Viva Mexico, Part 2

Arrival in Cancun

On board a colectivo and with our suitcases in tow, we move from Tulum to Playa del Carmen, and from there, having boarded another colectivo, we head towards Cancun. Unfortunately there is no direct colectivo that takes you from Tulum all the way to Cancun; you absolutely have to change at Playa. We arrive in the old part of the city of Cancun, and here we take a taxi that takes us to our hotel. Driving through old Cancun, you notice a very working-class city, but at the same time you can see many homeless people on the street corners, houses that aren't exactly the best in the world, and all of a sudden it's as if there were an invisible wall and the hotel zone begins, and the most unbridled luxury begins all at once.

The hotel zone is nothing other than 24 km of road where you will find only and exclusively luxury: hotels, resorts, 4/5-star spas, palms, greenery, fountains, shopping centres with high-fashion brands, restaurants, open-air clubs…it really feels like being in Miami or Los Angeles. Here you get around not only with the very expensive taxis, but also with the buses, as I was telling you earlier. Mexicans complain a lot about this "hotel zone" because it is very luxurious, very "Americanised," and of true Mexico and Maya civilisation there is very little, not to say nothing at all; It must be said that the Mexican government has established that only Mexican staff may be hired in hotel establishments, so in this way many of them can easily find employment and therefore an income.

Our hotel is recognisable from a distance; in fact, right by the entrance, a huge pole was erected some time ago that supports an equally huge Mexican flag, an incredible feeling to look up and see and hear this flag flapping. Right away we admire the beauty of our hotel, IMPERIAL CASA MAYA, and I immediately compliment my personal tour operator (SeleneJJJ) on the choice. After the usual check-in procedures at the reception, we go up to the 7th floor, room 1722. I didn't have much strength, I definitely had a fever, but when I opened the door of the room I was stunned; a large living room with sofas, television, a small balcony, a kitchen equipped with everything, fridge, dishwasher, microwave, a very convenient table for 4, a super bathroom, and then the final touch was undoubtedly the bedroom, not so much for its beauty as for the view we had.

Once the curtains were opened, below us were the beach and the Caribbean Sea, and in the distance you could even see Isla Mujeres…what more could you ask for! Unfortunately for me the happiness doesn't last long, since I couldn't even stand up and I immediately lay down on the bed. Selene alone was in great distress; she really wanted to go down to the beach but she stayed there the whole time with me to "take care of me." Basically I slept from 5 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next morning!!!

Isla Mujeres

Fortunately the next morning things seem to be going a bit better, a little weak but certainly not like the previous day. Once the fear had passed, then, breakfast right away and we immediately leave the hotel heading for Puerto Juarez. In fact, from here the hydrofoils leave for ISLA MUJERES, the destination set for this day. The crossing lasts about 20 minutes. Everyone had spoken well of this island; it really is very beautiful and unusual, though to be honest we expected more. As soon as we get off the boat we immediately accept taking a tour on a small launch that, for 20$ per person, allowed you to snorkel, have a fish-based lunch in a restaurant on the island and see, albeit from a distance, the dolphins and a fearsome "tiburon"…in Italian…a shark. We accept and we are back at sea.

The tour is very beautiful, the seabeds populated with numerous fish of every colour and size, and finally we also admire the dolphins and the shark; we stop as planned at a hut for lunch. After taking the obligatory photos and seeing a mini aquarium of turtles with the various growth stages, we return to the port, where we rent a little two-seater motor vehicle, like the ones used on golf courses. We start touring the island and reach Garrafon, where, however, you must be careful about one particular thing; Garrafon is a natural park where you can dive and see an infinite number of fish, the difference being that entry to the park costs about 50$.

A little earlier you will find a private beach that, for the modest sum of 4$, will allow you to see the same things as the park; in fact I won't even tell you what was underwater, a world of fish, and all this worked to our advantage, since with the underwater digital camera it was indeed a pleasure to stay in the water photographing such a spectacle, so much so that Selene was almost afraid because she practically found herself surrounded as if she were in a small tank with 100 fish, very exciting. Back at the port, we enjoy a very romantic sunset full of colours. We return to Cancun. We have to get ready for the New Year's toast, ours very simple, dinner in a fish restaurant, very close to Plaza Forum, perhaps the liveliest place in Cancun.

In this area, in fact, you can find the Hard Rock Cafe, the Coco Bongo, 6/7 open-air clubs/venues, practically one right next to the other, which at midnight sharp competed with each other over who basically had the most beautiful choreography to celebrate the arrival of the new year. Music, confetti, whistles, tric-trac, party horns…everything and more, it felt like being at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ... TODAY JUST RELAXx..

First day of the year devoted to the most total relaxation. On this holiday, in fact, many attractions are closed and getting around the streets is practically impossible given the comings and goings of people, so we decide to stay at the hotel under our own personal hut-style umbrella trying to get a bit of colour and then make all our friends die of envy when we return to Italy. In the evening we decide to go for a stroll in Cancun at the La Isla shopping centre. To be honest, more than a shopping centre it seems like a small super-chic village, with bridges, streams and lots of fashionable shops; you can find all the most famous and prestigious brands here, Nike, Lacoste, Cartier, Rolex etc… After shopping, we decide to return to the hotel, accompanied however by the inevitable 10-minute thunderstorm, useful at least to cool the air a little.