Bacalar /  by Brandon Cohen

A small quiet lake town sitting beside some of the most vibrant blue water I’ve ever seen, that’s what Bacalar is. It’s not a place filled with action, delicious street food, or anything else that’s gotten me excited while traveling thus far. It simply is a nice place to be.

Minus a few bouts of heavy rain, the weather was pretty amazing; warm, sunny, not too windy. I spent most of my days here hanging out on the docks, reading, swimming, and tanning (not actively, it just happened). I met a few people through my hostel and additionally through a friend I had met in Puerto Escondido who was passing through at the same time.

As I mentioned, my activities were generally standard but there were a few highlights that I’ll touch on briefly.

Adventure Day

With Flor and her friend Madrid, both french, we went to Casa China, a hostel, to rent some kayaks. On the walk there, we checked out Cenote Negro, which is just a big hole (you can read more about the cenote tunnel system here). We swam a bit. It’s odd here because you can feel the depth and emptiness beneath you, and watch as the ground disappears beneath you as the water changes from a bright blue to an almost black color, hence the name.

After that, we got the kayaks and went out to see the shipwreck. On the way, we admired the blues drifting beneath us until we reached an island where we could hug the coast and enjoy the shallows. Once you pass the island, we arrived at the shipwreck where a lot of other boats are moored, so their patrons can swim and play. However, rainclouds were drifting in and it was getting a bit cold. We turned to head back but the deluge began. We were a tad cold but we didn’t get rained on much since we were outrunning the storm.

We made it back to Casa China as the storm hit us. So we sat under a tarp and got some delicious pizza until the rain stopped and revealed a nice sunset.

Concert

This is a small entry since nothing special happened there, but there was a cool bar down away from town a bit that had some live music. Checking it out gave me a nice view into the people who live and are visiting Bacalar, I think it was a good mix. The music wasn’t anything to write about, but it was a good vibe with a few beers, which generally makes for a good night.

Tulum /  by Brandon Cohen

I just got finished telling you about not trying to get dragged into partying much while in Isla Mujeres. However, my idea of partying isn’t entirely stale. In fact, despite my natural aversion to NYE, I still was tempted to go to Tulum to celebrate in a big way, Sound Tulum, which is essentially a series of mini-rave festivals at cenotes, at least that was my perception.

I bought tickets with Yaara, and hoped to meet up with other friends in Tulum if our timing worked out. In addition, during morning yoga at Poc Na (Isla Mujeres) some girls there (one of which I knew from Oaxaca, Maria) were also going there so I figured it should be great and there would be good company.

After some mild travel, short ferry and bus rides, we arrived in Tulum. I hadn’t really looked up much of Tulum. I knew it was a tourist hotspot, but not for what reasons. Turns out it’s not really my cup of tea, however, that could be largely for my budget and the timing of when I visited.

Here are some things I failed to take into consideration:

  1. NYE is super expensive there. I think Tulum is always relatively pricey but due to the demand, prices spiked.

  2. Remember that demand I mentioned 8 words ago? Yeah, it was crowded, full dorms and hostels, full restaurants, crowded attractions. Based off timing, the crowd also was less than interesting.

  3. The cool touristy bit that I think people refer to is the expensive resort strip. This area has trendy and healthy cafes/restaurants/clubs, the hotels have private beach views and are designed super creatively and elegantly. This street is still getting built up at an alarming rate, Tulum may have been better even now that it will be.

  4. I was not going to be staying in the hip area, I would be staying '“downtown”, which is a far bike ride from the beach and from the clubs. The downtown isn’t too bad but there are more bars than anything else and they are super westernized.

Ok, sorry about that. I don’t mean to complain, but this is a lesson in why you should prepare even if the plan is to go with the flow. I still had a fun time in Tulum, don’t get me wrong. It just rubbed me the wrong way a few times and cost me more than I would have liked.

There is still a lot of fun stuff to be done in Tulum and I can’t bash it completely, here’s a little list with some personal experience flair (if I can manage some this morning):

  1. Gran Cenote: There are a lot of cenotes nearby. I made it to two so I’m clearly no expert but I did make it to the most well know one there. With bike rentals this was a easy and fun attraction, in tandem with the ruins and the beach. There is a little open area when you enter that feels a lot like a water park, if it only had one attraction. This was my first cenote, and despite the crowd, it was still a great experience. The cenote is essentially a big cave over a hole of water, this means you can swim around in the refreshing, but still too cold, water and go underneath the cave and play around. There are some small fish to be seen with snorkels but I didn’t play around with that. I was joined by the group I had met in Isla Mujeres (Max, and 3 british girls I had only met the night before I left). I’ve heard the other cenotes are much more exciting with opportunities to jump from up high into the deep water, scuba, etc, but this was a good first taste.

