Zina's Guest House Isla Mujeres

We made it to Mexico after 30 hours of travel. We had a great feast of mexican last night while listening to a mariachi band play and the flambe waiters make all sorts of desserts, coffees and lobster. It felt great to sit in the humid heat and be on vacation.

My pina coloada was the length of my arm! Watched Buffalo clobber ...

... got to Zamaīs the rain was so fierce it was bouncing up to our knees and coming down sideways. People were making a run from the taxi to the palapa and the waiters were trying desperately to squeegie up the water all over the floor. But everyone had dressed up the palapa and had smiles on their faces and I just felt so lucky to be marrying Gabe that it didnīt matter. As I waited with my girlfriends in the bridal suite we ...

... and finally a president that looks after the little guy. The other teachers (some of whom have been living abroad for decades) are all extremely happy and not shy about it. I really hope that we can turn things around.

The elation of course was quickly wiped out by the passing of our dear close friend Helen MacArthur, one of the people who followed my life in Weimar closely. I could always count on her fun replies to these emails and ...

... before we got on the ferry. Mark forgot to mention that he also had one! Isla Muyeres was a nice little island and I was glad we stayed out there and not in Cancun. Wondered around the shops for a bit, Mark looking for a hat and me a t-shirt but struggled to find anything that didnīt have Isla Muyeres all over it. Mark 9/6: Washing day. Oh the glamour of travel. Once that was dealt with we had a plan of hiring a golf cart to cruise around ...

... buy some MORE jewellery and catch up with Francois and Adelaide. And Iīll be mean to Cuba and tell you that I loved coming back to the smiling Mexicans :) Part II Ok, so now Iīm terribly nostalgic and I wish that Christmas was another 2 months away! The sun came out for me too!! I left just after a terrible shower but by the time that I got to Isla Mujeres it was gorgeous and I had the perfect day...Adelaide and ...

... when they saw one. I've got to say they were much better at spotting them than this gringo. You've got to imagine extremely windy, narrow road (no verges), pitch dark, thick fog, and people dressed in dark clothes just walking or standing by the road - very easy to hit. Anyhow, arriving in San Cristobal was beautiful - 2100 metres above sea level, clean air, lovely architecture and colouring, etc. After a couple of nights I dropped down to Chetumal on the Caribbean, saw the ruins at Tulum ...

We awoke the next morning eager and excited to start our journey - but still had no idea where! We walked the two blocks to the Cancun Bus Station and looked at the schedules for the day. We stood there and stared at the schedule for 10 minutes. Still no idea where to go! Such a problem to have, huh? We finally narrowed it down to either an inland route towards Chitchen Itza, or to the beaches on Isla Mujeres. Exploring old Mayan ruins or ...

... I needed: unattractive passport photo, as many over the counter meds as I thought anyone might ever need (despite the fact I rarely get sick), yards of mosquito netting, and at least fifty pounds of **** stuffed into a never-been-used backpack I'd gotten for free at a work Christmas party. With foresight like that, how could this be anything but a success? Since this after the fact, most of the travelogue is gleaned from various emails and diary entries I wrote in ...

... enjoyed walking the streets of the island: If you don't speak Spanish, the locals will either give you bad looks or try to rip you off. Having said that, it is possible to get some alright deals on hammocks on the island, but you got to bargain hard.

Cancun!
Una hermosa ciudad, arruinada por el afan de lucro y el turismo desmedido, los hoteles en la playa como una selva de concreto. En este maravilloso lugar entre por primera vez a Mejico, pero esta tan enfocado al turismo que se pierden las tradiciones y costumbres locales. Disfrutamos en familia de las maravillsosas playas, de la comida, de la bebida no pude porque era chico todavia y ni me interesaba. Pero ...