Monday, November 7th

Another sunny, windy morning. We leave for our walk around 7:40. We take our regular route and return for breakfast around 9:00. We had to take a picture of this morning's offering. We always get some sort of bread, then fruit, then the main dish. Well this was our main dish:

Nachos on the bottom with tomato sauce, cheese, and red onions. First time having Nachos for breakfast,. I don't think that I will continue this eating habit upon my return home...

We've decided to spend our day in Playa del Carmen which is a 30 minute bus ride from here. We have been there before, a few years ago, and have a good idea of what to expect. Well, first of all it's a very sunny and warm day and not as windy as Puerto Morelos. We arrive around 11:00 and begin our walk on 5th Ave, the main drag. It is pedestrian only so it's busy with tourists, tour operators, and vendors. That's the first big difference with P.M. where the vendors might ask you to take a look, but nothing like here. Every operator is offering whatever you want, the massage girls are wanting your business, the restaurants have their waiters begging you to come in, and of course, the store clerks are doing the same. Your head is just spinning. Luckily they have a good sense of humour and we get some good laughs with them. We are not shopping for anything nor are we wanting to go on a tour. We are here to walk and revisit this place. It has changed and will continue as there is construction everywhere. They already have most name brands of stores from the high end to 'HMV, Puma, etc.
After walking the strip, we make our way to the beach. It's different than where we are. There is no seaweed. The seaweed on our side needs to be raked and cleaned on a daily basis, but nothing over here. Ron did go for a good soak before returning to P.M. The church here is beautiful and is near the beach.

The front of the church 

Inside the church

The back of the church

Some of smaller vendors

Lots of coconuts 

We had lunch in a typical Mexican restaurant. I had fajitas and Ron had tacos. We then returned to the beach when Ron hot to cool off. 

Sculpture in the park opening up to the beach

Massive Margarita glass in the tree 

Ron almost blends in with the white of the wave 

Beach view 

As Ron was drying off, we noticed something going on in the center of the park. Some acrobatic Mexicans dressed in their native clothes started to climb a very tall poll. They also pulled up a lot of heavy cord with them. The part that we all waiting for was their descent.

Tall poll  

The four acrobats 

Continuing video. I guess I didn't get the right speed on the video. I actually took the whole descent, but it didn't register. Sorry! 

They are climbing the poll 

On their way down.

Getting lower

Almost there... 

After the show, Ron and walk the few minutes to the bus depot, get our tickets and hop on board. We get back to the drop off point, pick up a few groceries and decide to walk back, 30 minutes. It's almost 5:00 when we get back and decide to put on our swim suits and go for a quick swim. Our minds are quickly changed when we get to the beach where the sun is almost gone behind the taller buildings, and the wind discourage us from going in. We walk a bit and return to our room. It will be a lazy night, not even sure if we will go out again.  

 

Sunday, November 6

Another sunny and windy day. We are up and ready to go for a walk at 7:30. It's strange as we are not certain what the correct time is. We had read that this part of Mexico does not change the clocks back. There are a lot of tourists in the Mayan Riviera and the government doesn't want to change things too much, and we quickly realize that the time did not change. The rest of Mexico does change along with the rest of North America.
We see our Italian neighbours, Marie-Elena and Luigi, on our walk. We then chat with them during breakfast. Around 10:00 we make our way to the beach. The Mexicans will be on the beach today as they love spending their time here when they are not working. There seems to be more tourists around as well. Our hotel is full. We find a place under a palm tree as shade is needed and you have to be out early to get a spot as there are not many trees on the beach. Shortly thereafter our friends arrive and share our Palm tree as the others are taken. Of course the rest of the day passes by as we swim and snorkel. Ron takes the couple out a bit further and shows them a cenote and they see more fish than they did in previous days. They are happy. We talk a lot and enjoy seeing what is going on all around us.

The winds were perfect for this water sport today.

Dogs are allowed on the beach and in the water. They are everywhere. It's dog heaven for Ron.

People feed the seagulls.

There are lots of Peddler's on the beach. They sell fruits, all kinds of nuts, and souvenirs.

Most of the venders carry their wares on their heads.

Marie-Elena bargaining for the fruit. 

Around 5 pm, we could see the dark clouds heading our way. It was raining in Cancun and then this. We got a few sprinkles but nothing more.

After showering and hanging out, we decided that it was time to find a restaurant. It's weird but I'm having a hard time finding Mexican food. Lots of Italian, Argentinian, fish restaurants, but not what I'm looking for. Ron is ok as he is not wanting to eat Mexican for supper, lunch, maybe. Anyway, as we are walking, the rain starts. We came close this afternoon, but now it is here in full force. We end up running the last 100 meters and end up at a restaurant  called La Sirena- the Mermaid. It is across from the town square and tonight they are celebrating the first anniversary of Puerto Morelos being a real municipality. This restaurant has lots of Greek dishes as well as fish and pasta. No Mexican food once again. I do find fish tacos and that is what I choose. Ron orders chicken slouvlaki. We started with jalapeño poppers. After we eat we head toward the celebrations, but all there is are politicians rambling on. It would probably be boring even if we could understand what they were saying. I was hoping for music, dancing, fun activities, but no. Well the evening comes to an end as we head back to our room.

