Good old Isla Mujeres, a year ago!
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Monday, August 26, 2013
Wallpapers of the World - San Christobal de las Casas
During our travel we encounter places/objects/views which turn out to be awesome wallpapers! We would like to share them with you.
First to show is a huge graffiti wall we saw in San Cristóbal de las Casas.We couldn't make out a tag, so we don't know to who the honor goes. With the help of TinEye we found the possible creator of this street art, kudos to Liqen!
First to show is a huge graffiti wall we saw in San Cristóbal de las Casas.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
La Vina de Bacco, San Christobal de las Casas
Every glass of wine you order comes with a free tapas! A bottle brings you a whole platter! Awesome concept! Just encouraged us to drink more ;)
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Los Camellos, San Christobal de las Casas
http://loscamellos.over-blog.com/
We had a huge private room with two big beds for around 20USD/CHF in this lovely place. The hostel is well equipped, there is a great kitchen, a nice court and backyard. It lays only a block away from the main pedestrian street.
Try to avoid the hustlers at the bus stop, there is a reason these hostel employ the particular methods...
We had a huge private room with two big beds for around 20USD/CHF in this lovely place. The hostel is well equipped, there is a great kitchen, a nice court and backyard. It lays only a block away from the main pedestrian street.
Try to avoid the hustlers at the bus stop, there is a reason these hostel employ the particular methods...
San Christobal de las Casas and over to Guatemala (01.07.2013 - 05.07.2013)
We took the ADO bus from Palenque to San Christobal de las Casas passing by Tuxtla. But before we reached Tuxtla we got stuck in traffic because of a car/truck crash. Just minutes ahead of us two trucks crashed into each other, we still saw them burning...! About 6 hours later the fire died down enough that they could clear the way and we could head on to Tuxtla. Where upon they told us they wouldn't continue to San Christobal as there where some undefined roadblocks. Nobody could tell us what kind of roadblocks (political, zapatistas?) or when they would be cleared. Stranded in the middle of the night in a huge city with no clue where to stay or when we could head on we decided to wait it out. The first regular bus would/should leave at 4am and then every hour and finally at about 8 in the morning there was a bus leaving for San Christobal, hooray!
Just at the bus stop a guy talked us into taking a look at Planet Hostel. They would pay for the cab so we decided to take a look. In the end it was so cheap and we were so tired that we stayed for one night but changed places the next as it was quite dirty and without warm water. You appreciate a hot shower in this cold weather! Bring a sweater, it is quite cold in the mountains here! The other hostel (Los Camellos) was quite lovely and we could relax a bit and visit the charming town of San Christobal. Especially worth mentioning is the bar/restaurant La Vina de Bacco, we spent quite some time and money on the fine wine and tapas they serve!
Feeling relaxed enough we took a bike tour the other day, which would lead us around the country side of San Christobal. We visited the Mammoth Cave (no mammoths beside a stone which might look like a mammoth with a lot of goodwill) and stopped at a lovely little village to rest.
We decided not to take one of the all-inclusive-shuttle-services to reach Guatemala and took the ADO bus to the frontier. After having our passport stamped on the mexican side we shared a cab (with an elderly lady, small girl and a chicken) over the border to Guatemala. We changed our remaining pesos and wanted to take the Linea Dorado bus to Panajachel on Lago Atilan. But we would have to wait 4h till the bus would leave, so we decided to take the local option, Chicken Bus! These old north american school busses are re-painted colourful and usually run between two towns back and forth. Luckily the guatemalan people aren't too tall, as these busses were built to transport kids. I'm not the tallest but still my knees touched the bench in front of me, Melanie had no problems... ;)
They told us we would have to change to another bus but would reach Pana, so we got dropped of at an intersection and hopped on another Chicken Bus. After becoming assured multiple times that this bus would take us to Panajachel we enjoyed the ride through the green valleys. As the day turned to dusk and then to night there where fewer and fewer people on the bus till we were the only two left. Shortly after it stopped at a gas station and told us that is the end of the line and there would be no bus to Pana leaving today. Bummed to be stranded (again) in a unknown city with no clue where to stay we took the next cab and trusted the angry driver (at the traffic, not us... hopefully) to bring us to a hostel. He dropped us of at the Black Cat Hostel, which turned out to be a lovely hostel in Quetzaltenango (the mayan name Xela is much more common and easier to remember/pronounce).
