India One Anniversay

One year ago today I was arriving in New Delhi India on that most excellent adventure of 2011! Looking forward to re-reading my travel journal over the course of the next few months, day for day. Namaste!

La Candelaria - Valladolid

I had noticed when I booked the room at La Candelaria that there was a notice to advise them if you would be arriving after 16:00, so without a clear arrival time in mind, I dropped them an email. I have to say, the rapidity of their response was quite refreshing, considering the budget level I am traveling at - I can't say you'd get faster response from a chain hotel on the Mayan Riviera, that's for certain. And I was equally impressed that there will be a small package of travel options for me when I get there on how best to see the sights I want to see in the area! Now that is service!

Booked into Valladolid!

Well, I've booked two nights in tranquil Valladolid at La Candelaria. Opted to take a private room rather than do the dorm thing. Seems like a better idea for the initial leg of the trip, considering the amount of running around I am going to be doing in the area. I'm going to be exhausted by days end, and I don't think sharing a room with 13 other people will afford me much sleep. Downside is that in order to have that private room, you have to pay for two people's stay. Still... $40 Canadian for a private double bed room for two nights is something I can more than live with. Now all that remains is figuring out how to get to Valladolid from Cancun ~ LoL! It is easy enough really, its just that I can't book bus tickets online, so have to go to the main terminal and buy them direct.

Chichen Itza, here I come!

I've also found the place I want to stay at in Tulum as well ~ seems nice enough and it's a 10 minute walk to the ruins and the beaches. So, on the Sunday, I'll have to figure out how to get to Tulum from Valladolid and that gives me like, 4 days there to explore Coba, Punta Laguna, Tulum, etc...

And as cool as all of that sounds, and it is, but I'm really jazzed for all of the food! :)

New Snorkeling Gear

Just to be prepared for Tulum and because it was still available to purchase at MEC, I went and grabbed my snorkeling gear today. The flipper design is kind of radical ~ love it!

With this is hand, I cannot wait to hit the beaches down south! Six weeks to go today! Yahoo!

To get in the mood...

Been feeling slightly ambivalent the last few days; life just seems to go that way sometimes. Up, down, up, down, ad naseum. Plotting the route I want to take has been like sitting on a fence not knowing which way to tumble. Finally I am just going to go with my gut and head into Valladolid (pronounced Vaya-doh-leed) and do the ruins as I said I would. Thought about going to Tulum first, but really, I want the chill stuff at the end of the run, not the start.

Changed the banner for the blog today to one of Tulum - India was great when it was about India, but now it's on to other things and other places. Wish I could change the joer2india thing... gonna look into it.

Decided on my first guest house in Valladolid today, called La Candelaria - the image below will tell you all you need to know on why I want this for days one and two.

Hammocks at La Candelaria, Valladolid, Mexico

Its about $10 a night for a room which is alright - its not India, but it'll do! There's showers (hot), laundry, free internet, breakfast included (please, please, please include churros). Looking forward to it!

It's on!

Got approved for my time off today and came right home and bought my tickets! I'll only be there for 8 days but the distances between sites I want to visit are so small, it'll be nothing like India was. Basing myself out of Valladolid for the first few days will chop more than half of my desired site visits from the list. From there, I can access Ek Balam, Chichen Itza and the surrounding cenotes. I'm super pumped about visiting the local markets too ~ grasshopper pizzas with cheese, here I come (quesadillas de chapulines con queso)!!!

From Valladolid, it's a simple bus ride south to Coba, Punta Laguna Monkey Sanctuary, which is like a day's visit and then south again to Tulum for a day or two at the ruins, the beaches and diving the reefs.

Time permitting, Isla Mujeres off the coast of Cancun. My goal is to stay far away from Cancun though, as its not the sort of place I want to be at. Too commercialized.

Anyways, more to follow... gotta do some digging bus routes, hostels, etc...

Quintana Roo, Mexico 2012

Put in my request for time off today for the end of February to go backpacking the ruins of the Yucatan. Found a couple lesser known places that I'm really keen on seeing, based around the town of Valladolid, namely El Bakam, Chichen Itza (obviously) and a few cenotes around Valladolid like Dzitnup, which really has my goat at the moment.

Dzitnup Cenote - 10 minutes outside Valladolid

From Valladolid, I'll make my way southeast towards Coba and Tulum where I'll spend a few days being Indiana Joe in the Jungle and of course soaking up some rays on the playas in Tulum. From there, back up to Cancun to head over to Isla Mujeres to do some reef diving and visit a sea turtle sanctuary.

Pretty excited! Hope I get the time off ~ flights are fairly reasonable at the moment and would hate to wait and have them climb too high. More to follow...