Kurashiki

We were incredibly lucky for the location of our hotel in Kurashiki. We were right opposite the old city. Strange to be in a high rise building and across the intersection is the start of an old world. We didn't arrive until after dark that first day, so my first view of it was a still river that reflected the soft yellow light of the old buildings. Words could not do it justice. 

Why we arrived after dark had a lot to do with the fact that we had stopped to cycle 20km across the Kibi plains, the legendary home of Momotaro and Ura. We left our bags at the bike station and proceeded to get lost several times. Mari felt terrible but she had only ever done the tour in the other direction (they bike track can be done from either end). Still, we got to see some really cool sights and I was much better on the bike - I didn't run into a pole that day. Small victories. By the time we finished the tour on the bike 4 hours had passed and it was almost dark. 

That night we had the most amazing and well deserved bbq skewers. Mari told us that they are famous to the area. They were so good - some chicken, some beef, some vegetrables wrapped in bacon, and all were juicy. 

The one down side to all this eating out was that we seemed to incur charges everywhere. A lot of the restaurants charge a room fee and a table charge - at one place it was 450 yen! That is like $7 dollars for the privilage of sitting down. Each! 

The following morning, I headed out on a train to visit some gardens before heading back for an afternoon of shopping in the old quarter and trying more new foods. This time it was a crepe like wrap with a sort of citrus turkish delight inside it. It was nice but odd. I also later stumbled across some hot wine. Yes! They serve it to you in a takeaway cup. That is a lot of wine. 

Takayama

Takayama is awesome and very different to the other places we have been to so far. We arrived after a three hour bus trip over the alps. We passed several dams and even drove over the top of one. At one point I had to stop looking down over the edge. We were very high up and it was a very long drop and it had started to snow.

In Takayama itself it wasn't snowing which was a bummer because we were still waiting for it to happen. Our hotel was one where we slept on futons on the floor and there were tatami mats which meant no shoes. It was also a traditional inn which meant shared bathrooms. I didn't mind, you know me, but the others had serious hangups about their bodies and we had to come up with a schedule to ensure no one got to see the other naked. It was a shame because it meant that we couldn't enjoy the hot spring for long. The way the baths worked was you bathed first - quick showed to wet yourself, wash your body, shower off and once clean you could go and soak in the hot water which, I kid you not, had a small water wheel at one end. It was amazing. Dinner was also included that night and it was a huge spread of fish, rice, picked foods, sake etc. I have not eaten so much for dinner in a long time and it was hard, but tasty, work.

After the meal, we retired to the next room over and I cracked open the bottle of sake I had bought. I needed to lighten my bag ya know.... Ceri and Ashley had also bought a bottle and so that was also opened. Poor Mari, our tour guide, could not believe how much sake we could drink.

The following morning I visited a morning market and tried more foods. We visited the only remaining government Samuri building and tea garden - I am now inspired to have one of those. I also went shopping in the historic section of the town and enjoyed the architecture. They have such attention to detail, right down the edges of the rafters and tiles.

After dinner that night we headed back to the hotel and it started to snow. Yay!!! And it was heavy. The next morning when we got up it was to a light, soft blanket of white. Not a lot but enough to make me happy.

Matsumoto

Okay, so I am in Matsumoto now (I think that is how it is spelled). It was a lovely day when I got to see a few amazing sites and try some more new foods. It started with a bike ride out to a Wasabi farm. I haven't been on a bike in years so it was certainly a chance to brush up on my skills and introduce myself to a pole along the way. Although the bike ride wasnt long we still had to get out of the town and into the plains. Lucky for me the cars here are much more accomodating of cyclists unlike in NZ where I and the others would have been squished several times. 

The Wasabi farm was actually quite interesting. I had no idea what wasabi actually was so getting to see how it is grown and what it looks like. For your information, it sort of looks like a root vegetable but greenish and ugly. It can only be grown in very particular environments - it is grown in stones, in free flowing, icey water. If it doesn't have fresh, cold water flowing around it, it won't grow the same so they have their farm just below the mountains where there is constant water coming down off them. While there I tried some wasabi flavoured foods like crackers and tried fresh wasabi which has an almight kick to it. I didn't like it. Still me and Jarvey got some good photos.

