Lanquin

My next stop was the tiny town/village of Lanquin which is pretty untravelled and the road is so uneven it takes about an hour to drive 2km!

The town is set next to a really clear flowing river with lots of caves to explore by candle light.

The atmosphere was very chilled and basic (there were no showers for 4 days!) but the hostel was busy & lively at night with a great happy hour and a giant game of drinking Jenga - which went down a storm!

I spent a couple of days here just chilling in the sun, working on my tan and tubing down the river with a few beers... (that's right I now drink beer!)

The first photo shows the view I woke up to at the hostel...Not to rub it in at all!

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Jungle Wildlife!

So the snake is the deadliest snake in that part of the jungle! The tourguides brother actually got bitten whilst leading a group and only just survived!
The one we saw was a baby, which makes them even more harmful as they cannot control their venom!

I also 'petted' a MASSIVE tarantula - it was pretty sick and did I mention it was massive?! I was petrified and horrifically uncomfortable with it just crawling on me... A picture says a thousand words and it's def not my best side - HA!

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Tikàl

The next day I headed to Tikal - one of the most famous ruin sites in Guatemala - and the sun was out in full glory.

It was a super early start and we left the hostel at 4.30am - I was not in a good mood that early, especially as I had gone to bed at 2!

We had a really interesting and very passionate tourguide with so so
much knowledge of the site as he had lived there all of his life. He had some pretty crazy stories and even saw a friend getting eaten by a crocodile when he was younger!

He was very 'at one' with nature, which meant that he went out of his way to show us some crazy & very deadly wildlife - photos to follow shortly!

xxx

Flores

After a few days on Caye Caulker, with my first taste of a Caribbean island slightly satisfied and after my bank balance had taken a heavy beating, I headed to Guetemala and over my first land border crossing. This literally consisted of a tiny hut on the side of the road where you have to show your passport!

I headed for the little town of Flores which is an island centred on the middle of a lake with amazing views (although they would have been better if it wasn't so cloudy!)

As we were so close to the jungle, there was wildlife galore and the hostal that I stayed in was literally like a pet shop and even had a live-in Parrot!

I spent the first day wandering the town, taking in the views and swimming in the surprising warm lakes.

I also came across my first real glimpse of Christmas with a giant Christmas tree in the town main square. To celebrate the lights being switched on, there was a local festival on Saturday night, where literally every local and the whole of the neighbouring towns turned out and were located in a square about the size of a back garden! Hectic does not cover it!

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Caye Caulker

After my amazing last Mexican supper, I headed for the 1st border crossing of my trip into Belize and the island of Caye Caulker.

On the boat, I met some Hilarious English girls - Amy & Jess who I ended up hanging out with until we left the island.

My camera skills where pretty bad over the 3 days that we were there and I managed to take about 3 photos in total!

That may have had something to do with the 'ladies drink free rum' at Oceanside nightclub. Or perhaps the mere 6 bottles of rum that we drunk between 5 of us one night!

Lobster dinners were super cheap and really the only thing on the menu, so we made the most of it - when in Rome and all that!

During one of the days (with a mega hungover!) we went on an amazing snorkelling trip and saw lots of wildlife and manatees, sharks & stingrays, whilst trying not to be sick!

Last Mexican Supper...

I've just noticed recently that there is a serious lack of food photos and food talk on my blog so wanted this to be changed ASAP!

On my last night in Mexico I bought dinner from a little lady on the street, and it was the best food I ate in the whole of Mexico - not sure the photo really shows how amazing it was!

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Tulum Cenotes

Whilst in Tulum I visited a couple of the freshwater Cenotes for a very cold & 'refreshing' swim!

Cenotes are underground rivers where thousands of years ago the roof collapsed to make a sink hole full of freshwater. They are full of amazing wildlife but as they are caves they are so dark! You need a good underwater torch to explore properly and you have to be so careful as the ceilings are so low when you are swimming - sometimes less than an inch from the top of your head!

A few photos below, but they don't really do it justice to be honest. Our tourguide did take some good snaps on an underwater camera so I will post them up as and when they come through to show more of what it was like!

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Happy Movember!

Hilarious Mezcal bar opposite the hostel I stayed at in Tulum...

Just for you VV & Mullet (or should I say Jose & Juan!)

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Tulum Ruins

Even on the beach that can only be described as complete paradise, you will find some Mayan ruins!

These were amazing and the views from the top are incredible - again the photos kinda speak for themselves.

Little fact for you (as I know a few people have been liking my David Attenborough esc facts so far..!) - the Mayans built Tulum as a lookout for invasions but also as a warning system to tell them if there was a tropical storm coming in. It is still really effective now and the locals use it as their weather bible and it hasn't failed so far over the last few thousand years!

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Beautiful Tulum

To recoup and get some rest after being ill, I headed straight for Tulum rather than hitting the party town of Playa Del Carmen - shows how bad I was feeling as when do I ever give up the opportunity to party?!

Tulum was unbelievably beautiful with a perfect picturesque Caribbean beach complete with white sands, crystal clear blue water and hammocks looking out across the ocean!

The photos kinda speak for themselves...

xxx