Just at the bus stop a guy talked us into taking a look at Planet Hostel. They would pay for the cab so we decided to take a look. In the end it was so cheap and we were so tired that we stayed for one night but changed places the next as it was quite dirty and without warm water. You appreciate a hot shower in this cold weather! Bring a sweater, it is quite cold in the mountains here! The other hostel (Los Camellos) was quite lovely and we could relax a bit and visit the charming town of San Christobal. Especially worth mentioning is the bar/restaurant La Vina de Bacco, we spent quite some time and money on the fine wine and tapas they serve!
Feeling relaxed enough we took a bike tour the other day, which would lead us around the country side of San Christobal. We visited the Mammoth Cave (no mammoths beside a stone which might look like a mammoth with a lot of goodwill) and stopped at a lovely little village to rest.
We decided not to take one of the all-inclusive-shuttle-services to reach Guatemala and took the ADO bus to the frontier. After having our passport stamped on the mexican side we shared a cab (with an elderly lady, small girl and a chicken) over the border to Guatemala. We changed our remaining pesos and wanted to take the Linea Dorado bus to Panajachel on Lago Atilan. But we would have to wait 4h till the bus would leave, so we decided to take the local option, Chicken Bus! These old north american school busses are re-painted colourful and usually run between two towns back and forth. Luckily the guatemalan people aren't too tall, as these busses were built to transport kids. I'm not the tallest but still my knees touched the bench in front of me, Melanie had no problems... ;)
They told us we would have to change to another bus but would reach Pana, so we got dropped of at an intersection and hopped on another Chicken Bus. After becoming assured multiple times that this bus would take us to Panajachel we enjoyed the ride through the green valleys. As the day turned to dusk and then to night there where fewer and fewer people on the bus till we were the only two left. Shortly after it stopped at a gas station and told us that is the end of the line and there would be no bus to Pana leaving today. Bummed to be stranded (again) in a unknown city with no clue where to stay we took the next cab and trusted the angry driver (at the traffic, not us... hopefully) to bring us to a hostel. He dropped us of at the Black Cat Hostel, which turned out to be a lovely hostel in Quetzaltenango (the mayan name Xela is much more common and easier to remember/pronounce).
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Cozumel, Chichen Itza & Palenque (19.06.2013 - 30.6.2013)
We stayed a whole week in Cozumel as we did our Rescue Diver Certification there. The course was quite exhausting, a lot to read and remember so we took it easy. Besides the course we went diving, check out the pics with the nurse shark! Another day we rented a scooter and took a ride around the island. We loved the beaches and crazy waves on the eastern side of the island. The main town San Miguel has several cruise ship docks, so we did try to avoid these crowds and the restaurants/shops catering for them around the boardwalk.
After our certification we headed back to the mainland, to Valladolid close to Chichen Itza. So the next morning we were at the ruins before all the busses from Cancun and Playa del Carmen arrived. Also most of the stands selling tourist rubbish weren't set up when we entered. The whole site was nice, but the big pyramid was definitely the main attraction. On our way back the parking lot was full of buses and tour groups bustling around, come early!
Next we headed to Campeche, at the western coast of the Yucatan peninsula. We stayed two nights in the nice old colonial part of the town. We took a walk to one of the fortresses guarding the coast as recommended by the tourist info which got us the map, the didn't mentioned that it was closed for renovations...
After this we left the coast and visited Palenque, another place with a mayan heritage. Here you can climb the ruins, something which wasn't allowed in Tulum or in Chichen Itza. Also most of the ruins lay overgrown in the jungle beneath little rivers and waterfalls, nice! We visited the museum first and then took the walk/climb up with the biggest sites as the finish, highly recommended you do it this way. Again there weren't too much people around despite the fact we arrived in the middle of the afternoon. Furthermore there weren't even a tenth of trinket sellers than in Chichen Itza. This was definitely the nicest mayan site we visited so far!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Margarita & Ed, El Panchan, Palenque
El Panchan - Tel: 916 111 91 12 - Cel: 916 348 69 90
El Panchan lies just at the entrance to the national park containing the ruins of Palenque (take a collectivo from town). Margarita & Ed have spotless cabinas with mosquito nets all around the walls and roof, set amid the jungle. Because of the open rooms and the position beneath the trees make it pleasant cool in the night, we didn't used our fan.
