WANTED - DEAD OR ALIVE

(NK) Well, we’re back to just the two of us. Captain Demando AKA Leo Panelli AKA Captain Crook is a long story. We’ve deliberated on whether to tell the tale and how to do it and in the end decided to just go for it. It’s not really your average travel blog stuff. More like crime fiction. Settle in, this is a long one and it’s a bumpy ride.

You only have to look at this picture of Trisha to see that Mexico is scam central. The rest of the street was empty but they chose this strategic parking instead.

Nice one lads!

As per our previous blogs, the idea of crewing on a yacht seemed a bit unbelievable to us but we’d spoken to people who’d done it, so we thought, why not. After leaving Cancun and coming to Cozumel island to bring the boat in we were starting to have our suspicions about the man we were calling Captain Demando.

Most of his story checked out, he was a very intelligent/psychologically manipulative guy who knew almost everything about anything and he could play the guitar like the rock star he claimed he was.

On the flip side, he clearly had an alcohol problem, was taking prescription psych drugs and painkillers - for what he claimed were his kidney stones and mild depression - and had some clear personality malfunctions. He’s the sort of guy that is always shouting obscenities or using shock to try and get a laugh or some attention. As his personality began to grate so too his addictions began to surface as real problems.

Our doubts were growing but the carrot of a sailing trip was still dangling and we thought, hey, hopefully the rest of the crew will be decent people. We were also swayed into believing his condition was just short term and he would get better soon. Something he constantly promised us.

After a few days on Cozumel we moved into a swanky three-bed apartment with an ocean view and a diving board straight into the Caribbean sea. It was then that things started to go really wrong.

When we met Leo we were sold his elaborate life story and a bit of online research showed it checked out well enough. He had also told us that he had been robbed in Cancun (FK – even showing us the exact spot it happened) so had no ID, credit cards or anything. All he had was the emergency $2,000 from American Express when his card was stolen. “But not to worry guys, that will all be sorted in a matter of days” was his mantra.

We’d been with him for two weeks and the money was running out, we were now starting to pay for things in the interim which we knew was wrong but the same old, “don’t worry guys my accountant will send you a transfer over.”

I pulled Fi to one side. This guy is a bullshitter. A very good one, I give him that, but a bullshitter. He liked to show us YouTube videos of his favourite songs, as I became more certain of his intentions I showed him this video.

It went right over his head.

FK – Now people that know me will agree that I always like to see the best in people, but when the cold reality of what Neil was saying struck me, I knew it was true but didn’t want to believe it. We started to have secret meetings down by the ocean once Leo had passed out from all the Tafil and Tequila he had necked, to discuss the days bullshit and work out a plan of action.

NK - The money had run out and we were not paying anymore. He was trying to get us to party, to be more fun. He wanted to go out and get girls. I should add here that he was a stinky fat slob, yet one night he brought two young American girls home and apparently had a threesome with them, such was the power of his bullshit. Or was that bullshit. Too much bullshit, to keep track of.

Me and Fi had a bigger problem, we had foolishly started to pay for things he promised to pay us back for since his money had run out. We had foolishly given him a huge $600 for the port fees to get his license to bring the boat in. I said to Fi, be prepared to lose that money or be prepared to call him out and watch the shit go down. Fi sees the best in people, she believed this might all still be true. I must admit, a part of me still did, even though all my instincts said scam.

Up until that time he had been playing us with his bigshot lifestyle and knowledge, paying for stuff, telling us what great people we were and how we were helping him recover and get his life back on track after the divorce with his wife. Teaching us to play guitar, to sail, psychoanalyzing us with disturbing precision, but now the tide was turning.

Things had changed. He was stalling us, using his health as an excuse, using American banks, credit card companies and the consulate being slow as excuses, using Thanksgiving and the holiday season as an excuse for the rest of the crew not being here yet, using Mexican bureaucracy as an excuse. There were too many excuses, which when we challenged were met with outrage.

