First full day in tulum. Of course, it starts with a sleep in and a pastry. then we finally mish to the tulum mayan ruins but hey what with the sleep in its midday and stinking hot by the time we set out. Den assures me its a short walk (he's a smart man after all), and i believe it is, however, after 20 minutes and dripping with sweat...i take the map and realise we have walked the wrong way. I may not be good with directions or navigation but i know the sexy hotels, and we have gone the wrong way.
foot down and we take a cab ther...slightly wasted exercise, but hey.
anyway tulum ruins very cool, these guys had it down...nice view, good beach. when i realised that den was taking more pictures of the iguanas than of the ruins, it was time to go. walked back along the beach, nice cool breeze and GOT A COKE. HEAVEN. beached it for the rest of the day. OH! and we had our sarnies for lunch. was good too with avocado and onion, nomnomnom.
Dinner in tulum, we walked again, but a quicker way, along the highway. not so scenic, but quicker. A tapas of Panuchos, salutes and tacos. pretty good and snuck in some beer to round it off.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
17th May - Isla Mujeres tp Tulum, Mexico
our first bus trip! gosh. of course when approaching a bus journey, its important to fuel up prior and i did so with another expensive breaky but hey i chose the granola so points for healthy eating.
bus was good and COLD and full of a cheesy spanish-dubbed movie. nice one but a good way to travel. arrived tulum and really when they say the town is far from the beach they mean it...kind of a pain...beach and hotels about 6 kms from town. Taxi drivers loving it. Anyways we do the cheap thing and eat our sarnies under a shack near the beach. I got mustard all through dens army knife. Resolve to buy a better knife.
den went on a mish to find somewhere for us to sleep for a couple of nights...the first shacks we find are fine...basic tho and expensive for what they are. anyway he left me with the bags and my kindle so i'm happy as larry with the waiting :)
so he comes back and all like, got us shack, its a bit more exspenive, but has bathroom and for 3 nights. I happy nott having to cross a threshhold to pee so suits me fine. Get to this camp with all these kite boarding hippies and can't have the room til 6. but a super super nice beach out so its easy to kill time really. Finally get to our room and its SUPER nice and rustic with a lovely shower and so pretty! a walk through the sand to the sea. ahhh my boy did good, feels like a holiday!
Found some tacos for den and a burrito for me! NOMNOM.
(brought better knife).
bus was good and COLD and full of a cheesy spanish-dubbed movie. nice one but a good way to travel. arrived tulum and really when they say the town is far from the beach they mean it...kind of a pain...beach and hotels about 6 kms from town. Taxi drivers loving it. Anyways we do the cheap thing and eat our sarnies under a shack near the beach. I got mustard all through dens army knife. Resolve to buy a better knife.
den went on a mish to find somewhere for us to sleep for a couple of nights...the first shacks we find are fine...basic tho and expensive for what they are. anyway he left me with the bags and my kindle so i'm happy as larry with the waiting :)
so he comes back and all like, got us shack, its a bit more exspenive, but has bathroom and for 3 nights. I happy nott having to cross a threshhold to pee so suits me fine. Get to this camp with all these kite boarding hippies and can't have the room til 6. but a super super nice beach out so its easy to kill time really. Finally get to our room and its SUPER nice and rustic with a lovely shower and so pretty! a walk through the sand to the sea. ahhh my boy did good, feels like a holiday!
Found some tacos for den and a burrito for me! NOMNOM.
(brought better knife).
16th May - Isla Mujeres, mexico
ahhh chilled out at the beach today. Isla Mujeres may be touristy but when you buy a couple of beers for £2 to use some loungers its not bad place. Found this cool ANTOJITO place for dinner...found PANUCHOS on the menu. i'd read about this and so we had to try them...OHHHH so good. Mini tortillas stuffed with black bean and then deep fried. Topped with shredded chicken, lettuce, tomato and picked red onion. So good and den in heaven.
May 4th - Havana, cuba
Up a bit earlier today to head down to the tobacco factory. Another cranking breakfast, i'm not sure how i'll live ithout my eggs and fruit and that wonderful coffee!
Tour in the cigar factory, bit of a cheesy tour but intersting and worth being a proper tourist for. Organised chaos for the different language groups, not sure how they organised it but they did! watched th school for cigars and then the pro's, who despite the pro status were trying to sell off half finished cigars to dennis at every turn. the rolling loooks massively complicated and what a job! but apparently these guys earn more than doctors...or so we were told. a pro has to roll 120 fat ones in a day, they all get quality assured to the max...even pressure tested! funny, but some of the cigars were lik over $200 CUC (£150) each...some even more.
Walked back through the havanians shopping street, found department stores that were almost empty, people have to queue to go into this pen of to root round in clothes. Socialism alive and welll here in Havana. Shoppers have to queue to buy anything and can't pick anything off the shelves themselves. Why is it like this?? I would wikipedia it, but i can't get the internet here..
Weird.
More beer and pizza for dinner! nice to watch the peeps go by over a cold Cristal.
Tour in the cigar factory, bit of a cheesy tour but intersting and worth being a proper tourist for. Organised chaos for the different language groups, not sure how they organised it but they did! watched th school for cigars and then the pro's, who despite the pro status were trying to sell off half finished cigars to dennis at every turn. the rolling loooks massively complicated and what a job! but apparently these guys earn more than doctors...or so we were told. a pro has to roll 120 fat ones in a day, they all get quality assured to the max...even pressure tested! funny, but some of the cigars were lik over $200 CUC (£150) each...some even more.