After the bike ride, while waiting for my train back, I bought a Match icecream. So good. They do match here in the most amazing ways. I have bought myself some green tea kitkats too. Nomnomnom.

After that we headed back to Matsumoto castle which is the only castle to survive earthquakes and WW2. It is a Samuri castle with 6 levels and steeps steps. I am pretty sure this is where I gained the two large bruises on my leg but I honestly didn't feel anything. I think my legs were so cold that they were numb till I had a hot shower hahaha. It is quite neat as it is surrounded my a moat too. Thankfully, when we visited it also wasn't super busy. The stress of being around so many people is really starting to get to me. I need some more nature to recharge. Nature and space.

Nagano

We left our hotel early to get to the shinkansen (bullet train). It is faaaast. In the city it slows right down but once we were out of the main centre it flies along the track.
Nagano is a very beautful place in the alps. It is much quieter and I felt like I could breath. I could see the sky as there were no highrise buildings but ones more the size of Auckland's. It was also colder than Tokyo with small flakes of snow falling. We got in around 10am with heaps of time to spend. We headed towards the temple at the top of the street. It is a very famous Bhuddist temple. Inside I experienced a taste of total darkness. At the end of the temple is a set of stairs and you are supposed to keep your hand on the right wall, trailing your hand along it. The goal is to find the metal ring in the wall somwhere in the darkness. It was all about trusting yourself and not your eyes. As we descended down it got darker and darker until suddenly there is nothing. My eyes were wide open and I could see nothin. As I was in there I wondered if this is what miners felt like in the old days, feeling their way along in total darkness.As I made my way along, I touched the ring and then not long after that I turned a corner and there was soft light and a set of stairs in the distance. Apparently it is supposed to be like being reborn out of Bhudda's belly.
We also stopped at a restaurant and had oyaki which is like a baked, stuffed bread which we got to stuff ourselves. It was a cool experience. They start off a long like a steamed bun but after we stuffed them (one with sweet bean paste and the other with leeks and onion) they are put on an open cast iron slab over hot cals and baked. It was the tastiest food I have head yet and there was also miso and soba tea. I feel like I am on a gastronomic tour here!
In the afteroon we opted to go out the see the rice terraces on a train. Although winter and there was no rice to be seen, the terraces themselves were interetsing to walk about and they reminded me of the pink and white terraces in pictures. It was bloody freezing by then and we had to sit around after the walk and wait for the train. In the time we waited I discovered hot food vending machines are a thing. I ordered a hot chocolate and it came out in a can that you opened. The Japanese have it seriously sorted out here. On that note, they are also incredibly clean and tidy people. There are no rubbish bins on the streets. Everyone takes their rubbish with them. There is not litter on the streets or in the gutters, they have recycling stations around public events what are actually used correctly. NZ could learn a thing or two about what keeping a tidy city means. Although they seem to use an excessive amount of plastic, none of it is blowing about anywhere, even in the back streets.
As it was Christmas Eve we went out for dinner to a Spanish/Mexican restaurant. It was unique. But I had some sake and that made everything okay. We did a present exchange. We had been told to buy one small gift under 1000 yen and we then sang Jingle Bells and passed them around the table. When the music stopped we had to open the present we had. I got chopsticks which is cool.
This morning we headed out bright and early to see the snow monkeys. What an awesome thing to see on Christmas Day. I saw babies on mothers' backs and groups of males and females. I even got to see one get into the hotpool - total highlight! It wasn't snowing but there was snow about. It was also very cold. This morning's temperature began at minus 6 and got up to 3 degrees at some stage. It was a 1.5km trek to see the  monkeys but it was totally worth it. By the time we had done that and stayed to look at them and take a million photos, it was time to head back. So here I am now, sitting on a bullet train heading out to Masomoto. We should be arriving soon. It has been a great Christmas Day that hasn't felt like a Christmas Day at all except for the hot wine that I drank coming down from seeing the monkeys. It was the best hot wine I have tasted yet.

