Velavento Hotel & Beach Club 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 ...

... it is the same as California or Florida.

The beach was also a pretty big let down because it was mostly rocky and you couldn't walk up and down the shore. Rob and I like to do that and we ended up getting stuck in some pretty gnarly places because of the rocks. That was kind of cool though!

We tried to get off the beach one time and went through this bed of hot rocks that had giant iguanas all over. Most ...

... upstairs and soaked in the sun for the 20 minute trip. I was pretty windy up there and the spray from the waves the ferry was hitting were spraying me in the face - refreshing but the sunnies needed a good clean at the end.

After docking I wandered the strip and checked out a few shops before booking myself onto a snorkeling trip - 250 pesos for 4 hrs with lunch (about $20 US). Our boat was a small one with only 3 others - all Spanish speaking ...

... hurricane wilma which destroyed lots of houses and this is why many people are still living in shelters. but lets start from the beginning. from the Cancun's Hotel Zone you have to take bus R1 that goes to the Cancun's downtown but you have to make sure that it goes to Puerto Juarez (not every R1 bus goes there) as this is where you can take a very cheap but very fast boat ride to Isla Mujeres for only 35 pesos ...

... it. We took some photos and walked a bit along the shore and then decided to head off to the more sheltered coastline where all the beaches are on hotel property which means you can only access them if you walk through the hotel. We had been told that you could go into any hotel and ask for permission to go to the beach. We were rather sceptical of this, but decided to give it a go. We picked a 5 star hotel of course ...

... bars, shops, and of course tacky-touristy stuff thrown in. The food was fantastic - we had several amazing seafood meals for very cheap. The town was festive with Christmas decorations and lights all over. Most days we just lazed under a palm tree reading a book, or strolled through the cobblestone streets. One day, we ventured out to explore the rest of the island. We rented bikes for about $7 a day and drove around the entire island (about ...

... gemacht - sonst wären wir glaube ich nicht bis 4 Uhr früh dort geblieben. An meinem Geburtstag haben Sylvia und ich dann eine kleine Bummeltour unternommen und die Mädels haben mich am Abend mit einem von Kerzen umrandeten Stück Torte überrascht (in dem Laden gabs nur Teelichter *hihihi*) und ich fand das echt süss. Danach gings ab ins Coco Bongo, das den halben Abend über Shows à là Las Vegas bietet. Auch hier wurds 5 Uhr früh, bis in Richtung Betten abmarschiert wurde ...

... some nice (rougher) deserted beaches.. - only 30 minute ferry from from cancun, lots of people just do day trips... people - very friendly, smiley, welcoming, supportive of our crude spanish. - distinct lack of scammers/touts (so far), a sign of a sustainable tourism industry (?!) where travellers part with a little more money but it goes into the communities concerned (???!!).

Blast! I just did my usual trick and lost my entry. Anyway, I finally made Chichen Itza on Thursday and it was well worth the effort. I think if I ever get back this way, I'll do a proper Mayan tour of Mexico, Guatemala etc. Following my usual bent, I haven't even hit the beach here, even though they look gorgeous. I have a 7.00 am flight on Monday, so I wouldn't make it from here. Therefore I'm moving into Cancan proper tomorrow and will see how the other half lives. I only ...

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 ...