  2. Ruins: The ruins themselves are alright….coming from someone who’s just seen a bunch of ruins that are incredible in other places. However, no other ruin site is as well placed as those in Tulum. The complex is on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Yeah, there’s a lot of seaweed in the ocean and it doesn’t look like it would be a fun beach to hang out at. But it’s cool to see what a old beach town could have been. That property nowadays would be a prime place for a house, so looks like tastes haven’t changed much.

  3. Cenote Encantado: Depending on where you’re staying, this is a far way away. It’s towards the end of the club strip, past the construction but is worth it. It’s a little hidden, we had to ask a place where it was and then there are a few places that offer entrance. Some for cheap, some for exorbitant prices with comprehensive packages, etc. This cenote is huge and uncovered, it feels more like a lake to be honest. Around the lake there are a few towers which you can lounge on and jump off of. I was there with Kyle, Eliza, and Yaara for a few hours. This is a solid place to hang out and enjoy the sun and swim around.

There are some good places to eat as well; one vegetarian place on the main strip and a few local places that you can get actually cheap tacos or tortas. Phew, I was worried about some of these “typical mexican food” places that cost an arm and a leg.

Lastly, I’ll talk about my New Year’s Eve since it was a highlight of my time there, despite ending pretty anti-climactically and costing more money than I should have been spending on a long trip like this.

I was staying at a hostel that was jam packed with people, mostly Australians, on spring break or just whatever break they get for the holidays. I was in an 8 person dorm that was accessible only through another 8 person dorm, so that’s right, you guessed it, I was really in a 16 person dorm. On top of that, everyone was going out so the bathrooms and dorm rooms were swarmed with people and it was pretty chaotic. As people got ready, people started drinking, many did their drugs of choice not-so-discreetly, and others were touching up their outfits, makeup, etc. The hostel bought pizzas and everyone was enjoying the pregame. I met a kid from San Diego who shared some of his vodka with me which was nice, since I had underprepared with a few beers and hoped that would last. (You’ll see that I underestimated this night a lot). With a decent buzz, I met up with the girls I had met in Isla Mujeres where they had been eating dinner. After they finished we headed to their friend’s house or some acquaintance, I’m not really sure, where we drank and ate bbq for an hour or two (?) until a little past midnight. Eventually, maybe around 1 or 1:30, we made it to the venue, which was a hotel kind of far away that had a cenote and rainforest area where the mini-festival/rave/whatever was going to be. It was in full swing when I got there but many were still entering. The stage was in the middle (which confused me since I thought there would be more than one), decorations and lights were everywhere, as you might expect. The music leaned towards some deep house and trance music, generally it was pretty good. One problem was that the DJs were basically indistinguishable, I couldn’t tell if they switched or not over the several hours I was there, since the music didn’t change much and there were no breaks or talking really. As I’ve suggested before, it felt like people were excited there was a DJ at the drug festival, but that might be a little over the top in this case. Then at some point around 5-6ish I made my way back to the hostel with some other random taxi seekers, only to find out no one had come back in my room yet, I was one of maybe 2 people there. I guess I went pretty soft. Not too bad though, I guess the rave got shut down since it rained pretty hard and allegedly there was a shooting, I’ve never got any confirmation on the truth. Yaara had said there was an after party of sorts, where I guy had speakers in his truck and people danced there. Honestly, not sure I would have made it though, I had gotten pretty bored towards the end. Anyways, good night.

Valladolid /  by Brandon Cohen

This is going to be a short post. I wasn’t here too long, it was more of a little weekend excursion.

Goaded (ok, I was pretty open to the idea) into joining by my new Isla Mujeres friends while in Tulum, I made my way out on the bus to Vallodolid with no knowledge of what lay ahead. That can be pretty good sometime though, this became more of a time to bond as friends rather than explore a new place. We did some minor exploration of the area but stayed in the main central area and the hotel. I was with the three London girls and Max.

Like many of the other cities, Vallodolid is a colonial city that centers around it’s main square and church in what could probably be confirmed as traditional colonial Spanish civil planning. Our hotel was right outside the square and so we naturally spent our time nearby. We definitely missed some typical highlights but our time was limited. There were a few restaurants and bars nearby, one of which had a nice second story terrace which we spent one evening at for drinks. There was a guitar player and some other people there but we kept to ourselves since there’s a good chance it would be a rarity to ever have this group together again, by the nature of geography. Prior, what could be called dinner or pre-gaming, was where we had the most fun. We had ordered a pizza from the Domino’s next door (spare me your comments here) and bought a bottle to kill amongst ourselves.