Some more of Tokyo

It has been sometime since I have walked this much! If only I had my step counter with me. I reckon I have done at least 20000 steps today and it would have been waaaaaay more yesterday. Today was a 'free' day to do as we pleased. Everyone split up and went their seperate ways today. This groups is lovely but they are very much here to do their own thing and it is strange not to be forming close bonds with the others, even my roommate.
Anyway, today I went to the zoo. It was probably the most depressing zoo I have ever been to. The animals are kept in very small areas that really are not big enough for them. The signs are also misleading - Monkey Mountain sounds glorious and majestic. It isn't. It is a series of concrete floored cages. There is a mountain but it is also a concrete structure and there is no leafy things to break it up. The monkeys all looked sad. It was the same with the lion, the bears, the elephants.
The zoo is set into the middle of a park though again, there is a distinct lack of green spaces. Today there was extra stuff on too. Apparently it is the Emperor's birthday today and a public holiday which explains the busy factor on a Sunday. At the park they had a small series of markets selling food - the fish was something I was not quite up to attempting but I I did enjoy the kumara cut up into wedges. The odd thing was that they sold the kumara with three options; with salt, plain, or with sugar. Sugar??? Just beyond the food stalls was a stage and a bunch of dancers that were performing a sort of J-pop style. Lots of mash-up music and small Japanese girls smiling and waving.
From there I headed about to see what else was in the park. It is HUGE. There are several museums and a pond which in the summer is full of lotus flowers but in the winter was full of dead sticks that were once lotus flowers. There was also a temple up near the zoo which was stunning with a main path bordered by rows of stone laterns. Inside was a really interesting site. It is the home of the flame of the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. The story goes that a man went to see the damage left by the bomb and see if his uncle had survived. He found the building still burning with the flames if the nuclear fire. The man took the flame home with him and kept it alight for many, many years. The flame still burns just outside the temple now and has become a symbol of peace and a reminder of the devestation caused by nuclear weapons.
From Ueno park I went to the shopping market and bought my secret santa gift. . The streets of Tokyo are incredibly busy and the people walk with purpose. I managed about an hr then headed back to the hotel for a rest before heading back out for a show.
The show was great but I almost missed it when I got there at 6pm and it started at 6.20 and I didn't have a ticket. I was lucky there was still a standing space to watch the show. I was slightly annoyed however that I had said I was coming and they said to meet at 6pm and they had bought tickets at 5.45pm and gone inside. I didn't have wifi so had to go back down into the subway with free wifi to message them.
I wasn't sure what to expect but it turned out to be quite funny from what I understood. It was basically about a blind man who is getting robbed by a thief. They strike up a converstation and the blind man makes the thief feel sorry and changes his ways and even gives the blind man money. Turns out the blind man is greedy and has hordes of gold stashed in his house which we don't find out about until the end, after the thief leaves. It was all in Japanese and Andrew, who was sharing his translator with me, dropped it about half way through so I had to muddle through with the way they spoke, not what was said.
I tried to go back down after the show to get a ticket for the second scene but it was sold out so I left the others who had a ticket for it already and headed back to the hotel where I stopped at a small Japanese restaurant and at ramen (I had to pick a picture and hope for the best) and another white horse (of which I still haven't looked up what exactly it is).

