La Isla Holbox (caution, long story)

[Rushman]

Hey gang!

Back in Playa del Carmen after 4 days in Isla Holbox. For those of you who don't know much about this Island, don't despair. Its pronouced Hol-Bosh, and was named for some deep dark holes or centotes which are common in this part of Mexico. Its in the Gulf of Mexico but likely only about 2 hours by boat or car from Cancun, but as you will hear later, quite longer by bus.

My wife and I operate a very small shop here, and as such live on a small percentage of our former incomes. Plus, we live 4 blocks from our store so we havent bothered to buy a car down here. Whenever we have to go to Cancun for errands and such, we take the bus. in Mexico, ADO is the major carrier. They have a fleet of very nice, very new busses - even their standard class of bus is very nice and comfortable for a small trip. Plus, its CHEAP.

We left early Friday. I took about 1500 pesos and the $50 US bill I had in my wallet from my last US trip. I thought I could hit an ATM machine or use cards at restaurants.

We took the ADO from PDC to Cancun. We found out that the bus to Chiquila (not really a town, but the end of the road and a pier for the ferries) was operated by Oriente, and was definitely a sub-standard method of bus travel. Not very roomy, not very well ventilated although it did have AC. It stopped maybe 50 times to pick up passengers for small to mid-length trips and got us to Chiquila in almost 4 hours. We grabbed the ferry and off we went.

Holbox is a small island with sand streets and a cozy downtown (if you could call it that) area with shops, restaurants, street food vendors and the like.

We stayed at Casa Sandra which is a very nice little place on the beach. We were lucky to have a small palapa style room near the pool but somehow not near any of the other rooms. We were footsteps to the beach, had hammocks right outside our door. Nice little spot. One note though. They tried to make a fancy shower head out of a big conch shell - by drilling holes in the shell and placing the shell over the water pipe that came out of the roof. Great idea, poor execution. I am bald and I could barely get clean. Wife had to wash her hair in the sink and that did not make her happy. Good thing, that was the only issue.

We ate out that first night. Food is expensive, as you would expect.

We spent the next day between the pool and the beach. Smoked a couple of cigars (Choix Sup and aged Monte 2) while drinking beers and swimming in the pool. Not many places will let you smoke a cigar in the pool. Great day but too much sun.

We went out to dinner the next night - nice italian place. By this time, mind you, between shopping, dinner the first night, taxis (golf carts), etc, I was whittled down to about 650 pesos (close to $50). Dinner was nice and after tip was about 550 pesos. I handed her my card, and this is when I learned that all but maybe 3 restaraunts didnt accept cards - this wasnt one of the 3. I gave her the money, and we were left with about 100 pesos. Never fear, we went to an ATM machine, make that EVERY ATM MACHINE ON THE ISLAND and no American cards worked. I started to get worried - while we could eat in our hotel the next day, we needed at least 300 pesos to pay for the ferry and the bus back to Cancun where my cards always work. Instead of relying on the kindness of strangers, which might have worked, I logged on and sent $200 USD (about 2,500 pesos - yeah I know, overkill) to my wife so we could pick up the next morning when we WU opened up. Mind you, there are no banks, no casa de cambios on this island. Simply a WU office which everyone uses to pay bills, etc.

So back to "no problem, we can eat at our hotel the next day" - the restaraunts were closed by the time we got back from our second ATM adventure. After my wife visited the mini super for some necessites, we had 50 pesos left. Not much to do on this Island with less than 5 bucks in your pocket but walk and sight see - and that we did. We finally found a restaraunt that accepted cards (La Parilla de Juan - i will never forget) and we were their first customer at a very early 5pm - we were stressed and hungry less from not eating but more from worrying about money. Its very stressful to find yourself in a foreign place with no cash - even though you know you have money.

Anyway, all ended well, got the cash, got the ferry and grabbed the bus back to Cancun - only it wasnt Oriente - it was an even more substandard line Mayab. More uncomfortable, better ventilated but worse AC. Not quite as many stops, but still a 3 hour trip back to Cancun. We hit the Sanborns cafe next to the bus depot for an early dinner before we caught the comparatively transatlantic first class level of ADO ser ice back to PDC.

Went to the store to check in on our employee and asses the damage, smoked another Choix Supreme.

Sorry for the long winded story - Enjoy some pics.

Oh, did I mention this was our anniversary weekend? Moral of the story - Isla Holbox is a great place to visit if you really want to disconnect - no TV, no cars (just golf carts and 2 wheeled vehicles), sand and dirt streets, boutique hotels and really no working ATM machines of any kind - but it does have Internet. Give it a try, but take CASH, lots of it.

Also, almost forgot to mention, my Dupont Xtend lighter likes to stick. I was almost a half inch into my cigar when I realized I was burning holes in the beach towel I had thrown my lighter onto. Wish I got pics of that!

Hotel Room at Casa Sandra Isla Holbox

Hotel Room at Casa Sandra Isla Holbox

ERDM Choix Supreme

Hammock outside room

Wife outside room

Most of the beach is filled with small shells

This is life, enjoying a cigar with the wife while swingin in teh hammocks

Sunset, obviously

more sunset

Tecate light - gotta watch that figure - or at least not add to it

view from the hammock

more hammock

[demiurgic]

Beautiful! Love those "unplugged" vacations which help with tech detox! Thanks for sharing~