Mehling.org: Dos por el Collectivo, por favor

« Puerto Morelos | Main | Isla Mujeres »

March 23, 2008

Dos por el Collectivo, por favor

3/23 (Sunday)

There must have been multiple parties going on around our room last night, the last of which hadn't quieted until after 2am. We slept in until 9 or so. We ordered breakfast at the hotel's restaurant - fruit, coffee and toast for me. The coffee was really good. Hol had lluevos w/ fruit and tea.

We collected our bags and checked out, asking advice about transportation to Isla Mujeres. The owner advised that we would have to get to Cancun and then take a taxi to Puerto Juarez. So we took a taxi to the highway ($2), caught a collectivo to the Cancun bus depot (or near it -- $2/ea), then a taxi to the ferry port ($3) and round trip ferry boletos ($7/ea). The ferries run every 30 ish minutes and the "waterjet" ones take about 15-20 minutes to cross. There's a slower one that takes cars ($20), vans & trucks ($25) and additional personas ($1.50).

Either the boat trip or breakfast made Hol a pretty sick (Seasick = Mareo). After getting off the boat we stopped at the closest restaurant (Sombrero de Gomar), that had a bathroom, to reset and cool off. Excellent guac with an onion, cilantro and tomato salsa. Hol sipped at her sprite and tried to feel better. :-(

While I waited for a second beer I ran down the street to the first hotel on our list - Hotel Caracol (which we later learned was for sale). The nice manager helped me with my Spanish (my pronunciation is still really bad). They had a few rooms open and I opted to pay extra for the A/C unit having sweltered the night before. The room was decently clean so I took it, grabbed the key and ran back to drink my beer.

After dropping or bags in our room, we decided to get the lay of city with a walking tour. Isla Mujeres is tiny... The island is 8km long and 150 - 800 meters wide for most of the length. The majority of the population is in a town to the north (where we were staying). There is a small, private island ("Punta Norte") at the very end (a hotel and some condos are the only structures there) and connected to the main island via a wooden bridge. (A nice guard at the far end wouldn't let us on.) The entire speck of land must have been 100 meters by 150 meters. Since we were walking, we decided to just hit the beach and see how far we could walk. We walked from the farthest point at the north (the wooden bridge) down the West side along the beach, then the wharf and finally down the sidewalk that's sandwiched between the road and the water. We then crossed over and walked up the East side until we hit the bridge again. After probably 4 hours we'd walked around the entire city and about 1/3 of the island.

The North-West side of the island is a gorgeous crushed white coral beach with translucent blue waters. The water is only waist high for a long, long way. Certain areas of the beach are somewhat held together by piles of plastic sandbags and wooden anti erosion fences. Areas of the beach are packed with palapas, tables, lounges, futons, raised beds and of course bars. There are also open areas and volleyball courts.

The East side is a rocky shore employing tons and tons of crushed rocks packed together into brick shapes using heavy gauged fencing. (where'd all this rock come from?) These "bricks" were maybe 4 feet long by 3 feet square. They were stacked as much as 5 or 6 high near the seawall and raked lower as they descended into the water. The hotels and houses had a postcard perfect view of the Caribbean sea, unfortunately the majority of them were either partial ruins, shuttered or in the process of being rebuilt.

There's no doubt Wilma devastated this tiny island and it seems the demand to rebuild has been much less here -- although it's clearly happening. In fact it's clear that something 'big' is being planned... When we crossed over to the East side we started walking up a dirt road, but it quickly turned to a decorative cement and then paver stone path which eventually opened into a large gathering area -- Foundations for light posts were evenly spaced. The cement sea walk continued on to where it touched the beaches on the north point. This will be a wonderful walking and market area once it is finished, and of course, the tourists and hotels return. I wonder what hurricane insurance costs?

We stopped back by the hotel to clean-up for dinner. Hol picked out an Italian joint ("Pizza Rolandi") because a chicken breast with pomodoro sounded good to her. We shared a mixed salad (eh.) and I had a pretty decent pizza (our room has a fridge so I don't have waste half of it). After dinner we walked the main street, Hidalgo. So much of the stuff for sale is the same from town to town. We've seen the same jewelry, clothing, nik-naks??? in all the towns. Even worse, what I can only guess are American-tourist-targeted T-shirt shops, with the standard 'city name' shirts with Mexican themed designs and the crude slogan shirts followed by the city name. The former is only guilty of being cliche, the latter is plain sad. You could pick up shirts with "really clever" sayings like "FBI: Female Body Inspector" or "I'm shy, but I have a big dick" or the even classier, "I'm here about the blowjobs.". Hol and were proud to have often been misidentified as Canadians -- this is a target market I don't want to be a part of. We did see an interesting shop with some metal sculptures. We promised the manager, Eli, we'd come back and look closer.

Before heading back to the hotel we strolled through the non-commercial town square. Kids played on the basketball court, it looked like a young lady was having her Quinciera, in her formal gown. On the other side of town a Latin rap artist (of sorts) was doing a song coordinated with the water and light show the town fountain was performing. Kids roller skated, big wheeled and biked all over. I think I like this little island.