There are two rooms in one cabin, with the walls not going all the way up to the thatched roof. So you hear everything which is spoken next door ;). As there are no windows you hear the howler monkeys in the trees and the reggae beats from the bar around the corner as well.
Nevertheless we really liked it and with 20CHF/US$ quite a bargain compared what we had the night before in Campeche...
El Panchan lies just at the entrance to the national park containing the ruins of Palenque (take a collectivo from town). Margarita & Ed have spotless cabinas with mosquito nets all around the walls and roof, set amid the jungle. Because of the open rooms and the position beneath the trees make it pleasant cool in the night, we didn't used our fan.
There are two rooms in one cabin, with the walls not going all the way up to the thatched roof. So you hear everything which is spoken next door ;). As there are no windows you hear the howler monkeys in the trees and the reggae beats from the bar around the corner as well.
Nevertheless we really liked it and with 20CHF/US$ quite a bargain compared what we had the night before in Campeche...
Tamarindo Bed & Breakfast, San Miguel, Cozumel
http://www.tamarindocozumel.com
While on Cozumel for our Rescue Diver Certification we stayed at this lovely Bed &Breakfast (there is no breakfast during low season). We switched between the fan and a air-con room as there were people coming with a reservation but liked the fan-only room way better.
The cheaper room was a little bit larger, closer to the kitchen and terrace and it had a hammok!
We payed 33CHF/USD for the fan and 44CHF/USD for the air-con room.
While on Cozumel for our Rescue Diver Certification we stayed at this lovely Bed &
The cheaper room was a little bit larger, closer to the kitchen and terrace and it had a hammok!
We payed 33CHF/USD for the fan and 44CHF/USD for the air-con room.
Friday, June 21, 2013
L'Hotelito, Tulum
http://www.hotelitotulum.com/
We found this place by chance and loved it immediately. The italian family from Trieste running this place has about 10 rooms to rent out. Some with AC, some without. We had a big room with two beds and a fan under the thatched roof for 32CHF/USD including breakfast. The mother is running the hotel while the father is a great cook, tending to his little herb garden. We had a great dinner at the hotel!
We found this place by chance and loved it immediately. The italian family from Trieste running this place has about 10 rooms to rent out. Some with AC, some without. We had a big room with two beds and a fan under the thatched roof for 32CHF/USD including breakfast. The mother is running the hotel while the father is a great cook, tending to his little herb garden. We had a great dinner at the hotel!
Buzos de Mexico, Isla Mujeres
http://www.buzosdemexico.com/
We found this nice place only by accidents while looking around for another dive shop. The owner, Misael, is half swiss so he talked us into to take a look around the shop. He showed us his new equipment and the big boat he has to go diving. His mother, Pia, rents out rooms just above and behind the dive shop, with a little discount for the diving.
Thats how we ended up with a room just above the dive shop and by chance Patricks instructor, Nathan, was swiss as well. We liked it so much we stayed much longer than planned. Diving with Nathan was really relaxing, we did a wreck, drift ;) and night dive besides the usual reef dives.
The boat leaves form the pier at the restaurant/museum of Capitan Dulce where they are building a new dive center/shop/storage. At the moment there was only the grass roof, but looks to become nice!
Little advice: If you plan on going to snorkel with the whale shark, check if they are going out on their own big boat. If not just shop around for the cheapest tour to go, as all are more or less the same.
We found this nice place only by accidents while looking around for another dive shop. The owner, Misael, is half swiss so he talked us into to take a look around the shop. He showed us his new equipment and the big boat he has to go diving. His mother, Pia, rents out rooms just above and behind the dive shop, with a little discount for the diving.
Thats how we ended up with a room just above the dive shop and by chance Patricks instructor, Nathan, was swiss as well. We liked it so much we stayed much longer than planned. Diving with Nathan was really relaxing, we did a wreck, drift ;) and night dive besides the usual reef dives.
