Postcards

20 minutes south of Cancun, Puerto Morelos was our next and final stop in Mexico and at 5 nights was the longest stay on our trip so far. The reason we chose to visit this fishing village was to see my friend Louise, who has been living here for the past 8 years. Lou and I became friends when I lived in London back in 2001, so it had been a long time since we had seen each other, and needless to say we were both very excited to see one another. She picked us up in Cancun and we made our way down the coast chatting non-stop – as you can imagine we had a lot to catch up on.

We stayed at Lou’s place for our first 2 nights in a beautiful round one room structure filled with cushions and hammocks, surrounded by lush jungle. When we arrived her cats and beautiful dog Chin-Tok greeted us and once we had settled in we headed downtown by the water for some food, drinks and a swim. Here we were introduced to Ojo Rojos (red eye) – a local specialty which is basically a Bloody Mary mix without vodka topped with beer, they are delicious and refreshing and I will definitely try to recreate this drink back home.

Puerto is a really laid back town with more locals than tourists, cheaper food, and the atmosphere is mucho tranquilo (very relaxed).

That evening we met Lou’s boyfriend Paz for dinner at a local Uruguayan restaurant where we enjoyed a feast followed by tequila or 3 – naturally. We had a great night catching up with Lou and getting acquainted with Paz who is a local, born in Isla Mujeres, and passionate about his home and life in Mexico with extensive knowledge about all the local wildlife, history of his land and people. Paz lives in the deep jungle in a home he built himself, and entertains tourists that visit Puerto with the tours he runs – out to the reef for snorkelling and also into the jungle to visit cenotes or to take part in Temazcals (a Mayan Steam Bath ritual).

The next day we all met in the main square in town and after a breakfast tamale we headed out early to go snorkelling on one of Paz’s tours. Joined in the boat by an all American family, we headed about 5 minutes out to the reef. It was great to see Paz in work mode and it was evident that all the tours he had run had helped hone his English, as he was very knowledgeable and professional. The reef was beautiful and full of colourful stunning fish, many more than what we saw in Tulum. It truly is another world down there and I often felt like I was in the film ‘Nemo’, especially when we saw two beautiful Manta Rays. Later that day, tired from the swim, tequila hangover and midday heat we headed back for a siesta – it’s tough being on holiday!

That afternoon Paz took us to the 7 Bocas cenote near his home, which translates to ‘7 mouths’, the “mouths” being the openings to the underwater caves that join together. It was late afternoon, the place was empty and we had our own personal guide (Paz) to show us around so we grabbed some masks and made our way into the clear fresh water. When we got in Paz showed us around the many caverns, pointing out how deep they ran and showing us how to dive safely below the surface by holding hands. As there are many low ceilings and stalactites there is real need to be careful not to bump your head as you rise to the surface of the water, which is 26 metres deep!

After the cenote, it was back to Paz’s place in the jungle where we were treated to an amazing home cooked Mahi Mahi ceviche and Lou’s famous mango guacamole, which were both delicious and so fresh. The food is light and lovely in Mexico and I felt better for not eating a lot of meat or bread over the time we were there.

The next few days we stayed in a gorgeous little hostel just about 5 minutes drive out of town called La Petit France, run by our French host Vincent Bodinier. The place is very private, quiet and well equipped with a kitchenette and access to pushbikes, which made getting into town easy. As it got really hot during the day we waited until late afternoon and rode down to the main dock where over the weekend an annual fishing tournament was being held. The tournament is very popular amongst the locals and also avid tourist fishermen from the States, who pay to take the boats out and enter the comp. When the boats returned there was a lively atmosphere on the dock where the fish were being weighed and photos taken alongside Miss Puerto Morelos complete with her beauty pageant sash, who was there to congratulate them on their catch. I have to say I found it slightly odd that a beauty queen would be at this type of ceremony so in my head I renamed her Senorita Pescado (Miss Fish) 2011.