Photo Album:
http://mehling.org/gallery/v/travels/2008_mexico/Day+10/

Posted by ben at March 23, 2008 10:00 PM


« Puerto Morelos \| Main \| Isla Mujeres » March 23, 2008 Dos por el Collectivo, por favor 3/23 (Sunday) There must have been multiple parties going on around our room last night, the last of which hadn't quieted until after 2am. We slept in until 9 or so. We ordered breakfast at the hotel's restaurant - fruit, coffee and toast for me. The coffee was really good. Hol had lluevos w/ fruit and tea. We collected our bags and checked out, asking advice about transportation to Isla Mujeres. The owner advised that we would have to get to Cancun and then take a taxi to Puerto Juarez. So we took a taxi to the highway ($2), caught a collectivo to the Cancun bus depot (or near it -- $2/ea), then a taxi to the ferry port ($3) and round trip ferry boletos ($7/ea). The ferries run every 30 ish minutes and the "waterjet" ones take about 15-20 minutes to cross. There's a slower one that takes cars ($20), vans & trucks ($25) and additional personas ($1.50). Either the boat trip or breakfast made Hol a pretty sick (Seasick = Mareo). After getting off the boat we stopped at the closest restaurant (Sombrero de Gomar), that had a bathroom, to reset and cool off. Excellent guac with an onion, cilantro and tomato salsa. Hol sipped at her sprite and tried to feel better. :-( While I waited for a second beer I ran down the street to the first hotel on our list - Hotel Caracol (which we later learned was for sale). The nice manager helped me with my Spanish (my pronunciation is still really bad). They had a few rooms open and I opted to pay extra for the A/C unit having sweltered the night before. The room was decently clean so I took it, grabbed the key and ran back to drink my beer. After dropping or bags in our room, we decided to get the lay of city with a walking tour. Isla Mujeres is tiny... The island is 8km long and 150 - 800 meters wide for most of the length. The majority of the population is in a town to the north (where we were staying). There is a small, private island ("Punta Norte") at the very end (a hotel and some condos are the only structures there) and connected to the main island via a wooden bridge. (A nice guard at the far end wouldn't let us on.) The entire speck of land must have been 100 meters by 150 meters. Since we were walking, we decided to just hit the beach and see how far we could walk. We walked from the farthest point at the north (the wooden bridge) down the West side along the beach, then the wharf and finally down the sidewalk that's sandwiched between the road and the water. We then crossed over and walked up the East side until we hit the bridge again. After probably 4 hours we'd walked around the entire city and about 1/3 of the island. The North-West side of the island is a gorgeous crushed white coral beach with translucent blue waters. The water is only waist high for a long, long way. Certain areas of the beach are somewhat held together by piles of plastic sandbags and wooden anti erosion fences. Areas of the beach are packed with palapas, tables, lounges, futons, raised beds and of course bars. There are also open areas and volleyball courts. The East side is a rocky shore employing tons and tons of crushed rocks packed together into brick shapes using heavy gauged fencing. (where'd all this rock come from?) These "bricks" were maybe 4 feet long by 3 feet square. They were stacked as much as 5 or 6 high near the seawall and raked lower as they descended into the water. The hotels and houses had a postcard perfect view of the Caribbean sea, unfortunately the majority of them were either partial ruins, shuttered or in the process of being rebuilt. There's no doubt Wilma devastated this tiny island and it seems the demand to rebuild has been much less here -- although it's clearly happening. In fact it's clear that something 'big' is being planned... When we crossed over to the East side we started walking up a dirt road, but it quickly turned to a decorative cement and then paver stone path which eventually opened into a large gathering area -- Foundations for light posts were evenly spaced. The cement sea walk continued on to where it touched the beaches on the north point. This will be a wonderful walking and market area once it is finished, and of course, the tourists and hotels return. I wonder what hurricane insurance costs? We stopped back by the hotel to clean-up for dinner. Hol picked out an Italian joint ("Pizza Rolandi") because a chicken breast with pomodoro sounded good to her. We shared a mixed salad (eh.) and I had a pretty decent pizza (our room has a fridge so I don't have waste half of it). After dinner we walked the main street, Hidalgo. So much of the stuff for sale is the same from town to town. We've seen the same jewelry, clothing, nik-naks??? in all the towns. Even worse, what I can only guess are American-tourist-targeted T-shirt shops, with the standard 'city name' shirts with Mexican themed designs and the crude slogan shirts followed by the city name. The former is only guilty of being cliche, the latter is plain sad. You could pick up shirts with "really clever" sayings like "FBI: Female Body Inspector" or "I'm shy, but I have a big dick" or the even classier, "I'm here about the blowjobs.". Hol and were proud to have often been misidentified as Canadians -- this is a target market I don't want to be a part of. We did see an interesting shop with some metal sculptures. We promised the manager, Eli, we'd come back and look closer. Before heading back to the hotel we strolled through the non-commercial town square. Kids played on the basketball court, it looked like a young lady was having her Quinciera, in her formal gown. On the other side of town a Latin rap artist (of sorts) was doing a song coordinated with the water and light show the town fountain was performing. Kids roller skated, big wheeled and biked all over. I think I like this little island. Photo Album: http://mehling.org/gallery/v/travels/2008_mexico/Day+10/ Posted by ben at March 23, 2008 10:00 PM		Bookmarks Ben's Resume Ben's Lists Mehling Photo Album Flickr Photo Album Recently Archived Cozumal and Playa Palancar Akumal Desperately Seeking Lodging See you in nine days Sian Ka'an Coba Ruins Tulum Ruins Finally! Background Micro Credit Archives August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 Etc. Search: