As is the norm for us two, we hadn't made any plans for the next leg of our trip.
We had been looking at the dive sites in Belize whilst having a drink back at the lodge we were staying at, when we realised just how difficult it would be to get from Teotihuacan to Belize City.
We decided that we would try and catch a flight to Chetumal if we could, as the overland option would take a couple of days of just travel.
The problem was that none of the companies that we could contact spoke English.
The one that did, would not make bookings without us being there in person.
After a frustrating few hours, we decided to head back to Mexico City airport, and see if we could grab a last minute flight.
The Mayan Gods must have been looking over us, as we managed to get back to the airport and book both our out bound flights to Chetumal and also our return flights to Cozumel.
The flight to Chetumal took longer to check in than it took to fly, but it saved us a huge amount of travelling by bus.
We landed late, and managed to check into a hotel for 1 night.
The following morning we headed off to the local market and jumped on board a dilapidated bus heading for Belize City.
The journey was 5 hours without air con and a variety of music, all of which we had never heard of and had to be played at speaker distorting levels.
Apart from the normal issues of trying to get out and then in different countries, the journey was quite uneventful.
We are now staying at a small guest house somewhere in the centre of Belize City.
The guide book was quite accurate about this place, as you knew the moment you got off the bus that you didn't want to be walking around the streets.
From our quick view of this city, it seems to be full of men who sit together on their street porches, whilst the women can be seen walking aroung with numerous children whilst also carrying goods purchased from the local markets.
After locating a cash point to get some Belize dollars, we managed to get straight into a cab and checked into our guest house for the night.
Next stop - Caye Caulker for some diving, leaving Alison to hunt down some accommodation for the next couple of days.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Teotihuacan Pyramids - 16th December 2009
After catching a local bus from Mexico city, we ended up at Teotihuacan to see the Mayan Pyramids.
We found a great lodge, which was just around the corner from one of the entry gates to the Pyramids.
This enables us to get up at 6.30 in the morning (yes 6am !!), and be at the gate on our own for 7am when the gates opened.
The first thing that you notice when you walk into the site, is the shear size of it.
You can see the large Pyramids from outside, but its not until you get up close that you fully appreciate the size of the whole site.
Because we were the only ones in at 7am, we managed to get some great photos without any one else in the shots.
The photos dont show the height of some of the main pyramids.
Both our legs were shaking by the time we had done the last one.
After our day at the pyramids, we set off for Belize via Chetumal via local bus.
Mexico City - 14th December 2009
Mexico City
The holiday kicked off with a bit of grief, when we were delayed in Madrid on route to Mexico.After a number of hours spent in a hotel in Madrid, we finally got the call to say that our plane was now at the airport.
We arrived at Mexico airport, worried to hell about our safety and ultra care for our luggage.This proved to be overkill on the part of Lonely Planet, as we felt perfectly safe to walk around both day and night.
I guess if you wondered off the main tourist areas in the city, then you may have a bit of a problem.
Apart from the many Churches, there isn't much to see in the city, so the next stop will be Teotihuacan to see the Mayan Pyramids.
The holiday kicked off with a bit of grief, when we were delayed in Madrid on route to Mexico.After a number of hours spent in a hotel in Madrid, we finally got the call to say that our plane was now at the airport.
We arrived at Mexico airport, worried to hell about our safety and ultra care for our luggage.This proved to be overkill on the part of Lonely Planet, as we felt perfectly safe to walk around both day and night.
I guess if you wondered off the main tourist areas in the city, then you may have a bit of a problem.
The picture of the main square doesn't quite reflect the number of people, but take it from me that it was as busy as hell.
There were huge queues for tickets to the ice rink, which you can see lit up in the photo.
There were even stands for the spectators !!
There were huge queues for tickets to the ice rink, which you can see lit up in the photo.
There were even stands for the spectators !!
Apart from the many Churches, there isn't much to see in the city, so the next stop will be Teotihuacan to see the Mayan Pyramids.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Its All Over
The journey is over, although new updates for holidays are now being listed on www.limereef.com
Monday, September 25, 2006
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Train Journey Back To Saigon - 25th April 2006 Vietnam
I must confess that I wasn’t looking forward to our train journey.
You never know who you might be sharing with, and as it was such a long journey it was either going to be great or really bad!!
Well we shouldn’t have worried.
We ended up with a carriage to ourselves for the first few hours.
It lacked any power outlets, so there was no chance of watching more than one film on the laptop.
We were a couple of hours into the journey and both laying back just killing time.
All of a sudden, Alison shot up, opened the door and shouted at me to move.
It would seem that we were now sharing our carriage with a mouse who had decided to run across my pillow whilst I was taking a nap.
Within an instant, I did the gentlemanly thing and let Alison have the lower bunk.
Needless to say there was a lot of foot twitching coming from Alison’s bed as she wasn’t able to sleep a wink all night.
It was made worse by the fact that I had blocked all the gaps leading up to the bed with plastic rapping, which made a lovely rustling sound each time the mouse tried to get through !!
