Arrived Tulum, Yucatan Peninsula (actually in Quintana Roo not Yucutan State as assumed)."arrived in tulum yesterday, white beaches, fukin lush. missing you already. and alacran...
we got halfway, by some ruins, and stopped to stay in a roadside hotel. got chatting to the proprietor, a sweet man. he has a dog, a tiny kitten (a month old, SOOOO sweet!) and a very strange mountain pig that looks like an anteater. alacran was very bemused by the latter 2 creatures, running rings around the pig that the guy let run around loose. the guy then took us to the ruins in the dark (just the other side of the road) which was fucking cool as fuck. there was a really steep narrow staircase inside a tower which alacran followed us up. then getting down he got stuck at the top and whined hard, it was funny. i tried to carry him then he realised that wasn't going to work so he just did it. funny as fuck. later, i talked to the guy who asked what we were going to do about alacran, and he suggested taking him on. the other dog was a very fat little sausage dog, so they obviously fed him well. damian and i thought it would be a good place, but we worried about the practicalities of leaving him. so we decided to come back from tulum via here and then leave him, partly because i wasn't ready to leave him. so in the morning, we got in the car, started the engine, and alacran feigned complete disinterest and just sat there looking into the distance a little way away. we called him but he ignored us... he KNEW. so we asked if that was cool to leave him there and then, they said yeah sure, what does he eat? the fact they asked that was another good sign... so off we went, no goodbye cuddles... leaving alacran guarding his new ranch (they have a load of chickens too).
so were satisfied he's in a good place, perfect climate, plenty of space to run around and people passing through to play with.
where are you? did you make it?
i'm looking into coming to xela via belize and tikal cos it's direct - doesn't seem to cost anything more to come through. not done online research yet... if i do it'll be with damian and tori."
Tuesday
Beach at the Fishermans Co-op. Hot sun. White long beaches. Clear cool sea. Palm trees. Paradise.we got halfway, by some ruins, and stopped to stay in a roadside hotel. got chatting to the proprietor, a sweet man. he has a dog, a tiny kitten (a month old, SOOOO sweet!) and a very strange mountain pig that looks like an anteater. alacran was very bemused by the latter 2 creatures, running rings around the pig that the guy let run around loose. the guy then took us to the ruins in the dark (just the other side of the road) which was fucking cool as fuck. there was a really steep narrow staircase inside a tower which alacran followed us up. then getting down he got stuck at the top and whined hard, it was funny. i tried to carry him then he realised that wasn't going to work so he just did it. funny as fuck. later, i talked to the guy who asked what we were going to do about alacran, and he suggested taking him on. the other dog was a very fat little sausage dog, so they obviously fed him well. damian and i thought it would be a good place, but we worried about the practicalities of leaving him. so we decided to come back from tulum via here and then leave him, partly because i wasn't ready to leave him. so in the morning, we got in the car, started the engine, and alacran feigned complete disinterest and just sat there looking into the distance a little way away. we called him but he ignored us... he KNEW. so we asked if that was cool to leave him there and then, they said yeah sure, what does he eat? the fact they asked that was another good sign... so off we went, no goodbye cuddles... leaving alacran guarding his new ranch (they have a load of chickens too).
so were satisfied he's in a good place, perfect climate, plenty of space to run around and people passing through to play with.
where are you? did you make it?
i'm looking into coming to xela via belize and tikal cos it's direct - doesn't seem to cost anything more to come through. not done online research yet... if i do it'll be with damian and tori."
Tuesday
WednesdayLeft Tulum with Axelle on board as latest crew member bound for Punto Allen at 4pm, arrived 10km short, in the dark to find the engine overheating on the driveway of a (para?) secret unmarked military base looking at first menacing running towards us with combats and machine gun - and got directed by a helpful bunch only one turn further down the 30km dirt road, while we waited 20 minutes for the engine to cool down enough to get to our very own private beach for only the 21 pesos to get in the Sian Ka'an National Reserve.
Thursday
On the beach, not very private anymore, joined by some jolly friendly local fishermen.
Friday
Left beach paradise, said goodbye to Axelle, Enzo and Mariposa, arrived by flook in the pimpest beachfront pad for free!
