If I had a guiding principle when travelling, it would be that the best way to get to know a country is by its food and people, and there really is no better way to do this that with a foodie walking tour, hosted by a local. Enter… Food C’s Barranco Foodie Tour with the lovely Carla.
We heard about a funky, chilled-out, traditional fishing village with great surf about 30 minutes out of Leon, and decided we could do with some funky, chilled-out time on the beach, plus as a bonus, Dave could finally catch some waves.
When I say Caye Caulker is the coolest place in the world, I mean it, and in a BIG way. Everyone there walks cool (“go slooooow man”); talks cool “yo brutha, welcome to Caye Caulker – paradise on earth”); acts cool (“no shoes, no shirt… no problem,”); and are pretty much the most genuinely happy people I have ever met.
Wowsers. I had not realised how much I was missing the beach until we arrived in Tulum, and immediately wished we were able to stay longer than our planned three nights!
After having such a great, chilled-out time in Merida, Valladolid – our next stop after Merida – had big shoes to fill. We had three nights at another really well-reviewed hostel called “La Candalaria”, and were staying in a private double room … with shared communal toilets and showers., the first shared facilities of our trip (I get the feeling it certainly won’t be the last)!
To me, Merida is the sparkling jewel of Mexico’s Yucatán region – vibrant, colourful, choc-full of culture and yet still maintaining the friendly, small town vibe that made it a worthwhile destination to visit in the first place.
The Chiapas Region in Mexico is particularly renowned for the ancient Mayan civilisations (or ruins) of Palenque, Yaxchilan, Bonampa and Chinkultik; as well as one of the highest proportions of indigenous populations in Mexico. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit three of these ruins in our four days in the region.
Alongside our two days spent exploring Mexico City, we also spent a day venturing to Teotihuacan about an hour outside of the city, as well as hitting the town on a Late Night Tacos and Mezcal Tour with Eat Mexico (our second tour with them, read about the first, our Street Food tour here).
With more than approximately 25 million residents, Mexico City has more people living in it than the WHOLE of Australia… just let that sink in for a minute. Surprisingly, Mexico City, or Distrito Federal (DF to the locals) as it is called, doesn’t feel like it is crazily overpopulated, nor does it feel like the concrete jungle with ghettos overrun by murderers and gangsters that we half expected.
On our last full day in Vegas, Vegas won, and Vegas won big time. And no, I am not talking about the gambling, I am talking about sleep. Or perhaps, jet lag. After a bit of a boozy but not toooo late night on Saturday, I woke up on Sunday around 8am, and with a bit of a headache and a woozy stomach, popped an electrolyte and some painkillers, and went back to bed for what I was hoping would be an hour or so. Dave barely stirred.