Later that evening once all the activity had died down on the dock, the locals congregated in the main square where there was a makeshift boxing ring set up for a demonstration from the young local boxers. It was a warm balmy evening and it was great to see the community getting together and cheering the kids on so we grabbed a couple of longnecks and joined in.

Our last day in Puerto was much like the others and pretty chilled out. We went for a swim, Lou gave me a wonderful Thai yoga massage and of course we ate and drank! That evening we got together with Lou and Paz and went to our favourite local eatery La Pescado just around the corner from the dock. As the fishing tournament was on the town was rife with large fresh fish and we decided to share a whole one, which Paz selected for us. It was a meal fit for royalty and of course we washed them down with Ojo Rojos!

We had a wonderful time in Puerto Morelos and felt very relaxed and at home here despite the difference to the way we live back in Sydney. I could easily consider living here for a few months at a time! Mucho Tranquilo! A huge thanks to Lou and Paz for showing us around and being wonderful hosts! We will miss you guys and Quintana Rooooo!!

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Hotel Rocamar, Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The Island of Women. Not much to do here but relax, so after a drive around the island in a golf buggy we gladly obliged.

Waiting for the boat from Cancun to Isla Mujeres, we were treated to quite a sight. A catamaran was returning to the dock, complete with party people dancing to somewhat cheezy “dance” muzak. Our jaws dropped and our eyes watered when we saw the minute size of one passenger’s g-string. Or maybe it was more that she was Sir Mixalot’s biggest fan, with a penchant for cottage cheese. Either way, we (and the others on the wharf) quickly looked away across the azure water to cleanse our eyes and soon boarded the ferry.

Once on the Island, we caught a $3 cab the long way to Hotel Rocamar, then realised we could almost have walked there with a bit of effort – it really wasn’t that far to the other side of the island from the wharf to where the hotel was.

Hotel Rocamar suited us perfectly, with its amazing view out over the Caribbean Sea and the constant warm sea breeze we’d come to love in Tulum blowing gently through our room. The bathroom was an interesting arrangement of glass windows allowing you to still enjoy the view from the shower or toilet, but there were sliding panels and curtains to increase the privacy when needed. By far the best feature of our room was the balcony hammock, though it was a shame there was only one!

After a decent sleep, the next day we rented a golf buggy for 24 hours giving us enough time to enjoy it until the next morning, as the plan for the evening was to drive 3.5 or so kilometres to the other end of the Island to La Casa del Tik’n Xic – a restaurant specialising in the local Tik’n Xic style of fish, in which achiote (a red paste seasoning made from seeds found in the Mexican jungle) is used to marinate grilled fish to perfection. We had been tipped off to this place by our friendly and entrepreneurial taxi-driving friend back in Cancun, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We were also treated to an equally red and amazing sunset as we enjoyed our fish on the beach. Happy and full we carted ourselves back along the short drive to the other end of the island for another relaxing night, watching out for stars shining out over the sea, and topes hiding on the road in the dark.

The next morning when it was time to leave, we loaded our bags onto the golf buggy and enjoyed a final electric drive along a few streets, then dropped them at the wharf where Nat waited a few minutes for me to return the buggy to the rental office. Soon enough we were back on the ferry, bound for Cancun but with plans to meet Nat’s friend Lou at the nearby shopping mall, before getting a lift with her to the next location in our Mexico adventure – Puerto Morelos.

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Once the sun had risen we walked down the beach for a quick breakfast, then returned the rental pushbikes we had used to visit the nearby ruins, checked out of Coco Tulum and headed into town to pick up our rental car. When I say rental car, I really mean 4 wheels, a small engine, seats and a thin metal shell painted red placed on top – it was tiny and didn’t even have a radio! We dubbed him “Chico” and filled his tank with Magna (unleaded), then hit the road out of Tulum toward Chichen-Itza.

