14:10. Every now and then we go through a phase of intermittent long drawn out bleeps while a light at the front of the bus goes on. I have no idea why.
15:40. Checked in and left the hostel for food. My first impression of the hostel is not super favourable, the two guys behind reception seemed to be sniggering as I checked in and the place seems too full of smug young things loitering around (the fact it has a pool doesn't help). The place is a labyrinth, I had to ask someone how to get out (loads of thoroughly confusing signs saying "girls only" but no exit signs). I suspect I need food to improve my mood.
Down some OK if unexceptional cafe (Cafe Peon Contreras), have ordered a pizza.
Oh, they did charge me the correct amount when I checked in. Well, plus an MXN100 deposit for the keys, but I can accept that.
16:35. Feeling a little more together. The music here consists of rather plaintive ballads and while it is slightly gratifying to understand the words enough to be bothered by them, they are not quite what I need right now.
It is too hot. But it is vaguely neat to be sat here on the terrace. Merida seems pleasant on first impressions, though a touch grubby in the outer parts.
I am inclined to tarry at this cafe a while. Assuming I don't extend my stay, which is unlikely, I don't have that much time here (today, tomorrow and maybe Tuesday if it turns out to be practical and safe to get a night bus to Palenque) but I suspect any museum type places are shut by now (not that I have a map) and I can wander around a little when it gets cooler.
It's not cheap here, I saw on the menu when I got here it's MXN38 for a bottle of beer. That must be getting on for London pub prices (I am resisting the urge to do the exact calculation). But sod it.
17:30. I am being heavily showered by biological debris blowing off the trees overheard.
21:25. Phone battery was running low and it got cooler so I went for a bit of a wander round the nearby areas. Fairly nice, though hard to photograph a lot of the more elegant buildings as I found myself unable to get far enough away to fit them in without getting my view blocked.
Went back to the hostel to charge my phone and sat out on the terrace with the laptop while I waited. (I had some idea the wifi might not work in my room, and I figured why not?) It filled up over time and by the time I left I was sat there feeling a bit of a lemon surrounded by people chatting. But sod it.
Just left now and down some tolerable bar on a square. Not the really big one, Not sure what it's called. Bar is La Paranda, if I am reading the sign correctly from this very oblique angle.
Both my ankles keep itching, I think it must be mosquito bites but I don't know why those are more irritating than others.
Oh, I tried in two pharmacies to buy insect repellent while wandering (honestly, you never seem to be far from a pharmacy in Mexico) and while they both had stuff, it was all aqua citronella and stuff. Neither had anything DEET based. Surely it can't be banned here? I want something that works!
I will try again tomorrow and may be desperate enough to buy the non-DEET stuff by then. It's not like I'm ever aware of being bitten and most of the lumps on my arms etc don't really hurt, but some - the ankle ones right now - are starting to get to me.
I shall try to bear these little discomforts in mind ready for use once I'm back in the UK and life sucks in a more conventional fashion.
I didn't get round to uploading any photos earlier as all the memory cards (including the one in the camera) were in my room and I couldn't be bothered getting them. Given I was just surfing, why didn't it occur to me to look up the legal position on DEET and maybe some brand name DEET-containing products available in Mexico? Oh well.
21:35. Some git just did the 'dump a few nuts on the table' schtick. He had big bags of them on him and they aren't in a bowl so I assume this is not the occasionally-experienced free bar snack. Sigh. I ain't touching them, I ain't paying and if they blow off the table, TS mate.
(He has 'at least' given me about 20 nuts, unlike some of the more beggarly types in Rio whould be give your three or four salted peanuts.)
I can see them still sitting there when I leave this bar.
I wonder if sleeping with my socks on would reduce the risk of further bites on my ankles or if the increased sweating would just cause the existing bites to take longer to heal?
Oh, I submitted a polite 'can you help me fix this?' kind of support request to hostelworld.com about the hotel this morning. I doubt anything will come of it but at least I tried.
I was looking at a map of Mexico and I somehow can't believe how little distance I've covered from Cancun so far. Not that I really thought it was far, if I did think about it, only 6 hours by bus total and I am well aware the bus to Chichen Itza was a slow one.
Next stop is probably Palenque though I still have no idea exactly what the buses to there are like. Then Oaxaco City and probably Puebla. From there I am tempted to go to Guanajuato but I suspect it's too far and I will need to find somewhere else (and ideally not Mexico City) which can serve as an intermediate destination.
I hope there is no malaria risk here. I have no tablets. The guide book is not going out of its way to mention such risks but they may be tucked away in the regional introductions, rather than repeated needlessly over and over again.
I am concentrating too much on these bites. I have rubbed one on my left forearm into itching now. Sigh.
