Arcane Candy

Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Caye Caulker, Belize

Looking north up Playa Asuncion in Caye Caulker, Belize.

Looking south down Playa Asuncion in Caye Caulker, Belize.

I thought about leaving for Mexico this morning, but I didn’t get out of bed early enough to catch the boat at 7:00 am. So, I took another day off to rest, nurse my heat rash and catch up on some work. Out at the front of Juan’s Guest House, I was showing a guy who was staying in the same room as me a bunch of bed bug bites all over my legs I had acquired over the past couple of nights. By chance, a man who works at Juan’s overheard me. While he was standing there, I paid him for one more night in the hostel.

A plate of delicious yellow curry vegetables and rice overlooking Playa Asuncion in Caye Caulker, Belize.

Belizean Flava on Playa Asuncion in Caye Caulker, Belize.

Literally a couple of minutes later, the same guy informed  me that they were going to tear apart our bunk beds to look for bed bugs and clean the rooms, and that we had to temporarily move out all of our stuff so they could do it. That was fine, except I really had a lot of work to do on my laptop, and it seemed like it might take them all afternoon. So, I asked for a refund of the money I just gave him so I could go stay somewhere else, but he said no. Then I asked if he had an extension cord so I could work out front. He did, but I still had to completely swelter and sweat buckets in the extreme mid-day heat and humidity for over two hours. That’s not what I paid for, but that’s what I got.

The whole building is the menu at La Cubana on Playa Asuncion in Caye Caulker, Belize.

Where do you want to eat? I dunno. Where do you want to eat? Playa Asuncion in Caye Caulker, Belize.

Finally, around 1:00 or 2:00 pm, we were allowed back in the room. At least they sprayed the bed frames and mattresses for bed bugs and cleaned the place. Later in the afternoon, when I went out to buy a boat ticket to Chetumal, Mexico, I noticed a guy with dreads sitting on the beach in a tiny booth with a big sign on the front that said Tulum. That was my final destination, so I asked him how much a ticket to Tulum would cost. He said he only sold tickets to Chetumal and that I’d have to buy a ticket in Chetumal for a bus to Tulum. With that huge sign saying Tulum on the front of his booth, you would think he’d sell tickets or package deals to Tulum, but no. How utterly wacky of me to think that. The guy had such a mean and unfriendly demeanor, I immediately walked away and bought my boat ticket at the office of San Pedro Water Taxis down at the dock instead. I always vote with my dollars.

Words and photos ©2017 Arcane Candy.

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