Cancun - lets get down to business!

A whole week has passed since our last entry - I'm sure you're missing us! ha ha.

Our last night in Tulum we moved the last night to a bungalow which had no mosquitos and was cheaper than our little leaky cabana! 2 nights of rain and we actually thought the whole thing was going to cave in! It was nice though being cosy and hearing the rain... bouncing off the mosquito net, but we slept SO well once we'd moved to the bungalow!


view from the restaurant/bar onto the beach



view from our bungalow

Our last couple of days we snorkelled in 2 cenotes - one open, one closed (a cavern) we swam in the crystal clear water, and we went to a connecting cave in the closed cenote which had bats! The fish are tropical in there but are like the little ones you'd have in a tank back home so Brett was very excited to see them in the wild. They all looked like Shabunkins to me! Even though we had wet suits on the water was freezing!



the walk through a mangrove to the open cenote



the open cenote (complete with Brett in it trying to catch the little fish)



The closed cenote (with Brett in it somewhere, trying to catch these fish too)

SO we left our little paradise home in Tulum and last Thursday we arrived in Cancun - just 2 hours from Tulum. Kevin our new landlord and friend picked us up and took us to his and his wife Lina's home (our flat is under their apartment along with another little unit where the sub CO is staying - they are Texan but living in Puebla near Mex City). Its been the Circuit overseer visit so Friday was our first introduction to witnessing with an English congregation in Cancun. The cong is lovely, such lovely humble people and so so happy, its got a lovely atmosphere and everyone that can't speak English so well (although its way better than our Spanish!!) are trying their best to improve to be able to help in the Bible study work. The main English speakers here are Americans/other foreigners, and Mexicans who prefer to speak/study the Bible in English. No one understands my Spanish - you have to be SO precise when you say words and can get yourself easily into trouble!

Cancun - the centre - not so good - but we have been spoiled with the gorgeous places we've visited so far - its basically a dirty concrete City with no real centre or history (only 30 years old) in contrast to the beautiful little towns we've seen all with a Zocolo and lovely squares with coffee shops lining them and cute markets selling all things Mexican. So yeah it was a bit of a shock to the system - and Wallmart was another shock - talk about Superstore - Man the Americans invented the word! I didn't realise Christmas was coming up until I walked in there - and was worried I wouldn't ever find my way out! ha ha.

So anyway, we love our little flat for the month, a few photos up and our little Mexican soft furnishings we've picked up along the way moved in and it feels like home, simple but really all we need! The City we would never choose to have come here (we're told the beach and hotel zone is nicer but of course very commercial and expensive to get to in a taxi!) but the congregation here is a keeper, and we've loved every second of their kindness and hospitality which blows our minds and we've only been here a few days.





photos of our apartamento (its humble and basic, but we like it)



Outside on our way to our first meeting with Cancun Ingles

So Saturday there was a special effort for the C.O visit to go to a small island off the coast of Cancun called Isla Mujeres (Island of Women) where there are 3 Spanish congregations and there used to be an English group and they are hoping to restart it. So in an effort to help them find the English speakers a group of about 20 of us went over - it was an early start but it was worth it, the island is lovely, lots of tourists attracted to it - they visit and never leave. The water is tourquoise and they have a reef and lots of fishes to see (we saw a Baracuda!!)
So we did some search work - I spoke to 3 people and had good conversations - one guy was Mexican and had lived in LA and been in prison then deported... so sad that he thought he was going to hell and didn't want to think about the Bible because he feels guilty. So we showed him the 6 myths of Christianity magazine that shows that Hellfire is not a Biblical teaching and showed him from the Bible what it says about the condition of the dead, and that Jehovah wants him to get to know him. He was such a nice guy and someone is going to follow up on him.
Apparently to get this group up and running officially, it needs a foreigner to move there.... another place with a lot of need... just like Tulum in case any of you are thinking of a place to come and help!





Getting the ferry over to isla mujeres



We had a lovely lunch at a brother and sisters food place a traditional soup dish with Chicken, chilli and puffed up corn (like soft pop corn) and you load it up with avocado, lettuce, onion, radishes, and eat it with round tortilla chips -its called Pasole.










pics from the day including how many people can you get in a pick up truck for the Ministry (anywhere else in the world totally illegal, in Mexico tho, ah...its ok Senor!



