Rosi Cornwell(spoiler alert – everything is okay and wonderful)
So as if I didn’t already feel like my second to last day in England was stressful enough … only because I got too cocky thinking I was organised – which I did intent to write a story on… but that’ll have to wait for now, so I can share the story on mine and Hollie’s journey to Mexico!
So, we had a lovely last night in England with Hollie’s girlfriend Amie and my mum and step dad staying at a Hotel near Gatwick for an easy journey in the morning (HA! It turned out we cut it super fine for timing, although this meant we only had a quick sad send off, rather than a long drawn out one!).. someone (Hollie) thought it would be a good idea to go for a curry the night before a long haul flight … although it was fine, however I think our neighbouring passengers may have had a similar idea, judging by the aroma that occasionally passed us by …. (Sorry I don’t mean to be crude as I am aware of who may be reading this, but it all makes for the real deal)…..
Anyway, so we had a good 9 hour flight, free booze, naps, films, with a whole 3 seats to ourselves, as sadly there was meant to be 3 of us, but it didn’t turn out that way …. so then literally 2 minutes once we had sat down, this lady asked us if she could sit in the free seat, because her niece was sat 2 rows down. Hollie was polite and said ‘yes’ in an unsure way, and I stepped in and explained that our friend had paid for that seat, so we wanted it, so we could enjoy the space. I don’t think she was very happy with my lack of hospitability, but she did end up buttering up a couple to move so she could sit behind her niece. OH and before I sound like a right B*tch – her niece was about 17 years old … so ya know …. we enjoyed 3 seats and stretched out… OH AND SO DID MY FEET. I could not fit my sandals on when it was time to get off the flight …. (please ignore my lack of nail varnish – the running theme for this post is the lack of organisation, so this fits perfectly).
We also were amazed that we did not get lost in the Bermuda Triangle!! The picture shows us just as we flew over Bermuda. ( Is this all a huge myth?!… who knows, but we survived – YAY).
Right, so as my feet went back into my walking boots, we left the plane and waited about an hour and a half to get through immigration and have our bags scanned again – they ask you to press a button and it randomly decides if you will have to open your whole bag to be checked. I thank our lucky stars that we didn’t hit the unlucky jackpot because of all the contraband … no no I joke … because our bags were/are FULL TO THE BRIM, and unpacking them would have been a mare.
So we find our transfer which is a mini bus for just the 2 of us, and we eventually pull up at the Fiesta Hostel – I had thought by their bio online we would get greeted by a shot of tequila, but no, we were greeted with a shot of “that’ll be £350 please” – we thought we had paid for this accommodation, and we didn’t realise that we were going to have to pay for the 3rd person who couldn’t make it – so this was a bit of a shock. They took Hollie’s passport to ransom (it was not as dramatic as that) and said we could go to the room to settle in, and figure things out, as WE WERE SURE IT WAS PAID FOR. … it is also something to do with the tax… that they LEAVE OFF of the booking site. So we go into the 6 bed room, and it is “Shabby Chic” to put it nicely. The top bed doesn’t have a rail to stop me falling out, and it is generally a little on the bleak side (for £350!!).
To make matters worse, we discover a LOVELY hostel across the road from us, called Nomads. We go in there, and have a mojito on their rooftop bar, that also had a pool, a spa and is all round the Ritz compared to our gaff!
We fantasize over the idea of asking our hostel for some sort of get out clause, so we can pay for our 1st night, and then move over to paradise. The fantasy becomes a distant dream when we realise they not only have Hollie’s passport, but also have Hollie’s bank details. We also tell ourselves that we wouldn’t be that upset with the hostel if we didn’t have to pay £350 for it…. ( I swear though at this point I’m thinking what am I doing here, I am not cut out for this life, I want my comfy bed and my cat). HOWEVER this dreamy resort was lacking one necesseity that our hostel had … VEGAN FOOD.
So we headed back to our hostel bar and restaurant which by the way is like a 5 minute walk from the dorms… and it is happy hour – HORARH. However there are some noticeable differences to this bar from the other …
Oh I meant the price for drinks, it is much cheaper at our hostel, but yes also the fact the ceiling appears to be held up by scaffolding!
It has a cute festival vibe, and at 8.30pm they give out free shots! We ate a mushrooms burger and chips (I know not in the slightest bit cultural, but it was our first day and we hadn’t sussed out the local places yet, and it was dark and we were starving!) We ended up playing beer pong which led to us speaking to new people and having a fun time – we ended up loosing, but somehow it felt like we won, as we had to spin a wheel, which decided we got ” 2 for 1 shots” – not too shabby!
We came back to the hostel and a few minutes later our room mate David joined us – he is from Canada and seems like a character. He was with his friend from Greece, who Hollie was talking to out of the room when David told me about his Bicarbonate of Soda. He said how good it was that you could use it for odours, diarrhoea (what a horrible word to spell I might add – that just took me about 10 attempts), cleaning your teeth, and more. He showed me this huge bag and told me to lick my finger and have a taste. I went against everything I have learnt in life so far, and had a dabble in his bag of bicarb. He was saying about how it tasted salty, and I immediately began to panic thinking “oh my god what have I done this doesn’t taste salty” – but rest assured folks, it was fine, it was legit bicarb and I could get the essence of salt in the end. Anyway David is a brave guy for travelling around with an unlabelled bag of white powder IN MEXICO.
I can safely say that our first day has been a bit of a rollercoaster, but it has taught us:
- READ REVIEW’s – do not get tempted in by the words “Fiesta” and “Free shot of tequila”
- Be aware of added tax when in Mexico – as it doesn’t show on the Hostel Word booking!
- Don’t panic, because it will all work out in the end… and this is just the start!
xxxx