After 30 odd hours and little sleep, we arrived in Saigon.
You never know who you might be sharing with, and as it was such a long journey it was either going to be great or really bad!!
Well we shouldn’t have worried.
We ended up with a carriage to ourselves for the first few hours.
It lacked any power outlets, so there was no chance of watching more than one film on the laptop.
We were a couple of hours into the journey and both laying back just killing time.
All of a sudden, Alison shot up, opened the door and shouted at me to move.
It would seem that we were now sharing our carriage with a mouse who had decided to run across my pillow whilst I was taking a nap.
Within an instant, I did the gentlemanly thing and let Alison have the lower bunk.
Needless to say there was a lot of foot twitching coming from Alison’s bed as she wasn’t able to sleep a wink all night.
It was made worse by the fact that I had blocked all the gaps leading up to the bed with plastic rapping, which made a lovely rustling sound each time the mouse tried to get through !!
After 30 odd hours and little sleep, we arrived in Saigon.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Halong Bay 21st April 2006 Vietnam
After our Sapa trip, we caught an overnight train back to Hanoi where we were supposed to be met by our tour company.
We were again let down, and had to negotiate the best price with one of many taxi driver all of which were more than willing to take you to their brothers guest house !
We made our way back to the tour company, and after complaining yet again were taken to a hotel to shower.
One hour later, we were on another bus which was taking us to Halong Bay.
I took this whilst travelling to Halong Bay
I wonder how many people have been charged with “Death by Coffin”!!
We had paid to spend a couple of nights at Halong Bay, one on an old junk, and then another in a hotel on one of the islnads
One of the many junk boats around Halong Bay
As is usual for boats, you get the normal safety drill.
Anyone who couldn’t swim was offered a life vest !!
Halong Bay is a world heritage site which consists of hundreds of large rock formations that look like individual islands.
The place is absolutely stunning, especially as the sun is going down.
The one negative comment about the whole area is the number of boats and the rubbish floating in the water.
We thought that we had paid for a tranquil night in a secluded location at Halong Bay, only to end up with 30 other boats some of which were playing Karaoke music all night !!
One of the larger caves at Halong Bay
These boats were originally used for fishing, now they sell water and beer for us tourists.
Whilst on the tour, we opted for a days kayaking.
It was a great day, although 2 people sharing one Kayak felt much harder than having a single seater.
The fact that the kayaks were getting on a bit didn’t help either.
We spent lunch on the beach in style !!
Things became a little worse after lunch when our guide showed us the new Kayaks that we had for the afternoon.
It would seem that our company didn’t own any Kayaks and would borrow or rent where ever possible.
Check out the racing seats !!
Alison came to everyone’s rescue and put the fear of god into our guide.
10 minutes later another boat pulled up towing more reasonable Kayaks for us to use
Alison after she had calmed down!!
One of the fish farms in Halng Bay
Our poor guide who's name was Hi
We took him out for a few drinks for him to recover from Alison's complaining !!
After another bus journey back to Hanoi, we arranged for a train to take us to Saigon.
The estimated journey time was 30+ hours !!!
We were again let down, and had to negotiate the best price with one of many taxi driver all of which were more than willing to take you to their brothers guest house !
We made our way back to the tour company, and after complaining yet again were taken to a hotel to shower.
One hour later, we were on another bus which was taking us to Halong Bay.
I took this whilst travelling to Halong Bay
I wonder how many people have been charged with “Death by Coffin”!!
We had paid to spend a couple of nights at Halong Bay, one on an old junk, and then another in a hotel on one of the islnads
One of the many junk boats around Halong Bay
As is usual for boats, you get the normal safety drill.
Anyone who couldn’t swim was offered a life vest !!
Halong Bay is a world heritage site which consists of hundreds of large rock formations that look like individual islands.
The place is absolutely stunning, especially as the sun is going down.
The one negative comment about the whole area is the number of boats and the rubbish floating in the water.
We thought that we had paid for a tranquil night in a secluded location at Halong Bay, only to end up with 30 other boats some of which were playing Karaoke music all night !!
One of the larger caves at Halong Bay
These boats were originally used for fishing, now they sell water and beer for us tourists.
Whilst on the tour, we opted for a days kayaking.
It was a great day, although 2 people sharing one Kayak felt much harder than having a single seater.
The fact that the kayaks were getting on a bit didn’t help either.
We spent lunch on the beach in style !!
Things became a little worse after lunch when our guide showed us the new Kayaks that we had for the afternoon.
It would seem that our company didn’t own any Kayaks and would borrow or rent where ever possible.
Check out the racing seats !!
Alison came to everyone’s rescue and put the fear of god into our guide.
10 minutes later another boat pulled up towing more reasonable Kayaks for us to use
Alison after she had calmed down!!
One of the fish farms in Halng Bay
Our poor guide who's name was Hi
We took him out for a few drinks for him to recover from Alison's complaining !!
After another bus journey back to Hanoi, we arranged for a train to take us to Saigon.
The estimated journey time was 30+ hours !!!
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