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== Mexico Cuba 2006/7 ==
== Mexico Cuba 2006 ==


=== Introduction ===
=== Introduction ===


This is a holiday idea that I have been whinging on about for some time now after the thouroughly excellent times I had in Peru and Egypt .  The thought behind Mexico & Cuba 2006 is to combine the latin flavours of central america through the tequilla, salsa music with the ancient wonder of the pyramids.  At the time of writing (February 2006) this is still simply an idea so the purpose of this page is to do some primary investigation into whather the whole idea is possible at all --Tom
This is a holiday idea that I have been whinging (=winging) on about for some time now after the thouroughly (=thoroughly) excellent times I had in Peru and Egypt .  The thought behind Mexico & Cuba 2006 is to combine the latin flavours of central america through the tequilla & salsa music with the ancient wonder of the pyramids.  At the time of writing (February 2006) this is still simply an idea so the purpose of this page is to do some perelimenary (=preliminary) investigation into whather (=whether) the whole idea is possible at all --Tom


==Possible Stumbling Blocks==
(You may think it's 'winging' Caz, but have you looked up 'define: winging' on Google? Hmm? Cos I'm not sure that's what Tom meant either...)
* VISAs and beurocracy in and out of cuba
* Moving around
* Hurricanes
* Picking a date
* Getting annual leave
* Who is coming anyway
* Costs


== Plan ==
== General Plan ==
A) Fly in to Mexico city, travel down to cancun (coach/rail) and over to Havana (Boat/Plane.)
Fly in to Mexico city, travel down to cancun (coach/rail) and over to Havana (Boat/Plane.)
 
B) Do the whole thing the other way round if the flights are a lot cheaper.


[[Image:bigmap.JPG]]
[[Image:bigmap.JPG]]


===Flights===
===Flights===
I found these flights on [http://www.cheapestflights.co.uk cheapestflights.co.uk]
We've booked our flights now, woohoo -


[[Image:Cheapestflights-co-uk2.GIF]] 
'''Outbound Flights'''
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
! From!! To !! Date and Time !!Flight No!! Class !! Carrier
|-
|London - LHR || Paris - CDG || Fri 27th Oct 2006 13:05 - 15:15 || AF1571 || Class: Economy || Air France
|-
|Paris - CDG || Mexico City - MEX || Fri 27th Oct 2006 16:15 - 21:10 || AF434 || Class: Economy || Air France
|}


Prices are highly variable from about £480 to £650 and then rediculous money.  -This will probably have a big impact on when to go.
'''Return flights'''
 
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
===Cities===
! From!! To !! Date and Time !!Flight No!! Class !! Carrier
*Mexico City
|-
*Cancun
|Havana - HAV || Paris - CDG || Tue 14th Nov 2006 21:15 - 11:05 next day || AF479 || Class: Economy ||Air France
*Havana
|-
|Paris - CDG || London - LHR || Wed 15th Nov 2006 12:00 - 12:15 || AF1570 || Class: Economy || Air France
|}


===Must see sights===
===Must see sights===
*Teotithuacan
*Teotithuacan
*Mexico city
*Mexico city
*General Aztec/Mayan stuff
*Tequilla plantations
*Gulf of mexico coast
*Gulf of mexico coast
*Havana
*Havana
*Tom, desperate, trying to order a cup of tea. In Spanish.


===Moving around===
===Moving around===
Line 44: Line 47:
*Coach
*Coach
*Rail?
*Rail?
*Chicken?
*Flight between Mexico and Cuba
There is an online currency converter [http://www.xe.com/ here]


'''Cuba'''
'''Cuba'''


''Unknown'' - Possibly not that much moving around
''Unknown'' - Possibly not that much moving around as there are some nasty animals out there which bite and paralyse your legs. And if you have got no legs, say 'At least I have my arms'. And if you have got no arms and no legs, go 'At least I'm not dead!'. I'd rather be dead in that situation...bec...I've taken up yoga, for one.
 