Friday, Nov.4, Sarurday, Nov.5

Friday was a pretty low key day. The weather prediction, for the first day since we've been here, was only 20% chance of rain. Most other days were 40% ++. Well, so much for predictions. We went out for our regular walk around 7:30, before breakfast. It was sunny and quite warm. This was the dirst day that I did not bring my camera and of course we saw a bird that we had never seen before and it was right in front of us.... Anyway, after a little over an hour, we were ready for a quick swim as we were downright hot and sweaty at the end of the walk. We then returned to our B&B for breakfast around 9:00. There are Italians, French, Americans, and Canadians who have stayed here so far. After eating we returned to our room to get ready for the day. Week, not two minutes later we her a noise, sounds like water running. It's pouring outside. Unreal! It lasted for about 30 minutes and of course the winds picked up. By the time we went out around 10:30 or later, it was mostly cloudy. We sat on the beach and read for a little over an hour. Finally we decided to go snorkelling. We looked up to our left and saw a slew of mean looking clouds. Ron chose to snorkel anyway but I thought better and picked up our stuff and headed back to our room. Luckily we are close to the beach as when I got back and looked outside, it was teeming. A drowned rat arrived at my doorstep about 15 minutes later. We spent another little while in our room until things dried up. Around 2 pm, we headed to the other part of town to pick up a few food items at the super Chedraui, the big supermarket. It's about a 30 minute walk. We were gathering our groceries when we saw Miguel, the owner of our B&B. He offered us a drive back. We were going to walk again as it was still cloudy and not as warm as it could be. Upon our arrival we put on our bathing suits and headed to the beach again. Returning to our room around 5:30, we relaxed and then prepared to go out for supper at Los Gaucho. I have a bad memory at this restaurant as the first year that we travelled here a bunch of us were having supper there. Well, the person sitting beside me, who talked a lot with her hands, tilted her red wine glass in my direction and all over my new white shirt. Red wine and white cotton do not blend well. No problem last night as we were the only two in the restaurant  when we first arrived. We ate well then walked around the squared and people watched for a while before returning to our room. No photos today.

Saturday, was also a bit slow. We got up and went for a one hour walk on the beach. We got back and had breakfast. We have been here a week and we have not had the same thing twice. It was not our intent, but we ended up staying on the beach for over 6 hours. We ended up meeting and chatting with an Italian couple staying at our hotel. They were very interesting. They are therapist and deal will chakras. They read people's energy, help them with all kinds of things, even sickness. It was a very informative and educational three hours or more. I know that we will be spending more time with them as we are both here for another week.
It was a beautiful day, albeit windy, again.

Ron, reading in the shade.

A view of the beach. It is fairly quiet as we are still a little off season.

After showering, we went out for supper. We ended up at  bbq place specializing in steak. Obviously not my choice. They did have chicken on the menu so that is what I had. Ron had chorizo. There were two bowls of sauce, one chimichurri and the other a red based sauce. The red one should come with a warning. Holly Molly it was HOT! Oh, and Ron and I like picante. But this was unbelievable. It took about ten minutes for my mouth to come down to a normal temperature. Wow!  We walked around the town square after our meal then back to our place for the night. Buenos Noches!

Thursday, Novenber 3rd

 We put the alarm on as we didn't want to be late for our 8 am departure for a tour that we booked. Our friends André and Wendy recommended this tour as they did it last year. We arrived early and we realized that two other couples would be joining us. Always interesting meeting other tourists with the same ideas for a day of discovery. Both couples were American. We headed out with our guide, Robin, driving. He is very knowledgeable and animated when speaking of the history of the Mayan people. This was appropriate as our tour was taking place in a Mayan region one and a half hour from Puerto Morelos. On our way we stopped at a wood working family run business. It was pretty amazing. Here are some pictures.

Incredible piece of lumber.

Some of these columns are headed to a resort.

There are three generations working here. This is the head of the family. The youngest boy is 11 years old.

After leaving here we headed to our final destination which is a Mayan cave and cenote experience. We arrive and are treated by our local guides. We put on our walking shoes and start a little hike in 

the forest. Robin educated us on many of the varieties of trees, some with medicinal properties.it was very interesting but the best was yet to come, enter the dry cave. This cave is massive with stalagmites and stalagtites everywhere.

This one was shiny, like diamonds glistening.

Ron coming out of the cave 

Now the time to see the cenote. This is a natural pit or sinkhole when limestone collapses and exposes groundwater. The pictures do not do it justice. The water if beautiful and clear and very refreshing.

Too many lights to get a good view.

Stalagtites

This was so amazingly 

Many stalagmites piercing through the water. 

