Speaking Spanish with Abdullah, Yves Saint Laurent and Mint Tea...Bonjour Marrakech!

I'm here and alive (that's for David W), Marrakech!  I arrived yesterday in Casablanca and took a quick flight here.  I wish I could tell you about the flight but I fell asleep before we took off and woke up when we landed.  I took the bus from the airport to Djemaa el Fna for the bargain price of 20dh and found my way down the winding alley to the Hotel Atlas (about $22/night see first pic), cheap, clean and cute.  Djemaa el Fna, where do I start.  By day it's a market full of snake charmers, storytellers and monkey handlers with fresh orange juice and dried fruit stalls.  At night it comes alive with tons of open air restaurants selling everything from couscous and tajines to snails and sheep head with eyes.  Every vendor has a sales pitch and tries to grab/charm you into eating at their stall, usually accompanied by a little rhyme to help you remember the stall number.  I roamed around yesterday after I checked into my hotel, had lunch and then sat of the roof of the hotel relaxing in the sun and talking with Abdullah, the guy who works at the hotel.  His English is ok, my French is practically nonexistent so we settled on a language that we both equally understood...Spanish.  After sunset and a shower I shockingly fell asleep till 11:00 pm!  I woke up starving and headed out to Djemaa el Fna.  Still half asleep and unable to cope with being accosted by the gentlemen at the food stalls I opted for outside dining at an actual restaurant where I had a delicious vegetable tajine and a couple mint teas.  Full and happy I went back to my room and read awhile before falling back to sleep.  I woke up at 12:30...yes, in the afternoon!  After a little breakfast and coffee (maybe I should call it lunch) I was off to Jardin Majorelle. It's a beautiful garden created by the French painter Jacques Majorelle in the 1920's and then owned and maintained by Yves Saint Laurent (which now includes a small memorial in his honor). And that my friends brings us to now where I sit at this computer.  Here are some pics of the few things I've seen so far.  Jill (the Jir for those of you who only know her by that name) joins me on Friday when hopefully I'll have more to tell.  Wish me luck finding something to do for New Year's eve.  I hear the Muezzin's call so it must be about 7:00 pm.  That's it for now.  Peace out...Jan

Road trip...Chingon!

Carnival, Merida, pinata, ruins, colonial towns and bee stings!  Let me break it down, this may be a long one.  Team Chingones (me, Andrea and Beto) had one last night in Holbox so we ate dinner at Pablo's (of course) and hit the small carnival that was in town. We played a little foosball and went on the Mexican equivalent of the Tilt-a-Whirl, quite possibly the most dangerous thing I'll do during my travels.  There was supposed to be a live band on the beach that night but the sea was high and flooded the stage so it was cancelled, shame beacuse that was my last chance to ogle Pato the hot bartender (I'll post a pic for your viewing pleasure).  In the morning we took the ferry to Chiquila and hit the road.  On our way to Merida we made a quick stop in Tizimin and the very yellow town of Izamal (maybe it's what the Cold Play song is really about).  That night in Merida there was a small street fair with crafts, traditional music, dance and of course excellent food stalls...COMDIA!  We found a favorite stall with panuchos and empanadas all for a whopping 12-18 pesos for a meal (the exchange rate is 12 pesos to the dollar).  Then of course desert, a freshly made crepe with manchego cheese and nutella, muy bien.  We spent the next day in Merida exploring the city and bought a pinata that we filled with candy and hung in the garden at the hostel.  We gathered a bunch of people together, used Andrea's sleep mask as a blindfold, Beto found a big stick in the backyard and we stared swinging.  The blindfolded person was spun six times and then we began singing the pinata song...Dale, dale, dale.  No pierdas el tino.  Porque si lo pierdes.  Pierdes el camino! Beto was the designated spinner and we all took a swing at the pinata, finally Daniel busted it open and we all dove for candy.  In the morning we were on the road again headed for the Mayan ruin Uxmal which started with a little rain and ended with a big bee sting. We made a plan to meet at the main gate at 3:00 if we got separated and since I didn't have any rain gear I waited in a Mayan archway for the rain to stop which it soon did and then I explored the ruins.  It was time to meet at the gate when I spot Beto holding Andrea's hand, looking worried and heading for the on-site medic.  Let's just say Andrea is a little clumsy so my first thought was that she had fallen, nope, bee sting.  Andrea is allergic, I mean really allergic, epi pen, throat closing kind of allergic.  She took the medicine she travels with (seven pills) and we waited to see if her throat was going to close and if someone was going to have to stab her with the epi pen. The on-site nurse gave her a couple more pills and I took my shirt off and soaked it in cold water for a compress (tank top under, no nudity).  After a couple hours the redness, swelling and hives started to go away, she was breathing better (epi pen avoided) and we were back on the road and looking for a place to stay.  We found these great jungle bungalows in a small town called Santa Elena and checked in for the night.  The next morning we traveled the Ruta Puuc which is a small road dotted with Mayan ruins.  I had my fill of ruins at Uxmal so I opted for relaxing and reading in the car while Beto and Andrea explored the ruins and the Loltun cave.  We stopped in Oxkutzcab for delicious queso enchiladas verde and then pushed on towards Valladolid driving along narrow, dark, winding roads through little villages.  We stopped briefly to watch a Posada which is a procession of people singing Christmas songs from house to house representing Mary and Joseph's search for lodging. The procession goes from house to house where they are refused entry and then they finally arrive at the house that takes them in and have a big party and a pinata.  We arrived that night in Valladolid, now this is the quaint colonial town I'd been waiting for, I loved it.  We checked into a cute hostel, had a beer and hit the sack.  The next morning we spent a little time in town, Andrea finally got the Mexican leather sandals she had been searching for (I got a pair too) and we headed for la playa for one final day in the sun and sea before I headed back to NYC.  We went to Akumal, soaked it up and sadly went back to the hectic town of Playa del Carmen.  We got one big room to share, bought some beer at Wallmart (really? what were we thinking, hell on earth) and chilled on our balcony.  In the morning I took the 7:00 am bus to the airport and headed back to NYC for Christmas with my friends before heading to Morocco.  Thanks for the great time Andrea and Beto, I'll really miss you guys...Team Chingones Forever!  Merry Christmas everyone, more from Morocco.  Peace out...Jan

