Post by JVH (f/k/a Bob Dubilina) on Jul 7, 2005 15:38:53 GMT -5
¡Buenas noches, tortugitos!
Greetings from Ticul, a town 15 km outside the Mayan ruins of Uxmal. (Can you find it on your map? ¡Muy bien!) Jenny Bunny y yo visited our second ancient city this morning, so right now we're packing up and getting ready for the long bus ride to the "Lost City" of Palenque -- the big boy of Maya sites.
Meanwhile, Ticul's been a great place to cool down. Last night we had quite the time strolling through town and greeting the locals. All the friendly waves and funny looks reminds me of being in Thailand. I absolutely love the feeling of being the only gringo in a twenty-mile radius, so I'm relishing their good spirits and wide smiles.
We spent the last five days in the beach village of Celestun in western Yucatan. We arrived on 07/01 and settled in at the local hostel. Big mistake. Turns out that no matter what precautions we took, the mosquitos would be victorious that night, so we had to move along to better lodgings. However, seeing as the owner was out of town until late in the evening, we weren't able to relocate until midnight. It was amusing to watch Jen go from passive resignation to our bad fate to fiery rage over the disappearance of the hostel owner. When it came time to get our refund, I thought she was going to eat him! (Now THAT would be something cool to write about on a postcard!)
Fortunately, Jenny didn't need to work her chompers. We got (most of) our money back and moved next door to Hotel Sol y Mar. We spoke with the owner earlier that afternoon about our predicament, so he gave us a discount that night. That was just the first break we received from him during our time in Celestun.
Hotel Sol y Mar is owned and managed by Geraldo, a 65-year-old Cuban jack-of-all-trades who's lived everywhere from New York to Costa Rica. Over the years he's had five wives, 14(!) kids and a slew of great adventures. Celestun is his paradise, and you can tell he's loving every minute of it. He would tell me about his life at the hotel tiki bar in the morning or in the warm waters of the Gulf at sunset. Quite the storyteller. I loved listening.
During our time at Hotel Sol y Mar, we had the opportunity to befriend Geraldo's family as well as his friends from New Orleans. This in turn led to a giant Cuban barbeque in celebration of the 4th of July! (Free food -- yay!) And if that wasn't enough, Geraldo generously offered us another day at his hotel free of charge. How's that for frijoles bacan!
Celestun has lovely white sand beaches that stretch on for miles. The water is a strong green. The only downside is the wind in the afternoon. The sand is really fine, so it gets in everything once the wind picks up. However, all that is forgotten once sunset arrives. I haven't seen such a spectacular orgy of color since Guam. ¡Que fantastico!
Even better, though, is when you go swimming at night. There's so much salt in the water that the fluorescent beach lights allow you to glow in the dark. It was quite amusing to move through the water and watch my entire body shimmer. Jen and I would spend hours on end in the sea, watching the stars and scaring the fish with our special glow power. (This in turn would freak Jen out. Whenever a fish quickly jumped away in fright by our presence, she would lose just a little bit more of her sanity. The water gets really dark at night; it can be spooky.)
So, white beaches, grand sunsets, tiki bars, tall tales and swimming/shimmering under the stars . . . que romantico! Alas, Jen's all covered in mosquito bites . . . to be honest, it's kinda killing the mood. (Oh man, she's gonna push me off a temple after she reads that -- Hahahaha!)
Hasta luego,
BobbyDobbyD
P.S. I told Geraldo that I'm coming to Celestun and partying with him for New Year's. I'm not kidding. If you're interested, start saving up for a plane ticket. ¡Va a la playa conmigo! ¡Sin ropa!
Greetings from Ticul, a town 15 km outside the Mayan ruins of Uxmal. (Can you find it on your map? ¡Muy bien!) Jenny Bunny y yo visited our second ancient city this morning, so right now we're packing up and getting ready for the long bus ride to the "Lost City" of Palenque -- the big boy of Maya sites.
Meanwhile, Ticul's been a great place to cool down. Last night we had quite the time strolling through town and greeting the locals. All the friendly waves and funny looks reminds me of being in Thailand. I absolutely love the feeling of being the only gringo in a twenty-mile radius, so I'm relishing their good spirits and wide smiles.
We spent the last five days in the beach village of Celestun in western Yucatan. We arrived on 07/01 and settled in at the local hostel. Big mistake. Turns out that no matter what precautions we took, the mosquitos would be victorious that night, so we had to move along to better lodgings. However, seeing as the owner was out of town until late in the evening, we weren't able to relocate until midnight. It was amusing to watch Jen go from passive resignation to our bad fate to fiery rage over the disappearance of the hostel owner. When it came time to get our refund, I thought she was going to eat him! (Now THAT would be something cool to write about on a postcard!)
Fortunately, Jenny didn't need to work her chompers. We got (most of) our money back and moved next door to Hotel Sol y Mar. We spoke with the owner earlier that afternoon about our predicament, so he gave us a discount that night. That was just the first break we received from him during our time in Celestun.
Hotel Sol y Mar is owned and managed by Geraldo, a 65-year-old Cuban jack-of-all-trades who's lived everywhere from New York to Costa Rica. Over the years he's had five wives, 14(!) kids and a slew of great adventures. Celestun is his paradise, and you can tell he's loving every minute of it. He would tell me about his life at the hotel tiki bar in the morning or in the warm waters of the Gulf at sunset. Quite the storyteller. I loved listening.
During our time at Hotel Sol y Mar, we had the opportunity to befriend Geraldo's family as well as his friends from New Orleans. This in turn led to a giant Cuban barbeque in celebration of the 4th of July! (Free food -- yay!) And if that wasn't enough, Geraldo generously offered us another day at his hotel free of charge. How's that for frijoles bacan!
Celestun has lovely white sand beaches that stretch on for miles. The water is a strong green. The only downside is the wind in the afternoon. The sand is really fine, so it gets in everything once the wind picks up. However, all that is forgotten once sunset arrives. I haven't seen such a spectacular orgy of color since Guam. ¡Que fantastico!
Even better, though, is when you go swimming at night. There's so much salt in the water that the fluorescent beach lights allow you to glow in the dark. It was quite amusing to move through the water and watch my entire body shimmer. Jen and I would spend hours on end in the sea, watching the stars and scaring the fish with our special glow power. (This in turn would freak Jen out. Whenever a fish quickly jumped away in fright by our presence, she would lose just a little bit more of her sanity. The water gets really dark at night; it can be spooky.)
So, white beaches, grand sunsets, tiki bars, tall tales and swimming/shimmering under the stars . . . que romantico! Alas, Jen's all covered in mosquito bites . . . to be honest, it's kinda killing the mood. (Oh man, she's gonna push me off a temple after she reads that -- Hahahaha!)
Hasta luego,
BobbyDobbyD
P.S. I told Geraldo that I'm coming to Celestun and partying with him for New Year's. I'm not kidding. If you're interested, start saving up for a plane ticket. ¡Va a la playa conmigo! ¡Sin ropa!