...And Relax
...Yes, I stole that title from John, but really there is no other title that could work for the day that I had today.
I woke up to the sound of the waves crashing, and walked over to my window. I was absolutely delighted with my first view during daylight hours of the sea from by bedroom. There was literally nothing between me and it. Amazing.
Since I had failed to spend real time with Ryan again the day before, I was really anxious to do so. We'd been in contact for months now as I had planned to come, and I can't tell you how many times he warned me, over and over again, that he most likely wouldn't be on Isla anymore by the time I got there; but there he was regardless, and I was so very glad. I wanted to spend some real time with him today.
Ryan helps run one of the two hostels that are on Isla Mujeres; it's called Urban Hostel, and it's just an amazing place to be. The entrance for it is on the ground floor, but the door opens only to a staircase; from there it leads you to the second floor, which is where the hostel is located. When you come up the stairs you step into the main room, which is actually open air; the opposite side of it is a fantastic veranda with small tables and some chairs, and also a hammock; from these chairs you can look down at the small streets of Isla Mujeres and watch the world go by, Island style.
So after a quick splash in the sea, I took a walk over to the hostel to find that Ryan was not there, but should be back shortly; the man he works with, Ben, was there.
A little about Ben...
The first thing that struck me about Ben, besides simply his impressive height and his very no-nonsense attitude, was the fact that when you ask where he's from (I asked him this, and then heard him give the same answer to John later that night) he answers, "My parents live in Wales." I found this really interesting for some reason. Not, "I'm from Wales" or "I used to live in Wales" or "I'm of Wales decent" ... No, he left himself out of the equation completely, both times -
"My parents live in Wales."
He is taking over a lot of the work at the hostel, also works at the spear shop, loves spear fishing, and is a very smart guy. I immediately liked him a lot.
Other people staying at the hostel included:
Gabby and Michael
Gabby and Michael were also staying at Urban Hostel; this is one of the funniest couples I've ever come across - Gabby is from Mexico, Michael is an expat American who hasn't been back to the States in a long time.
On the 6th day, his new wife announced it was time to go home. Michael argued, saying they still had one day to go. When she would not agree to stay, he simply said "OK - you go ahead baby, I'm right behind you."
Six months later, Michael left Aruba. His wife of course, was no longer anywhere to be found.
This story still makes Gabby nervous; so now, whenever Michael says he's going out, the conversation goes something like this:
Michael: "Hey baby, I'm running around the corner to grab some cigars!"
Gabby: "OKEY!!.
Priceless. :-)
Tanya
Tanya is from Austria, and has been traveling around Mexico for around 5 months now. It's finally time for her to head back to Europe, and she'll be going over to Spain to find work as a chef. She's currently helping her friends make jewelry on the beach, and working on getting a decent priced ticket to Mexico City. She has an energy in her that's amazing and I liked her immediately.
Life at Urban Hostel and Unexpected Power...
I settled into my favorite chair on the veranda and started to enjoy the day with these fantastic people. At one point I went to borrow the computer, which was on a desk near the stairs; I was in the middle of an email to yet another Travbuddy (Hi Matt) when Ben came through and announced,
"I have to go out, I'll be back soon - and Ryan should be back in a few minutes.
"You're in charge."
Then took one more step towards the stairs and said...
"What am I saying? SHE'S in charge!" and pointed to me. "YOU! You're in charge. Kick anyone out that you like."
And he walked out.
With that, I was running Urban Hostel.
Awesome.
Ryan Returns
Not long later Ryan returned, and we set about to be lazy with a vengeance. Ben came and went, making us an awesome lunch of chicken salad with something I am STILL not convinced you can call salad dressing (Ryan says anything you dress a salad with is salad dressing) and then left again. Later, he returned looking quite pleased with himself, his chest covered in sand and holding a dripping fish, fresh from the sea.
Ben: "I got a fish!"
Amanda: "That's great!! Let me take a picture!" (Amanda takes a picture of Ben and his fish.)
Ben: "Well... I didn't catch it you know... I was playing volleyball. Someone gave it to me."
Amanda: "That is soooo not worth a photograph...."
A Night Out With the Boys
After spending the better part of the day like this, drinking beer, talking about nothing and everything, and watching Tanya putting dreadlocks into Gabby's hair (she says if they don't work out she'll just shave her head and start over) we decided it was time to move on. We went over to Pocna, the other hostel on the Island, where John was staying.
The decor of the place was fabulous. There was a particularly horrendous monkey holding a slice of watermelon - I told John and Ryan I was sure this is what has been missing from my living room for a long time. What I liked the best however, I think I would have missed if John had not pointed it out; you know how restaurants will often have pictures of their food on the menus, so you can see what they look like? Here, instead, they have paintings on the walls. Want to see what the guacamole looks like? SURE! Just look at the vague picture of a round bowl filled with green paint. Refried beans anyone? That would be the black spot of paint. Clearer on what you want to order now? :-)
Once we finished dinner, we took John back up to Urban Hostel; he had yet to sample the delights of the veranda.
After some beers and a couple of very well made rum and cokes complements of Ryan "The Great", we all headed back over to Pocna because there was a keyboardist playing there, with a drummer accompanying him, and they were supposed to be quite good.