Tokyo - day one

Holy moly, that was a long day! It all began at the crack of dawn when my brain told me that it was time to get up but was in fact only 4am (NZ time it was 8am). It forced myself back to sleep but had trouble sleeping as my room mate kept getting up. To be fair, she was trying her best to be quiet but the toilet door has a squeak worse than a murder house door and the toilet starts flushing as soon as you sit down on it. So, basically, you have to flush it again once your done. It is a terrible waste of water.
As the sun rose, I dragged myself out of bed for breakfast which was awesom. All you can eat style of basically everything from eggs to cereal to stir fry or curry. I kid you not. There is something for everyones pallette.
At 9.30 I finally got to meet the tour guide. Her name is Mari and she is a crack up. She has an awesome sense of humour and although her English is sometimes hard to understand, she never lets that stop her. The plan on the itinery was to do a half day of walking about and seeing the city but it turned into 12 hours when she didn't stop. It was intense. I saw a lot. And I do mean a lot.
We began at the fish markets that are no longer the fish markets as they have recently moved them to a bigger space. Apparently they are the biggest fish market in the world. If I wanted to, I could go out to the new markets at 2am and watch the auctions for the tuna etc fresh off the boat. No thanks. Howve,and the outer market is still there and there is still plenty of things to see and eat. They offer free samples in a lot of places so I tried dried out beans, dried and shredded cod coated in lemon sugar, squid jerky, sweet egg, roasted almonds still in their shells (they were YUM!). You could basically eat lunch there and not have to spend anything. From there we headed down to a bhuddist shrine and I am happy to see that I have Regular Fortune. I had to pay 100 yen, shake this barrel and get out a stick with a number on it. The number corrosponded to a little draw and inside was my fortune. Basically, translating from Engrish to English it says I have the desire to be superior to others and build my identity. I can look forward to a satisfactory income and a car (coach and horse). Also if I am a warrior I can catch and control whole countries with a single arrow and I will become well known in other countries and all my relative will be prosperous (You are welcome guys hahaaha). It also said that it is good to start a trip - so there you go!
From there, it all got hectic. By the time we did that it was lunch (which ended up being at 2pm) and so Mari took us to a small restuarant that seated about twenty people max - and that was actually large compared to some I had seen. She ordered Tokyo pancakes for us which, and I am not kidding right now, look like what my dog throws up. Nothing about the appearance gave me hope but it wasn't that bad. It is cooked in the middle of the table on a small bbq top and after cooking, it still looks like vomit. We were given these small shovels and you eat it straight off the hot plate. She also ordered another style of pancake which looked more like a frittata (which we had to cook) and then some noodles stirfried on the hot plate.
From there we were off again. Now, can I just point out that this was supposed to be a few hours only. Mari, bless her, is a little rocket. She moved fast and was were speed walking to catch up. Lucky for me I have been training my whole life for this moment - thanks dad! Hahahaa. We visited the Harujuku area (where all the teenagers where the anime clothing). I was a bit disappointed not to see too many dressed up but the ones that were were cool. We visited Shinjuku for dinner (expensive but all you can eat... and we had to cook it ourselves again). We also went to the famous Shibuya crossing - the one from Resident Evil and Fast and Furious. It was craaaaaazy crossing it. Hundreds on hundreds crossing and lights everywhere, TV billboards - it was sensory overload. To end the night, we headed up the Government Tower to the observatory on level 45. From there we could see a lot of Tokyo. It was from there I got a real sense of how big the place was. It was up there that I also purchased a little toy dog that looked a bit like Harvey. I have named it Jarvey (Japanese Harvey) and will aim to take some pictures with him in it every day to show Aaliyah and the others.
By the time we had done all that it was about 9pm and then we had to tackle the return journey. It was then that I had my first taste of  what the trains are like at peak hour. I didn't like it. We were crammed on like sardines and people there are so used to shoving past one another that they don't even apologise. If possible, I would like to avoid doing that again. It took half an hour to get back. At one point, an elderly Japanese man started to talk to me and asked about where I was from. I think he was practising his English. He was very sweet and made the time go a bit faster.
Right, I am off. It is almost 9am. The zoo opens at 9.30. I think it takes 20 minutes to walk there. Best get going.

I have arrived

It has been a long day but I am here. It seemed like forever waiting at the airport, then forever for the flight, then suddenly I was in Japan and navigating busy hallways with people that definitely knew where they were going. I sort of slowly meandered through the halls until I figured out what I was doing. Lucky for me I have travelled enough to get by. Also lucky for me, the trains are colour coded and the information desk people speak English and are incredibly helpful. I finally got to the hotel and arrived at the same time as my roommate - Kateraina. I walked in the door a few minutes before she did.
After a quick shower we braved the world and went out to get some dinner. Can I just say, we are so spoilt in NZ not to have people smoking in restaurants anymore. It was gross sitting beside a man who smoked like a chimney. The first place we went to was selling a lot of entrails and it felt like everyone was smoking, so we jumped ship and found place that did ramen and picky bits like edmame. There were pictures of the foods so it was simply a matter of pointing. It was also pretty cheap. I tried a drink called White Stallion. I think it was a beer but I am not actually sure. It was very light coloured and tasted like a mix between beer, lemon, soda water and vodka. It was odd but refreshing and I will definitely order it again.
Anyway, it is time for bed. Oh, one last thing... the toilets! They are amazing and have so many option buttons - like a privacy button which means it plays music while you go hahahaha.

You are in Guatamala!