Chico’s one saving grace was his air conditioning, as it was an overly hot day at somewhere around 35°C, but all the same were suffering from the dry air and we didn’t make it far before we came across the “Grand” Cenote. We’d read about these freshwater sinkholes the Mexicans love to swim in, so we were keen to check it out. Much of the bedrock in this region of Mexico is relatively porous, allowing fresh rainwater to seep through down into the water table not too far below the surface. Many years of this water flow has created underwater caves, which can be extremely deep, some left exposed through collapsed cave ceilings allowing sunlight to reach deep into the majestic caverns and shine through the deep blue and clear water within.

Leaving our bags “locked” inside Chico, we ventured inside and down some wooden steps to a little island oasis filled with water at its edges. People were swimming and diving all around, some in the water passing lazily under a natural rock bridge to another opening beyond. The water was crystal clear, cool, and invited you to hold your breath and take deep dives to check out the rocks and caverns below its surface. What an amazing experience. This particular Cenote was also home to a number of birds which lived in little holes in the rock wall, darting around like bats in the various caves but out into the daylight to chase insects. The Cenote was also full of tiny fish. A small ecosystem I hope will continue despite it being a popular place for people to visit.

After our refreshing swim we filled our faces with quesadillas con pollo (chicken), admired the caged peacocks and hit the road toward the Cobá ruins. Cobá is a lesser-known series of Mayan-built structures partway along the journey from Tulum to Chichen-Itza. Without repeating its history as found on the internet, I’ll just say Cobá is well worth the visit as you can still climb its 120 steps 42 metres into the sky to enjoy the long-reaching view across the jungle in all directions.

Finishing our long day’s drive we pulled into the Dolores Alba hotel just 1km from the Chichen-Itza ruins, enjoyed much needed cervezas in the hammocks by the pool and retired after a decent meal of minute steak and “Chicken Itza” pollo in a special marinade before retiring for the evening.

Chichen-Itza opens at 8am to the public, and we’d recently seen Karl Pilkington’s (comedian Ricky Gervais’ mate) documentary ‘An Idiot Abroad’ in which he highly recommended getting to the “Wonder” early to beat the inevitable rush of busloads of tourists on day-trips from Cancun. Amongst all his comedic whinging, Karl also made mention of the strange mix of both amazement and a lack of exhilaration you feel when viewing this one of 7 man-made wonders of the world. It’s hard to explain as you really do appreciate the incredible effort made by a centuries-old civilization in engineering and constructing such a building, not to mention the culture it fostered, but you’re somewhat left to stroll the grounds and think to yourself “well, I’ve seen it, now what?” Perhaps this is the best time to recommend you see Cobá over Chichen-Itza, despite its apparent lesser status, as Cobá is somewhat more interactive with you being allowed to climb it, and is closer to the coast (if that’s where you’re coming from).

Quite close to Chichen-Itza is a Cenote, which was once used for human sacrifice. We read that human bones, jewellery and gold have been retrieved from its depths. Another thing of note at Chichen-Itza were the numerous market stalls selling carvings, clothing, art and the like. We were actually quite taken by a few items, but one of the downsides to travelling the world is having to maintain a lightly packed bag.

Along the road to Chichen-Itza we had eventually decided Chico had his own character. Praise him and he’d amble along steadily in the slow lane (though watch out for speeding Mexicans overtaking in your rear-view!). Abuse him and he’d find a way to make you eat your words. On the morning we arrived at the Wonder I accidentally grinded his gears a few times, so just as we locked up the car I was hit with that dreadful feeling when you realise the keys aren’t in your pocket. Blame me if you will, but I’m convinced Chico somehow tricked me into this predicament. We decided to ignore the problem for the moment and head inside, and once we were all Wondered out we found a local policeman who called his buddies for assistance. Five minutes later a couple of burly cops were sticking bits of coat-hanger wire inside Chico’s windows and soon enough they had popped open the lock in the passenger-side door and we were in. This exercise relieved my wallet of 100 Mexican Pesos (approximately $10 USD), given as a ‘tip’ of course.