We wake up, we go out, smoke a fag, put it out, see our friends, see the sights, feel alright...
Ryan (who recommended we head over to Pocna for the show) was right - it was fabulous.
I bought a round of beers for the three of us and we settled in for a great time.
A while later, John bought a second round for us, and I was part way though mine when it hit me - I was drunk. Drunker than I've been since my 25th birthday, 10 years ago. Oops? How many beers had I had? I hadn't thought it was THAT many... was it the rum and cokes? Oh who knows.
The music ended. We said goodbye to John, and Ryan walked me back to my hotel. We had a final nice talk by the sea, and then I tottered to my bed and fell asleep.
Zzzzzzzz.........
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That being said, let's have a go at it.
First, you have a few basic decisions you need to make:
1. Is it worth staying on Isla Mujeres proper, or should you just make a day trip of it from Cancun? To me, the answer to this section is VERY easy - spend at least a night or so on Isla Mujeres. It works at a far different pace than Cancun, and one that I like quite a bit better. Yes, the ferry is cheap and doesn't take that long, but going back and forth is not the same. Stay on the island, and get a feel for the place.
2. Do you want a hotel or a hostel? There are two quite good hostels on the Island; Urban Hostel, and Pocna. I expect before too long Higton will have a review of Pocna up, and you'll be able to see his take on that. As for Urban Hostel, I'll try to do a mini review of that myself; I didn't stay there, but I spent the better part of two days there when I was awake.
Once you have answered these questions, and IF the answers were that you want to stay on the Island (strongly recommended) and you want a hotel rather than a hostel (up to your taste) then you'll find that most all the hotels are of the higher end variety of one sort or another - and that is how I ended up at Avalon.
Avalon bills itself as a 5 star resort. Personally, I find this billing highly questionable. The location is nice, on the northern tip of the island, easy to walk to from the ferry if you aren't completely overrun with luggage (otherwise the taxi cost 3 dollars total, and that was for three people - not sure if it would have been less otherwise). Once settled, you are always just a few minute walk from wherever you want to go in town on the island - if you can call it a town.
The hotel is well laid out; all rooms have ocean views, and good ones at that. The room itself is fairly utilitarian; plain white all around, but the bed was comfortable and the room was nice and quiet, so you could fall asleep to the sound of the waves and nothing else. While the windows don't open much, they open ENOUGH, and that is always something I appreciate.
The shower was fine, but my toilet was broken. I let them know this the first day, they said they fixed it, but really it was still broken and would never flush for me. 5 Star? Think again.
I requested a wake up call, none arrived.
This hotel is typically used as an "all inclusive"; something I don't see much point in. I'd rather see the main island itself, not eat hotel food and remain in the resort bubble. Because I got the room really last minute, I got a special for just under half price (just under $80 US) for room only - otherwise it would have been over $160 US - Over $80 US a day for hotel food per person? Really? A 5 minute walk into town will buy you the best tostadas of your life - 3 of them no less - for less than $2.50.
Another strange issue with this "all inclusive" game? When you check in, they fit you with a little plastic bracelet. To the best I could gather, it's color coded so employees of the resort know whether to be providing you with free hotel food delights. My color, of course, meant "Give her NOTHING". This was fine for me - I had no issue wearing my bracelet. Here's where things get tricky though - If the band was to break off for whatever reason and I lost it prior to checking out, THEY WOULD CHARGE ME $70.00 US!!!!! Now, I could perhaps understand this if I had the band that meant "Give her whatever she wishes to have for free", because me NOT having that could imply I gave it to someone else, they taped it on, and we were passing around the "free food band"... but again - no matter who had my band, and how well they fashioned it onto their own wrist, it was still going to mean "GIVE THEM ABSOLUTELY NOTHING"; so where was the risk, and in what world did loosing the "I am the lowest level of guest here" band mean I could have cost them a penny?
They tout some nice amenities, such as scuba gear, beach chairs and towels, etc. Again, all geared to keep you on the premises, and have you miss the real experience of the island. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger...
There is a very strange, very long rickety wooden bridge that must be crossed to actually reach the hotel; because this is also a "family hotel" and the adults are not always watching their children, and because this bridge runs right by the main stretch of beach where the beach chairs etc. are, the children are where they should not be, and are not being watched; TWICE in my experience a taxi driver almost ran over a small child who decided it was time for a nap on the edge of the narrow bridge, not really wide enough for a game of "chicken" between an automobile and a horizontal pre-schooler. One of those times, I was in said cab. I can't help but suspect it would have dampened my experience on the island if manslaughter (child-slaughter?) had been involved. (It's also very rough planks - careful if you are walking back from town drunk and barefoot in the middle of the night - proud to say I made it unscathed, however.)
Bottom line? That's a tough one - I'd rather leave you to decide what you're looking for. I suppose I was grateful for a comfortable bed and very quiet room when so much of this short trip was traveling; I needed some sleep where I could get it. At $80 as I got it, it was one of the better deals for "Hotels" on the island.
A working toilet, however, would have been grand. Long live 5 star resorts.
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