You are in Guatamala now...
After an exhausting night being terrified of what bugs were going to visit in the night and having an unhealthy amount of insect repellent on, sheets locked in up to my neck despite the heat, I dragged myself put of bed and we got on the road again. This time to somewhere more populated with people. In this case it was San Jose. The way we got there was absolutely great and we will be the last tour group to go via that route. We headed to the border crossing which is by the Usumacinta River. Exit fee paid (500 Pesos) we then headed down to the water to board a long, narrow boat that was going to take us up river to Guatamala. It was an entirely unique experience to cross via water. When we stepped on land we were in Guatamala after just a short 30 minutes on the river. We carried our bags up a short, but steep hill, got on the waiting bus then 10 minutes later arrived at the next border. We were officially in Guatamala and had 2 hours of rough, bumpy, unpaved roads ahead before finally getting onto tarmac. The scenery was almost identical but the people were slightly different as were the buildings. Still green, lush and slightly wet. Soldiers were stopping cars and trucks about half an hour into our journey and it was a bit surreal seeing semi-automatic weapons just casually displayed across their front. I don't know what they were looking for but I kept my camera down. I was not going to make the special foces Guatamaleans angry by taking photos of them.
We arrived in San Jose in the late afternoon. It was my turn for a room to myself and it was such a luxury. It was right near the lake and fairly quiet during the day. At night it was a slightly louder place. When the sun set the wild and neglected dogs that are everywhere in these countries started barking, trucks and cars drove by honking their horns, at the crack of dawn the roosters started their crowing.
The next morning, a slightly sleep deprived me was up early and we jumped on a bus to go and see the ruins of Tikal. They are inside the Tikal National Park, a 520 square km park which consists of the ruins and jungle. I saw a wild pig/boar (just a small one) running through the forest and it came out onto the path then saw us and scurried off. Quite an exciting start to the day. I kept my eyes peeled but sadly I saw no armadillo or juguar though both live in the jungle.
The ruins were impressive. I climbed one that was 70 metres up and once up there, I could see out over the jungle for some distance. The only things marring the landscape were a few other temples that stood above the tree tops, and I can't really say that it marred the landscape. It made you feel a bit like Indiana Jones exploring the jungle if you ignored the tourists around you.
From there we headed to a small island called Flores. It is small enough that I walked around it in 20 minutes. It was the 6th Jan so there was a big celebration fot the three wise men, a bit likw the end of christmas for them. They had set up food stalls and a band were getting ready. At 4.30 we boarded a boat for a sunset booze cruise. First drink was a free hibiscus juice with vodka... from there it was only 15 quetzal ($3) for a mojito or tequila shot... so 2 mojitos and a tequila later I was pleasantly on the boarder between drunk and sober. The sun set on the lake was spectacular. The karaoke that came later was not haha
We got back to Flores around 9. Some went to the bar for more drinks but a few of us went to grab some sstreet food aka a HUGE slice of banana cake and then headed up the hill to check out the band. Everyone was due to meet up again at 10 where we hopped in a water taxi and went back over the lake to San Jose.
Last partof the night consisted of me standing in dog poo and not realising it and treking it into my room. I had to was my shoe and then my hands and the. The tiles, then make y hands again. It STUNK and as I went to sleep it was all I could smell. Lovely.

Lacanja

Lacanja
Just a quick one night stand with Lacanja but it was worth it. Half the group left at the crack of dawn but for me and seven others, we got a sleep in and didn't leave till 9. It is such a luxury to get to sleep in. We got on the road and headed over to our next stop, a camp site in the jungle. The drive over was absolutely stunning. Although raining I could still see out and the landscape s lush and green and vibrant. Banana trees, corn, and a whole raft of plants grown. It is a lot like the Waitakere ranges but much more vast. The roads are dotted with small huts and villages, wild dogs and farm stock, children selling food and others not doing much of anything at all but seem happy enough to flip off the passing van.
When we arrived in Lacanja we had an hour to eat and get changed and then we went white water rafting. It was great fun. I dont have any photos due to the fact that it was rafting and I only have a dslr, however Gemma and Gavin had GoPros with them so we should get some good footage. The rafting was good fun. There was lengths of river which were still and then there would waterfalls anywhere between 1-3 meters. Initially I was going to sit in the front but  couldn't do it. It was too terrifying. I am glad I didn't too after watching the two in front (Gemma and Rasmus) get dunked at every fall.
After about 45 minutes we were done and it was time to do the walk back through the jungle, past some ruins and waterfalls. That took about an hour and a half. I am so done for the day. My clothes are wet and smell less than ideal. Hopefully they dry soon...

