but the burning question is…
do they still have that good Jamaican red bud I remember from the 80 s?
Dunno about drugs (though we did find out that dope was illegal, except at the Bob Marley museum, which amused us greatly), but the Appleton Estate 21 year rum we got for a song is amazing.
It can be used as emergency windshield washer fluid if you run out. (that’s for @cdaquila so she doesn’t have to fuss at us. It’ll totally work, right? 
)
“It can be used as emergency windshield washer fluid if you run out”
Just be sure that you don’t mix it with Coca-Cola, as the run-off would damage the car’s paint.
;-))
We are going to get smacked, aren’t we.
I just drove home in my F-150 enjoying an oldies channel. They were featuring the Kingston Trio. Their hit MTA reminded me of the Brothers. I wonder if Carolyn ever heard of the Kingston Trio.
And years ago I spent a week at Cruz Bay where I rented a Suzuki Sidekick and enjoyed the 10 mph speed limit driving every last mile of paved road and enjoying every beach I could find. We be jammin, man. But even then prices were so high that pennies were not accepted. All sales were rounded to the nickel. It was a beautiful place to visit and I might break down and return there.
Rod Knox Puerto Rico is a US territory. My Stepson spent a couple of weeks there visiting his girlfriend. He described it as similar to South Texas. It’s not Kansas but is not all that foreign. A couple of years ago I got a good laugh reading a report from a New York Times or Washington Post reporter concerning percentages of illegal immigrants from Latin American countries. He gave statistics from Mexico, Central, and South America and was amazed that there were no reported illegal immigrants from Puerto Rico. Where do they find these idiots?
Worse yet, the editors let it go through to print.
The Yucatan is a remarkable place, especially the parts away from the major resorts on the eastern coast. That area is pretty, but fairly generic, with a lot of people from other parts of Mexico and resorts that could be anywhere. The rest of the Yucatan is clean, safe, comparatively prosperous, and very easy to navigate as a tourist. Even the traffic is law abiding, with modern highways connecting the larger towns. I would love to go back to spend more time visiting Mayan sites and enjoying the wonderful hospitality you find throughout the region. Perhaps the best vacation I’ve ever had.
@MarkM I agree completely. And, there is a spectacular intercity bus system in Mexico. The ADO buses are on time, they are clean, safe and well maintained, and they are inexpensive. Our last trip we decided to use the buses so I wouldn’t have to drive and find my way, and it was easy, pleasant and quick. That is not true in Jamaica, or in Guatemala.
Here are miscellaneous photos from the trip:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110436672478708421003/albums/6070842383146287073
MarkM Your description of the Yucatan is perfect. The 4 lane divided highways are wonderful. The toll is a bit expensive but when you only have 9 days in paradise the time saved is more than worth it. A big plus due to the toll is that they are nearly deserted and with a 120kph (about 75mph) speed limit you can save hours. We rented a brand new “1994” Nissan Sentra in 2006 in Cancun (It seems that in Mexico if they have cars that work they keep making them). We did a day trip down the coast highway to Tulum. It was very congested which ended up being a good thing as traffic was nearly stopped at the first amazing speed bumps. I noticed the international pictograph sign with 2 camel humps but had no idea what it meant. When we drove over the huge speed bumps I saw the deep gouges and oil stains on the far side where other unsuspecting drivers who were no doubt tourists in rental cars had met disaster. I have driven thousands of miles in Mexico and other foreign countries and have never encountered anything like this. The next day we drove to Chichen Itza on the 4 lane toll highway. Win! Win! What an incredible site! Our tour guide was a retired history professor. Win! Win! Again! We were treated to a brief thunderstorm which made it even more dramatic with the purple sky and unusual lighting. Many locals told us their favorite destination was the Spanish colonial city of Merida which was near the North coast so we drove there. It took quite a while as there was no 4 lane toll highway from Chichen Itza. It was actually quite interesting going through the small towns and villages. When we arrived in Merida we tried to check into an ambassador hotel and were turned away. Fortunately the concierge pulled us aside and said his Cousin owned a hotel across the street. He called the hotel and they had vacancies. The hotel turned out to be a converted 17th century villa and was incredible. Secure parking, huge beautiful courtyard surrounded by the rooms which were 2 story with a canopy bed with a mattress that was like a cloud. The bathroom upstairs was completely modern with jaccuzi. We had a wonderful breakfast in the courtyard and with a couple of suggestions for things to see which were a few blocks away plus allowing us to leave the car we walked around visiting a museum and cathedral. Hotel staff gave us directions to a 4 lane toll highway back to Cancun which was only 5 blocks away. I highly recommend the Yucatan.
