Beach
Trip Start
May 12, 2005
1
69
79
Trip End
May 14, 2006
Isla Mujeres (the island of women!!??), Mexico
Monday, April 10, 2006
- not surprisingly, the real stuff is infinitely better than mexican food in Australia.
- egg and ham tacos for breakfast (and fruit/yogurt, we are light eaters) simply delicious.
- market stalls provided the cheapest eats; guacomole, fish, rice and beans and chicken soup...
- had dinner right on the sand one night, delicious grilled fish and calamari washed down by a couple of cervazas and a margerhita.
- got a tip off for a local fishermans´ bar and went for lunch one day; sort of a tapas deal, little dishes served with each beer ordered....authentic little joint, some of the boys had exerted their drinking muscles very excessively....but everyone welcoming.
the beach
- only a small island, so nowhere is far from the beach.
- incredibly clear turquoise water.
- bleached white sand.
- quite a bit warmer than new york, lots of sunburnt americans strewn about on the main beach.
- we spent most of our time on a smaller beach, more shelter/shade and a mostly mexican crowd (lots of cute little kids).
urban hostel
- very noisy; central american backpackers have a hardcore edge (up until daybreak most nights, we slept through most of the carnage as things didn´t really kick off until after 3am).
- room was fine (expensive!!!! but thats to be expected in the Yucatan), scungy kitchen.
- met some nice people and picked up some travel pointers
the island
- very small, the main town area is awash with tourism.
- mark took the local bus to have a look around the island, only scraps of mangrove surviving, 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 (???!!).
