Puerto Morelos Update
I had planned on making this post last night, but after editing all my photos I was going to use, I lost all of them somewhere in the ozone and was too tired to do them all over again. Then this morning, my hotel’s wifi was more “miss” than “hit” so I couldn’t do it there, either. Now I’m sitting in a restaurant in Playa del Carmen FINALLY getting to this post. *sigh* On to yesterday’s story…
I had to get up at 4:00 yesterday to make my 7:45 flight out of Austin. I decided to eat at the airport and opted for the Salt Lick booth for a breakfast taco.
I like the Salt Lick, but this was awful. I couldn’t wait to get to Mexico for some good food.
My flights were smooth and totally on time which is always a plus. The line in customs was very reasonable and moved very quickly…
…because all the booths were open. Things were going well…
…until I got to the luggage area where the line went all the way down the room and back again to go through the luggage security check.
But it actually went pretty quickly and I got the green light. Another good sign!
Here are the happy and efficient Best Day people in their usual spot outside the airport and still using the trash cans for their clip boards.
Even though I had to wait about 15 minutes, I got a van with two other couples going to Playa del Carmen, so I was the first stop. Yay! Here we are going down the highway…
When we got to Puerto Morelos, the driver turned left when we got to the town center. I said, “Isn’t the Hacienda Morelos the other way??” He asked, “Oh, is it??” I said, “Yes, it is.” I was right…it was. Here’s the silly gringa telling the Mexican driver where her hotel is in Mexico…haha…go figure. Who knows how long we would have been driving around if I hadn’t known. Anyway, here’s the hotel…
The reviews on TripAdvisor were pretty good, but I was a little disappointed. It’s 80 pesos per night, which I thought was a little high. The room itself was okay…large, air conditioned, with a flat screen TV.
But the bathroom was really dated. And the lights were so dim, it was like turning on a nightlight. At least it hid a few wrinkles, though…haha! I will say it had the best water pressure I think I’ve ever experienced in Mexico. I love the “water droplet” tiles. While I was taking a shower, I noticed that I couldn’t find two matching tiles. Do you think they achieve this by actually dropping water on these tiles some way?? Weird.
I took a walk down the beach and was surprised to see all the seaweed…even in the area where all the people swim. I don’t remember it being this bad on the two prior visits I made here. And the beach was much more crowded than I’ve ever seen it. But, apparently, that’s because a lot of Mexican nationals are on vacation at this time.
I was hungry by this time since all I had had all day was the lousy breakfast taco at the airport. I stopped at Pelicanos for an early dinner. Ahhh…my first cerveza. Boy, did it taste good after that walk on the beach. It’s hot down here, but actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Complimentary chips and pico de gallo…
The pico de gallo was excellent. Another “aahhhh”….
I think there must be some kind of Mexican law that requires all restaurants to wrap utensils in napkins as tightly as humanly possible.
I ordered the fish with a Venezuelan sauce. It tasted good but there were a LOT of bones in there.
Now it’s margarita time! This place is the Cantina Habanero and is just down the block from the Posada el Moro…the hotel where I’ve stayed in the past in PoMo. It used to be the only bar that has live music and is open until all hours of the night. It is frequented regularly by a lot of the ex-pats living there. While walking around this morning, I saw a sign for a new bar called “Cheers,” so I guess they have competition now. I didn’t check it out. Anyway, the Cantina is where I got the scoop that there is a new government in PoMo now that doesn’t really care much about what goes on. A couple of the ex-pats run an English school that used to get a lot of support from the government, but now it doesn’t from the new group.
One of the guys had his dog with him…
What a character. He looks exactly like the dog from “Men in Black,” doesn’t he? Haha!
Some touristy PoMo shots…
Some changes include…
This place is vacant now. It used to be a really nice jewelry store.
And they’ve torn down El Pirata and the gift shop that was on the corner. The guys at the bar said no one knows what is going in there. El Pirata is building another place across the street from the Cantina Habanero.
My first time in PoMo was in March of 2010. They were working on this place then. And they were still working on it in March of 2011. Now it’s for sale…and apparently is still not finished. Very strange little place. It would make a cute…something…I don’t know what.
My traditional “toes in the sand” shot…
And here’s the view from my room when I got back in the evening. Sweet.
I had planned on staying in PoMo for two nights, but then felt like it would have been a waste of my time, so I headed out on the bus this morning thinking I was going to go to Tulum right away. Since you have to stop in Playa del Carmen on the way, I thought what the hell…I’ll just stay here for the night. Kinda fun just winging it.
Well, I’m off!
Heading to the airport now. Like my new suitcase? It will be easy to spot on the luggage carousel…haha!
Next stop…sunny Mexico!
Traveling Solo
I thought I’d broach the subject of why I enjoy traveling alone. Since I transferred to a different department at the university, my new co-workers have become familiar with my love of Mexico but some didn’t know I have traveled there alone. So…when a couple of weeks ago I sent out an e-mail announcing that I was going to be gone for nine days to explore the Yucatan, I got mixed responses. When people found out I was going there by myself, I could tell most were skeptical about the prospect. While I appreciate their concern, I’m always amazed at the closed-mindedness of the whole Mexico thing.
A friend introduced me to Mexico back in 2006 and we traveled there several times since then. When we parted ways, I decided to continue my journeys alone. The first time was in May of 2008 when I rented a small apartment in the colonias of Isla Mujeres known as Casa Laguna where I stayed for a week for a very low price.
I will be totally honest in that when I first arrived there on my own, I sat on the bed in this tiny little apartment surrounded by Spanish-speaking natives and asked myself, “What the fuck am I doing here??” Well, it took a couple of days to get my sea legs and after a week, I felt very much at home and didn’t want to go back. I have fond memories of that first solo visit and the busy and noisy commotion from the balcony which I grew to love.
Since then, I have visited Mexico a bunch more times…sometimes with someone, sometimes on my own. I was talking with a co-worker about traveling alone and this is what I told him. I love to travel to Mexico. I would be more than happy to travel with someone else, but these are the issues:
1) They are too afraid to travel to Mexico.
2) They don’t have the money to travel.
3) They don’t like traveling in general.
4) They would rather spend their money on other things.
So, what do I do? Just not travel at all because no one else can or wants to? I don’t think so. I have relished my solo visits and wouldn’t give them up for anything. But it is not for everyone. Some people need the companionship of others on a trip. You definitely need to be very independent, self-sufficient, and somewhat brave to travel alone. But once you get over the initial misgivings, it’s a piece of cake. And although I’m always met with skepticism when I tell people I travel alone in Mexico, after I explain my reasonings and they see my photographs, I usually detect an amount of envy in my ability to just take off and do whatever the hell I want to do. I’ll keep doing it as long as I can.
Random Travel Musings 