"so we went down from tulum to punto allen, cos tulum is a tourist trap and charge 80 pesos to string up a hammock, with enzo and mariposa and a nice french girl called axelle we met in tulum. the whole area is a nature reserve, with miles of lush white beaches (with loads of washed up rubbish though) and palm trees, and a lagoon on the other side of the road. you pay 21 pesos a day to be there but then it's free camping (not advertised as such though). we left tulum at 3pm, looking for a place described very vaguely in lonely planet, where you can see the sea on one side and the lagoon on the other. it got dark, then the car overheated (which it did earlier in the day too). strange. so we lifted the bonnet, and a trucker pulled over to help (in the dusk with 1000 mosquitos buzzing around). he noticed the main engine cooling fan wasn't working. we had a fiddle but could figure out what the exact problem was. so after letting it cool (20 minutes), we set off again. 3 stops later, we were a bit further than the lonely planet spot, looking for a spot to camp. we pulled into a track, unclipped the small chainlink fence, and stopped when i saw a mexican in combats with a machine gun running towards us.... and then 3 more. to make matters worse, the car was overheating again, so we had to sit there fro 20 minutes until it had cooled down. they were actually quite cool, it was really dodge at the time, we didn't know if they were paramilitaries, private security (guarding what?) or what... turns out they are military looking after the nature reserve. we said we were looking for somewhere to camp and they suggested the next left. which was a track leading to a private beach, with a bunch of trees and a well! meanwhile, we'd also picked up a couple of giant crabs running accross the road, so cooked them up for dinna. the next day (yesterday), we bought a bag of fish off some fishermen that came and said hello and fished for 50 pesos and had ceviche/fish soup combo and barbequed a couple too on our driftwood fire. lushcore.
this morning, i woke at sunrise (which was outstanding) while having my face eaten off by sandfleas that must've jumped onto my pillow when i dropped it. i had to walk around for 45 minutes until the sun got warm enough and they buggered off. nice sunrise though...
then, it rained and simulaneously i realised there's a leak in the radiator so had to refill with engine coolant (which luckily we have although can use water anyway). not sure how bad, will get it checked out asap, i just wanted to check you were still alive first.
belize looks likely, pretty cheap to get in and out (if the car works that is).
hasta pronto mi amor"
Saturday
Javier and his (?) pad, picked up Tori (Damian's friend from Colorado), a "boring nightmare" (in-joke, sorry).
"Last night me and damian gave a lift to this mexican guy just after separating from enzo & mariposa, without having yet found a place to stay, but were planning to squat the beach at a spot we knew. the guy offered us his place to stay, just inside the nature reserve. it's a $300 (that's US dollars) A NIGHT place he sometimes rents out!!!! Wooden, palapa roof, teak floor, 3 lush double beds (between 3 thats one each - jonah still wanted to sleep in his hammock on the porch though). Porch facing the white sand (nudist) beach 30m away. The geeza is a fisherman, today caught 7 kilos of lobster on his own! slightly bad ethically, he's not a member of the local fishing co-op, but that means he can only sell it for 250 pesos a kilo rather than 400. it also means he probably contributes to overfishing. either way, we're having lobster tonight!So the guy, Javier, is quite a sweet guy, slightly crazy and hectic. So after we got to his place, after a beer, when he started fiddling with an empty beer can, things began to make more sense. We hooked up with a crackhead fisherman! I respected his position though - he explained that it was his thing, and that even if we wanted some he wouldn't give it to us, let alone offer it. It reminded me of the time in Delhi when I met this Russian guy who took me for a ride around the concentric streets on his Harley, then after we stopped off at his hotel and explained to me he was going to jack up in the bathroom, that he was telling me in the sprit of openness (rather than doing it secretly), but that he again wouldn't even consider letting me have any even if i wanted it (which i clearly didn't).
Anyway, swede as a nut, free place to stay. The geeza, Javier, also hooked us up with a mechanic. So the water pump is fucked, to fix it is 500 pesos, another 700 for the part, and 500 to service the fan. Should be done by tonite. According to the guy in the parts shop over the road from the mechanic, there are loads of jeeps around here so parts are pretty easy to come by. So, I asked him to run the computer and do a diagnostic, which is 250 pesos (better than the 300 in Oaxaca) in order to determine which O2 sensor is fucked, cos I forgot. I took the decision given that parts are cheap and plentiful compared to how they might be in the rest of Central America, and that then we can turn the Check Engine light off see if anything else goes wrong, before it causes more damage. I hope that's OK with you.
Dont get salmonella. please.
Anyway, swede as a nut, free place to stay. The geeza, Javier, also hooked us up with a mechanic. So the water pump is fucked, to fix it is 500 pesos, another 700 for the part, and 500 to service the fan. Should be done by tonite. According to the guy in the parts shop over the road from the mechanic, there are loads of jeeps around here so parts are pretty easy to come by. So, I asked him to run the computer and do a diagnostic, which is 250 pesos (better than the 300 in Oaxaca) in order to determine which O2 sensor is fucked, cos I forgot. I took the decision given that parts are cheap and plentiful compared to how they might be in the rest of Central America, and that then we can turn the Check Engine light off see if anything else goes wrong, before it causes more damage. I hope that's OK with you.
Dont get salmonella. please.Tori arrives tonite. Need to find 2 more to fill car to leave for Belize Sunday (day after tomorrow). Party tonite on the beach."
Sunday
Picked up Enzo and Mariposa who were trying to hitchhike to Belize, left Javi's teak joint, arrived cheapest hotel in Chetumal, on the Mexico-Belize border (Jose Luis Hotel) bound for Belize.
girls underwear photo shoot photographer and his stooges
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