Delicious.....

The trip home was uneventful, we are both tired but agree it was a great vacation all around. We arrived in Portland around 11pm, then a 3 hour drive back to Seattle.

As for myself...I can only say, that it was.....Delicious.....Simply Delicious......

Last day -- return to Cancun, goodbye Isla Mujeres...

Today we traveled back to Cancun from Isla.

Here's one last photo from Isla to share, a neat door I spotted in the commercial zone and took a photo of:


It is becoming painfully obvious that we both have bought too much stuff! Our suitcases are overflowing and it's hard to wrestle all that luggage now filled to capacity with conch shells, designer knock-off sunglasses, pottery, little ceramic decorative painted boxes, dresses, belts, seashells, stone necklaces, purses, tote bags, woven wool blankets, T-shirts, antibiotics, Mexican vanilla, (what else??) around!

We made the ferry around noon back to Cancun, where we spent our last night NOT in the hotel zone, but in a cozy, clean, friendly little Mayan themed hotel in downtown old Cancun (not tourist Cancun).

Here was our doorman at the hotel:


After a nap, we took the bus back to Senor Frogs (soooo NOT a happening place in the off season) - so we didn't even stay for a meal. We checked out the flea market from the first day again, then headed back to our hotel. Back home tomorrow.....

Isla Mujeres - Day 3, Friday - (two weeks after the fact)

Friday - our last full day on Isla. Still nice and warm, but the fringes of Hurricane Paloma brought lots of warm rain. Neither of us felt like driving our golf cart around in the wet (no windshield) - so we spent the day relaxing and staying dry under cover of the poolside bar, or in the hammock outside our room (under cover) sipping drinks and visiting with other people doing the same. There were even folks here from Seattle, small world....

Nothing to report back to you all about today. Tomorrow, we return to Cancun, then Sunday we're homeward bound.

Isla Mujeres Day 2 - ( two weeks after the fact )

Sorry for the long delay...after being back home for two weeks, those three days on Isla Mujeres mostly now just ran together, so I'll try to piece it together for you as best I can through photos. After the first four action packed days in Cancun, this peaceful little island and the beautiful Villa Vera timeshare were a perfect end to the vacation.

Isla Mujeres is located about 5 miles (more or less) off the coast of Cancun. The island itself is about half a mile wide and maybe 5 or 6 miles long. There are a few cars: taxis, police, but the main way you get around is to rent scooters or golf carts - we rented a golf cart. Here's Karen next to ours, it was all I could do to keep her from pimping it out with dingle balls:


Thursday, today, we spent most of the day driving around the island and checking everything out. First thing we came to, was a small (very sad) zoo, located at the site of the very first hacienda on the island. But, hey, for $2....we took a look.

Beware!:


The zoo had only four different animals in it:

1. This cute little guy running loose, it's name starts with a C, honestly can't remember what it is:



2. Next, the wild boar (caged) -- with the worst smell imagineable!! Good thing I'd not yet had breakfast or it would surely be lost:


3. Then, a cage full of crocodiles (or alligators?) Crocs, I think but not positive, there were no signs telling you what you were looking at:


4. Last, a large chainlink cage of monkeys, very cute but we kept our distance to avoid hurt, and any flying feces:


Outside the zoo, you could buy fresh coconuts and drink the juice, kind of tasty:


Then, we were off to the eastern tip of the Island, also the most eastern tip of Mexico. Here are a few views from there:

Looking east - at the very tip, there were some Mayan ruins of a temple, but after visiting Chichen Itza earlier, plus not wanting to pay admission to walk out there, we didn't go all the way to the end. Next time!


And, from that same vantage point, looking west back over the island. See the iguana on the rocks?:


There is a small lighthouse on the point that we climbed, here's a view from the lighthouse looking back to Cancun. You can barely see the city skyline on the horizon:


View down the lighthouse steps on the descent:


Can't forget the statue....Isla Mujeres is the Isle of Women, the ruins at the tip of the point were supposedly to the fertility gods. Now here's a statue you won't find in public in the States. Remember a few years ago when Starbucks banned the mermaid logo that had a split tail? The Starbucks mermaid has nothing on this!:

Detail:


So, back to the west tip of the island for some shopping and food, we are now starving (again).

Along the way, we see this conch shell house -- I remember seeing this on Extreme Homes!:


Wait! OMG!! Stop the golf cart, there goes a double decker pig bus!:


It's difficult not to notice the extreme poverty of the people here, even though paradise is all around. I couldn't help taking a few photos of the housing situations here, it really is sad:




We had been told by a couple different people we met that a great place to eat was the little seafood restaurant on the island, right to the left of where you get off the ferry. So, we checked it out. The tables and chairs sat right on the sand, from our table, here was the view over the water:


And, of course, no outdoor meal would be complete without a traveling sales person to vend their wares! Karen bought several bags and a belt, and I purchased a bag for $3 plus a hand knotted belt for about $2:


Commercial zone of Isla Mujeres:


After lunch and shopping, we went back to our timeshare to swim a little before dinner. We had dinner at supposedly the best Italian restaurant on the island (not) -- Karen's fresh Tuna came with french fries and was beyond rare -- it was raw. They did make it right for us, and we were entertained by these guys during dinner too:


Then, back to our timeshare for the night. Tomorrow is Friday, our last full day on the Island.

Computer Issues!

Hola!