== Detailed Plan ==
'''Click on one of the below links to see a detailed plan of each leg of the journey.'''
 
[[MexicoCity|MexicoCity to Palenque 27th  Oct 9:15 pm - 2nd November 9:15pm]]
 
[[Yucutan|Palenque to Cancun (The Yucutan) 2nd November 9:15pm - 8th November 9:15pm]]
 
[[Cuba|Cancun to Havana (Cuba)  8th November 9:15pm - 14th November 9:15pm]]
 
== ToDo ==
=== Get jabs ===
 
* Hepatitis A
* Typhoid
* Polio
* Tetanus
* Yellow Fever (?)
* Malaria (?)
* Chicken 'flu (it's amazing what you can catch from an old joke-shop rubber chicken)
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Tom - Had My jabs today, Oooo! I'm a laaaaadie! --Tom (21/09)
[[Image:tick.gif]] Matt'll be alright (that's if he remembers to apply sunblock)
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Marc's ok too (or is he?)
 
=== Get insurance ===
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Matt
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Marc
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Tom
 
Phew! I'm breathing a sigh of relief: a whole section just dedicated to simply, your names! In case we all forgot? Right, so can you clarify, so that's Matt, er...er...Daniel? Nathan? oh dear, I forgot!
 
=== Book Hotels ===
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Matt (some)
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Marc
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Tom (some)
 
=== Cuba Visa ===
[[Image:tick.gif]] Matt
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Marc
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Tom
 
Haha, shame Tom's not called Luke or John, cause that'd be really funny! Get it? Mathew Marc Luke and John?? Hahahah!
 
=== Get some Mexican / Cuban / US Dollars ===
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Matt (ordered but not picked up yet, couldn't get Cubans from Natwest!)
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Marc (ordered but not picked up, not getting Cubans for now)
 
[[Image:tick.gif]] Tom -- US and Mex.  (I have read that it is illegal to import or export Cuban currency and that US might be difficult in Cuba)
 
See [http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618385839 FCO Cuba]
 
What a cerfuffle!
 
=== Shopping for clothes / supplies ===
 
[[Image:blank.gif]] Matt
 
[[Image:blank.gif]] Marc
 
[[Image:blank.gif]] Tom
 
Oh dear, you're all blanked out in this section, what's the matter, cat got yer tongue?! Shopping's great - come ooon!
 
=== Other ToDo ===
*  What to bring
 
*  Who is bringing what
 
*  Getting to the airport
 
*  Print the Wiki
 
*  Read what Elin wrote (!!)
 
*  Watch Buena Vista Social Club or at least have a look on YouTube
 
*  Try to learn a bit of Spanish
 
*  Poo and wee our pants!
 
* And finally, bring back some nice, big presents for Caroline. And Elín. =). And Mum!!
 
== Stuff what people paid for and who owes whom what ==
 
{| border="1"
|+ Matt's Spend
! Item !! Paid by !! Amount in Sterling
|-
|Havana hotel: Park View ||Card||204.26
|-
|-
|Varadero hotel: Kawama || Card ||226.88
|-
|-
|Total: || N/A || £431.14
|}
 
And also, Matt loaned to Tom: CUC 100 (~£60)
 
{| border="1"
|+ Marc's Spend
! Item !! Paid by !! Amount in Sterling
|-
|Petrol for the hire car ||Cash||MXN 240.00 (~£12)
|-
|-
|Palenque hotel (I think - can you confirm?) || Cash|| £8.54 (MXN 180.00)
|-
|-
|Chichen Itza hotel - did we all pay or did I?|| Cash|| ?
|-
|-
|Cancun hotel || Cash|| £30.79 ($60)
|-
|-
|Tulum hotel || Card|| £69.37
|-
|-
|Car hire || Card|| £233.75
|-
|-
|Total so far: || N/A || £354.45
|}
 