He then made a number of mistakes. He was constantly talking about his house that was closing for $1.8 mil in Oaxaca. Due to his divorce and for tax reasons he would need to reinvest it straight away into more property. He liked Cozumel and so started looking at land and property with the manager of the apartments we were staying at, Matias, an extremely handsome and friendly Argentinian man who lived on the island with his Italian wife and baby. We’re talking big properties, penthouses and ocean front land. Matias took time from his schedule to make arrangements and show Leo around the island.

(FK) -  Leo had us join him on this little farce, so that we could watch what a big shot property tycoon he was and teach us all about buying property. Urmmm Leo, you obviously weren’t listening when I told you what I did back at home. It was embarrassing, he was so doped up on drugs he was slurring his speech.

(NK) His second mistake was to mention he was looking for another crew-member, and ask us did we know anyone. After some talking we thought about Nicholas, our cousin back in Fairfax. We spoke to Uncle Paul and Auntie Pia who thought it might be a good idea.

Uncle Paul started to do some research and found something that showed up on Facebook through his Iphone but for some reason not when you looked at it on a computer. It was from June, a guy saying Leo is a scam artist, watch out! Turns out if you navigate from his fan-page onto his personal page which is slightly hidden you can find it.

He sent it to me, it could’ve been something or nothing, a minor dispute, but after everything that had happened it confirmed our suspicions.

His third mistake was the way in which he wanted to buy the car from us. He wanted to make the transfer and then get a bill of sale and the title before the money landed in our account. So far we had fallen for it but did he think we were that stupid? More alarm bells went off, no way. We had to get rid of this guy, we had to get our money back.

He started to see I was getting impatient to the point of aggressive and would not put a single peso more into this. He needed the apartment. He needed to show he had money. The next day he announced he was going to buy the apartment from Matias and sure enough Matias and his wife came over to sort out the details.

I cannot convey how much of a bell-end he was in this meeting. An offer was made, he said he wouldn’t be paying any more rent as he’d be using a US ESCROW to make a non refundable deposit immediately yada yada legal speak bullshit. He wanted to buy the house and he wanted to do it now. Matias and his wife went away and made the offer, which was accepted.

(FK) Leo thought he was home and dry. His opening gambit was “Guys, tell me I’m a genius.” Oh Leo, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings, you cocky twat. It all came crashing down on him.

Banged up abroad

(NK) Matias came back to say the offer was accepted and Leo could pay the deposit by transfer into his account. No way, said Leo, I want to do an Escrow. I listened to the conversation. Something was going on with Matias. He was being polite but I could tell by his attitude, he was saying, DO NOT TRY TO SCAM ME!

Like Hitler, Leo was now fighting a war on two fronts. We wouldn’t pay for another week’s rent and Matias wouldn’t let us stay on this promise of an Escrow Leo was talking about.

The next morning came his judgement.

We were moving out and Matias had spent all night doing his homework on Leo and us. He started off by speaking to us first and asking a few questions that he knew the answers to, a test of our honesty, to see if we were part of the scam. He could see we were genuine and he quickly ascertained the situation. While we had been out Matias had checked Leo’s room for weapons. The place was a pig sty and there was a cigarette burn in his bed. I’m a rock star! Would’ve been Leo’s usual response.

FK - As Matias walked out of the apartment, he said he’d be back in an hour. I went to shake his hand and apologise for the absolute debacle. I must have had a look of sheer desperation in my eyes as he said “I need to speak to you outside now." He said what we already knew – This guy is a scam artist. Any hope of this guy being a good honest man evaporated from me and I felt a sense of desperation creeping into me. I told Matias that we didn’t know how to get our money back and get rid of him. He said he would be back in an hour, get the money from him any way you can and I will help you run this rat back into the jungle where he belongs.

NK - Fiona urgently grabbed me and told me what had happened – halleluiah   but how were we going to get out of this. I knew I had to get the money back now. I went back inside and asked Leo if he still had it as we ‘needed it for the port fees’ and I wanted to make sure we didn’t need to draw out any more. He said yes, but I insisted he counted it again as he was probably drunk or doped up on painkillers last time. He pulled the money out and started to count.