We are now on Isla Mujeres (arrived Wednesday), only to find once we arrived that Windows has crashed on my laptop. We are taking lots of photos but will have to update the rest of our story once we arrive home since we are at the mercy of the public computer in the lobby of where we are staying to access the internet. (How's that for a very poor grammatically constructed sentence???)

Warm and wet here today with the fringes of Hurricane Paloma crossing over the Yucatan penninsula. Still having fun and we have a lot of interesting photos and stories to share.

Buenos Dias!

How We Celebrated Election Day

It was a hard day. We slept until we woke up. We walked on the beach and looked for shells and collected about five hundred in five minutes. Then we had breakfast, and turned on the Mexican Shopping Network. It became obvious that Sunday is a better day for shopping than Tuesday. Still.....

We were offered bracelets with our names on them, or, hats:

And, handbags and totes that looked like they were made out of woven gum or candy bar wrappers. Sorry we didn't get a photo of the sales guy, but here is a photo snapped later in a shop that shows the stylish accessories we could have owned:


See? Nothing goes to waste down here! Except, solid objects in the toilets, which are (apparently) supposed to be fished out and then thrown away:


After a few hours on the beach, Karen went to talk to the front desk about our lost coupon for discounted tours. They were able to come up with a new coupon worth $90 off one or more tours of our choice, so the three hours we spent listening to the benefits of buying/owning a timeshare condo were not a total waste. For some unknown reason, they seemed to remember Karen and I at the front desk, we don't why that is?

Originally we were going to take the Pirate Ship Cruise, but after careful consideration we decided that the Carribean Carnaval Party Cruise was more our style. After showering and putting on our dancing shoes we headed off via the public bus to the ferry to the party boat going to Isla Mujeres. The party started the moment we stepped on the boat, everyone was handed a drink but since we have two hands each, we each took two drinks. To start.

We took a 30 minute party boat ride to the island for a tasty dinner, show, and dancing under the stars. Here are some photos, mind you drinks were all inclusive and we got our money's worth. All five bucks, which was our cost each after our coupon discount.

Here are the Bowwow Girls (Karen and Lisa) after we got on board, before we had too many drinks:


Here are a couple photos of the show:



Karen swore she would wear this hat for a special Carribean hat dance before the night was through. Alas, it didn't happen:


Here is the Korean contingent. These girls know how to party!!:


Here is Lisa spanking her mystery man:


And, here is Karen either checking out Lisa's handiwork, or, getting ready to take a bite:


Here is Karen's man, Alejandro!, no mystery there except how to get him folded up and in the suitcase back to Oregon:


Around 11pm we got back to Cancun and on the bus, where we met this third guitar strumming honcho who entertained us (and we all sang along once again) to La Bamba. It's possible Karen and I would have done Stop In The Name of Love if he only had known the song. Surely all the other passengers were very happy of this.


Tomorrow, we travel to Isla Mujeres to stay until Saturday.

By Land or by Sea - Bus to Cancun, Yellow Submarine

By the time we got back to the bus to head back to Cancun (2 hour trip), we were all hot and very thirsty. That open bar was very welcome! Karen drank Tequilas and Sprite and I stuck to beer. Once again we had a great time with our new best friends Herman and Ann.

Once we got back to our room, we decided to go try out a Thai restaurant that was highly recommended. So, back on the public bus to La Isla, a mall on the hotel strip a few miles away. The food was excellente! There were all these little walkways that went out over the lagoon with a private palapa at the end where you could sit and dine. Unfortunately we didn't have a reservation and the wait was too long for a table over the water.....NEXT time.

Waiting for the public bus to go back to our room, there were a group of people from Cleveland with us who had been partying it up. A guitar strumming honcho again joined us all on the bus, and the Cleveland folks tipped him to play and sing Yellow Submarine. Since we'd all had more than a few alcoholic beverages that day it didn't take long before ALL of us were shouting "WE ALL LIVE ON A YELLOW SUBMARINE! YELLOW SUBMARINE! YELLOW SUBMARINE!!!!" Too funny, and a great end to the evening.

Tomorrow, we plan to get in some serious beach time and watch the Mexican Shopping Network and party Carribean style.

Chichen Itza

We arrived at Chichen Itza and had a couple of hours to look around. It was really interesting and photos are worth more than a bunch more words, so here are photos:
Here is the main temple:

And, another shot from the other side:

One of the council buildings:

Where they would have public shows, this is like a big stage:

Detail of the snake on the stage:

Another view from side 3 of the main temple:

Detail of carvings on one of the remains:

Detail of skulls carved around the stage:

A wild iguana running around Chichen Itza:

One of the structures at the end of the ball field:

Detail of the hyroglyphs on one of the structures:

Another detail of hyroglyphics:

And, the outside wall that surrounds Chichen Itza, which is about 18 square miles:

Last photo of ruins -- part of the council building:

And, what we all wished Scott and Dylan looked like at the end of the tour!

One last interesting thing about Chichen Itza, there must have been a hundred vendors on the grounds vending their wares. We bartered for a few things and picked up some great tote bags and tiger eye stone pendants. Sorry Paul & Rich, we weren't able to get you the cool T-shirts for $5 each, but since the same stuff is everywhere we will likely get lucky elsewhere before we come home.

Photo of blankets for sale at Chichen Itza in a vendor stall:

Detail shot of embroidery on the bodice of a Mexican dress for sale:


More on the trip home in another post....stay tuned.