22:00. Oddly hacked off about the hostel. I wasn't feeling particularly lonely or keen to talk to anyone earlier, but seeing everyone else at it makes me feel I should be being more sociable and annoyed I don't know how to be (and/or just think it's too much effort to exert myself most of the time). How the other 90% lives eh...
The weather is fairly pleasant now. There's a moderate breeze on occasion but it's not cold. Even without the breeze it's warm but not too warm. The room has two fans but no aircon and I am sure that will be fine. (I used to have the ac on at the hotel at CI 'because I could' but I don't think I really needed it, and the temperature was probably set a bit low as I have recollections of drowsing fitfully and feeling cold in the mornings.)
Annoyingly the toilet/bathroom next to my room has a urinal only. The 'full featured' men's toilet is on the other side of the labyrinth. I just hope I don't feel a sudden urge in the night.
22:15. Oooh. I got two beer mats (one for the glass, one for the bottle) with my third beer. I wonder if this is a patronising "stupid tourist, can't handle the paper napkins like us locals" gesture. :-) But as the sort of chap who insists on asking for a fork in a Chinese restaurant, I'm happy. Well, happier. We should find joy in the small things of life, but it will take more than a couple of beermats to totally lift my mood. :-)
(As a random and directionless thought, I am reminded of Jon's recent facebook post which I just happened to see in which he said he simply arbitrarily refuses to read "Lord of the Rings". (He must have told me this before, but it had slipped my mind.) I wonder if my absolute refusal to learn to use chopsticks is the same kind of thing.)
22:55. I feel inclined to waffle more abstractly. Subject to the limitations of the phone keyboard. It's not bad but when I'm writing something on a full-sized keyboard I feel cramped only by my inherent limitations as a writer (in the non-pretentious sense, not "oh well, dahling, I /write/, you know" sense) whereas on this thing I feel my brain running ahead of my fingers. Anyway.
In between fuming at the flash-using fuckwits, I remember musing during the sound and light show at CI what the (ancient, yeah yeah, there are still Maya people around) Maya might think if they could see it. I sort of imagined a future version where a thousand years from now people are touring the ruins of (say) a decayed Manhattan. Would they be sort of slightly titillated and slightly disgusted at the idea of shops where you could buy the slaughtered remains of animals for food, much as we might feel about the human sacrifice stuff? "Just imagine their internal combustion vehicles thronging these streets" etc. Would they think 'well, it is kind of impressive in a way and man, it's so *old*'? I suspect the whole issue is rather meaningless but I never claimed it was a profound thought, it just interested me at the moment.
On a different topic, I find myself fighting a slight urge (probably due to the end of the trip looming in a month's time) to just make as much distance as I can. Almost as if getting to (say) Guanajuato with more time than I expected remaining would be a good thing in itself. I am fighting it as it seems somewhat futile, but it may in a toned down sense explain why I am only stopping here for two nights.
There are a surprising number of people flogging presentation boxes of cigars on the street here. And a guy offered me a sombrero an hour or so ago, which I think is a genuine first on the trip. (I mean, even putting questions of taste aside, how many tourists are going to buy and take home something that bulky? Presumably some at least buy the things. Personally I could only imagine a drunken stag party purchasing such things, but as so often my imagination is doubtless more confined than reality.)
I have been told by a friend the blog conveys the impression I am having a bad time. I don't know entirely what to make of that. But sod it (I wonder how many times I've written that today alone?), I am writing it mainly for myself anyway and I don't think I'm baring any hidden depths of my soul that aren't already well known to even my most casual acquaintance.
It is moderately busy here given it's a Sunday night. My very rough and probably debatably racist glance around suggests maybe a 70-30 local-tourist ratio.
22:50. Every time the music stops I look round and see how many people are still here and wondering if they're closing. This is a particularly long lull but still a lot of people. Some vague voice over the microphone half suggests - and the music playing now reinforces - the idea that they have a live band of some sort coming on. Hmm, no, it sounds a bit too 'smooth' to be live. No, I think it is. Anyway, it's music even if I am totally unable to make my mind up about its liveness. If it's live it's pretty professional sounding. Maybe it's a guy singing to a prerecorded soundtrack. Not that it matters, stop thinking about it!
Oh, the nut guy came back, I saw him talking to the guys at the next table. He didn't come to me, I assume because my nuts were and still are untouched on the table. So at least he's not too pushy.
22:55. A tiny bit of applause and a spoken response strongly implies the singer is live, though my gut feel (I can't see, being on the street, as is apparently everyone else) suggests he is singing to a pre-recorded backing track. It's just a bit too slick to be totally live. (It's not so much the quality of the musicians, as a certain well-balanced quality. I am not a geek of the right kind, but I will try to explain - as if anyone, even me, cares, but I have sort of got stuck in this mental rut - it by saying it's too well mixed to be done by a typical pub band type audio engineer. Actually, it's not even that amateur thing. Even big professional bands sound different on live recordings than studio recordings, of course, even though I assume they have top-notch audio engineers on the job. And the music here has that slick studio quality. I suppose you could say a karaoke quality if you wanted to be negative about it.)
