After another long bus ride, this time 8 hours, we arrive in Merida and check in at the very traditional Dolores Alba Hotel. The hotel is located in a lovely building with very high arches and patios, the decoration is inspired by the works of Frida Khalo. There is also a huge swimming pool and we go immediately for a swim as we can feel each one of the 38 degrees in the late afternoon. The rooms, however, at least the one we stayed in, are old and musty and the breakfast in definitely very basic. It is 8:30 in the morning and it is already too hot to go walking, now I totally get it, bring on the siesta! We go out for a wander around the lovely colonial town of Merida and its colourful historical buildings and friendly and proud residents who volunteer historical and anecdotal information wherever we go. We also end up having a bite at a restaurant voted number 1 on Tripadvisor. For some reason, so far, the food is failing to impress but hey, we’ll keep on trying as that is what we do. The next morning we take another bus ride, 5 hours, this time to Playa del Carmen. Yah, we are getting to know our ADO bus company friends very well by now.
At this stage I have to say, it is also almost impossible not to notice that contraception is not a very popular concept in this country, at least not as popular as Catholicism. There are children everywhere, seriously, so many of them it is scary. The outskirts of Mexico City already go on forever and besides all the economic issues, there is a very serious problem of water shortage in the country, so, hopefully contraception will catch on sometime soon. Sometimes hordes of spoilt kids and uncommitted parents can make travelling very unpleasant indeed.
After a 5 hour bus ride, yeah, you guessed it, ADO again, we arrive in Playa del Carmen and check into the very nice and brand new Hotel Plaza Playa for some R & R and wait till we get hungry and it gets cooler outside to go out and try the food scene. The very helpful hotel staff recommends the “Nativos" restaurant, good value for money but still failing to impress. Still all the meat and chicken is shredded to tiny bits and served with tortillas with varying degrees of taste and heat and an assortment of accompanying sauces. Maybe we are just used to the tasty huge portions of Australian Mexican food, but hey, as I said before, we’ll definitely keep on trying. Playa del Carmen, for some mysterious reason voted one of the 10 top beaches in the world, is a beautiful stretch of the Mexican Caribbean transformed clumsily but surely by man into a massive playground for American tourists. It is so utterly disappointing that we decided now and then to give Cancun and Cozumel a miss and instead concentrate into finding a more alternative destination. We also decide to try a restaurant with a huge line at the door, looking very traditional which also didn’t hit the spot. We make a day trip to Tulum, another site of Mayan ruins this time overlong the turquoise Caribbean Sea. We stay in Playa del Carmen for 3 days, going for walks, trying new places to eat and planning our escape wisely. We buy our tickets to Cuba and to Orlando and we also plan a side trip to Belize just to cancel it the next morning, as we have decided to stay in Mexico, so where to now?
The obvious answer, if we’ve all been reading the same stuff is “Isla Mujeres”. It is a small island, a 20 minute boat ride from Cancun and it has a reputation for being a gorgeous beach spot and an alternative place to stay away from American spring breakers on a mission. So off we go to Isla Mujeres (Island of Women). The minute you arrive you get that “island feel” hitting you in the face straight away, it is like being thrown into an instant holiday, little shops and lots of restaurants, a good mix of tourists and travelers, hotels for all budgets and tastes, but most importantly, one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve ever seen! Yeah, Boracay, you have now serious competition! Please check out our photos as “seeing is believing”. We checked into the simple but comfortable Arleen Francis hotel and settle in. So, we have a great time in Isla Muheres, trying out new places to eat with a varying degree of success, walking around a lot and drinking refreshing Mexican beer, Margaritas and rum & coke for dessert. What a fabulous place, the beach gets more beautiful by the day, the tourists are a cool blend of foreigners and Mexican, lots of little restaurants to pick your not so great food from and above all, lots of sunbathing and swimming, yeah, pretty close to tropical paradise. After 9 fabulous days, it is time so say goodbye to Isla Mujeres and make our way to Havana. So, we take the ferry back to Cancun, a taxi to the, yeah, you guessed it, the ADO bus station for a bus to the airport and after a 55 minutes flight with Cubana Airlines we arrive in Havana.