“Here, I’ll do it”, I said and snatched it out of his hand. He watched me count it and then put it in my pocket. That’s when he went ballistic. He was in my face saying I was disrespecting him and didn’t trust him. He’d made a big deal about trusting each other, obviously. I didn’t care. Leo acted a tough guy all the time. He’d made the mistake of trying to play fight me when he was drunk. He didn’t know I was trained to fight and fought for fun until late in our relationship. He knew that physically there was no way for him and started to whine he’d left his hat in the car, could he have the keys?

The rat was getting ready to jump ship. Of course, he didn’t get the car keys, he got told to sit down and wait.

I spoke with Matias. We needed to end this and he agreed to help but I never expected what came next. Earlier in the week we’d been looking for paddle boards and found a hostel at the edge of some jungle. That’s where we told Leo we were going. We pulled up just beyond it in a quiet place.

Unbeknown to Leo, Matias had followed us. He got out of the car and told Leo he had a small problem with the cigarette burns. Then he said it: ‘But you don’t care because you are a scam artist trying to scam these good people.’

I chimed in, ‘So what the f*8k is really going on Leo.’ He tried to squirm and all hell broke loose. Matias lost his shit! He was screaming, veins were bulging, the latin fire was alive. I should mention that we had clicked with Matias a little over the previous week and really liked him. (FK – what Neil really means is he had a bit of man crush on Matias!)

Now though, he was someone else and he was talking about doing terrible things to Leo, the sort of things that are usually reserved for movies or African civil wars. I believed him. The phone rang, it was Matias’ wife and Matias was struggling to keep calm while talking to her, she wanted him to calm down but instead he came out with this cracker in his staccato latin accent.

“Yes I know I am angry but my parents, they get divorced when I was younger, I still have a lot of anger issues so when I get a chance like this, well, it is much cheaper than a psychologist.”

Then it was my turn to get angry, Leo was about to get chopped up and buried in the jungle. Yet STILL he lied, still he maintained his story. If we gave him the day he could prove everything he said. Was he completely deluded, mentally ill, did he believe his own lies so much? We left him outside and checked into the hostel. It was starting to look like a scene from a Tarantino film and we needed to calm down before it became one.

Matias left us and headed back onto the main road, but on the way out, as if by fate he saw a passing police car and knew the two officers. The Policia was always out of the question for us. They’d tried to extort us in the past and our Spanish was useless compared to Leo’s. Matias on the other hand was well connected. Off Leo was packed to the station and before we knew it we were all in a room with a judge and the American consulate telling our story.

Leo would spend the night in jail while immigration checked out his status as he had no ID. As we left Matias said, “For the first time I see you shine, you can be the people you are again.”

We bid Matias an emotional thank you and went back to the hostel. A curse had been lifted from us.

That's your last Margarita for some time!

What to do now?

We were shell-shocked by what had happened. Our own stupidity. Could it have gone very differently? How did it all go so wrong?

Let it go? Nope. We started our retribution immediately. We did what we needed to do and found people that wanted Leo’s blood. A list of people he’d conned over the past two years, some just emotionally. Some for thousands of dollars, some for property, boats, businesses, cars and one man for a horrible amount of money. The sort of money we’re not likely to see in our lifetime. Had he kept conning and losing it? What did he see in us? Where we a quick con, part of a bigger con? What became clear was this guy was a professional who’d left a path of destruction.

People were looking for him on an international level and they were over the moon that we had found him and told them his whereabouts.

We examined our weaknesses, the chinks in the armour that almost became our downfall. Why did we fall for that one? Why did we not question that harder? Why us etc? But in the end why us? Perhaps because we’d worked it out. Perhaps because he needed to be stopped. I don’t know. We were dealing with a master of deception. A man who lived to do this and who we came to learn was so mentally messed up, probably believed most of his lies himself. Trust us when we say he had smart answers for everything, kept us busy, manipulated us and managed to keep refueling his time with us.

It’s easy to look at this paraphrased account and question our sanity. The reason we deliberated on writing this? The last thing we need is a - be careful - or unnecessary worry. We can take our own lessons from this. We were targeted, reeled in and when he tried to pull us aboard, we ate the motherfucker.