{| border="1"
|+ Tom's Spend
! Item !! Paid by !! Amount in Sterling
|-
|Casa Inn, Mexico City|| Card || £152.96
|-
|Bus from Veracruz to Villahermosa ||  Card  || £49.87
|-
|-
|Emporio Veracruz || Card || £84.46
|-
|-
|Flight from Cancun to Havana || Card || £271.20
|-
|-
|Total: || N/A || £558.49
|}
 
=== Concusion (*new*) ===
 
Okay, so the average was £448.03 so once again and in true nerd style if we look at how we are up or down against that excluding the £60CUCs until later:
Matt: £431.14 (down £16.18 on the average)
 
Marc: £354.45 (down £93.58 on the average)
 
Tom:  £558.49 (up £110.46 on the average)
 
 
So to even things out...
 
'''Marc pays Matt : £93.58'''
 
Bringing Marc to the average and making Matt £337.56
 
Matt would pay tom £110.47 but Tom owes him £60 for the CUCs so
 
'''Matt pays Tom : £50.47'''
 
And we would be all even?  Is this agreed?
 
Looks good to me. Matt
 
''Chit-chat''
 
Matt ended up subbing us both our asses at the end so we owe him a shandy or two I recon --Thumb
 
Remember we only need 2 transactions between the 3 of us to make us even (as soon as we know what the totals will be) --Matt
 
Marc, can you put yours into Sterling please? --Thumb
 
I totally don't remember how we paid for the Chichen Itza hotel? Do you? This was the one with the stony swimming pool. --Marc
 
We definately paid in cash as I remember him counting it and I remember a lot of faffing trying to pay evenly but i don't remember exactly what happened in the end, Do you Matt?.  -- Thumb
 
I reckon we paid for this using the kitty; Matt
 
Did we sort out Casa Inn in Mexico City while we were there??  I really don't remember now. :-/ --Thumb
 
I also cannot remember at all, but I guess we would have not paid Tom back at the time, saying: "ah it's OK, we can just look at our credit card statements when we get back, and we'll sort it out then" - Matt
 
== Comments ==
 
Matt: According to Cyril & Nick at work, Cancun is "a hole", Americanised, touristy, Burger Kings... But a few miles south is a nice town... and also, a few miles off the coast of Mexico nr. Cancun is an isle, called isla.... something. Which translates as: Island of women!
 
Cancun: Who you calling a hole? A-hole!!
 
Matt: A friend of a colleague at work said that in Cancun: [http://cancun-hotels.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g150807-d152884-r5944647-Senor_Frog_s-Cancun_Yucatan_Peninsula.html Senor Frog's] is a fun place to go
 
Matt: Cyril said that a couple of miles from Palenque, there's a road that goes over a mountainous bit. On the way down, there is a river that's really clear/ blue. And also, near Cancun there's a lake that's linked to the sea underground.
 
Seems like Matt's really done his research. But what about the rest of ya? Slackers!
 
==Recommended reading==
 
''The Labyrinth of Solitude'' by Octavio Paz - insight into the Mexican psyche and outlines a lot of information about Mexican history. Short essays.
 
''Innocent Erendira and other short stories'' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Short stories by the acclaimed Colombian writer. ''Innocent Erendira'' in particular is great for demonstrating Magical realism.
 
''Labyrinths'' by Jorge Luis Borges - short stories from an excellent Argentinian writer. Matt will love ''The Library of Babel'' I would have thought, the ''Garden of Forking Paths'' and ''Death and the Compass'' are excellent as well.
 
You lil bookworms you!