The ferry home



And the sunset


Today at the meeting, back on the main land we met an American couple on holiday in Cancun from Ohio and a friend of theirs Brittany who were all lovely and came back for dinner with Kevin and John and Lilly (the sub CO) - I made drunk chicken thanks to my Mum's inspiration and quick text of the ingredients! Its weird they don't really use ovens here, just a oven top stove - going to be a challenge to make interesting dinners over the next few weeks!

So our life for the next few weeks is ministry - tomorrow brett and I are studying with a young brother and sister who normally study with Kevin and Lina but as they are away they're coming to see us, so really looking forward to that - i think they are 8 and 11 and are the cutest, we met them today.

currently listening to Guitar - album = Tokyo (love it, you will too!)

Love to all, and miss yas xx

Brett 23 vs. Mosquitos 32 - the trials of paradise!!

Yesterday we arrived in Tulum.....mmmmmmmmm, Tulum!



Tulum is a little coastal town on the Caribbean coast of Mexico about 2 hours south of Cancun. We had heard great things about Tulum, a little known beach town with miles upon miles of un-spoiled white sand beaches where you can rent little chic-shack style sea hut on the beach for 10 dollars a night without a single other tourist in site!

well nearly, the miles of miles of unspoiled beach is true, and the eco friendly chic shack cabanas are definitely available to rent...alas, a few others have heard about Tulum too and although it is definitely not mainstream yet and the tourists are few and far between it is no longer 10 dollars a night.

We are staying at Retiro Maya, which has a modest 10 cabanas directly on the beach. we have an awesome view from our front porch I'm sure you'll agree and we only have to share it with the Geckos...and the local golden retriever...oh and the crabs...and of course the ever attentive mosquito's!!



Our porch


Our room


But fear not, after suffering a huge defeat in the jungle that was Palenque earlier this week I have waged full scale warfare on my winged combatants and am happy to report that I am rapidly catching up my deficit! Thus far I am a mere 16 bites down versus the admirable 23 Mosquitos that I have managed to squish, mainly tonight, with the aid of a net, some raid, a can of repellent and my ever alluring ankle which I have been using as bait. When we include the further 16 bites that Nem has suffered then I'm still losing the war, but at least tonight I have definitely won the most satisfying battle. I have been wondering why Jehovah decided to create such a creature, in fact I re-read the Genesis account this morning to see if I could find a clue, but no there was none to be found. I have pondered this at length today and have come to the conclusion that one possible reason he could have created them was rather than suck our blood and be quite possibly THE most annoying insect to ever grace his fine planet they were supposed to be providing a minor liposuction service to enable us to be able to eat all of the finer things of paradise life (marrow, oiled, kept on the dregs et al) and have simply got a little over zealous in the process. Whatever the reason, in this day and age of inherited imperfection they have made themselves fair game as far as I am concerned and all the while they are merrily taking off from my sleeping body bloated with a fresh cargo of my hard manufactured T4 cells, I have no problem in balancing up the status quo with a "bring it on" clap of my, by now mossy hardened hands!

Anyways, I digress (probably more of a rant than a digression) Tulum is lovely and is exactly what we needed after nearly two weeks of leaving London and travelling the width of Mexico.

The Mexican people are as charming and happy as ever and the views and atmosphere of this place are fantastic. Hope you enjoy the photo's of the beaches if you had any second thoughts about holidaying in Mexico they should hopefully allay any fears.

This afternoon we went to hire a scooter so that we could go and check out the cenotes (underground caves that have lakes and rivers connecting them in which you can snorkel and dive etc). The scooter guy didn't have any scooters available (none that would start anyway) and so he gave us this funny harley style roady motorbike to hire, the sort that I did my bike test on back home when I wasnt trusted to ride a "proper" bike. This is what I love about Mexico - No questions as to whether I had any experience riding a motorbike, no instruction as to what to do with it, he simply said..."little bikes broken, you take Big bike...Si?"



the beast (and me)

So, we took "The Beast" down the road to the eco park along the pot-holed track and had had some fun negotiating the mountainous speed bumps and military check points along the way.



We found this guy in our sink tonight



we couldnt resist photographing the local ladystick at the minimart

Last night we went attended the meeting at the local english group public meeting in Tulum, a modest 20 or so publishers. Apparently they only need one elder to join and then they will be able to make a congregation, so if anot of you are wondering about serving where their is a need!!?



we were late for the meeting, not being able to find the KH due to a brother giving us a slightly wrong address. So we called our contact asking for directions, but then as if by divine inspiration a local brother from the Spanish cong gave us directions. Oliver, without proper meeting attire - we were going to pretend he was our study!