We have gone through a series of emotions and I would no doubt like to smash him to pieces but we hope what we have done in the aftermath is enough to bring him to justice. The response from people he’s scammed has been rewarding. Gratitude, appreciation and one person saying he was in awe of what we have accomplished. Though, we can’t really give all the details of what we did in the aftermath – it was Fiona’s cunning that saved the day.

This comment being a favourite from the Facebook page

 We are looking for you Leo! You can run but not hide. Look like you fucked with The wrong person!

We’re under no illusions. We were stupid, we were in danger and we owe a lot to Matias for his help in catching him. Good people have been cheated but good people also did what needed too be done. Matias could have walked away from all of us that day but he wanted to help put things right.

So where is Leo Panelli now?

After spending the night in prison he was sent to Cancun. There are now various lawyers representing his various victims trying extradite him for his crimes and various warrants. He had done a great job of leaving just enough but not enough about himself on the internet. Deleting bad comments, closing and reopening email and social media accounts to shake people from his trail. Those accounts belong to someone else now. His time has run out.

Still laughing!

FK - That afternoon we went back to the dogs home where we’d been volunteering and took stock of what had happened. We’d lost out but we also had a new appreciation for each other and for the amazing journey we were on. For all his sham and lies he had taught us one great thing.

“Each morning when you wake together, know that the other could be gone the next day.”

That afternoon we went back to the Cozumel Humane Society dog shelter where we'd been volunteering and got some perspective back.

This is Pixar but I thought she looked more like a Julie

Little Chicle, rescued from the city pound after he was attacked

The day after we just got wrecked

So, we got right back on track and went wreck diving the next morning with the owner of the hostel, Adolfo, before driving Trisha into the sunset, Belize bound. Cozumel was a great little island with world class diving, hopefully one day we will return to the genuine friends we made there.

YO-HO YO-HO A PIRATE’S LIFE FOR ME

I suppose we’ve got some explaining to do after last time’s cliffhanger. It was at the end of this pier we met Captain Demando and started to exchange stories.

He gave us some crazy nuggets about his life and come the evening we were happy to sit with him and our new Canadian friend, drinking and having a little sing song at a gem of a campsite - Magic Bacalar.

The next day after we knew each other a bit better he dropped it on us. I’ll simplify the conversation for the purposes of this blog.

“I have a 66ft yacht in Florida that I want to bring to Mexico before circumnavigating through the Caribbean, around South America and across the South Pacific. I’m looking for two more crewmembers for the team and think you two would work well on board. I’ll give you a day to decide, everything will be paid for by me. You just have to learn how to sail and crew the yacht.”

Hmmm. What do you say to that? 

We had a few deliberations whist trying to hold our excitement.  Captain Demando was slightly crazy (which we liked) and we wouldn’t be able to meet the rest of the crew until we got closer to setting sail. It would mean selling Trisha in Mexico rather than the States as planned. We had zero sailing experience, other than the rowing boats at Heaton Park. It was also a big commitment. Our time, our sanity and potentially our lives could be on the line. We’d also go from just the two of us to being part of a bigger team.

Then there’s the danger. Sailing is dangerous, storms can be fatal and the route was going to take us around Cape Horn, a notorious graveyard for sailors.

For every positive there were some serious considerations to make. Yet life doesn’t always throw opportunities like this your way. Since starting this trip we have developed a fixed policy of saying yes to any adventure.

After weighing the decision we realized there was only ever one answer.

So back we turned towards Cancun, from here we had some decisions to make about where to bring the yacht in. There was also mountain of planning, logistics and scouting to get through. We were officially under Demando’s command and after the drive to Cancun he made the decision to make me first mate. A big responsibility that meant I needed to starting stepping up to challenges and decisions.

We booked in at the Ibis for a few days. It was weird to be in a hotel after so much time camping and staying in hostels but there was work to be done. Our lifestyle changed significantly.

No more street tacos for us

Every morning we met at 8am and got Captain Demando his morning beer and ciggy before heading for a breakfast meeting. We’d then scout Cancun for supplies and start organizing the many logistics involved with getting this project off the ground. By lunch we’d usually be sat in a big American restaurant eating steak and getting pissed.  Demando was teaching us a lot and fast. Not just about sailing but about Mexico, business, politics and life in general. He’d lived in Oaxaca for 15 years after becoming disillusioned with the states. A middle of the road Democrat, Demando has had many successful business ventures and was once put forward for Congress.

