I could feel I would like this place. The Cancun Port Incredible blue ocean Once we had all disembarked I got in a cab to Pocna hostel and checked in. The place is setup as an expansive sort of Mediterranean villa. The dorms were spartan but spacious, clean and well ventilated by fans... all you need real...

Tulum is a small Mexican town on the Yucutan peninsula about 2 hours away from the tourist hub of Cancun. Unlike the infamous party-town of Cancun, it is a quiet sleepy town that is more famous for its backpacker friendly atmosphere, excellent beaches and cenote cave diving. From Tikal , it only took 2 hours to reach the Belize border where the transfer was pretty painless. Our driver drove us onward through the north of Belize where I noticed how poor the country was. Belize used to be a British colony so most of the signs were in English, a bit of a surprise to what I had grown accustomed to. 4 hours later we were at the Mexico-Belize border where I had to pay an exit fee of $15 USD ... quite a hefty price for only spending 4 hours in the place! Our driver dropped us at the Mexican border town of Chetumal where I got on the first bus to Tulum . That only took 4 hours too and it was still light when I checked into (the appropriately named) Weary Traveller Hostel. There I spotted...