This is Palenque

After a busy day I can say I am knackered. The morning started with a walk through the jungle. Slathered in insect repellent we headed out at 7am in search of ruins and monkeys. I saw ruins but no monkeys. Did see a squirrel though. The heat of the jungle combined with rain made for one sticky start to the morning. I had gotten cramp the night before and I think it was due to sweating so much and having no salt left so I have been trying to eat salty food like crisps and nuts. The food here is actually quite bland and lacks salt, and there is none on the tables to use either. In the jungle I learned some interesting facts and ate an ant intentionally. Tasted like celery. We climbed over mounds in the jungle which were actually houses but hidden under hundreds of years of leaf litter and trees. The image below is me climbing out of one of those houses buried. It was cool, well actually it was muggy and hot, but your get my meaning. Inside was bats which was great. They were at head height and furry. I managed a blurry photo but nothing great. The jungle itself is a lot like NZ but not quite and also a hell of a lot more muggy and wet. It was lush and green but the while time I was aware that there were things in the forest that could kill me.

From the jungle walk we popped out at the ruins of Palenque which were suitably impressive. Different again from the other ruins, these ones were still half buried in the hills. We could climb parts of these ones and the guide was great. He told us all about the bodies found and too us off the beaten track to some riins that are not open to the public yet. We walked back to the hotel from the ruins via the museum where we saw the 25 tonne ssarcophagus. Now that was some serious coffin. It is hard to imagine people lifting that into place!

After that we headed back for a quick change of clothes into togs and from there to the waterfalls. It had been raining in a place which is similar to the waitakere ranges but with waterfalls. The rains had forced huge amounts of water to pour down and overwhelm the waterfalls. They were torrential and intense. Some keen beans went for a swim and jumped off some of them. I was not one of those. I was happy to sit dry and safe below the canooy as the skies opened and drenched the land.

In saying that I have opted to do whitewater rafting tomorrow. Type 2 so no more intense than I did in Rotorua with Kristel. I did check that they were fully certified and they do cancel when the weather and rapids are dangerous which is some small measure of comfort.

I am now sitting with a wine, relaxing. Will have to pack soon. Tomorrow we are off to a part of Mexico with no reception or wifi.

10 hours travel

I have made it to Palenque but it was no short trip. 6.30 wake up. 7.30 in the van and gone. Our first stop was about 2 hours into the drive. Uxmal ruins. These ruins were so different to anything I had seen at Chichen Itza. Bigger and more developed, they stood over the landscape silent and imposing. Quiet sentinels of a time long gone. At these ones, unlike the ones at Chichen Itza, we could climb, and climb I did. I feel I made a pretty good effort to clamber most of it including the biggest temple, all the way up super steep steps to the top. From there it was easy to imagine being a Mayan surveying your kingdom and watching sacrifices to the rain god cha'ac. From the top I was able to see high over the canopy to trees and across the ruins. I definitely felt like I was in the jungle except for the one industrial building far in the distance rising up out of it. We were given 2 hours and opted for no guide which allowed for more time to investigate. I got some great photos too which I can't wait to show you all.
From there we were bqck on board the van for another three hours at which time we got lunch. Being by the sea was the perfect time for seafood. Massive prawns to be exact. So good. It was a quick meal then back on the bus for about 4-5 hours. We got to our hotel about 8pm. Luckily they have a restaurant on site and a bar. They also have a pool which may be where I am after a busy day.
The room is nice and the windows are just meshed over so we can hear all the sounds of the jungle. Apparently we shoumd be able to hear howler momkeys in the night. Can't wait! All I can hear right now is people talking by the pool and a live band singing Mexican tunes with a guitar.
Tomorrow is an early start with a walk in the jungle, then a walk around the ruins and finally a picnic by waterfalls