The more we learnt about Demando, the more this seemed like some crazy dream. Or a prank someone was trying to pull. It all just seemed a bit unbelievable, his life, the fact we were crew on his yacht. He was also going to  teach us to sing, play guitar, sail, trade futures and commodities on the markets as part of the deal. It felt surreal, weird but great at the same time.

Then things got really weird. We were in Walmart in Cancun, shopping for supplies for the boat in 30-degree heat, walking through the Christmas section listening to Slade sing, ‘So here it is Merry Christmas’, with a rock star, drunk. It was too much for our little heads. Especially when Demando started doing his loudmouthed Billy bob red neck impression on full blast. It's funny he hates loud 'Mericans but is in complete denial about the fact that he's one at least 50% of the time.

(FK) I wasn’t overjoyed to be back in Cancun but shopping with someone else’s money helped ease the pain. Especially shopping for a new pair of boat shoes. A girl needs to have the right cruising attire. So whilst I looked for practical stuff, including some pretty amazing leopard print stuff in Bershka,  Neil and Demando became drunk with happiness in one particular shop, the sword shop.  All I could hear from across the mall was, “I want that one, I want this one, let’s get five of those.”

Inside were replica swords from various fictional characters. Excalibur, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, pirate swords. They were both lost in excitement by the time I arrived. The upshot is we’re all having swords and skull and crossbone pendants that have tiny daggers that pull out from the crossbones.  They really do think they’re pirates!

(NK) We finished our stay in Cancun with a trip to the Casino and a game of Mexican Bingo where all the numbers were obviously in Spanish, because how could it get any weirder? Well, in a room full of about a hundred Mexicans, Fiona could win. That’s how it could get weirder. So off we went into the night to spank the winnings.

The next day we were going back to Holbox Island to find a place to bring the boat in.

IN THERE LIKE SWIMWEAR

After some hot sweaty days getting ruined we were ready for the beach. First up was Isla Holbox at the Northern end of the Yucatan. The island was really quiet and peaceful with lots of lobster pizza on offer. On the boat back we visited a fresh water spring. It was like swimming in Evian Water. The captain made jokes about Cocodrillios, otherwise we would have stayed there all day. Sure enough, 100yrds downstream was a fat crocodile basking in the sun. 

Happy as a pig in...

Trainin' in paradise

Onwards we went to Cancun where we had a couple of nights at the Queztal Hostel for our first time in a dorm on bunk beds. Surprisingly, we slept really well though we made sure we were wearing earplugs. We also got some training in at Warrior Fitness. Having no one to fight with for two months was making me slightly grumpy but these guys helped me get it out of my system.

Cancun was just a stepping-stone to Isla Mujeres. It’s all about the big nightclubs and all inclusive beach hotels, neither of which is our thing. We rolled Trisha onto the ferry and set up the palace (the big tent) for some days by the beach. It was good to relax a little after all the driving. We managed to do a couple of dives and some snorkeling but our main reason for coming was to pay Richart Sowa a visit.

Isla Mujeres

As Ben and Moon had told us in Palenque, Richart Sowa has built an island from scratch using plastic bottles. The type you see tourists drinking from all the time. He groups them up in little net bags, then uses pallets and plywood to cover the bottles and then finishes it off with sand. Mangroves and other saltwater plants are grown through to help tie the island together. It’s one of the most mental things I’ve ever seen but we loved it. The bottles don’t decompose as they’re protected by the sun. He’s built his own mini palace with a shower, toilet, two beds, kitchen, solar oven, rooftop Jacuzzi!

The island has featured on Ripley’s Believe it or Not and MTV Extreme Cribs but his main motivation is to provide an alternative way of living that will adapt to rising sea levels.

Richart's floating island

We talked extensively about planetary issues, aliens, the history and future of mankind. He was a very lovely and interesting man with big plans to grow his island into a completely self-sufficient province floating in the Caribbean sea. No man is an island, unless your name is Richart Sowa. Hopefully one day we’ll be back to see him!

