Dinner with the newbies seemed to go pretty well and they all seemed to recover quickly from the knowledge that we have two super heroes in our group - also known as Vicki and Jo!
Neil took us to the same restaurant that we had been to the night before; it was nearby and the food was very good. Which really was quite lucky considering the other restaurant close by was the one where TC had politely told the waiter what she thought of him and his service.
Then everyone went off to bed in preparation for Playa Del Carmen the following day; another beach resort, but one that was supposed to be much nicer than Cancun. At least I was hoping that the rumours were true as I will be returning to 'Playa' at the end of the trip for a few days of recouperation before returning to the wet and cold and life back in London Town.
The one and a half hour coach journey wizzed by, despite TC already stressing herself over the 'Chicken Bus' ride that we would be taking in Belize the following day. Actually she had been stressing about it all week. Ok, ok you lot probably know her too well by now, so yes, she had in fact been stressing about it as soon as Neil had mentioned the bus journeys to us on the first day of our tour, two weeks ago! (And she wonders why she has had a permanent stomach problem since then?)
We arrived at our hotel and looked around at the wonderous surroundings that were to be our home for that night. The rooms were bright and cheery with not even a wiff of damp; things were definitely improving.
And so with a skip in our step we launched ourselves down to the beach for a touch of welcomed sunshine. TC, myself and Electra (the Spanish lady that we had already met the night of 'Coco Bongos' and who Anne for some reason kept calling 'Carmen'?!) got settled on the sunbeds. I laid back in mine, stuck in my headphones and tried to listen to some music on my iPod, which ended up interspersed with bits of TC and Electras conversation on either side of me, about life in Spain, life in London, TC's sore belly and her fear of the 'Chicken Bus' journey we were going on the following day.
Within the hour the skies clouded over and so we reluctantly got up and made our way down the main strip for lunch. The various restaurants and shops looked very inviting and I started to work out in my head where I was going to go when I returned next week; generally feeling much better about my decision.
G joined us for lunch at '100% Organic' where the food was absolutely bloody brilliant and free from tacos and refried beans! We sat and chatted for a bit about our thoughts on how Belize would compare with Mexico and TC expressed her concerns about the 'Chicken Bus' ride the following day.
I think at this point I should explain to you, dear reader, that the buses are not literally running chickens in them, far from it. What they actually are, are the old American school buses that have been reconditioned and repainted in all sorts of colourful styles. They are called "Camionetas" or "Collectivos" and run as a normal bus service. The fares are cheap and so you will generally find them crammed tightly with passengers and maybe on the odd occasion a chicken or two - not that we ever saw any!!
But TC for some reason had it in her head that we were going to be hanging off all sides of the crammed bus, with our luggage precariously tied to the roof whilst a whole array of livestock ran loose on board. (And she thinks I have a wild imagination?).
By the time we returned to the hotel later on that afternoon, she had a really bad headache and put herself to bed for the rest of the eve.
The following day was going to be a long one; with 12 hours of travelling, starting at 5:50am and entailing a couple of coach rides, a border crossing, the infamous chicken bus and a speed boat over to Caye Calker.
And so the group (bar TC) met for an early dinner then it was early to bed. I crept back into our hotel room, trying not to disturb TC who was lying in the dark with her head under the covers and I carefully got into my bed and quietly settled under my covers and as I slowly drifted off into sleep I heard a feebled whisper from the other bed, 'I'm still feeling a bit nervous about the chicken run bus tomorrow'.
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