23:10. Just noticed the bar has a trike and a bike fixed to the wall. Can't help smiling at the Phoenix Nights quality.
Just caught myself imagining a conversation with a letting agent about my employment and financial situations and thinking how I would say it in Spanish. I do remember saying 'gracias' to the immigration and customs people at Heathrow on returning from previous trips out of habit.
I might ask for a michelada cubana after this one. No doubt they will charge me the earth but (n+1th time!) sod it...
Just turned down a kid selling tat with an (I hope) properly pronounced 'no'. Feel a bit smug. :-) I just hope my Spanish teacher doesn't tell me I am talking stupidly when I get back to the UK. I am mentally attaching a 'h' to the end of the word (and I think it works generally for words ending in o in Spanish, my pronunciation of Guanajuato suffers the same defect according to both Zuhamy - back in London some time ago - and her sister the other day).
I do somehow feel sitting here on my own is more 'experiencing the country' than sitting at the hostel taking to people. But I suspect it's not really an either-or situation for the sociable crowd. Playing them as they lay, it's definitely more fun and more 'experience' drinking on my own here than sitting on my own and not even drinking at the hostel
23:20. Elvis cover in Spanish now. :-) Apart from my earlier deductions, the musical range is too wide for it to possibly be a live band.
Yeah, just ordered a michelada cubana. I clarified and it should be what I want but the guy seemed to want to just call it a 'michelada'. Maybe that's the custom here but I'm surprised in some way it's different terminology here so close to Cancun.
Ordered it with Sol, I somehow - probably irrationally - feel it's a waste of Bohemia in a michelada.
23:25. Some old woman just tried to sell me a rose. Surely as a sad loner I should be exempt from certain persecutions? :-) It was bad enough fending them off when I was out with Zheyla.
The singer is doing a Jive Bunny-esque medley of classic rock and roll songs in Spanish now. Oddly amusing yet annoying as despite half recognising the songs (I am sure one was Jailhouse Rock) I am unable to match the lyrics with the originals.
Oh, I have been promoted/demoted back to paper towels instead of proper beer mats with the michelada.
Crowd seems to be thinning a bit. I suspect we may be chucked out relatively soon. Maybe 10 people here. Perhaps for the best, but a shame. There just may be an option back down the road though. Anyway, live for the moment baby, I haven't been chucked out yet.
23:50. The waiter just asked if I wanted another, I did my best to check it was OK and he seemed cool so sod it (again!). Went to the bog and there are a few people inside, there might be 20 people here but I suspect less. Still, I asked, and if I end up being the last person here it would hardly be the first time.
Micheladas are wierd. The sauce(s) never seem to mix properly, yet the taste is always there even at the start and they never seem excessively strong when you finish one. Maybe the colour doesn't mix but the flavour does, unlikely as it seems. More likely I just don't pay enough attention.
Black and white still presumably from an old film of some old woman and a middle aged bloke doing tequila shots, or so I infer, the woman is licking salt off the back of her hand anyway. I always assumed that was a relatively modern marketing idea. I don't think I've ever actually done that 'classic' tequila shot. I've always just drunk the stuff.
The colour on this michelada has now mixed, although it is a bit less dense at the top. So that's one up for the 'lack of observation' theory.
01:10. The singer seems to be back on, which I find odd, maybe just because I have convinced myself they are closing.
I think this michelada is stronger at the end. Lack of observation theory triumphs with respect to my earlier comments.
Just ordered another michelada. Think the waiter was amused (in an inoffensive way) by my attempts to be sure it was OK.
Oh, if I didn't say earlier, when I checked in some guy showed me round the hostel labyrinth briefly (I was a bit stupefied somehow, I suspect it would have been the same had he been speaking English) but he told me I had three keys, one for the room, one for the locker in the room (which has a padlock and a sort of clasp thing so tight I can't open it even with the padlock removed) and one for the front door. I checked I was supposed to keep the keys with me all the time (I guess that fits with them charging me a relatively modest MXN100 deposit for the keys). So in theory at least I have no fears about getting in tonight.
Though my room is in some little area which requires walking past the damn pool (open 9am-10pm), but I assume they just "will kick up a fuss" if they find someone in the pool outside those hours (9am seems a bit of a late start to me, I am sure lots of healthy young things might want a pre-breakfast swim), rather than locking those areas off. I just hope I can find my way through the labyrinth to my room. It's not all indoors, it's sort of connecting open-air areas. I just hope it's not all pitch black when I have to navigate it. Especially as there is a swimming pool to negotiate. :-)
Waiter just asked if I wanted anything else as they are closing the bar. I have this one almost untouched and I think it will do, I asked for the bill. I just hope I don't feel the need to neck this one. The singer is still on, though that was equally true at the wrist-slittingly depressing bar in Mexico City. We shall see. If anything is blatantly open when I leave in maybe 20-30mins I might be tempted but otherwise I think it's been enough of a night.