Latest revision as of 14:35, 22 February 2012

Mexico Cuba 2006

Introduction

This is a holiday idea that I have been whinging (=winging) on about for some time now after the thouroughly (=thoroughly) excellent times I had in Peru and Egypt . The thought behind Mexico & Cuba 2006 is to combine the latin flavours of central america through the tequilla & salsa music with the ancient wonder of the pyramids. At the time of writing (February 2006) this is still simply an idea so the purpose of this page is to do some perelimenary (=preliminary) investigation into whather (=whether) the whole idea is possible at all --Tom

(You may think it's 'winging' Caz, but have you looked up 'define: winging' on Google? Hmm? Cos I'm not sure that's what Tom meant either...)

General Plan

Fly in to Mexico city, travel down to cancun (coach/rail) and over to Havana (Boat/Plane.)

Flights

We've booked our flights now, woohoo -

Outbound Flights

From To Date and Time Flight No Class Carrier
London - LHR Paris - CDG Fri 27th Oct 2006 13:05 - 15:15 AF1571 Class: Economy Air France
Paris - CDG Mexico City - MEX Fri 27th Oct 2006 16:15 - 21:10 AF434 Class: Economy Air France

Return flights

From To Date and Time Flight No Class Carrier
Havana - HAV Paris - CDG Tue 14th Nov 2006 21:15 - 11:05 next day AF479 Class: Economy Air France
Paris - CDG London - LHR Wed 15th Nov 2006 12:00 - 12:15 AF1570 Class: Economy Air France

Must see sights

  • Teotithuacan
  • Mexico city
  • General Aztec/Mayan stuff
  • Tequilla plantations
  • Gulf of mexico coast
  • Havana
  • Tom, desperate, trying to order a cup of tea. In Spanish.

Moving around

Mexico

  • Coach
  • Rail?
  • Chicken?
  • Flight between Mexico and Cuba

There is an online currency converter here

Cuba

Unknown - Possibly not that much moving around as there are some nasty animals out there which bite and paralyse your legs. And if you have got no legs, say 'At least I have my arms'. And if you have got no arms and no legs, go 'At least I'm not dead!'. I'd rather be dead in that situation...bec...I've taken up yoga, for one.

Detailed Plan

Click on one of the below links to see a detailed plan of each leg of the journey.

MexicoCity to Palenque 27th Oct 9:15 pm - 2nd November 9:15pm

Palenque to Cancun (The Yucutan) 2nd November 9:15pm - 8th November 9:15pm

Cancun to Havana (Cuba) 8th November 9:15pm - 14th November 9:15pm

ToDo

Get jabs

  • Hepatitis A
  • Typhoid
  • Polio
  • Tetanus
  • Yellow Fever (?)
  • Malaria (?)
  • Chicken 'flu (it's amazing what you can catch from an old joke-shop rubber chicken)

Tom - Had My jabs today, Oooo! I'm a laaaaadie! --Tom (21/09)

Matt'll be alright (that's if he remembers to apply sunblock)

Marc's ok too (or is he?)

Get insurance

Matt

Marc

Tom

Phew! I'm breathing a sigh of relief: a whole section just dedicated to simply, your names! In case we all forgot? Right, so can you clarify, so that's Matt, er...er...Daniel? Nathan? oh dear, I forgot!

Book Hotels

Matt (some)

Marc

Tom (some)

Cuba Visa

Matt

Marc

Tom

Haha, shame Tom's not called Luke or John, cause that'd be really funny! Get it? Mathew Marc Luke and John?? Hahahah!

Get some Mexican / Cuban / US Dollars

Matt (ordered but not picked up yet, couldn't get Cubans from Natwest!)

Marc (ordered but not picked up, not getting Cubans for now)

Tom -- US and Mex. (I have read that it is illegal to import or export Cuban currency and that US might be difficult in Cuba)

See FCO Cuba

What a cerfuffle!

Shopping for clothes / supplies

Matt

Marc

Tom

Oh dear, you're all blanked out in this section, what's the matter, cat got yer tongue?! Shopping's great - come ooon!