Adios Amigo!

I want to say goodbye and thank you to my new friend Dionisio who left the island yesterday and is heading home to Mexico City.  Thanks for showing us the best stuff on the island and introducing us to everyone.  We miss you!

This week Dionisio, Andrea and I hired a boat to take us to bird island and to this excellent fresh water swimming hole called Yalahau.  Wednesday night we had a going away party for Dionisio at Cariocas (our favorite beach bar) till 4:00 am, I think it would have lasted even longer if Grandma didn't finally have to hit the sack.  Today Andrea, Beto and I went for a long walk down the beach to the mangroves.  Other than that I've been a total beach bum...sea, hammock, food, beer, book, nap, repeat.  Here are some shots of my new friends and my favorite restaurant on Holbox...shout out to Pablo for the best food in town!  Tomorrow we are taking the ferry back to Chiquila and instead of taking the long boring 2nd class bus to Merida we are hitching a ride with Beto who has his car parked in Chiquila.  He's also from Mexico City and just did the Iron Man Triathalon in Cozumel and is now traveling around Mexico for a month.  We plan to stop in little towns along the way and see much more than we would by bus.  More when I reach Merida.  Peace out...Jan

Paradise Found

It´s a sleepy Sunday here on Holbox. I was out last night till 3:30 am at the beach bar and disco (yes disco), so I´m taking it easy today swimming, reading and napping. I posted a few pics so you can see where I am. My $25/night cabana has sand floors with both a bed and a hammock, it´s really peaceful and makes Playa del Carmen seem like Times Square. The beach is beautiful and deserted. Here are pics during the day and at sunset. It´s time for another dip and then back to the hammock. Peace out...Jan

Just another night in Hoblox...

At first I thought it was sunstroke or the beer I had with my new Holbox friends (an Austrian girl, a Mexican guy and three French girls).  Two golf carts went driving by with what appeared to be a strange bunch of sea creatures.  They turned the corner and we thought we had lost them but we followed the hallucination and discovered it was real.  The guardians of Holbox, characters representing the precious natural resources.  Once their existence was confirmed it was time for more beer, clearly I still had my wits about me.  More later.  Peace out...Jan

And Jah said let there be light.

After my post last night I headed out of the internet cafe with no plans or purpose and ended up on some kind of rasta odyssey.  First I came across a rasta playing his guitar at Roots N Fire, apparently the legend of Bob Marley is alive and well in Playa, so I pulled up a seat and hung around till I was so hungry I just couldn´t stay a minute longer.  Next I headed for my favorite taco cart for some delicious fish and shrimp tacos.  When I walked up the van was empty but then from across the street comes running what appears to be a Mexican rasta, yes that´s right I said Mexican rasta, Eduardo, no meat, no alcohol and dreads tucked up in his crochet cap.  He works the taco cart at night and tends exotic animals used for tourist photos during the day.  After a long chat and four tacos (they´re small) I was tired so I headed back to Posada Freud totally dreading (no pun intended) the "Born to be Wild" night I had ahead of me.  I round the corner and instead of bad rock music I hear, could it really be, yes...REGGAE!  Relieved I pull up a seat and decide to have a beer with David and Nancy and commiserate about the electrical situation when suddenly in a flash the lights came on.  Now, I´m not saying that Mexican Gas and Electric didn´t have a little something to do with it, but I am saying Rastafari!  Peace out...Jan

Stop...Hammock Time!

Hola!  Just a quick post to let everyone know I´m in Playa del Carmen Mexico for a few days.  Can´t quite master this Mexican keyboard so sorry for any errors.  I arrived late Monday afternoon and walked the streets trying to find a cheap place to stay.  After an exhaustive search I landed at an old favorite Posada Freud (no analysis required) for a comfortable $35/night.  Playa is having some electrical problems, the roads are dug up trying to fix them and our power has been out since 11:00 last night.  The bad news is, no power, no fan.  The good news is the mega loud rock band (born to be wild style) that plays every night till 2:00 am right next door had to stop playing.  Back to the bad news, they have a generator and are back in business tonight.  We on the other hand still don´t have power and are operating under candle light.  Some how the beer is still cold so all is good.  I´ve just been chillin on the beach for the past two days sinking into my new relaxed traveler mode, honestly not that difficult.  Think I´m catching the 5 hour bus to Isla Holbox Friday morning so I´ll update you when I arrive and hopefully post some pics.  That´s it for now.  Peace out...Jan