Just over the road from where we stayed at Hotel Dolores Alba, is the Ik Kil Cenote – a huge round hole in the ground filled with fresh water, catfish, and skirted by the long tendril roots of plants growing metres above, most of them reaching all the way to the surface of the water below. We headed back here after the Wonder to cool off, diving from the man-made platform into the cool blue a number of times. We only realised how fortunate we were in quietly enjoying this place to ourselves when we left, as a number of packed tour buses had just turned up. Nat and I shook our heads quietly at the matching numbers on each of the tourists shirts – just the way you’re treated on a lot of tours the world over.

Heading back toward the coast, deliberately taking the Libre (free, no tolls) road we took our time and enjoyed driving through both the countryside and a number of small towns, watching the locals go about their daily lives. The unfortunate side to taking the Libre road was the number of speed bumps we had to deal with. Most of the bumps were signposted “Tope”, or “Topes” if there were a series of them. Most. Some topes were as black as the road and unmarked, and only jumped out at you at the last moment. All along our drive through Mexico we irregularly announced the next tope sighting to each other, partly for fun and and partly as a warning – they were sometimes easy to miss. I had Chico screeching his tires as I braked late and hard for one such tope, which shook us and our luggage around violently. Fearing Chico’s wrath I apologised profusely, and drove on laughing it off.

Hot, tired and hungry we hit Cancun proper, where the locals live. The road divided into lanes, but the traffic didn’t – the rule seemed to be to follow the guy in front but there was a lot of ducking and weaving meaning I was constantly checking mirrors and pulling evasive manoeuvres. Eventually we hit the Hotel Zone and a huge Mexican flag loomed alongside high-rise beachfront apartments for miles.

We looked for the Europcar office and eventually found another roadside container, dropped Chico off and with the help of one of the Europcar guys met a cab driver who seemed friendly as we shared lunch at the local sheap eatery, but still charged us 250 pesos for our short trip to the wharf nearby where we caught the ferry to Isla Mujeres – the Island of Women.

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We left DC bright and early for an 8am flight to Cancun, Mexico with a scheduled change of plane halfway there in Miami. According to our tickets we had 45 minutes to get from one gate to the other in Miami, so once we arrived we literally had to run to the next gate to make it on time. I hate running at the best of times and with a backpack and strapless dress on it was even less fun, and I am sure I was the subject of amusement to many people I “ran” past. Of course as we arrived at our gate the plane hadn’t started boarding and in the end was delayed for around 50 mins – at least we made it!

Simo and I were very ready for some relaxation and summer weather at this point in our trip, having been non-stop for just over 3 weeks in the US, so when we finally got into Cancun we made our way into the heat of Mexico.  We needed to head straight down to Tulum which is a 2 hour drive south and the one thing I would recommend if you come here is that you research the best way to do this with the best prices. We were unprepared for this part and were haggled by numerous people as we left the airport and the prices were not as cheap as we had anticipated. I was hot, hungry and frustrated and not the best help but after a while Simo ended up bargaining with a shuttle bus company to take us to Tulum at $50USD each. I found out later that if you book in advance with a certain company the prices are halved. Lesson learned.

When we arrived at Coco Tulum we were not disappointed. I actually had a picture of Tulum as my desktop picture on my laptop for months before we left and dreamt of this place many times. After a friendly greeting from the staff we made our way up the dunes to our cabaña, which was right on the beach. It was as beautiful and as simple as we expected with just a bed, mosquito net and a table. The bathrooms were shared with the other patrons but were well maintained and lovely. Outside our cabaña was a hammock, which I was to grow very fond of… there is something about swinging whilst being horizontal which makes me feel very relaxed! We dumped our stuff and made our way into the Caribbean water for a well deserved and long anticipated swim! The water was as warm and blue as I had imagined and made me feel brand new, completely refreshed and I was now ready to eat.