There’s a lot of alien talk around these parts, especially as it’s argued the Mayans had relationships with aliens. On our way south we stopped at Puerto Morelos and chatted to another guy about his numerous alien abductions. He just casually dropped it into the conversation.

We were there waiting to do a skydive but after three days the weather conditions still weren’t safe. It was glorious sunshine on the beach but apparently the winds at 10,000 ft were dangerous. Another time we thought, I was ecstatic with relief. (FK – I actually think Neil paid them off.)

Southwards we pressed until we hit Akumal, a small beach town known for its Turtles. We snorkeled in a pristine lagoon where freshwater meets salt before finding somewhere to pitch the tent. Akumal seemed typical of the Mayan Riviera in that pricey resorts and Cabanas lined the beach. After asking around we were introduced to an Argentinian named Carlos who took us up some dirt roads to his jungle ranch with his wife Alma, 5-year-old daughter Matilda and Mayan guard dog Compadre who kept trying to piss on our tent.

Crystal

The Ranch had two Cenotes in its grounds and was only a five-minute drive from the beach. Perfect. We spent the next few days having fun with Carlos and his family. At Akumal beach you can walk straight out and snorkel with huge turtles chomping on sea grass. We’d spend hours snorkeling and then head back to the ranch or Carlos’ Pizza place for a few beers. It was a very relaxing time and we formed a great friendship with Carlos, Alma and Matilda.

Pizza n beer with Carlos and Alma

Fi and Matilda -  best mates

Neil and Compadre - best mates

All best mates

Crazy frog going cave diving

Matilda going crazy

After some emotional goodbyes we continued south to Tulum. We’d heard great things about the place so we were pretty excited. It failed to meet expectations. Again, like big parts of the Mayan Riviera, it was too tourist crazy. Part of our issue with Tulum may have been the four-hour drive we took down the peninsula on a terrible dirt road to a place called Punta Allen. It was a nightmare of a drive but we kept saying: “It’ll be worth it, I bet the end of this road has something amazing.” It wasn’t so we turned around and headed up the same shitty dirt road. Poor Trisha had her 4x4 status put to the sword.

After some radgy bickering with each other along the way we helped a hippy Spanish couple that had a flat tyre. It felt unusual but satisfying to be responsible adults that actually had the equipment available to help someone by the roadside. We hope they got back OK.

On our way back we were almost rewarded with a spectacular moonrise. The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Moonrise

Fi was looking for a place to fly camp on the beach but everywhere seemed taken by resorts so we ended up at some hippy commune in a damp bed.

With that wretched day behind us we hit the road again until we reached Bacalar, a fresh water lagoon with the most amazing crystal clear turquoise waters. This was much more our style. We set up camp in the Magic Hostels garden and enjoyed yet more swimming (it’s keeping us fit).

Beauty of Bacalar

It was here we met Captain Demando. We can’t use his real name; Captain Demando is the name Fiona gave him, which he loves. He’s an old rock star and he was about to completely turn our trip upside down.

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

(FK) One of the main reasons we were keen to come to Mexico, other than to eat our body weight in tacos, were the mystical Mayan ruins. Having recently watched the 'Ancient Aliens' series on Sky, I was brimming with excitement and intrigue about Maya culture and the many theories about their civilisations. Yes I am a geek. 

A guy we met in the Barefoot Hostel in Mexico City, James, suggested we should go to Palenque and stay at Margareta's and Ed's. This recommendation turned out to be one of the best we've had so far. We have to come to realise that one person's idea of a fantastic must see, is not always ours and that we can't actually see and do absolutely everything. Anyway that was a lesson learnt by the time we got to Cancun, having seen and done everything that was mentioned to us, but we'll come onto that later. 

Armed with just a name we drove into the state of Chiapas and followed signs for the ruins. As we came to the National Park gates I noticed a sign for the cabanas pointing in the direction of the jungle down a sandy path. As we turned the corner, it was like being transported into a secret rainforest never land. I was like a giddy kipper, this was the kind of place I'd been hoping we'd find, bit of a hippy vibe, couple of places to stay with cheap cabanas and a shack bar and restaurant, all set into and merged with the forest.                          

