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...not really. But would it have really hurt?
With North America behind me, I set foot on Central American soil. Getting through Mexico's Cancun airport and back out to the free world was a breeze. I was armed with 'hola', 'gracias', 'por favor', 'vino', 'donde esta' and 'los autobuses'... oh and 'no hablo Espanol' (but don't use the last one because it's an invitation to continue speaking in Spanish!).
After the shortest temporary best friendship in the world with another backpacking girl from Holland (set entirely on the airport forecourt), we managed to pack each off on the right minibus heading for different towns. This was how it was going to be for a while. Meet people, form a team, split the team. I was off to Playa del Carmen and Holland was hanging in Cancun. She really wanted to come with me to Playa by the time we'd swapped various life stories and established our next rides, all within this micro-friendship we'd formed! I guess getting crazy ideas to make itinerary detours before even leaving the airport wasn't meant to be. She was pretty cool, evidently memorable and provided my first 'happy sigh' moment of the trip.
So I set off for my hostel filled with anticipation for who, what and where I might find over the coming couple of months.
Once dropped off in a small town square with all my wares a little after sunset, I actually did a 360 degree turn sucking up the temperature, sounds, lights and smells around me. It was glorious. I'd woken up that morning in my bed in rainy Enfield and 19hrs later, here I was surrounded by bars, restaurants, the sea breeze and people sauntering along to find, or were already in the throws of, a good spot for getting the young evening going.
By being dropped off in the wrong location and having no map to navigate with, finding my hostel became an adventure in itself.
I made 2 new Mexican 'friends' on the square and proceeded to hit 3-4 bars together (it was a 19hr smoke/drink-free commute!), drinking at least 2 in each place and once I was sufficiently lubricated and cautiously comfortable, I asked them to take me to somewhere with live music. This all still before bothering to look for my hostel.
We headed off again, my backpack and wares still in tow and ordered yet more drinks at an open air / live music bar on the main strip. Of course I questioned plenty the wisdom of this hedonistic behaviour with total strangers at this precariously early juncture of a long trip ahead (and really should have seen to securing my stuff and a bed first) but I really was convinced that picking up and navigating the immediate path before me using observation and instinct, was how to get the most out of every moment here.
At the bar, a cover band was playing mostly 'pub standards' (Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zep...etc). PERFECT! A little of something normal and familiar for me. Within half an hour, the Mexican boys had me up on stage singing 'Sunshine of Your Love' (Cream) and when the band asked me what else I knew, I told them frankly that I was more confident playing bass. A bass was imminently strapped to me and we played 'Come As You Are' (Nirvana) to a generously applauding audience. I did totally crap myself up there and took a second to ponder what the hell I was doing but if I was to travel with the attitude, 'I can't!' instead of 'Bring it on!', then I was going to get up on stage and test my mettle. So I went for it! Whether it was the tequila or the unlocking of some previously hidden narcissistic fetish, I can absolutely report that I was utterly ROCK that night! I was on fire and up on that stage, I had announced my arrival. Hola Mexico!
And then it happened...
Tequila'ed up and made a stage goddess, I was about prime at this point for being scammed big time. Around 1 or 2am the Mexicans who, to be fair, had shown me a great night out, started saying they'd been pick-pocketed and had no money for their cab home and neither had a charged phone to call friend. I didn't know if this was true but at the suggestion of taking a 'loan' from me, I snapped into what was maybe going on and I decided to call it quits on these guys and set off for my hostel, making sure they weren't following. Their reaction to my retreat seemed irrationally disappointed and childish rather than warm or gentlemanly, so I'm pretty sure I'd blown their final play for a few notes from the new girl. Ha ha.
That was kinda a 'off the plane and straight out for the night' scenario which I could never have planned. How the hell I mustered the sense to turn all suspicious all of a sudden and walk away from these kids (must have both been early 20's) after a night of such drinking I shalln't quite square. I must have some sort of Mexico beginners luck.
Alone again, I was determined to find my hostel and force myself to rest up for Day 1. I found the hostel alright but I also found more people. Who'd also been drinking. In fact, the party was still going on loudly at the hostel and this time people spoke English! So once locking away my stuff, I mingled in and continued on for another couple of hours there. This meant that I didn't actually get a bed that night / morning since it was assumed by she-staying-rent-free-and-without-a-legitimate-claim-to-a bed aka Andrea from Chile, that if a dorm bed wasn't occupied by 4am ish, she would sleep in it. Introducing Andrea. The cleverest scammer I was yet to meet.
Over the next few days, Andrea would wear my clothes, sleep some more in my bed and generally help herself to anything of mine and then say afterwards "I eh hope you dond eh maa-ind but eh I used....blah blah". I felt sorry for her as she only ever seemed to have 3-4 pesos at any given time but she had a laptop linked to the internet and I got to use it as often as I liked. I wasn't too bothered.
It was thanks to an elderly character named Nacho and his young companion stepping in just in time, that I wisened up to the 'female' scammer antics. It was about to get much worse for me apparently, till these guys, also staying at the hostel, took pity and warned me off. I'd previously had no experience in nor any radar for female scammers. Girls do that to other girls? Well... that's an afirmative. Boy do they!
So, a swinging start and I was ready to begin exploring.
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