Top Ten iPod

Ok Ok, I know you've been clamouring for my top ten on the iPod machine, so here it is:

Back To The Drive ~ Suzi Quatro
Darling Don't Cry ~ Buffy Sainte-Marie
I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) ~ Sandi Thom
He's An Indian Cowboy In The Rodeo ~ Buffy Sainte-Marie
Panic In Detroit ~ David Bowie
You Can Do Magic ~ Limmie And The Family Cooking
The Coast Is Always Changing ~ Maximo Park
Glitter In Their Eyes ~ Patti Smith
Public Image ~ Public Image Limited
God Is A DJ ~ Pink

Not very different, really, from my last 'top ten', the main addition being Sandi Thom whom I will have the pleasure of seeing in a week or so at the Academy Bar in Islington.

My new favourite song is 'Sing' by the Dresden Dolls - it's a grower. I'm distressed that I still haven't received my tickets to see them on Friday. I phoned Ticketmaster and it seems that my tickets were sent in March by special delivery but I haven't had any 'we called but you were out cards'. I tried to get them delivered today (monday) but I've now had a text to say they'll be delivered to my workplace on Tuesday - shame I'll only be there until lunchtime after which I'm off to Birmingham for my sins. O dear, I'm starting to worry...

People

Some of the more interesting experiences in Mexico were, of course, the people. As seems to be the case in most corners of the world, the Germans have taken root and, since it's in the Americas, those upright citizens of the USA have also taken a significant hold. There were also French people and, you'll be relieved to hear, lots of Mexicans. Some were obviously of Mayan descent while others were of Spanish ancestry.

It was quite sweet in a way - and rather odd - to see young American goth-type people, all pallid, coloured hair, tattoos and piercings, large tee-shirts and big boots trying to survive in the heat and humidity of the Yucatan jungle. Like lost souls in paradise not entirely sure how to act and react. They were quite cute in a way and stood out a mile. The Americans also seemed to travel around in packs, groups of them rather than 2s or 3s and were, in the main, loud.

The Germans were like German tourists all over the world, well, except for one tourist. What shall we call him? O yes, sock man. He already had a deep mahogany tan, an all-over tan since he wore knitted, um, baby socks over his genitals. No, not speedos, not jockstraps, not thongs... knitted little pouches just large enough to encase his genitals. One had a piece of wool like a string over his hips and around his bum like a thong, the other was seemingly elasticated (possibly?) with nothing to hold it in place. Astonishingly, when he left the hotel to go home he wore florescent pink rompers, plasticy looking short-shorts with elasticated legs... Most odd but hey, he seemed to enjoy himself so why should I worry?

This is starting to sound terribly stereotypical, but the French smoked and talked loudly. The few British were quiet and polite. What is it about us, eh?

The Mexicans were generally very friendly although a few, in the more touristy and water-selling places were a bit jaded but most were still polite and smiled. The gardeners at the hotel all made a point of stopping what they were doing and saying 'hola' when I walked past, maybe because I took an interest in the plants? The breakfast waiters all routinely asked whether we'd had too much tequila the night before (the answer was always 'no'). At dinner in the lovely restaurants along Fifth Avenue the waiting staff were so incredibly polite and 'leave people alone' it was actually difficult sometimes to order a second beer (and that was heartbreaking for me). Everywhere else in the world it's 'one more beer?' before you have a chance to finish the first. They also made it difficult to pay, like it was impolite to hand over the bill...

I loved the holiday and I loved the hotel. No television for two weeks, no newspapers, no radio, no computers... just hot sun, beautiful beaches, interesting sights, adventures ... it was wonderful. I want to go back.

Wierdness and Wonder

There's lots of wierd and wonderful stuff in the Yucatan and in and around Playa del Carmen.

Have I told you about the caverns of Aktun Chen? No? It's a large cave system out in the jungle in the interior of the Yucatan. I was doubtful about going in, not being very good with enclosed spaces or heights (as in lots of steps downwards to the caves) but I survived and, in an odd way, enjoyed it. Some great sights deep underground, with stalagtites and mites, water dripping, underground lakes, very spooky.

