The Trip Out of Mexico

On the last day of our trip we returned home and absolutely nothing of consequence occurred. I did get some sweet shots through the plane window though.

We had one last clean, fast, cheap, non-taxi bus ride to the airport.

The check-in people made us fill out those silly paper tags even though we had our own tags plus the airline's baggage sticker things.

Up

And down we went. Over and over.

Alligators and Cinderella in Mexico

We had yet another really good lunch at a restaurant called Labna's which upped the Mayan street cred ante by having a building shaped like a pyramid. We were the only people in there so the waiter was especially nice. I guess the custom in Mexico is that it is rude to bring the bill without the guest first requesting it, even if they are clearly finished eating.

Labna's earned us additional legit tourist points because the food was not only Mexican but specifically from the Yucatan Peninsula.

Lydia's sangria seemed suspiciously like someone just poured some wine on top of some lemonade in a glass.

To start with we had papadzules: "corn tortillas stuffed with boiled eggs bathed in pumpkin seed sauce". We just shared one entree after that: poc chuc, "grilled strip of pork with local condiments and served with sour Yucatecan orange, chili/tomato sauce and steamed beans." I had an interesting sweet/tart drink made from the spinach-like chaya leaf with a shot of anise flavored xtabentún to top it off. 

Outside they were already readying the mini cars for another night of festivities.

Well this was the day that our zero planning finally caught up with us. We went to the bus station to book passage to the famous Chichen Itza but were told the trip was like four hours long. The pyramid would be closed by the time we arrived.

Inside the bus station.

We attempted to salvage the remainder of the day by booking a trip to Puerto Morelos, where the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System almost touches the shore. The idea being to get some snorkeling done even though our SCUBA dreams had been scuttled. Well we got all the way to the beach and found that the rental shops had recently closed.

We caught a bit of a baseball game while walking towards the beach.

When you see a "Caution! Alligators" sign that has clearly been bitten in half it is time for you to move your ass. 

I did what I could for this little boy fishing nearby by yelling "every man for themselves!" as I jogged past. Poor little bugger. I'm a hero though.

At this point we were road weary and needed to stop for an emergency margarita and regroup.

Cutting our losses, we went back to Cancun city for another great meal. This time it was much closer to the style of Mexican restaurant that Americans are accustomed to, with lots of colorful things hanging from the ceiling and a roving mariachi band.

To finish the day we decided to risk our souls by entering the tourist trap hell called Cancun Island. It was sort of Vegas feeling with just a long straight strip of road completely flanked on either side with gigantic resorts.

We went to a mall to see Cinderella and I almost threw up in my mouth when I saw the chains. So many chains. Hooters, Hard Rock, Harley Davidson, Senor Frogs, Chili's, and the largest Bubba Gump Shrimp I've ever laid eyes on. I thought back to the lady with the sparkly cowboy boots who'd vacationed at the same place 20 times in a row. I thought to myself: this is what happens when you never grow up. This is an adult ordering from the kid's menu of life. What a horrible place this is.

Whew, things got real there for a second. Anyway I enjoyed Cinderella a lot more than I expected with the help of two actors from Game of Thrones and two more from Downton Abbey.

A Successful First Day In Mexico

Southwest Airlines doesn't have assigned seating, which turns the boarding process into quite the struggle for territory. No one wants the middle seat, so the last third of the passengers to get on the plane have this "first day of kindergarten on the schoolbus" situation where no one wants to share their space. Anyway a lady wearing sparkly cowboy boots sat in our third seat and ruined our chances of comfort.

Anyway the lady didn't say much to us until we were nearing Cancun. But then she opened up. The lady said she'd been to Cancun about twenty times! I felt sorry for her. It was funny too because I was trying to take advantage of her wealth of experience but she hadn't been to many of the highlights. I was telling Lydia that we should skip Isla Mujeres because it just sounded like a boring bunch of beach. Guess what our new friend's first recommendation was? "They have sand like powdered sugar!"

I was flipping through my trusty guidebook on the plane and found a really cheap bus system that would take us up to like 2 blocks from our hotel for a fraction of what a taxi would cost. That bus service went everywhere went we wanted to go. We barely stepped foot in a stupid cab the whole trip. It was awesome.

As you can see Cancun is a city with a long appendage. We gave that beachy, touristy, resort filled appendage the nickname "hell".

I picked one of the cheapest hotels that my Chase credit card points could buy, which was nowhere near the beaches and resorts. It was the best accident ever. The hotel was walking distance from the supermarket, a ton of restaurants, the bus station, and this city center place where there was like a three day festival taking place.

We had dinner at one of those walking distance restaurants called La Habichuela and it was fantastic. They gave Lydia a free little Mayan necklace when we walked in. Our table was in another world, with lots of tropical trees overhead and ancient looking statues. The food was really well prepared as well. The table next to us ordered caesar salad and their waiter stood next to the table while he whisked the egg yolks.

The meal started with a free drink made from bark or something served in a gourd. This place was really good about all of the little extras.

We started the feast with some baller soups. I had the "Cream of Avocado: a cold soup of emerald avocado with aromatic herbs". I'm skeptical of cold soups in general but this one was killer. Lydia had the restaurant's namesake, "Cream of Habichuela: famous stringbean and vegetables soup prepared daily since 1977". Those were both like 6 bucks a piece.

There was a free lime sorbet palate cleanser for Huitzilopochtli's sake!

Lydia's main course was shish kabob flambe and mine was "The Famous Cocobichuela: chunks of lobster and shrimp cooked in a curry sauce served in a coconut shell with rice and garnished with tropical fruits." It was really good. And in a damn coconut. Hers was $20 and mine was $33.

Lydia's pick even involved a flaming pineapple for some unexplained reason.

It took every ounce of willpower to not order this chocolate pyramid.

After dinner we scoped out the festival that was right across the street from our hotel. Tonight on the stage there were lots of kids in fun costumes. I especially liked the little kids zooming around in their rental cars. Many of them were questionable drivers.

I've probably mentioned it before but I am obsessed with foreign grocery stores. They give you a little window into how people really live, and they have reasonable prices that are actually posted and the same for everyone. It's the best. We looked around, bought some bottled water, beer, and snacks then called it a night.

When we got back to the hotel we both had abundant reminders that bug bites are still a thing. My ankles are delicious.