What a week!

Its coming to the end of our third day on Mexican soil and a thunder-storm is illuminating the sky. I’m currently lying in a hammock, between two palm trees, deafened by the flora and fauna going nuts around me.  It’s been quite an ordeal to get to this stage, and the difficulties might not be over yet, but it has been worth it and it will continue to be so. Let’s go back to where it began.

The flights were booked, as where two nights in downtown Cancun, and we were getting ready to prepare ourselves. We had to enter our Advanced Passenger Information for the flights, which involved Passport information but my Passport was nowhere to be seen. It was 6 days before the departure day so slight panic set in. The next day I was delivering a table football to a friend’s farm before proceeding to have a barn party on said farm. I was also taking all my belongings, which I couldn’t bear to sell or discard of, to the parent’s house (Hi Mum and Dad!). Instead of packing my bag and sorting my belongings, I spent hours and hours turning my bedroom and house upside down in search of the much needed Passport. It was nowhere to be seen.

I arrived at the Casey’s Barn Party, five hours late, under prepared and ready to forget about my Passport problems and enjoy a night with my close friends for the last time in 6 months (hopefully). Everyone I spoke to, after the initial shock and laughter at my expense, all reassured me I could get a new Passport in a day. They were all wrong. If you are renewing your passport, you can get it in a day. If you have lost it, the fastest service is 7 days from your appointment and it can take 3 days to get an appointment. Slight panic turned to near meltdown. I turned the whole house upside down again and still nothing. I rang multiple companies where I could have potentially used my Passport as I.D but to no avail. I even went back to the Hippodrome to see if I had left it there when I photocopied it 3 months back. This proved a fruitless search too and was my last port of call.

No passport in my possession, means no travel for me for at least a week and it was now Tuesday afternoon, 2 days until my flight. I wasn’t the only person affected by this. We were both homeless as of the morning of the flight, and if we wanted to travel for 6 months, a week extra in London meant a month less travelling. If she went by herself then I would never find her once I finally got out there as ‘yo non hablo espanyol’. I was also afraid for her to be alone in a whole new world.

I didn’t want to contact the Passport Office beforehand as they would cancel the Passport and there was still a chance it might be found, but now I had to. I asked advice first, realised I was up shit creek without a paddle, so had to get an appointment for a new Passport. The first available appointment was 1 day after my flight. Reality set in and the charm/waterworks came out. I managed to get a supposed cancelled appointment for Wednesday, 1 day (or 20 hours) before the flight. There was a slim chance that I would get a call back the same day but from what the lady in the Passport Office said, I had more chance winning the lottery, 3 times in a row.

Our supposed last night in London meant our packing was interrupted by our friends who wanted to have some drinks and say goodbye. They all came to our house and helped themselves to all the free stuff we were trying to get rid of and said goodbye with a few drinks. It was a weird occasion as both of us weren’t too happy with the situation but there was nothing that could be done. It was like I was a friend saying goodbye too but without the enthusiasm and excitement of everyone else.

It was approximately 1am and time for Daniel Harris, a.k.a ‘SuperDan’, to take centre stage.  He held up an envelope he found on lying on the sofa and said it feels like a Passport in here.  I told him that it’s not funny. He wasn’t joking. I looked in the envelope and there was my Passport (which I had cancelled 12 hours earlier). Glistening under the lounge fairy lights, it was like we had found the Holy Grail. Apparently this envelope had fallen from a shelf earlier and fell behind the sofa. Someone saw it happen and picked it up and put it on the sofa. Prior to that, the envelope had been spotted by others, but it’s rude to look in someone’s mail so it had just been left lying there. Thank you Dan for being bored, inquisitive or whatever it was that made you touch that envelope and notice the Passport.

The problem now was that the Passport in my hand was, under my request, to be cancelled and a new one was on its way. It was 1am and there was no way of contacting the Passport Office, not until 8am. Our flight was 9:30am and the decision, which was easy, was to go to the airport and contact them there, leaving 30 minutes to try to cancel my new Passport request and fly away as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately, we weren’t ready to leave as I was going to sort everything out at home whilst I was waiting for my new Passport. We stayed up all night sorting and packing and had 20 minutes to spare before we had to leave. Certain friends and housemates were amazing in offering help and assistance, otherwise we would never have left.

We arrived at the airport with time to kill, too much time. I finally got through to the right people at 8:01am and they advised that my Passport was still valid but it might get cancelled any time now. Obviously I went through the check in gate, dropped off my luggage and waited in the departure lounge. Our plane was delayed by 3 hours due to someone driving into the plane and then the replacement plane sent from Manchester had a malfunction upon arrival. All these issues led me to believe that it wasn’t going to be and once I arrived in Mexico, they would scan my Passport, realise it was cancelled, and send me home. Or worse, stick me in a Mexican jail. I nervously made it through Mexican border control without any problems, except for my Spanish, and now I can enjoy myself. There is a chance that I can’t ever leave Mexico now, but I’m hopeful that I can sort something out before it comes to that. I’m currently awaiting a call from the Passport Examiner to tell me if he can stop the cancellation of my Passport, which is unlikely but I can only hope.

We exited the Airport knowing we were about to get ripped off. My pale white skin was like a flashing beacon saying, “come get your dollars here”. We managed to haggle the taxi driver down but realised the next day that we were still ripped off. The same happened with our pre-booked but unpaid accommodation, but we were both tired and couldn’t be bothered to argue that much. Fortunately one of us is a very good speaker of Spanish, otherwise we would have paid more.

We arrived quite late to a little Hacienda in downtown Cancun, away from the Zona Hotelera, where all the tourists go. It was a brilliant decision. Prices were way cheaper and people were actually friendly, and not just because they want your money. We more or less went straight to bed so we could recover and enjoy the next day. We decided the next day to take an hour walk and find a beach, again away from the Hotel Zone and tourist traps. The weather was ridiculously hot and the air was full of humidity. We found some good food and met some nice locals (I think), who only spoke Spanish. The next day we put our bags on and made the journey to a campsite with Cabanas, just next to ‘Zona Arqueologica El Meco’. And that is where I am now, lying in a hammock, 5 metres from a Mayan structure, watching a thunderstorm in the distance.

Tomorrow, which is now today as its taken me ages to write this, we will visit the actual Mayan site next door to the Cabanas. After that, we are going to head further up the Isla Blanca to some more Cabanas that reside on lush white beaches. We are looking to relax for a few days and try to not spend any money. Our budget is quite strict and we have been a bit silly for the first few days. As for now, I’m gonna take a shower and get my day started. Catch you soon!