The Smug Amigos in Sombreros

Colly attacks the pinata

From Belize we headed to the beautiful white sandy beaches and aquamarine waters of Tulum. Here we had a few days R & R to recover from the excesses of Caye Caulker before hopping on a bus up the coast to Playa del Carmen, where it was clear that Mexico's east coast was not actually Mexico at all, but more like America. The beautiful rooftop view from our hostel was a majestic vision of supermarket wonderment, in the towering form of a giant Walmart. As the weather was disappointing, the bakery section became our haven where we abused the free taster system and sampled delights such as pineapple upside-down cake, ham and cheese roll and banana slice. We were so dedicated to the cause that we partook in thrice daily visits and employed strategic costume changes to avoid being recognised. Despite the Americana feel to Playa del Carmen, we managed to experience a taste of Mexican culture when Chris from our hostel introduced a game of pinata for his birthday celebrations. Its amazing how fun being blindfolded, spun around and ridiculed by onlookers can be when you're brandishing a large stick and sweeties are the prize.

The room pre carnage

The room post carnage

My thats a lot of heads

Group shot outside 'Coco Bongos'

We were dreading the prospect of spring break in Cancun due to lack of money, no drinking mojo and excesses of over enthusiatic American college kids. Arriving at our hostel didn't provide any comfort when it appeared to be in the middle of a golf course, had no doors or curtains on the showers or toilets, had strange padded rooms full of old sofas and our room was not unlike a boarding school dormitory from the 16th century. However our plans to leave the next morning were shamelessly abandoned upon the arrival of seven ridiculously hot Australian boys who weren't shy about walking around semi-clad. This is where our spring break really began and the planned two days quickly escalated into a week of carnage. Our main pleasure derived form shouting cheesy Americanisms such as:

"Who wants a body shot!"

"I max out about 130"

"Woo hoo spring break!!"
"Let's get some shooters!"
"Who wants a body shot?!"
"Hey dude how much d'you bench? Oh I max out about 130, but it pays the bills."
"Let's go chug a beer!"
"U.S.A.....U.S.A.....U.S.A"

Having a lovely time :-)

The group partake in 'Sperm Whaling'

The major drama of the week came on the last night when Petey, Lee and Ryan were a little worse for wear in our favourite club Daddy-O's and were consequently asked to leave. Somehow the situation spiralled out of control and they were soon encircled by policeman, handcuffed and being beaten with batons. They were bundled into the policevan and taken to the station. Having witnessed this shocking police brutality, it was Erin and Murph to the rescue as they began an elaborate adventure across Cancun brandishing their credit cards shouting about how they were going to "bail their boyfriends out of prison!" from the back of a golf cart.

Battered and bruised

A fine example of a hot body!

The next day was extremely sombre however, as it transpired that each of the fugitives would have to pay $1000 US bail to avoid being moved to the main prison in town. Sixteen long hours later the jail birds returned, their wallets considerably lighter and their bodies black and blue, but extremely glad to be free. The moral of the story is anyone visiting Central America should try and stay on the right side of the law.

The fun that can be had on a golf cart