A similarly odd experience is to walk around the cemetary at XCaret - I don't think anyone is actually buried there, it's more of a memorial park than a cementary, but it's full of gravestones in glorious colour, some serious and some incredible fun.

One of my favourites was what I think of as the 'glam rock' grave in green and yellow with boots dangling under a sunshade - loved it! Another was the gloriously colourful 'fruit basket' grave. We wandered round a couple of times and saw different graves as different aspects catch your eye or different times of the day when the sunshine catches different parts of the graves.

The mound of the cemetary was hollow inside with a couple of shrines to the Virgin and a big cross in the centre surrounded by a spiral waterfall. That was very strange and, in its own way, very beautiful.

I didn't quite get the whole death thing in Mexico and I don't recall it at all from my trip years ago. There were shops that mainly sold death stuff, skeleton figures in various clothes - even skeleton dogs with bones in their mouths. Most odd.

Things to see and do

Well, the world's your oyster in the Yucatan - so long as it's outdoor stuff you're looking for. With the glorious year-round weather you'd expect lots of outdoor activities and, near the coast, lots of activities to do with the sea. There are ruined cities to explore, of course, but don't look for museums and galleries - this isn't London or New York, or even Mexico City. Of course, with all this outdoor stuff you find yourself siddling into whatever shade is availabloe to keep out of the scorching sun.

We went to Coba, an ancient city in the jungle, still largely unexcavated with mounds covered in trees under which are likely to be the ruins of buildings. It will be fascinating to go there in 10 years time to see what's happened to the archaeological park and what's ben discovered. The main site to visit is a large pyramid where the front steps have been cleared as a tourist trap for people to climb to the top and view the jungle all around. I went about 3/4 of the way up when I first visited the site in the mid-90s but didn't attempt it this time. Chris scampered up and back down in one piece.

I went to Chichen Itza while Chris had an 'at home' day, a very long trip involving an hours drive up to Cancun to join a tourist coach for the drive into the heart of the Yucatan, but it was worth it. Chichen Itza is a well explored and presented archaeological park where the central image is the Pyramid of Kukulcan, the rain god. It's really spectacular, one of the key images of Mexico, and these days you're not allowed to climb it to protect it from wear and tear (I went up years ago and am not sad at all about not going up again).
There are great 'nature parks' at Xel-Ha and XCaret which are part sea parks, part nature parks and, in the case of XCaret, part culture parks. My favourite was XCaret since it had so much to offer. Not just the Hola Parrot, but it also offered the most exciting thing - walking across the floor of the ocean! I'm still slightly surprised that I managed to do it, but it was a wonderful experience, slow motion walking and all!

XCaret also included various nature parks, with a butterfly reserve, underground rivers, jaguars and pumas, lots of parrots, an evening cultural show and some derring-do flyers who drop from a high pole by ropes in a traditional ceremony for rain. Ouch. And, of course, a fascinating 'cemetary' in the centre of the park full of wierd and colourful tombs. No idea what it's meant to really be or represent, but it's a lovely (if macabre) place.

Flowers of the Yucatan

I like flowers and plants. My Granda won gardening prizes way back when and it's probably through him that I like the idea of gardening (even though I don't have a garden). So, whenever I'm off on my trips I keep my eyes open for interesting plants or even just pretty flowers that can be found anywhere.

Jungles tend not to be very flowery. They're more often than not gloomy and moist due to the overhead canopy in the tropics - I found this very strange on my first real jungle trip (in Borneo years ago) since I'd been raised on 'Tarzan' and 'Road To...' films that always had lots of exotic flowers to add atmosphere. In the case of the Yucatan, the jungle was full of half dead looking trees that selfishly soak up all the moisture from the ground. Flowers are either small or only inhabit the edges of the jungles and forests. But there are always flowers somewhere.

