Isla Mujeres

At eight kilometres from top to bottom, Isla Mujeres is the perfect size for getting about by scooter. But classic resort-style, most of the tourists seem to prefer golf carts, even though at US$45 a day they probably cost as much as hiring a car.

We passed through the towering hotels of Cancun on our way from the airport, and so were pretty happy when we discovered the littler, prettier Islas Mujeres offshore.

The wealthy Cancunites daytrip over here. On our first night, dining at an open-air restaurant on North Beach, we watched a couple finish off their pescado (fish) then hitch up their trou and wade out to a boat anchored 50m offshore. Their assistants helped them on board, handed them big white towels, and then they cruised off into the sunset. But then, the sunsets are fantastic, as you can see ...

While Isla Mujeres is still very tourist-oriented, it is cheaper and simpler than Cancun. Only a couple of hotels are more than two storeys.

Our hotel room is big and cool and right next to a beautiful swimming beach, and we are paying only US$60 a night. Though food is cheap, we have been saving further by cooking in the hotel kitchen. Last night was chicken marinaded in lime juice, garlic and jalapeno, on rice, with a tomato and coriander salad, and guacamole on nacho chips. So we're not starving, ma.

The flipside of being less developed is that today, Sunday, very little is open. So here we are in an Internet cafe (the air-conditioning is broken and sweat is dripping on the computer keyboard) replying to emails and updating the blog.

A few more days here. We may update again - but then, what's the hurry? Manana, manana. There's beaches to lie on, water to be swum in, books to finally be read. Kiri, I've finally finished the Michael King history of New Zealand you gave me - two weeks after leaving New Zealand indefinitely.

Finish(ing Sauce) in Mexico City

We found ourselves a couple of Finns, Joanis and Suvi, who, like us, were being tortured by mariachis in the bar at Hotel Isabel, and they joined us the next day for visit to Chalputopec Park and the Museo Nacionale de Anthropologie.

But all we could think of was the New Zealand television ad with the Finnish couple discovering Maggi Finish(ing Sauce)...

Of all the food we tried in Mexico City, the little stall in the park pictured was the only one that actually made Mexican food interesting. Torte chorizo y queso, for the record, with lots of jalapeno and mole verde.

Pyramids and sombreros

These pyramids north-east of Mexico City were built by the Teotihuacan with wealthy citizens voluntarily buried alive at their base. The pyramid of the sun is apparently the second-tallest in the world.


The Aztecs later built their own city on top, until it was destroyed by Cortez and the Spanish Conquistadors in the 14th Century. At 2200 metres above sea-level, the climbs to the tops of the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon left us gasping for breath.

We visited with a tour group, and later were taken to the obligatory "turistic" restaurant where a couple of mariachi guitarists serenaded our buffet lunches and proffered their sombreros, first for photos and then for tips.

Mexico City - Hotel Isabel and Museo Nacionale

It tastes like it looks. Perhaps damning with faint praise, but that has been our assessment of each dish put in front of us in the restaurants of Mexico City, thus far. Not that we have spent all our time eating - just a lot of it. Mexican cuisine seems to be remarkable for its simplicity. None of the verve and spice of the food served up as Mexican in New Zealand, it is plain and uncomplicated. How does your white mushroom soup taste Georgie? Much as it looks. What about your half chicken with gravy? Hmm, chickenish and gravyish.

But at least they have great symbols on the keyboards: Ñ, ¡, ], °. Dunno how those will come out in the English-speaking world.

We arrived from Los Angeles at 5:30am, and were reduced to roaming the darkened streets of one of the world's biggest and most crime-ridden cities till we found a hostel to our satisfaction. Tony, Hotel Isabel is great. Thanks for the suggestion.

We ran into a socialist march on the Palace Nacionale this afternoon: flags of the revolution, and machetes thwacked against the cobbled road in sync. Perhaps one of the few places in the world where not only do the protesters carry large photos of Marx, Lenin and Engels, but also Stalin. Viva la revolucione? Hmm.

Also visited the cathedral and the Museo Nacionale, but didn't quite make it to the Oceania section before we were chucked out on the dot of four o'clock by the ever-present gun-toting police. Outside, hundreds more riot police lolled against the wall with their shields and batons, waiting for the protesters to set a foot wrong.