Merida and New Years Eve

Happy new year! I am officially in 2018 now. I was going to write this last night but I was falling asleep sitting upright. The last few days have been pretty full on so I have called it quits for the day and been hiding out in my room since about 7.30pm. We have an uneven number of girls on the tour which means that someone is always going to be getting their own room. For new years eve and tonight that was me. Can't complain. It is actually really nice to have a few days to acclimatise without having to share the bathroom with someone else. On the subject of bathrooms... they are like Greece where they don't really want you putting toilet paper down the loo, so there is a bucket beside. It also means that there is little space in the u-bend if you get my meaning. What a way to get to know one another witha shared bathroom haha.
We left Playa del Carmen at 7am and headed off to Merida. The temperature topped out at 31 degrees and the air was thick enough to walk through and feel it. We stopped on the way fown to Merida at Chichen Itza, the huge Mayan temple. It was amazing. The size of the structure was mind blowing. We were told that the Mayans used to move away from their city every 50 years as they believed that life ended and was destroyed by the gods evey 50 years. When they realised that they world hadn't ended, they would return and build more, bigger temples to thank the gods for giving them extra life (another 50 years). I saw a few temples including the nunnery, and the observatory. I also got to see the ball field where they played a game  that involved two teams for 7 whose job it was to get the ball (3kgs) into a hoop high up on the wall. Whichever team got the first goal won the game. They had to wear padding and helmets as you can imagine what it would be like to be hit with a 3 kg ball at full swing. The winning team's captain was beheaded at the end of the game too. It was supposed to be a great honour to be sacrificed to the gods, and they only ever did it in bad times. In really bad times they would make a lot of sacrifices, especially warriors and athletes as they had strong hearts and the heart was most important as it carries the blood around the body - what a great thing to sacrifice to the gods.
It was so hot that I sort of switched off at that point and was happy just wandering from shade point to shade point, looking at all the amazing art and buildings and massive iguana that lazed about.
When we had arrived at Chichen Itza it was fairly quiet but when we left it was heaving.
We left at midday, back into the air conditioning and headed off to Merida once more. Once there we checked in and I got my own room, there was bit of down time. The single room will rotate every city we visit, so I am making the most of it while I have it.
A bunch of us went for a walk and I did a mission to find an ATM. Mexicans mostly use Pesos not dollars so I needed to change $ and get out more pesos. By that stage I was a walking pile of sweat so headed back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. It was freezing and I lasted all of a 10 minutes it did the trick. I was much cooler.
As a group we did a walk around the centre of Merida. It is the only city to be constantly occupied by someone. It used to have a temple but the Spaniards tore them down and built churches that doubled as forts with gun slits along the exterior to stave of the Mayans who were less than happy about the invading hoardes tearing down their temples and killing them off. There is also a massive crest in the middle of the church exterior, a stamp by the Spanish to say this is ours.
New years eve involved dinner out with some of the group first. We all bought alcohol and met up on top of the hotel on the roof where we drank and laughed and chatted until 10.45, at which point we headed out to a courtyard with a live band. We had to pay for entrance but it was fun enough. They handed out bags of hats, flashing glasses, hooters etc just before midnight for people to wear. Hence my paper hat. The band played Mexican music and they have a custom that you are supposed to eat 12 grapes at midnight. I ate two. I would like to point out that I had had 4 tequila shots and a beer so was not all that keen on eating grapes. I was fine, by the way. A bit tipsy but not drunk. We had a bit of a dance but some of us were keen for bed. After two nights of about 4 hours sleep I was done in. We headed back to the hotel and I was out for the count.
Today we had a late start but unanimous vote. We left at 11am to go to see the cenotes (say-no-tays). They are basically huge holes that are filled with water. The first one was on the open. You could jump off the ledge at the top (10m) or further down or go all the way to the bottom. I wasn't all that keen to swim in it. It was a steep ladder/set of sets down. While the others swam, me and another girl, and our guide, bought a HUGE bottle of beer to share. It went straight to my head but it was just what was needed. By the way, Victoria beer is the local beer and it is YUM! Light like Corona or Sol.
At the second cenote it was raining. I plucked up the courage, stripped off to my togs and headed over to the cenote. This one was in a cave so you went down some steps and then got into the water. It was rocky under the water and those who know me well, know how much that terrifies me but I put my big girl pants on and got in. It was amazing. The water was petrol blue and clear. There were staglamites and stalamites (don't know which is which) growing on the ceiling and the floor of the cave. The ones hanging of the ceiling looked like wilting flowers and ant hills. After about 15 minutes my nerves got the better of me and I had to get out.
Dried, dressed and back in the van we all headed off. Back to Merida and to the end day three. Have to get up early again tomorrow, so off to bed now.