Other ToDo

  • What to bring
  • Who is bringing what
  • Getting to the airport
  • Print the Wiki
  • Read what Elin wrote (!!)
  • Watch Buena Vista Social Club or at least have a look on YouTube
  • Try to learn a bit of Spanish
  • Poo and wee our pants!
  • And finally, bring back some nice, big presents for Caroline. And Elín. =). And Mum!!

Stuff what people paid for and who owes whom what

Matt's Spend
Item Paid by Amount in Sterling
Havana hotel: Park View Card 204.26
Varadero hotel: Kawama Card 226.88
Total: N/A £431.14

And also, Matt loaned to Tom: CUC 100 (~£60)

Marc's Spend
Item Paid by Amount in Sterling
Petrol for the hire car Cash MXN 240.00 (~£12)
Palenque hotel (I think - can you confirm?) Cash £8.54 (MXN 180.00)
Chichen Itza hotel - did we all pay or did I? Cash ?
Cancun hotel Cash £30.79 ($60)
Tulum hotel Card £69.37
Car hire Card £233.75
Total so far: N/A £354.45
Tom's Spend
Item Paid by Amount in Sterling
Casa Inn, Mexico City Card £152.96
Bus from Veracruz to Villahermosa Card £49.87
Emporio Veracruz Card £84.46
Flight from Cancun to Havana Card £271.20
Total: N/A £558.49


Concusion (*new*)

Okay, so the average was £448.03 so once again and in true nerd style if we look at how we are up or down against that excluding the £60CUCs until later:

Matt: £431.14 (down £16.18 on the average)

Marc: £354.45 (down £93.58 on the average)

Tom: £558.49 (up £110.46 on the average)


So to even things out...

Marc pays Matt : £93.58

Bringing Marc to the average and making Matt £337.56

Matt would pay tom £110.47 but Tom owes him £60 for the CUCs so

Matt pays Tom : £50.47

And we would be all even? Is this agreed?

Looks good to me. Matt

Chit-chat

Matt ended up subbing us both our asses at the end so we owe him a shandy or two I recon --Thumb

Remember we only need 2 transactions between the 3 of us to make us even (as soon as we know what the totals will be) --Matt

Marc, can you put yours into Sterling please? --Thumb

I totally don't remember how we paid for the Chichen Itza hotel? Do you? This was the one with the stony swimming pool. --Marc

We definately paid in cash as I remember him counting it and I remember a lot of faffing trying to pay evenly but i don't remember exactly what happened in the end, Do you Matt?. -- Thumb

I reckon we paid for this using the kitty; Matt

Did we sort out Casa Inn in Mexico City while we were there?? I really don't remember now. :-/ --Thumb

I also cannot remember at all, but I guess we would have not paid Tom back at the time, saying: "ah it's OK, we can just look at our credit card statements when we get back, and we'll sort it out then" - Matt

Comments

Matt: According to Cyril & Nick at work, Cancun is "a hole", Americanised, touristy, Burger Kings... But a few miles south is a nice town... and also, a few miles off the coast of Mexico nr. Cancun is an isle, called isla.... something. Which translates as: Island of women!

Cancun: Who you calling a hole? A-hole!!

Matt: A friend of a colleague at work said that in Cancun: Senor Frog's is a fun place to go

Matt: Cyril said that a couple of miles from Palenque, there's a road that goes over a mountainous bit. On the way down, there is a river that's really clear/ blue. And also, near Cancun there's a lake that's linked to the sea underground.

Seems like Matt's really done his research. But what about the rest of ya? Slackers!

The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz - insight into the Mexican psyche and outlines a lot of information about Mexican history. Short essays.

Innocent Erendira and other short stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Short stories by the acclaimed Colombian writer. Innocent Erendira in particular is great for demonstrating Magical realism.

Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges - short stories from an excellent Argentinian writer. Matt will love The Library of Babel I would have thought, the Garden of Forking Paths and Death and the Compass are excellent as well.

You lil bookworms you!

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