The hotel had lots of flowering plants scattered around the grounds, the colourful leaves of crotons and true busy lizzies, bromeliads and what looked like varieties of mysembrianthiums that only open their flowers in the full sun. And lots of varieties of palms.

There was an orchid and bromeliad nursery at XCaret that was a welcome relief from the harsh, hot sun on a stiffling afternoon. I always associate orchids with the Far East but, of course, there are varieties all over the world (we even have our own native varieties here at home). I like orchids - they make me think of Buddhist temples in Thailand where the altars are garlanded in strings of orchids. And water lillies always remind me of Lord Buddha whose first footsteps were on lilly flowers to prevent his purity from being contaminated by touching the ground of Mara. And gorgeous bourgainvillea dripping in shades of red and purple. I'm not sure where some of these plants originated - are they local to Mexico or imported? I need to find out.

This blog entry is just to show off lots of nice flowers. I hope you enjoy.

Palapas on the beach

The beach at Playa del Carmen is clean white sand and clear, turquoise sea. The sky is blue with fluffy clouds every so often, the sun incredibly bright and scorching. The palm trees and palapas - the thatched sunshades - rustle in the breeze.

Our hotel, Las Palapas, prides itself on its rustic charm with rooms in separate cottages, or rather, cabanas. Some were right on the beach, others in the garden area along with the restaurants and bar, while others were in a more private part of the grounds, reached by winding paths and surrounded by lush vegetation and with a feel of the jungle. We were in the latter zone. No television or radio, but a nice big verandah with hammocks and comfy chairs for relaxing, screened by various palms and purple bourgainvilleas. Idyllic and an ideal setting for a lazy get-away-from-it-all holiday.

A very lazy time was had by all but we also put in some solid graft too. I'm most proud of my little hand-painted treasure chest - all me own work! One of the 'activities' available was to sit in the shade by the pool and paint various ceramics which were taken away and glazed over-night. It took ages to paint the chest, tongue sticking out in concentration trying to get it just right. Lots of mistakes on it but I'm pleased! And, luckily, I got some new, shiny 10 peso coins to put in my little treasure chest in lieu of pirate doubloons!

There were a lot of bright, colourful ceramics available in town (and virtually everywhere) so I bought a little sun to hang on the wall to remind me of lazy days on the beach...

Yes Virginia ~ The Dresden Dolls

I interrupt this holiday blog to express my concerns about the absence of tickets in my hot sweaty hands to see the Dresden Dolls at the Astoria next Friday. I got the new album today (and an excellently crafted piece of punk cabaret it is too) and that reminded me that my tickets haven't arrived yet.

I need to see my good chum Amanda (of stripey stockings fame) and this delay in sending out the tickets just isn't on.

I now return you, dear reader, to the holiday blog continuum...

... and more Creatures...

We all know, of course, that ants are colony creatures, the whole more powerful than the sum of its parts and all that stuff. Well, ants may be small but collectively they can use a mobile phone to text their chums and keep the news flowing across jungles and entire continents. I'm something of a star meal with the ant population of the world's more tropical areas and I can just imagine the crazy little things texting each colony to say 'Grab yer napkins, lads, Owen's back!' as they descend on wherever I happen to be. Yum yum, you can hear them sharpening knives, forks and teeth as soon as I get off the plane. I don't have a photo of the bites in all their glory but this should give you an idea...

My ankles, legs and arms were a veritable feast for the first week in Mexico and I even attracted my very own vampire mozzies. Yes, I know they all drink blood, but they drank from my neck and I have the marks to prove it! [As an aside, one also dive bombed my bum which must have been sticking out from under the sheets on one of the more stiffling nights, but the less said about that the better.]

There are, of course, nicer creatures as well, partricularly my great friend, the mythical Hola parrot. He's a gorgeous green parrot who shrilly shouts 'Hola' followed by the cheekiest giggle you ever did hear. Here he is in all his glory. Unfortunately, I didn't think to video him with my phone so I have no proof he ever existed and he wasn't there when we back to XCaret a few days later... Personally, I think he was hiding his superhero identity by playing dumb and just chirping rather than saving the world with a mighty 'Hola [giggle]'.

