Cancun and CoCoBONGO!!!!

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 about every American fast-food outlet you can think of. We walked around the market places with lines of Mexican shopkeepers trying to get our attention. John and I grabbed lunch at Subway and then bought some Cohiba cigars in a local market which we smoked on the beach until it started to rain heavily, forcing us to retreat into a nearby restaurant. I also grabbed a new pair of Diesel shorts that were on sale... I figured that most of my clothing was little better than rags so I needed to up my style a notch.

Ay Caramba!

The stormy beachfront

Back at the hotel we took a siesta and had dinner (great chicken and beef fajitas!) at the hotel restaurant which had an idyllic setting on the water´s edge. We finished off our cigars in front of the private yachts whilst an incredible sunset set the sky on fire. After preening ourselves for the night ahead, we were ready to hit the town.

John taking a siesta

Finishing off my Habana Cohiba cigar on my yacht

Spectacular

We moved back into the centre. Pumping music and flashing lights everywhere signalled that the party was already in full swing. People already seemed drunk and this wasn´t just groups of youngsters. There were whole families out joining in the revelry. We hesitantly started out at the Corona Bar which had a fairly busy feel to it and scantily clad dancers on the bar. MCs and staff coordinated to get everyone involved in the party. They handed out balloons and started crazy dances on the bar.

This dude had his own party going on. He was dancing like crazy in front of one of the bars with no idea where (or even who) he was

No John, she likes your money... not you

Watch out! You are about to get crunked!

At 10pm we queued up to get into CoCoBONGO. To keep the people happy, staff were handing out free tequila shots to everybody! Once we got let inside we wasted no time in getting to the bar. The club is fairly large and spacious and is tiered on the left and right much like a theatre. The show started soon after our arrival with a Phantom of the Opera scene. Acrobats, dancers, actors and singers continued throughout the night in a whole medley of performances including "The Mask", Spiderman v Green Goblin, Freddy Mercury, Austin Powers, Beyonce, The Matrix, Michael Jackson, Cirque du Soleil... the list goes on. Simply put, each show was brilliantly done and sometimes incredibly impressive to watch (such as spiderman flying through the rafters after the Green Goblin).

CoCoBONGO!

Free tequila shots while you queue

The Mask... one of John`s childhood heroes

Robbie Williams

Freddie Mercury and Queen

Spiderman vs Green Goblin

The Mask handing out free tequila shots

I think they were from Mexico

Click to view the video

Spiderman Vs Green Goblin 1

Spiderman Vs Green Goblin 2

After an exhausting night (rounded off with a swim on the beach), we crashed back at the hotel. We got a couple of hours in before I was due at the bus station to catch my ride to San Cristobal de las Casas.