The boat leaves form the pier at the restaurant/museum of Capitan Dulce where they are building a new dive center/shop/storage. At the moment there was only the grass roof, but looks to become nice!
Little advice: If you plan on going to snorkel with the whale shark, check if they are going out on their own big boat. If not just shop around for the cheapest tour to go, as all are more or less the same.
Tulum, Playa del Carmen and back to Isla Mujeres (08.06.2013 - 18.06.2013)
Arriving in Tulum we looked around for a place and found by chance a lovely little hotel, called Hotelito. The next day we rented some bicycles and rode to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. The ruins were nice, especially the towers next to the turquoise water. But there were way to many tourists for our taste...
Afterwards we rode back south and went swimming at one of the beach clubs, +1 beach ;).
Later we went to look around for a place to stay at the beach, but it seemed the times of cheap cabinas right at the beach is longe since past. Did I mention my 7 year old Lonely Planet? So we stayed at the town during our whole trip.
The next day we went to dive in the cenote (a sinkhole, link) Dos Ojos. A total new experience for all three of us, non of us has been diving in fresh water or in a cave before. The view was extraordinary! There isn't much to see besides stalagmites and stalactites, but they made uf for all the missing fish.
After so much excitement we decided to spend a day at the beach. We headed to the Playa Papaya Project to lay around at the empty beach, eat mango ceviche (yeah!) and drink cold beers ^^
The day after we went to dive in the cenote Anglita, a deep dive (part of Melanies Advanced Open Water) with a hydrogen sulfur cloud at 28m. Beneath it is pitch black! Coming up through it again is an spectacular sight. The second dive we did in Casa Cenote, another kind of cenote as the two before. Most of it is overgrown by mangroves and algae. Awesome sights as well!
Heading back north we stopped for two nights on Playa del Carmen. We spent the day at the (crowded) beach and the evening at the (crowded) 10th avenue. Nothing to recommend.
We ended up again on Isla Mujeres, this time we wanted to stay closer to the party and headed to the Poc-Na hostel. But after hearing their prices and seeing the rooms we changed our mind and found another little hotelroom. Getting up early we took the 1.5h boat ride to find the whale sharks in the middle of the ocean. There where dozens of boats but even more whale sharks! The captain would drop of a pair of us together with the guide and pick us up later so the next two could go into the water. It was a crazy experience to swim next to these huge (up to 7m) fish. They looked lazy but with just a stroke of there massive tails the would leave you in their wake. Next to the sharks where also some big manta rays doing somersaults in the water, awesome view as well. On our way back we were caught by a massive storm! The rain felt like hail on the bare skin, the waves were crashing against our small boat and the temperature dropped. Some times we could only see for a couple of meters because of the heavy rain. That way it took us almost 3 hours to reach the Isla Mujeres, were the weather was good again and we enjoyed some ceviche and cold beers standing in the surf.
The next day was the last for Patrick, as he headed home to Switzerland. Right in time for his birthday party ;)
Melanie and I decided to check out Cozumel and maybe do the Rescue Diver there...
Afterwards we rode back south and went swimming at one of the beach clubs, +1 beach ;).
Later we went to look around for a place to stay at the beach, but it seemed the times of cheap cabinas right at the beach is longe since past. Did I mention my 7 year old Lonely Planet? So we stayed at the town during our whole trip.
The next day we went to dive in the cenote (a sinkhole, link) Dos Ojos. A total new experience for all three of us, non of us has been diving in fresh water or in a cave before. The view was extraordinary! There isn't much to see besides stalagmites and stalactites, but they made uf for all the missing fish.
After so much excitement we decided to spend a day at the beach. We headed to the Playa Papaya Project to lay around at the empty beach, eat mango ceviche (yeah!) and drink cold beers ^^
The day after we went to dive in the cenote Anglita, a deep dive (part of Melanies Advanced Open Water) with a hydrogen sulfur cloud at 28m. Beneath it is pitch black! Coming up through it again is an spectacular sight. The second dive we did in Casa Cenote, another kind of cenote as the two before. Most of it is overgrown by mangroves and algae. Awesome sights as well!