And there were lots more parrots too, all colours and sizes. And a tapir called Tollok. And horses.


And there were cats too. Pumas and jaguars but most especially the little Tigrillo kittens - tiger cats! They were in a cage being 'environmentally conditioned' into their new surroundings since they're an endangered species. Cute doesn't come close to describing them - a ball of three sleepy kittens in the afternoon heat, too lazy to even growl at gawping tourists.

Fish? Have I mentioned fish yet? The lovely turquoise sea is clear and it's easy to look down into the waves and see fish swimming. There's also an excellent aquarium at XCaret with a whole host of different fish swimming round and showing off, all colours you can imagine and all sizes. Separately, there are also sharks and turtles and even a few aligators. I'm not a big fan of zoos, but these were very well laid out with, in general, lots of space and clean environments. The exception was the manatee family (parents and two babies) that seemed a bit cramped, but it was nice to see them being fed lettuces and the babies resting their flippers on the feet of the feeders to help them keep their mouths above water for a good chomp.

I didn't swim with the dolphins, however, since I don't like the idea of them performing tricks for us to gawp at and all the swimming-with-dolphins opportunities all seemed to be based around doing tricks with them. No thank you.

All in all, more creatures than you could shake a stick at. And, of course, there be dragons too!

There Be Dragons!

All good things come to an end and our fabulous sojourn to the Yucatan is now over and all is back to normal ... or will be soon.

Spent this morning (ie Sunday) on the beach and played in the surf one last time, drove to Cancun airport, a flight that seemed to last for weeks and landed in Manchester before heading down to Gatwick (why? search me!) and a taxi home. After being up and about for about 27 hours straight a few hours sleep was called for. Now, of course, I'm feeling wide awake.

You can read all about Mexico and the Yucatan over the coming week or so but to start it off you need to know about my new obsession.

My new favorite creatures are dragons. Very small dragons, granted, but dragons nonetheless. They can jump. They can run like the clappers if need be. They are also poseurs. I took photos of grandaddy dragons and teeny tiny little baby ones an inch long. Colourful ones, gray ones, striped ones. One lived behind our air-conditioning unit for a couple of days. One shagged a stone. One sunned himself on the wall in the morning on our way down the path to the breakfast room through a tropical garden. Another sat beside me to watch the waves crash against the shore. Yet another one wanted his photo taken with us so what could we do but oblige?

Ahoy there! Is that a holiday I see?

Oh yes it is! Holiday, here I come!

I've just done some final bits of work and emailed them into the office so now my time is all my own to swing in hammocks and plodge in the sea and drink tequila and turn red in the sun! Mine all mine. I am *so* looking forward to this holiday - I haven't had a two-week holiday since autumn 2004 and a week just isn't long enough. Two weeks under a plam tree is what I need.

Chris is, of course, all packed and organised and I've yet to start (well, there's a pile of freshly washed summer shirts on the chair and I'm charging batteries for the camera but that's about it). I'm a bit of a last minute packer really. I know where the passport is, the credit cards and money and the tickets. The rest is window dressing.

It sounds like a nice relaxing sort of hotel too. No telly, set in tropical gardens on the outskirts of a small town, rooms in little cottages around the grounds, a real get-away-from-it-all place but within walking distance of town (Playa del Carmen) with shopping, restaurants, bars and night life. I was in Playa in the '90s so it'll be nice to return and see what's happened to the place.

A couple of pre-booked day trips to swim with dolphins and visit Mayan ruins. Other trips easy to arrange when we get bored with the beach (although at the moment I'm wondering if that's possible).

I want to go now! A 6am taxi to the airport isn't that inviting. And I can't tell Chris the time - we have a deal in that so long as he doesn't know the time he's happy to get up, but one hint at the real time and a bucket of cold water is needed!

Look for me under a palm tree...