We're looking forward to the next couple of days relaxing on the beach, getting some snorkeling in (hopefully in one of the cenotes as well as the second largest reef in the world) and visiting Tulum ruins, which is unique amongst the other Mayan archaeological sites in that it is the only known temple to have been built on the beach. Next we will be making our way up to Cancun to join the congregation for the circuit visit, although we have been told it is not all hard work next weekend as they have arranged a congregation day out to the isle mujeres which is a lovely sand/coral island in the Caribbean just off the coast.

love to all at home, missing you...

P.S a quick note from Naomi to say - as we are staying in an eco warrior location we have no electricity in our rooms, and we only have lights in our cabana from 6pm until 11pm - yes friends this means a week of embracing the curl - although there is a communal 'charging' area in the bar/restaurant area which is basically a sand floor with tables and chairs and a palapa roof - very cute... i'm wondering if they'd notice me dash in with my hair straighteners - don't mind me!
ha ha - until next time, lots of love
curly sue x

San Cristobal - Pelenque & everything inbetween

Firstly thanks everyone who has emailed and posted comments, made me very happy as I missed home today - not even 2 weeks - I am a big girl! So please keep them coming :)






So following the AWESOME Sumidero Canyon which Brett told you about, we had another AWESOME day yesterday. We said a sad goodbye to San Cris and our lovely hostel with lovely fire and boarded a mini bus at 6am. We thought, this is good just the 3 of us, until we stopped at a hotel and picked up 10 excited Mexicans who were just the sweetest, but at times we thought we were on some 50s something day out, as they sang Spanish songs, and offered round mandarins and mini bananas for us to eat - they were way cute though - they were like our extended Mexican family by the end!

So about 3 hours of winding up mountains littered with beautiful fruit trees - lemon, lime, banana, we once again were amazed at how lush this country is - and every couple of miles there's a little wooden hut with a porch, always with a cooking pot on the boil - these people may not have much but cooking is no.1 priority. Anyway, I digress, we arrived at Agua Azul, a beautiful series of waterfalls which we swam in - very refreshing! After that we visited another waterfall Misol Ha which again was breathtaking just in a different way.



























We saw these little guys busily working away on the pathway next to the waterfall...




After that we visited the Pelenque Mayan ruins, some of the most amazing ruins in Mexico, set in lush jungle with birds singing loudly as you make your way up to the stone platforms.

The pictures really speak for themselves!














After the ruins we arrived at our hostel in Palenque - dive... room smelt of wee and toilet didn't work... this morning couldn't come quick enough. Today has involved eating, skyping and playing ping pong... tonight involves another long bus ride - 11 hours to Tulum... we are told we WON'T be disappointed and that the sand feels like marshmallows.

If you come to Mexico - don't bother with Palenque - DO bother with Agua Azul and San Cristobal.
And thus ends Naomi's lessons on visiting Mexico.

Love to all
Adios friends xxx

San Cristobal

Our time in San Cristobal, Chiapas has so far been quite simply awesome...

Since leaving behind friends, the beach and the heat in Puerto Escondido we have had some time to wander around this little mountain town, check out the markets and today to visit the awesome Sumidero Canyon.

We have totally fallen on our feet with the Hostel with a great room with a fantastic courtyard. The temperature here is perfect really, sunny with a cool mountain breeze.
















It gets cold at night and so an open fire and a couple of mezcals were the order of the evening for Oliver and I while Naomi busily updated the blog from Puerto Escondido (in between taking pictures of us shivering by the fire with our boardies on). Oliver is a friend from Austria who we met through Mike and Holly in Puerto Escondido, he has been living there for a few months, getting involved in the ministry and the surfing



This morning we took an hour long mini bus ride from San Cristobal down the valley to catch a boat ride up the river on the floor of the Sumidero Canyon. It is difficult to put into words quite how amazing this place is, it is truly awe-inspiring. Without a doubt it is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen...ever!

To begin with the landscape around the banks of the river are jungle views with some interesting animals, Pelicans, Crocodiles and lots and lots of vultures.








As you round one of the bends of the river you get the first peek of the huge walls that form the canyon. Beauty aside, the sheer size of this place reminds you of how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things and it is a real privilege to be able to come to a place like this, we really do feel very fortunate. We hope you enjoy the rest of the photo's.

















If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, visit the Sumidero Canyon...you wont be disappointed.

Brett