Heading back north we stopped for two nights on Playa del Carmen. We spent the day at the (crowded) beach and the evening at the (crowded) 10th avenue. Nothing to recommend.
We ended up again on Isla Mujeres, this time we wanted to stay closer to the party and headed to the Poc-Na hostel. But after hearing their prices and seeing the rooms we changed our mind and found another little hotelroom. Getting up early we took the 1.5h boat ride to find the whale sharks in the middle of the ocean. There where dozens of boats but even more whale sharks! The captain would drop of a pair of us together with the guide and pick us up later so the next two could go into the water. It was a crazy experience to swim next to these huge (up to 7m) fish. They looked lazy but with just a stroke of there massive tails the would leave you in their wake. Next to the sharks where also some big manta rays doing somersaults in the water, awesome view as well. On our way back we were caught by a massive storm! The rain felt like hail on the bare skin, the waves were crashing against our small boat and the temperature dropped. Some times we could only see for a couple of meters because of the heavy rain. That way it took us almost 3 hours to reach the Isla Mujeres, were the weather was good again and we enjoyed some ceviche and cold beers standing in the surf.
The next day was the last for Patrick, as he headed home to Switzerland. Right in time for his birthday party ;)
Melanie and I decided to check out Cozumel and maybe do the Rescue Diver there...
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Isla Mujeres, Mexico (26.05.2013 - 07.06.2012)
After arriving in Mexico we where overwhelmed by the first (or at least second) world abundance! Fast and free internet, fast food chains and supermarkets full of stuff to buy. Usually a supermercado in cuba had rum to sell, maybe some beans and a couple of different kind of pasta, not much more.
The first night in Mexico was quite different to Habana as well. In Habana we weren't afraid once, entering the darkest and narrowest streets, we were never bothered or hassled. Something we didn't try in Cancun...
Looking around for a nice and cheap dive school for Patrick we read in my 7 year old Lonley Planet that the Open Water Course would be 50CHF/US$ cheaper on Isla Mujeres than in Cancun. So we only ended up by chance on this lovely island, just a 20min ferry ride from Cancun. But it couldn't be more different!
Touristy but little streets and after a couple of days we knew a dozen people, most important THE BAND which would play in different compositions almost everyday in the Las Terrazas bar. Later in the evening everybody would meet at the beach bar which belongs to the Poc-Na youth hostel to party.
First we only planned to stay till Patrick had his Open Water Course, but we liked it so much he also did his Advanced Open Water Course. We lay on the beach, rented one of the many golf carts and went diving. We visited one of the wrecks, saw lots and lots of fish, turtles, lobsters, devil rays, eagle rays and lots of huge sting rays!
Thats how we ended up here almost two weeks till Melanie arrived and joined us for another day diving before we left the island to head south!
The first night in Mexico was quite different to Habana as well. In Habana we weren't afraid once, entering the darkest and narrowest streets, we were never bothered or hassled. Something we didn't try in Cancun...
Looking around for a nice and cheap dive school for Patrick we read in my 7 year old Lonley Planet that the Open Water Course would be 50CHF/US$ cheaper on Isla Mujeres than in Cancun. So we only ended up by chance on this lovely island, just a 20min ferry ride from Cancun. But it couldn't be more different!
Touristy but little streets and after a couple of days we knew a dozen people, most important THE BAND which would play in different compositions almost everyday in the Las Terrazas bar. Later in the evening everybody would meet at the beach bar which belongs to the Poc-Na youth hostel to party.
First we only planned to stay till Patrick had his Open Water Course, but we liked it so much he also did his Advanced Open Water Course. We lay on the beach, rented one of the many golf carts and went diving. We visited one of the wrecks, saw lots and lots of fish, turtles, lobsters, devil rays, eagle rays and lots of huge sting rays!
Thats how we ended up here almost two weeks till Melanie arrived and joined us for another day diving before we left the island to head south!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Friends - Patrick
Patrick, aka Winston, is an old buddy and fellow Cuba Libre enthusiast. When he heard I would travel to the homeland of rum he decided to join me for sure. We had some great times on Fidels island before flying over to the Yucatan peninsula. He got shortly after certified as a scuba diver came with us to explore the cenotes in Tulum.
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