The only cultural thing we really did was go to a little history lesson/video produced by the city at the old fort that’s not much more than a mile away from the center. In what is actually a brilliant move, the city has provided a light show that graphically depicts and aids in the voiced over history of the story.

Other than that, we took strolls around the city, swam in the pool, and read (at least some of us). It was a fun way to hang out for two days and get to know each other further. Further building the rapport of our own little international networks.

Like I said, short post.

Isla Mujeres /  by Brandon Cohen

Getting there: I took a bus from Merida to Cancun, where you walk outside and hope on a bus (# 1 or 6 I think) which will take you directly to the Isla Mujeres ferry station. It’s a quick bus across on the ferry, through incredibly blue water and, sometimes, decent sized swells. The weather was a little gray so I missed the grand entrance but would be relieved on my way back to have the rooftop, blue sky, warm and sunny ride back.

I stayed at a hostel called Poc Na which means fire (or something like that) in one of the Mayan languages. It is a bonafide party hostel but the rooms and facilities are comfortable enough. With yoga in the morning, I felt like I could finally squeeze some exercise in. They also provided breakfast, which was pretty garbage, but better than nothing. It consisted of some toast, hard boiled eggs (which I don’t like) and cereal with lukewarm milk.

Since it was party oriented, I met some people to hang with pretty easily. The first night I hung out with some Australian girls who were on their last night. One of them was in my dorm and invited me to hang out and get tacos, which turned into drinking and eventually returning to the hostel for the 11 AM start time dance party. We got tacos at a cheap spot and then went to a daiquiri store, like you might find in NOLA. It’s run by two (?) young people. It wasn’t clear who all was working. Two were for sure, one guy, the manager who had moved from Playa Del Carmen (if my memory is correct) where he got promoted and invited to open this daiquiri shop. The other was a beautiful local girl who had more energy and charisma than I’ve ever seen. She’s obviously the “recruiter”. Getting girls in to come party and dance with her and guys in with her allure. After we ordered daiquiris, I actually only got a beer since the dax were pretty expensive, she came out and added three to four fingers of more booze to the drinks. I was shocked and suddenly understood why the drinks were expensive. Since I didn’t have a cup to pour it in, i was hugged from behind by the dancing muse and swiftly had my head tilted back for several seconds of a tequila waterfall. “It’s been a while” I think to myself as I tried to hold my own. That wouldn’t be the only one. After maybe an hour or so there, we returned to the hostel for the party. I’ll explain it now because I will skirt over the details of subsequent nights, since the party scene at Poc Na is never changing.

One thing to understand is that the island is pretty damn small but it’s big enough that walking around it isn’t that enticing of an adventure. There are different ways around this; golf carts, bikes, taxis and I opted for all but the golf carts, which are expensive.

The beach at Isla Mujeres is, on it’s own, a beautiful place. Blue water, white sand, mellow waves. However, it is so overrun with tourists that it loses a lot of appeal. Nevertheless, it’s enjoyable.

I went to the beach with Yaara (Israeli) and Max (German living in Switzerland) and hung out, enjoying the chill vibe of laying out, hopping in the water, and repeating. We grabbed lunch and then Max and I headed out to a place called Zama beach club, one of Max’s favorite places (as a frequent visitor of the island). However, we went there again with a larger group and were rejected by the workers since we just wanted to drink and they had a 2 drink/entree rule. They could use a business lesson, because there weren’t many people there and we would have inevitably spent a decent amount of money. Oh well, their loss.

The other time I’m referring to, Max and I brought some other new friends to check it out. After we were turned down, we walked in search of a new place and eventually just got a cab to the end of the island where we had some delicious tacos (the pulpo was great) and enjoyed the views.

The island doesn’t offer much variety, but I made the best of it. Another day, I rented a bike and was joined by Yaara and Marion (French). We basically did a loop around the island and swung by a turtle conservation project, which honestly felt more like a small zoo that kept them in pens. I wasn’t a big fan of that. However, much of the beginning of the ride we were getting pounded by rain. Despite it being slightly too cold, I enjoyed it. It was one of those jungle rains where it is still warm and the utter drenching you are getting keeps you wet so you don’t have dry spots to get cold. I’m not sure the girls liked it as much I did though.

To sum up the island experience, it was fun, really fun. However, there were times where it was not where I wanted to be. I had expected a chill island rest week, instead it was more of a loud, busy, crowded party week. Sometimes that’s fine, and I met some great people so it was worth it. However, on an extended trip that is more about exploration than vacation, it isn’t what I’d do anytime soon again.