Early evening we made our way down the beach to little restaurant called Aman Sala and relished saying the one main Spanish phrase we knew… “dos cervezas, por favor!” After having a little giggle to ourselves we ordered the best guacamole and corn chips I have ever tasted and instantly with the aid of the warm sea breeze I was relaxed. After dinner, as we walked around the one thing we noticed was the lack of people, apparently we had come in the beginning of the low season, which suited us perfectly as it was quiet and the weather was perfect.  There isn’t a whole lot to do in the low season at night and we found Tulum to be a very low key, relaxing and romantic place. That night, with the window open in our little shack, the continual warm breeze and the sound of the sea that sang to us like a lullaby, we both had the best night’s sleep in a long while.

We woke early the next morning and headed straight for a swim where it was so quiet and peaceful and there was no one on the beach except a young family and us.  The woman and her toddler were playing in the sand while the man Adonis-like with a toned body and long hair was doing yoga. They were all naked and it seemed like the most beautiful natural thing in the world, which made it hard not to watch them. The man was perfect in his alignment of his poses and the mother and child were smiling and calm and I felt a momentary pang of envy over a life so simple.

We decided not to do much that day, we went for a walk to the little shops and stocked up on sunscreen and water, the latter being just as important as drinking tap water here can leave you chronically ill. The afternoon was spent much the same as the morning lying in hammocks and chilling out, eating, drinking piña coladas and swimming. Local kids dressed in traditional Mayan dresses would come by and try to sell their home made bags, belts and woven bracelets, they were so cute and we obliged them by buying a bracelet each. That night we went to another restaurant a bit further up the beach called Hemmingway’s for dinner and had a delicious Italian seafood dinner of home made pasta with huge prawns and a seared tuna dish – YUM! The owner and chef were Italian and obviously came to Mexico with the special recipe from home, as the food was divine.

On our 3^rd day in Tulum we decided to explore the famous Tulum archaeological ruins, which are a short distance North along the coast from Coco Tulum. We hired a couple of bikes and were on our way. We rode for about 20 minutes before we got to our destination with a stop off for a swim just beforehand as it was so hot, we were later told that at 8am that morning it was 34C and one of the hottest days of the year so far. At the ruins there was a choice of tours we could take, so we opted for one entitled the “fun” tour which allowed us to see everything at our own pace. As it was so hot we quickly took ourselves around the ruins, which were beautiful and mystical even if swarming with tourists on a day trip, though this helped our decision to get out of the heat and into some shade with a beer and some tacos. We found a cheap little place on the beach called Mariachi and cooled off before heading to the beach to snorkel on the reef. This area has the second largest coral reef in the world following our very own Barrier Reef with many species of fish and coral to marvel at. Our guide also showed us three old cannons from a pirate ship underwater that had recently been discovered after a cyclone came through the area – very cool! Later that evening, tired and sun kissed but satisfied we opted for a light quiet meal and an early night.

On our final morning in Tulum I woke up just in time to see the sunrise over the sea and got a few shots on the camera. I have always loved sunrises – the beginning of a new day with a clean slate and a new adventure. We checked out of Coco Tulum and made our way to the hire car place on the highway. Europcar Tulum is nothing but a shipping container and we weren’t even sure if we were in the right place when we arrived, but sure enough our tiny little shitbox car was there waiting for us, not the mid-range intermediate car I had imagined but it would do. I got in and cranked the aircon (thank goodness it had that, there wasn’t even a radio!) while Simo went and sorted out the paperwork. Half an hour went by and Simo was still in the container they called an office which I couldn’t see inside, so in all honesty the thought of him being kidnapped crossed my mind. As all our things were in the car I was wary of leaving them while I went to check on him but I poked my head in and found him sitting in the aircon with the staff who assured me he was still alive… but how long does it take to sign a couple of forms? This was my first introduction to Mexico time.  We finally got on the road and headed to Chichen Itza to see the wonder and the next part of our Mexican adventure.

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