Sorry in advance about the lack of accent marks.
Merida is a lovely city and a very good base if you’re more interested in the Mayan sites and local culture than big beach resorts. It has nice hotels, is very easy for tourists to navigate, and is very clean and safe. They have a big street party downtown once a week that is great fun. The museum of archaeology is a good introduction to Mayan history and culture and is housed in an old mansion built by one of the sisal magnates. Sisal rope made Merida a very rich place in the late 19th century and there is a lovely grand boulevard where the fanciest mansions were built northeast of downtown. Now most of them are a bit crumbly and spooky, but the sidewalks have been lined with contemporary sculpture and makes for a lovely place to walk. Some of the modern hotels (Hyatt, Fiesta Americana, Holiday Inn, etc.) are in an area North of downtown near the end of that boulevard. Going back I’d stay closer to downtown. The hotel you probably stayed in @sgtrock21 is lovely. We ate in the restaurant there a couple of times and I’d definitely consider staying there. Don’t remember the name.
The speed bumps (topes) are a trip. You’ll find speed bumps elsewhere in Mexico, but the ones down there are the highest and sharpest I’ve felt. There are signs, but they don’t always give a lot of warning. They’re only found on the older roads. There is also a network of newer roads built in the last ten to fifteen years that are faster and smoother. The four-lane road to Cancun is a toll road, but the many two-line roads are free. The only bad part of using them is that they bypass the villages so there is very little to look at. There are also bus tours from Merida out to all the major tourist destinations. At first we used those mainly, but soon realized that the traffic was orderly and the roads easy to navigate, so we took to driving. You see more that way, and there are always guides available for tours at the archaeological sites. The scenery is nothing special out in the middle of the peninsula, flat and agricultural, so driving is about like taking a bus for scenery, though with a car you can visit the villages, which are charming, with most of the living done outside. Most families have just a one-room cottage, originally palm thatch, but mostly now concrete block. It’s where possessions are stored and privacy maintained, but that’s about all they’re used for.
Chichen Itza is justly famous, but is actually atypical of Mayan sites. It’s was built shortly before Mayan culture declined and shows influences from other Mexican cultures. It’s also overrun with day trippers from Cancun. A tour is a very good idea here. Uxmal, South of Merida a couple of hours, is at least as important and more beautiful. Because it’s not an easy distance from Cancun it gets far fewer visitors than Chichen Itza. There are a great many other Mayan sites in all directions from Merida and the Mexican government has done a great job of making them convenient for tourists, with signs in multiple languages and the grass kept mowed short. Most have a modest entry fee equal to a few dollars. It’s very pleasant to pick a direction and just go, enjoying whatever villages, archaeological sites, and other sites of interest are in your guidebook.
North of Merida on the Gulf of Mexico is the port town of Progreso, a minor beach resort for the locals and a lovely place to eat great fresh seafood at the end of a day of touring. West of Merida a couple of hours is a wildlife refuge at a place called Celestun, where there is a large lagoon with thousands of flamingos. Locals in small boats will take you out among the flamingos for a small fee. Unless you tell them not to they will start up their boats to scare the birds into taking off. Not nice, and they aren’t supposed to do it, but most seem to. We tried to tell ours we wanted to just float peacefully with the birds, but he clearly thought we were nuts. Be nuts and insist. Flamingos quack like big ducks and being surrounded by thousands was great noisy fun, not at all what I expected. There isn’t a lot of other noticeable wildlife in the area, partly because almost all the freshwater is underground. You can travel for hours and never cross a stream. The Mayan people were dependent on sinkholes for their fresh water (known as ‘cenotes’). In the rare higher areas like the low Hills near Uxmal they had to build cisterns to trap rainwater.
This is probably more than you cared to know about tourism in the Yucatan, but it’ s a place I’m very fond of and think many people would enjoy. Driving in the area is easier than in most of Latin America (if you avoid the dreaded topes), and it’s a very pleasant way to spend a week or two, even if you have no interest in Cancun or other beach resorts (that would be me) . BTW, this is definitely a winter vacation. Summers are very hot and humid and hurricanes do (rarely) Head that way. In the winter the climate is glorious.