Margareta and Ed's Cabanas

Margareta was a no nonsense, warm Mexican lady who had spent time living in the US with her family, but was keen to settle back into her homeland. Boy can she talk, even I was outdone! After showing us around we opted for a basic (but clean and comfortable) cabana for a couple of nights and it was so good to relax for a couple of days having been on the road constantly. 

So like proper Brits abroad we went for a few beers. Palenque attracts some interesting characters, I was in my people watching element. When you are hopping from one place to the next, conversations with people you meet are a little like ground hog day. "So where are from? Where have you come from? How long have you been travelling for? Where are you going to next?" As you know, I love to talk, but even I was getting bored listen to my own voice! That changed when we met Ben, Moon and Sebastian. People we have met on the way have thought that what we are doing is a pretty mental adventure but some people make it look like a two week all inclusive package with Thomas Cook. 

Ben, who is from Cornwall originally, has been travelling around for the last five years, often with next to no money, but gets by with selling hand made crafts, working in exchange for digs and generally knows all the tricks to see and do what he wants without spending a penny and has just learnt to live with the basics. We have not met nicer, more genuine people in a long time, despite Ben being on a seven day fast (day five when we met him), him and Moon gave a great Spanish lesson and told us bits about their adventure. This included building a raft in the British Virgin Isles made from unwanted junk (including some bits from Richard Branson's Necar Island) and sailing it around the Caribbean all the way to Venezuela (dickbrano.blogspot.mx). They told us about places that weren't necessarily on the backpackers route, one of which was a Middlesborough gent and his floating island off the Isle Mujeres. We hadn't  planned on going but that's the beauty of having a car and loose schedule. Anyway back to ruins. We decided to do a whistle stop tour of the main ones that had caught our eye.

Palenque
We got up early to beat the heat and the crowds and what an amazing (I'll try and use this sparingly!) experience. Me and Neil aren't sure if it was because it was our first Maya ruins, but whatever it was, this is one special place. Set in lush rain forest, the many temples and pyramids are huge and packed tightly together. 

The main palace

Temple of the Sun

They can still all be climbed, which we since found out is a rarity with ruins. It is believed that Palenque is actually the main centre of Maya culture in the Yucatan Peninsula, it definitely has an energy and spirit like no where I've been before. In true Neil style, we had some races to the top, not for the feint hearted or those suffering from vertigo!  

Reps after a sprint to the top!

Step race

The path through the ruins is topped off by a walk through the forest following waterfalls and Mayan bathing pools.

The queen's bath

Uxmal
This site was very different to Palenque, set in lower land it was more arid and warm, but very impressive nevertheless. The Maya people may have deserted the city over 1000 years ago, but in their place it is now home to hundreds of iguana. Reincarnation anyone? It didn't quite have the Palenque magic, perhaps that was the hoards of US tourists, but the buildings are beautiful and ornate and give a real sense  of the civilisation, its grandeur and architectural might. 

The step race to end them all!

But what does it mean?

Arty, farty in Uxmal

Before hitting our next ruins we stopped of at a Cenote, a freshwater sinkhole that are considered sacred by the Maya with some having an unknown depth.  Luckily we could camp at this one and we ended up having the place all to ourselves, a rarity considering most of them have been made into mini theme parks. A sunset dip was intruded upon by hundreds of swallows who did a few circles above us before flying off into the night. It was incredible, we felt like we were in a David Attenborough documentary (except we had jazzy life vests on which were compulsory).

I'm pretending it's not cold and really dark water

Where's my cocktail Niles?

Chichen Itza 
The most famous of all the ruins and fondly referred to as 'chicken pizza'. Unfortunately, like its fast food namesake, it was over priced and left you feeling a little unfulfilled. To be honest, after three ruins in the space of 4 days, we were feeling ruined. 

Apocalypto style head rolling temple

The famous serpents 

The main temple was huge and very impressive and fed the imagination with images of human sacrifice as too was the largest known ball court, but the tat sellers outnumbered the tourists ( and there were loads of those too) and it just didn't do it for us. Maybe our expectations were too high, or we'd been spoiled with Palenque and Uxmal, but we were a little disappointed with one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The beach was calling us!