00:30. Table clearage. Still a few people around but I find myself necking the beer. Ah well. Not sure if I will go elsewhere, I don't want another rushed beer, though another relaxed beer would be cool.
This michelada seems weaker towards the end. Life's rich tapestry. :-)
Singer now doing "Si no te hubieras ido". Nice finish. :-)
00:45. Down some hotel bar in the street just down the road. I asked the waiter and he was very clear I was OK to get a drink. Some woman is singing. There are only a few people here but sod it.
Waiter just asked if I wanted food. I don't and he was cool, but I can hardly believe it's an option given how deserted the place is.
Oh, I (think) I asked the waiter and he said 'michelada' here means 'michelada cubana'. Maybe it's just Mexico City where it doesn't. I always ordered a 'michelada cubana' in Cancun and I don't know just 'michelada' here.
Don't run away with the idea this is all total drunken stuff. Ignoring my consumption this afternoon, which may help make me an alcoholic but was probably metabolised before I came out tonight, this one is only my eighth bottle. I feel pretty sober and by the numbers I wouldn't expect to be too drunk.
Oh, this place is 'La Bella Epoca'. Right opposite some quite impressive church which I couldn't photograph earlier and from here is definitely too close.
I feel awkward. The other few people are dancing in the street and the liveish music is still on, but it feels wrong drinking when it's this quiet somehow. Sod it (again).
While it was cool, I am not sure it was the singer from earlier who did "Si no te hubieras ido". He seemed to rush some bits of the song and it was like a bad karaoke effort. Still cool anyway.
Some guy turned up five minutes ago and got a beer. The live music is still on. But they are clearing a few tables away. I guess that's only smart as whenever they shut it's unlikely there will be a huge rush in the next half hour or so. I do still feel a bit awkward. But I am far from the only one here so sod it yet again. If I can have one after this I will (I'm not getting up that early whatever, I know myself better than that by now) but man. I still feel oddly bad.
This michelada seems a bit weak, I must say.
I am stupidly thinking of a dialogue in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon:
Ronald Reagan (as interviewer, pre-presidency - this is a fictional scene in WW2): Do you want another cigarette?
Bobby Shaftoe (a marine, wounded in hospital): Ask me a hard one, sir!
RR: I'm sorry?
BS: If you ask a Marine if he is ready or if he wants another cigarette, there is only one answer, sir!
Do I want another beer? Ask me a hard one!
Just got another. :-) (With the usual 'is it OK?' stuff. I probably look drunk rather than considerate. Sod it! ;-) )
Oh, I assume it's typical, but I note that micheladas come with ice in the glass. An added bonus in this climate. Not that it's too warm right now. Pleasant.
(I do remember helping G move one rather warm summer day. Possibly one of the hotter recent summers, though I may be wrong. Afterwards we went to some pub near her new place and they said the beer was a bit warm. So I asked them to put some ice in it. A bit of a rarity in the UK. But it was only Fosters, a bit of dilution couldn't hurt that, and I wanted a cold drink.)
01:25. Decidedly shutting but I just ordered another, which will definitely be the last. Still a few people here, including one guy (the one who turned up not long ago) eating.
Mind flitting back to the mines in Potosi. Odd how it wanders. But I must say I have not had a bad night all told, and my mental wanderings have been diverting.
I have this slightly nasty feeling about dubious onward trips and maybe having to visit the bus stations tomorrow. Plural, sadly, otherwise it would be easy if slightly inconvenient. (This is based on vague memories of the guide book. I have an idea there are multiple bus stations here.) I need to know if it will be overnight to book hostels accordingly. Maybe I will ask advice at reception tomorrow 'morning'. It can't hurt and may help.
01:35. Pseudo embarrassing. Had less cash in wallet than I thought. Had to dredge the wodge (and it is a wodge, due to fears of no cash machines in CI) out of my hidden belt and pay with a 500. 150ish for three beers wasn't cheap (but for late drinking acceptable), I gave 200 with the tip partly due to paying with a 500 and partly as I feel these guys deserve it. But it was annoying not to realise I didn't have cash in the wallet for the drinks, even if I was aware I had plenty of cash on me. Decided neckage now as they are really shutting up but it's cool. But the micheladas here are decidedly weak.
01:50. Just got back. No problem letting myself into the hostel and there was a guy on the desk anyway. Rather poorly lit on the way to my room but no problems. Anyway, to bed, I might aspire to be up by 10 on a nominal 8h sleep plan but I will count myself lucky if I manage midday...
No comments:
Post a Comment