Walked back through the havanians shopping street, found department stores that were almost empty, people have to queue to go into this pen of to root round in clothes. Socialism alive and welll here in Havana. Shoppers have to queue to buy anything and can't pick anything off the shelves themselves. Why is it like this?? I would wikipedia it, but i can't get the internet here..
Weird.
More beer and pizza for dinner! nice to watch the peeps go by over a cold Cristal.
3rd may - Havana, Cuba
retty shattered and kind of still uptight, think the last few weeks in LDN have taken their toll a wee bit, so we decide to hit Playa Este, the beaches to...haha the east of Havana. catch a naff tourist bus there and time it perfectly! good show arn and den.
Beach is quiet (people wise) but a bit rough and wild...think there must be storms, because the wind whips around and the waves are a bit fierce. But lovely and warm and we read and swim and read and eat and read and swim, Nice and relaxing. Decide to leave around 4, sand EVERYWHERE and gingerly sit on a clean air con naff naff tourist bus again, feeling wind swept, saltly, sandy and a tiny wee sunburnt. Loving the people watching here. Theres not too many inhabitions. Police woman, bleached hair like hoolihan, tight short skirt (guess she doesn't do much running), and fish net hold ups. niiiiice. the woman are tiny when they're young but guess the peso pizza takes its tolll when they get older. Must try and eat more veges!
nothing a shower and rest can't fix! Decide to hit the malecon for dinner and find a bit more of a swanky place tho den still manages to order pizza! nice chicken and rice croquettes in black bean sauce. Nomnom. goooooood as and strong mojito too!
Bed!
Beach is quiet (people wise) but a bit rough and wild...think there must be storms, because the wind whips around and the waves are a bit fierce. But lovely and warm and we read and swim and read and eat and read and swim, Nice and relaxing. Decide to leave around 4, sand EVERYWHERE and gingerly sit on a clean air con naff naff tourist bus again, feeling wind swept, saltly, sandy and a tiny wee sunburnt. Loving the people watching here. Theres not too many inhabitions. Police woman, bleached hair like hoolihan, tight short skirt (guess she doesn't do much running), and fish net hold ups. niiiiice. the woman are tiny when they're young but guess the peso pizza takes its tolll when they get older. Must try and eat more veges!
nothing a shower and rest can't fix! Decide to hit the malecon for dinner and find a bit more of a swanky place tho den still manages to order pizza! nice chicken and rice croquettes in black bean sauce. Nomnom. goooooood as and strong mojito too!
Bed!
2nd may - Havana, Cuba
light sleep in but body clock not really cooperating. breakfast on the terrace was amazing...fresh mango, pawpaw, watermelon and pineapple. All chilled. 2 fried eggs and fresh bread! pawpw juice and gooood strong hot coffee with hot milk. what a way to start th day!
spent the day wandering round and getting to know the gridded streets. Immensely hot by lunchtime and another round of peso pizza (its too cheap to not have!) and this one remarkably better so am relieved to know they are not all bad! many many cokes and water we have discovered much of the old town and the wonderful wonderful old american cars. i thought it would be only the odd one here and there but so so so many; Chrysler dodge, ford, Chevrolet,. Some are beautifuly restored with the gutteral sound of a loved engine, while others are rusted and repainted in matte house paint. Masking tape holding together old leather interiors. so many colours! pink, ed, red and white, grey, black, green, hot pink, pale yellow, jade. so much fun trying to find a new colour or style.
The arcitecture is amazing as well and almost as colourful and in varying degrees of destruction as the cars. so beautiful and haunting with old rusted metal lae, high high grand ceilings and beautiful sculpture. I'm really no architect right! but awesome and can't help thinking that ithe city really would be so so so amazing if the buidling were restored and maintained.
Head to the commercial hub, verdado for drink, along the malecon, which is the promenade. Huge waves crashing against the rocks, and the salt spray so cooling! beer first on the menu and trying to find a decent looking place to eat a bit impossible. maybe we were too tired? back to the old town and i collapse in the first place. cheesy music but it has food and mojitos!
not too shabby after all.
spent the day wandering round and getting to know the gridded streets. Immensely hot by lunchtime and another round of peso pizza (its too cheap to not have!) and this one remarkably better so am relieved to know they are not all bad! many many cokes and water we have discovered much of the old town and the wonderful wonderful old american cars. i thought it would be only the odd one here and there but so so so many; Chrysler dodge, ford, Chevrolet,. Some are beautifuly restored with the gutteral sound of a loved engine, while others are rusted and repainted in matte house paint. Masking tape holding together old leather interiors. so many colours! pink, ed, red and white, grey, black, green, hot pink, pale yellow, jade. so much fun trying to find a new colour or style.
The arcitecture is amazing as well and almost as colourful and in varying degrees of destruction as the cars. so beautiful and haunting with old rusted metal lae, high high grand ceilings and beautiful sculpture. I'm really no architect right! but awesome and can't help thinking that ithe city really would be so so so amazing if the buidling were restored and maintained.
Head to the commercial hub, verdado for drink, along the malecon, which is the promenade. Huge waves crashing against the rocks, and the salt spray so cooling! beer first on the menu and trying to find a decent looking place to eat a bit impossible. maybe we were too tired? back to the old town and i collapse in the first place. cheesy music but it has food and mojitos!
not too shabby after all.
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