It is a tale of stunning scenery, idyllic landscapes, broken promises and cunning crime. Right now, I can feel the tears forming although I know I won't let them flow, not because I'm sad to leave - quite the opposite - more from frustration. It is such a contrast from when we arrived in this beautiful country.
Mexico was the start of my part of the trip and somehow, instinctively, l knew it. The hostel in Mazatlan was my favourite so far and with a beautiful beach just 3 minutes away with beach bars selling delicious tacos and cold Corona, I was in heaven. When I found out that Mazatlan also claimed to be the shrimp capital of the world I knew that when Mother Nature was creating this place she was thinking of me.
I was sad to leave, even though we had stayed an extra night because it was so lovely. Also, the thought of going to Mexico City daunted me, and I felt certain we were going to be robbed.
I was wrong. Mexico City was great, with beautiful parks and lots of interesting things to do. But it also spralled on for ever, with street after street looking exactly the same - a little bit unloved. Our hostel wasn't that nice though, which can really alter your perception of a place so we were glad to move on. One thing that did surprise me was how amazed people were that we had been to Mazatlan. Apparently it has a dangerous reputation as one of the biggest Cartels operate there. It is funny how I felt so at home there, but was scared of the much safer Mexico City.
From there, a short 6 hour bus ride took us to Oaxaca (pronounced wah-ha-ka, something I still can't say!) a beautiful city in a mountain valley bursting with charm and culture. Sitting in the main square sipping the local hot chocolate was a great way to soak up the atmosphere and catch up on some people watching. One thing we have noticed is how small but yet fully grown the Mexican people are. Darren nearly trod on one as she skirted around his kneecaps!
But then it all went wrong.
I wish we had never arrived in Palenque. Quite a statement considering how stunning the Mayan ruins are as they sit so aptly in the misty jungle. Exploring them was a real treat. Sheltered by the trees, we hardly saw any other tourists and it felt like we had stumbled across them, like the first people to find them after 700 years of dormancy. It was an experience that will stay with me for a long time and I am very grateful for that.
However, the hostel was a dive, dirty, incompetent, unfriendly and there were constant efforts to extort money from us such as putting us in a cheaper room than we had paid for, charging an extra 10% service charge for food but not writing it on the bill so we would tip again and trying to sell us a tour of the ruins for 240 Pesos when the local buses charged just 10 Pesos each way and went from the end of the road.
On the first night in Palenque two locals stayed in our dorm. We thought this was a bit weird and I felt a sense of unease. They turned out to be the owners son and his friend but they arrived late, well after we had gone to sleep, had no bags and spoke no English so we didn't trust them. However, in the morning they were friendly and happily joked together before they had their showers and left.
So the following afternoon when another bagless local turned up the alarm bells didn't ring as much as they should have. He stayed the night, robbed us while we were sleeping and left early the next morning.
That meant that our last day in Mexico was spent in the Police Station rather than relaxing ahead of a taxing journey to Guatemala the next day. Initially, we were very pleased with the help we got. The police seemed very thorough, and even enlisted the help of a local translator. However, we were fed a line and paid a 400 pesos (£20) investigation tax, or corruption charge as I now like to call it. So by lunchtime we had been robbed twice, but there was more to come.
As it turned out, the translator was more help than we could have hoped for. We had made a small mistake when crossing the border into Mexico and did not have the correct visa documents. We were open and honest about this at the Police Station and said that we had planned to go to the immigration office that day and asked if that was the best thing to do. The translator assured us that we could easily sort it out on the border (he used to work for immigration) and in fact he now organises trips and could arrange transport and speak to immigration on our behalf. The only way to travel this leg of the journey was to pay around 300 Pesos for an organised trip, so knowing this, we felt a lot safer with a guide who was trusted by the police, spoke fluent English and assured is that he would come all the way to the Guatemalan border with us - something we checked and double checked before handing over the higher price of 460 pesos each, which included all costs and breakfast. (Robbery number three).
The next day we were collected from our hostel and began to make our way in a car, not the agreed bus, with no explanation of why. Already, something didn't feel right.
After an hour we stopped for breakfast which was where the translator left us, still two hours from the Mexican border, saying that he had to return to the hotel. He loaded us onto an already full minibus with other tourists (all Spanish speaking) and a Spanish speaking driver.
I am still sat on the bus, desperate to leave Mexico but worried about what lies ahead at the border - no doubt robbery number four as our white skins and lack of language skills will demand a high bribe to be let through. I can almost hear the cha-ching of dollar signs behind their eyes as they watch us approach the border. But I still haven't cried!
The happy ending
When we arrived at the border we were not surprized to be charged US$50 to cross. We moaned a bit and told everyone that we had been robbed. The men at the border patrol must have taken pity on us because when they discovered that we hadn't been stamped into the country they didn't stamp us out either and actually gave us our money back!
15 minutes later we were in a wooden canoe zooming up the river towards Guatemala. It was such a lovely way to travel with the breeze blowing through my hair and the sun beaming down through the clouds. My spirits rose as we got closer to a new country and having an open mind again, only hopefully a little bit wiser!
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