Hostels Not Far From Hotels?

The very first place I ever stayed in Mexico was the Poc-Na youth hostel on Isla Mujeres, long ago. I didn't know it at the time, but Poc-Na was Mexico's first-ever hostel and was considered pretty radical. In the early days of "youth" hostels, you had to help with the chores (such as washing dishes or sweeping rooms) but your dorm bed was only $2 a night. There were German snorers and Japanese slobs (and Canadian neat freaks?), but hardcore travellers would search out these places like leaky ships find safe harbours.

The Poc-Na is still here, on very valuable beachfront land, but has evolved along with its customers. The shared 6-in-a-dorm rooms are still here ($10), but there is now air con, free internet, movies at night with a giant beer keg, full-menu food service, and music from Bob Marley to Brazilian bossa nova. So-called "backpackers" can also now get massages, tatoos, and souvenir merchandise. Oh and the showers are hot, the toilets unclogged.

But fear not, Cheap Sleepers, because two other hostels have emerged to bring back the basic hostel experience. Cheap bunk, Polish snorers, and lights out at 11!

Will That be A Cart or a Car??

There is not a single golf course on the island, not even a driving range. But more than half the population, plus many tourists, get around on what we would call golf CARTS, but the locals call golf CARS. They make a lot of sense because the weather is almost always tropical and gasoline costs 66 cents a litre ($2.97 a gallon), so you get an open-air ride with lots of capacity and good gas mileage (kilometrage??)

99% of them are made by Club Car, the world's largest maker of recreational carts. But the big difference from back home is they are all gasoline-powered, not electric. Standard motor is 351 cc, making 11.5 horsepower. Two, four, or 6 seats. Chain-driven like a motorcycle but with no transmission, only go/stop/park. Easy to learn, fun to drive as top speed is 40 kmh. Predictably, Hummer-size carts are starting to appear, to be more macho.

The locals consider them the family CAR because they are licensed and inspected yearly. All you golfers out there; think you could get from the course to your house in a golf car??

Restos de Lunes ("Monday Leftovers")

One of the 3 of us is sick today (guess who??) and there are some showers, so it's really a day in neutral. There are 1 or 2 feet of snow back home, so no boo-hooing from me! Just some leftover scenes from the island...

Classics Going, Going, ...

The few cars on the island are either taxis or cargo carriers, with some oversize SUV's substituting for manhood or sense. The rough roads, brutal sun, and ever present saltwater spray shorten the lifespan of any vehicle here. So it's as rare to see a classic car in good shape as it would be to see coconuts growing in Ontario. Car guys here would drool over a '57 BelAir just as a car guy would back home, but easier to see one of those in Cuba than on Isla!

Still, searching the back alleys reveals an El Camino with dreams of Route 66. And a Maverick ready for an imaginary dragstrip. Old bugs were made in Mexico and are not squashed yet, although an old VW van drives around without windshield wipers or muffler. I was about to give up hope when there it was --- a pretty little red Mustang convertible!

Cock 'n Bull Story

Two events are happening all week here that bring out different reactions. In town, the nightly holy processions (more about those on a later Post) are solemn, endearing, and appeal to the universal spirit of peace and hope.

Meanwhile out in an empty lot on the outskirts, there's a sort of rodeo/bloodsport show that is noisy, repulsive, and appeals to the universal urge to gawk at the wreckage of a car accident. An old-tyme bullfight ring has been set up and daily shows include barefist boxing, riding 'n roping calves, vicious cockfights, and the biggest draw of all --- bull "fights" to the predictable sloppy/bloody end. All the participants are amateur wannabe's ---- there are even dwarf toreadors.

We checked out the venue but had no desire to see the shows. Instead, we went to the nearby vet clinic (remember Dr. Dolphin??) to get Brandy's exit papers. All things considered, lucky animal!

December Gales

The hurricane season officially ended on Nov. 30, but someone forgot to tell the weather gods. The first 48 hours of December have been nonstop howling gale force winds. It's still in the 70's Farenheit but the locals are freezing in the wind chill. No rain though so we still take our daily walkabout, leaning into it like slow-motion slalom racers.

Awnings and wires are down, the helicopters are tied to the tarmac, and the pounding surf offers free saltwater showers to cars and beachcombers that stray too close.

Our local snorkeling cove is weed-strewn and underwater visibility is about 2 feet in the storm. But under just 6 inches of water all is normal and a two-tone octopus slides by, oblivious.

It's a 'Zo out there!

The town centre or main square in any Mexican village or city is historically called its zocalo. Originally this was a local meeting place with crude band pavilion, benches for courting, and bare dirt playing field. These days the zocalo is paved, lit up, commercialized, and even called the more modern jardin ("garden").

On Isla Mujeres, the zocalo is still the community action spot day or night. It is bordered by the city hall, the cathedral, the basketball court, the main grocery store, a performance stage, and cart vendors of everything from DVD's to flan. Talk about location, location, location.

Yesterday alone the zocalo held a basketball tournament, wedding (check out the bridesmaids' dresses!), food court, book fair, and the beginning of the processions for the Virgin of Guadeloupe. Half the island population showed up for one or all of these. I passed on the DVD's but the flan was yummy.