Mexican Christmas & New Year 2018...

Well.....we got to the apartment at Playa Del Carmen first....Tash was busy catching buses and taxis from Cancun....but she finally arrived......oh joy.....Tash has brought with her....English chocolate.....and Christmas presents...wit woo.

For those of you who have been to this part of Mexico, we have rented an apartment in an area called Playacar. It's a quiet area away from the nightlife and hustle and bustle of Playa del Carmen but still within walking distance of the shops and bars. Safe parking for bikes which is always a plus. The apartment is great...booked by Tash through Air B & B.

For those of you who've been following us you'll be pleased to see I have finally worked out how to put the odd picture into my blogs...so this is a trial run....bare with me...lol

As soon as we'd all got sorted and chilled by the pool chatting....which was right outside the door of the apartment by the way.....duties were upon us....it's the 23rd December and we have no food for Christmas day or any other day....sooooo....off to Walmart.....you may laugh but it's really just Asda on a larger scale.

This was actually fun and Tash's initiation run on the bike in Mexico......for those of you wandering.....I'm riding my Sportster and Tash is pillion with Chris on the Softail....I'm sure we'll get plenty of groceries between the three of us and two panniers.

We certainly did and are now set for our holiday.....beach days and sight seeing...excellent.

First day was spent on the beach....ha,ha....got to give Tash a chance to get some sort of tan...Chris is the same colour as the locals!!! Lilos, snorkels, sun, sand and beer ....

Christmas Day we went to Akumal and swam with turtles, a fantastic experience....check it out below.

You don't actually need a guide to do this...we just hired life jackets and for parking which is a bit manic going down to the beach...we managed to get parked at the side of the road. It always annoys us when they want the same price per bike as a car to park and then try to squash you wherever...no thanks. We did notice we were near a coconut tree but positioned the bikes accordingly.

Christmas dinner was a bit of a laugh later.....imagine trying to cook a full dinner for three people with no oven...ha,ha....we did saute potatoes for our roasts....boiled tinned veg....Chris and Tash had fried chicken.....I had some tinned salmon....we made up stuffing and kinda fried that as well.......Yorkshire puds...seriously....after watching several You tube videos on how to make these in a microwave....which didn't work by the way....we attempted to fry them like pancakes....still didn't work but hey what the heck it all tasted ok...ish....and we had cake for pud

That experience ticked off....next on the list....Mayan ruins....Tulum for starters. This is where it's great having your own transport. We just took ourselves there, parked up, entrance fee and we're in. The Mayan culture is fascinating and these are good ruins on the coast.

During our time wandering round we saw loads of iguanas just sitting around basking in the sun....going about their business as if the hoards of tourists were not there. We also saw a White nosed Coatimundi....looks a little bit like a racoon but brown....exciting to see...for us anyway. Once through the ruins we found ourselves back in the busy market area....lots of 'tut' stalls selling brightly coloured clothes and Mayan souvenirs....ha,ha....'we take dollar'....some nice stuff for sale. Another interesting thing we found to watch was the 'Danza de los Voladores'.

This involves a 30 metre pole, some dancing, flute and drums and the men once at the top of the pole then swing off it on ropes. It's quite spectacular if you haven't seen it before.

After ice creams and a little bit of shopping....oh yes and we booked a trip.....to some more ruins, a cenote....hole in the ground filled with water to some of you....and lunch out. We'd decided that we'd take a trip to the real touristy ruins of Chichen Itza. Guess that means an early night then.

We were picked up early the next day...just after 6am if I remember rightly....all packed up ready for a days adventure....proper tourist stuff. To be honest after having to plan everything for ourselves on our trip it was great for Chris and I to just relax and let somebody else do the organising. It was over a hundred miles to Chichen Itza...the tour company did well to break the journey up. First we were taken for coffee to a small cenote....not to swim in this one ....just to see what they were all about. Mexico has many and they are linked by under water rivers and caves. Given about 20 minutes here we then ushered back onto the coach and taken to the town of Valladolid. Here we were given another set amount of time to walk around the town square, church, shops.....it's a lovely square.....more 'tut' stalls.....The funniest thing we found here was that the tour company actually left a couple of tourists that failed to come back to the coach. Peeps had been warned of the time schedule and the tour guide who was really good did everything possible to try and find them. We ended up setting off late and still no missing tourists in sight.

Next stop another cenote...Ik Kil. This is an amazing sink hole....we swam in this one ....all jumping off a low platform. The difference with this cenote is that 'Red Bull' use it for diving competitions. I think it was last used by them in 2014....an Englishman....Gary Hunt....won. Click here 'Red Bull' and scroll down to 'Mexico Event Clip at the bottom.

After this exciting little swim and re-boarding the bus.....lo and behold ....the missing tourists....must have got a taxi to catch up....never found out why they were so late.....the tour continues and we're taken for lunch and then to the main attraction Chichen Itza. We all found the tour round the ruins really interesting....I put that down to a good guide. Very touristy here but they're another set of fantastic ruins.....lots of Mayan souvenirs for sale and sellers blowing jaguar whistles...they make an amazing sound.

By the time the tour ended we were all shattered, bus boarded, dozed off and finally arrived back in Playa....transferred to a mini bus and taken back to our apartment. A great day, well organised.

So back to the beach for a few days....top up those tans...... an impromptu shopping day as well.....it was overcast one day and New Year is looming...what to do.....luckily we manage to book a table at a little restaurant walking distance from the apartment.

But.......before New Year we decide to visit yet more ruins.....back on the bikes to Coba....not too far away.....these ruins you can climb on.

New Years Day we spent on the beach....at tea time we got dressed up and went for our meal, very low key, not too busy, nice food and......back to the beach......wine, pop and grapes.....it's a Mexican thing.....you have to try and eat 12 grapes on the 'bongs' of the New Year making a wish with every grape.....12 grapes, 12 wishes, 12 months......it's not easy......lol

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018

The holiday for the trip didn't quite end there...we'd been in contact with Vince again and Susie who were now staying a bit further up the road in Playa del Carmen. We arranged to meet on Tasha's last night..........and so we did......at the Playa sign......apparently that's fairly new.....those of you who have been before may remember the mermaid archway. After meeting up and introductions we browsed a little and picked a restaurant where we could all eat.

A good time had by all....see you again soon Vince......somewhere down the road ......

And it's 'Bye' to Tash.....we'll all going our separate ways....Tash back to Hemel and us to Cancun for stuffage on the bikes......my side stand needs welding again ....the joy of the topes!!!!

I think I've sussed adding photos and video into the blogs now so watch out for more. Don't forget the pictures are only snippets. All our photos can be found in the Galleries section on the website. Mexico......all of it is Gallery Nine.