A 6am alarm feels incredibly unnatural when abroad regardless of the destination, although ours wasn’t as painful as it sounds. At home when our alarms rudely interrupts a peaceful sleep, forcing us to get up and ready for work it’s like a physical pain. The snooze button is medicinal to such pain, although only temporarily. However, this morning we weren’t even tempted by the snooze button. Recently named one of the new 7 wonders of the world, Chichen Itza had been on our bucket list long before we left UK soil. We found ourselves spoilt for choice being offered endless trips whilst wandering the streets of Cancun, by the persistent, although extremely friendly tour companies. After mentally noting what prices were on offer, we finally decided to book a tour which included visiting one of Mexico’s many Cenotes en route to Chichen Itza, and much to Jonny’s delight an all you can eat Mexican Buffet!

Famous for our poor timekeeping and always a fashionable 15 (or 30…)minutes late to everything, those who know us will be impressed we managed to arrive not on time, but 20 minutes early for our coach! Thrilled with our progress so far we waited on some steps. The aroma of Mexican spice soon polluted the air around us. Jonny is like a bloodhound, following this scent just a few metres up the street to a local guy selling breakfast Tacos. It took all of 30 seconds for him to order, purchase, return and demolish such Tacos. In fact, within 60 seconds he had consumed two-they were so good he went back for more. Meanwhile Hayley’s ankles are acting as breakfast for mosquitos, they managed to consume 15 bites worth!!

We set off on the coach to pick up other guests from their hotels. Two hours later, after driving what felt like endlessly and aimlessly, we were passing the hotel we had been collected from. Lets just say that friendly as they may be, Mexicans perhaps aren’t the best timekeepers-not that we can talk! Our tour guide introduced himself, and was extremely informative about the Mayans and the history surrounding Chichen Itza. After a few hours we arrived at the Cenote. For those who aren’t aware, a Cenote is like a giant sinkhole, and there are many you can swim in around this area of Mexico. We climbed down the stone steps, absorbing in the Cenotes cave like habitat, mesmerised by the deep blue water, lightened by the sunshine peeping through an enchanting crevasse in the roof, inviting us to swim.

One thing we did not expect as part of our packaged tour was a free pedicure. As we stepped into the water fish were drawn to our feet like magnets, suckling away at our dead skin. It’s amusing to think people pay for such treatments. It should be mentioned that they were much more attracted to Jonny’s feet, which are now silky smooth. Our feet were tingling, not only from the vibrations of the fish, but the temperature of the water was much colder than anticipated. Hayley braved a plunge into the depths, her breath stolen by the water’s coolness. Treading water, we become accustomed to its temperature and in fact it became refreshingly cool. The Mayans say that if you stay in the water for 10 minutes straight you will leave looking 10 years younger. Neither of us fancied being the acne imposed and slightly chubby 13 year olds we were a decade ago, so it was for the best that temperature made it difficult to stay submerged long enough for said affect.

Next stop; lunch. Jonny embraced every dish on offer, savouring every bite of spicy chicken, sampling different sauces and spices. Hayley opted for rice, bread rolls and some questionable ‘Spaghetti’. Currently not convinced on Mexican cuisine she soon moved onto fruit. Our opinions were divided over lunch which was shortly over and we were herded back onto the bus towards our final stop.

Having spent the majority of the day on an air conditioned bus, the heat was suffocating when we finally arrived at Chichen Itza. We were informed that someone collapses due to the heat every day-not very reassuring news, so if you do visit please be very careful. A local tour guide showed us around, although he did not need to say much for Chichen Itza boasts itself. Impressively structured and carefully constructed, the Mayans were meticulous and there is endless meaning behind every building. They are artistic masterpieces. Unfortunately you are no longer able to climb them due to erosion, such historical buildings need to be preserved. Our guide was extremely informative and passionate, so we tipped generously as this is the only wage guides receive. He taught us some tricks for getting the best photos, which was the only time we were brave enough to venture out of the safety of the shade and allowed the sun to temporarily scorch us. Although we are both eager to develop our tans, we weren’t willing to be chargrilled until ‘well done’.

Our time at Chichen Itza seemed to quickly draw to a close, the many locals selling impressive hand crafted goods bartered as we ran past them to get to the bus on time. It pained us to politely decline their endless offers for items that we desired but unfortunately can’t fit into our already bulging rucksacks. The coach departed Chichen Itza, an overall amazing experience and highly recommended by us both.

One final stop on the ride home, a short and sweet visit to Mexico’s old Capital City. A 20 minute restriction meant we weren’t able to see much, but we did trial some local pancakes and churros. The pancakes are not the doughy, generic kind we are used to at home, but with a Mexican flare, they are similar to tortilla’s, but sweeter and drowning in Nutella-much to Jonny’s delight. Hayley found the churros slightly disappointing, having been to Madrid and had ‘the best churros ever’ the local Mexican ones aren’t over riding this opinion.

A long and sleepy coach ride back to the hotel, we were tired but also starving. A shower and change of clothes later, we were on the hunt for food. Jonny was determined to get Hayley eating Mexican cuisine and jumped at the opportunity of this as she announced she fancied Fajitas. We found ourselves back in a local bar we had previously visited, greeted by the staff like friends returning for a visit. Those who read our previous post, this is the same bar Hayley had one drink and was blurry eyed. We decided to go all out Mexican style, ordering Nachos to start followed by Fajitas. Jonny’s eyes glistened at delight, whilst Hayley’s widened with concern as our Nachos were placed in front of us. The largest plate of Nachos we have ever seen, Jonny eager to consume and Hayley not entirely sure how our two stomachs would handle this…AND fajitas yet to come! Jonny had succeeded in his ambition to enjoy Mexican food—she was totally convinced, the Nachos were deliciously flavoursome. Our stomachs were so weighed down by Nachos that eating the fajitas was a struggle-even for Jonny! Tasty they were, but our stomachs were almost bursting at the seams, so we both had to call it a day and admit defeat on our main courses.

Walking off some calories was on the agenda, so we took to the local streets for a stroll before residing back to our bed-after all it had been a very long and exhausting day.

We will update you on our travels soon-in our next post read about Isla Mujeres, off the coast of Cancun and what we got up to there!

Jonny & Hayley 🙂