Just amazing walls of the cenote.

We swam around for about 30 minutes. It was so refreshing and the water felt very therapeutic. 

Time to get out of our wet swimsuits and go have lunch with a typical Mayan family in their modest home.

Grandma getting us to help with making tortillas. It wasn't't her first day. 

First course. Empanadas on left and can't remember on right. 

Soup with chick peas, chicken, onion, and garlic. Yummy. 

Boys hanging out while we were eating.

Young boy delivering a bowl of corn flour. 

We also had a lesson in the Mayan language as it is different from Spanish. 

We all very much enjoyed our day. As we headed back home we are quieter and one of us had a snooze , it was my "better" half . We got back around 5 pm and we walked back with one of the couples as they are staying near where we are. Because we ate so late, around 2:30, we will not need to eat supper. We will snack on nachos and salsa. 

Not sure what tomorrow will bring. Stay tuned... 

November firstt

2x1 bar yesterday

Halloween parade

Finally got yesterday's pictures uploaded. Ron's chicken Parmagiana and garlic bread. The waiter was surprised that he didn't finish it all.

We got up around 7:10 this morning. On the beach for our walk around 7:40. It will be a short walk as we have a snorkeling tour booked for 10. We get back for breakfast at 8:30. We are served the regular fruits and OJ and choice of coffee, tea, or agua. Then comes the bread course which is regular toast today. The main course is chicken and red onion served on tortillas with a hot sauce on the side. Quite tasty.
We then get ready, pack our snorkelling gear and head out. We arrive early but they are ready for us




as we are the only two going. Awesome. The whole boat, a captain, and a guide, all to ourselves. We
go out a ways and put the anchor. The guide, Ron, and I jump in. The water is warm so no adjusting
necessary. It is a cloudy day and you can see that it's raining hard in Playa del Carmen and in Cancun, but for now we are dry, at least from the rain. We see lots of snappers, groupers, sea fans, and different kinds of coral. I will attempt to post some of Ron's underwater pictures. On our way back to the boat we see a big trumpet fish and larger groupers. We hop in the oat and the captain takes us to a new spot. I decide to stay on board and this time the captain and guide switch places. So Ron and the captain head out. They get to see some lobsters and a moray eel.

Conch being held upby our guide

Sea fan. Some were a beautiful purple

A Mory eel

A Barracuda

By the time we are back it is just after noon. After a quick shower we grab a bite to eat on our little patio and head back to the beach for a walk. Well the clouds got heavy and decided it was time to empty a little water. It's not too bad but we head back and decide to sit outside, me on a lounge chair and Ron in a hammock to read.
Well the rains didn't really stop for long enough to head back to town for supper so we are staying in and having cheese, bread, Ron has some kind of salami, some salsa and nachos. Of course we chase it down with a few Coronas. We are now watching the 6th game of the World Series, in Spanish. Quiet night. Tomorrow's weather looks awesome, sunny and 30 degrees.

Halloween 2016

Happy Halloween everyone. Haven't seen too many signs of Halloween around here. A few decorations in some stores and restaurants and one waiter had a costume on last night in the restaurant where we ate.
We were awake around 6, after more than 8 hours of sleep. Very quiet here. We left for a walk on the beach  around 7. It was a cloudy start but by 8 the sun was hot and bright. Again, we walked for an hour and a half. Ron had a swim before heading back. I will make sure to wear a bathing suit tomorrow to be able to do the same. We freshened up a bit and sat down outside to wait for breakfast. This morning started with some sweet breads. Second course was OJ and a fruit plate. The main dish was two fried eggs with two small tortillas and a kind of Hamburg and tomato sauce. Very good.
We went to the beach from 10 until close to 1pm. We swam, slept, and read. What a life! We returned, showered and found out that our drive to Cancun, Miguel, was still sleeping. Ok, so we decide to go up by the highway where there is a super store. We then make the decision to walk. It was cloudy so it was overly hot. It took us 30 minutes to get there. We did our shopping and then hopped on a local van/bus to return to the beach. What we didn't realize was that this bus was just starting it's round. So 15 minutes later. After driving all around Puerto Morelos, we were on our way back. Well, Ron doesn't always do so well in the back seat of a vehicle that has many starts and stops, going over a dozen or more speed bumps, and finally in the non air-conditioned space. We got off as soon as we entered the lower part of town, near the beach area. We then walked back to our place and Ron regained some colour in his face. We see Miguel who tells us that he couldn't make it into Cancun today as he is expecting too many visitors. Maybe tomorrow he says. We'll see.
We also booked a snorkelling outing for tomorrow.
We were sitting outside reading when we started hearing cheers and hollering. We thought that maybe a kid's Halloween party had started on the beach. We head out to find where all of the fun is coming from and hoping to see children in their costumes. Should have known-it was coming from a bar that was serving 2 for 1 drinks from 3 to 4. There were a dozen or more young people swinging around the bar hooting and hollering. One young women was standing on the bar.