We arrived in Cancun at 3 and the man running the hostel hadn't quite got our room ready. We dumped our bags about 30 minutes later and headed for the seaside, a 20-minute bus ride away. With no idea where to go, we got off after most of the others had left the bus and went across the road to the public beach. The sea was the kind of turquoise you only see in films, crystal clear and warm. We walked for a couple of hours along the wet sand, getting caught every now and then by a big wave, and finally reached the target we'd set ourselves: a big pyramid-shaped hotel with foot showers so that we could put our shoes on again.

We boldly walked through the hotel as if we were guests, to try to find our way back to the road and the bus. We went past two very inviting-looking swimming pools and then into the huge glass pyramid that was the atrium of the hotel. It was filled with palm trees and water falls and pools full of fish, but we coudn't find the way out.We managed to find a conference that was going on, and crept out of a side door when no-one was looking, and then along a service road until we could flag down the right bus. It took us to the downtown area, Americanised, garsh, too loud and totally touristy, and we tried to avoid all the Hard Rock Cafes and TGI Fridays. The small Mexican place that we ate at was hardly any better, it was totally geared to tourists, but the meal was fine and we got on the bus again to take us back to the hostel at bed time.