San Cristobal /  by Brandon Cohen

San Cristobal is a lovely town. It’s not that small but it at it’s core, it feels kind of like a ski town, but not so touristy. Certainly there are tourists, but being in Chiapas, it’s not really on the path for many casual travelers, at least not from my perspective. There are a lot of visitors and a lot of people who have seemingly stayed there following a prior visit. It’s a bit of a hippy town, vegetarian restaurants, gringos in yoga gear and such, but it’s more of a locals place.

Known as a hub for anti-government/pro-indigenous rights, there is naturally a punk and art undercurrent that flows through the blood of the city. Despite this, it feels immensely safe. However, you can hear it the way people talk (especially in the free walking tour — where it’s said directly to you), the art people create (often violent and rebellious), and even in the architecture. As far as I learned from the walking tour, many local religious symbology was hidden within the construction and design of local cathedrals, which there are many of, because well…this is Mexico.

To talk of my experience here is much different than the other places I’ve gone. It was much more family style and felt like a homestay despite living in a dorm. My hostel, Frida Kerida, is one of the best I’ve encountered. Not because of a great building or particular amenities but because of the hospitality from Mauricio, the owner/operator. If you are friendly, you will become a part of his crew and get to experience things not normally accessible to passersby, especially at a large hostel.

For instance, one night we attended a birthday party for an old guest of the hostel who is now living and working there with his French girlfriend. Mauricio led me, Lucas (previously mentioned Aussie) and Roman (German we met at this hostel) further out of the city center and we made our way to a house in the hills for a night of bbq, music, and chellas (Spanish slang for beers). It’s hard to translate this to words, but it maintained the vibe that I seek out for all events but can rarely find. The house is a small one bedroom with high ceilings, a large backyard, with a great view overlooking San Cristobal. The brick, tile, and flooring sets a nice ambience and pairs well with the decor inside.

The night itself started with a few hours of grilling chicken, ribs, sausages, and carne asada while talking and sipping beers as the sun gradually set and the cold rolled in. As night settled, we moved indoors. Having figured out that many of were musical or at least just liked music and singing, we started a little jam sesh. Equipped with guitar, ukulele, hand drums, and pan flutes we half assed our way through songs and jams with tipsy laughter and joyful singing. One of the guys there was incredible at guitar and seemed to know a thousand songs, most of which were in Spanish and many about the mistreatment of locals. Nevertheless, it was a fun time and everyone felt the camaraderie in the air and the sharing of cultures through the common language of music.

This communal vibe would continue throughout my stay in San Cristobal, through movie nights, shared breakfasts, and group hangs with people from the hostel. In addition, there would be a few day trips that I explored as well.

Sumidero Canyon

Geologically, this is a very exciting place. Not that I know much about anything about the rock formations or how they were created. That doesn’t mean it’s not easy to take in and wonder at the large canyon as you boat through the river splitting it. There is tons of wildlife, mainly birds, sitting and flying about. Plants grow up the steep cliffs and trees at the bottom create a well lined river. However, there is a lot of trash, and the area where you enter the tour and where they drop you off after is painfully touristy. All together though, it is an enjoyable time to appreciate some of the natural beauty of Mexico.

Rancho Nuevo Caves

Honestly, not something I’d recommend. The ride getting out there isn’t too bad, simply catch a collectivo. However, it’s a campground/almost wannabe amusement park. Pro it seems like a pretty local spot. Bad news, you pay for entry and every thing you want to do. Which could be a perk since many of the activities there aren’t really worth doing. The reason we went was for the caves. If you’ve seen a cave before then this isn’t special. There are some cool rock formations and you can go a ways in BUT there are no activities. I love exploring caves, especially when there is water, but more so when there are things in the cave that make it exciting. This felt more like a waiting line for a disney ride. Call me spoiled or whatever, but it’s not really worth it. Glad to see that there is a place that locals can go and camp or explore though. I think that a risk of tourism is that everything gets geared to outsiders, so keeping things directed towards the local populace is a positive.

By and large, the culture in San Cristobal is laid back and artsy. There are modern and trendy cafes and bars with all kinds of ideologies expressed. One of my personal favorites, and my last example, is a board game and comic store that I went to with two of the people from my hostel. We played King of Tokyo, a good and pretty easy game where you basically play as monsters trying to destroy Tokyo and your competition. Anyways, we have that culture in the states and well established in Seattle. Seeing it was a nice reminder that people everywhere want to enjoy people company and play games, regardless of other differences.

Merida /  by Brandon Cohen

I spent something like 5 days in Merida. I know it’s crazy I don’t that off the top of my head, well maybe not so crazy. The nature of what I write is fundamentally different when I’m traveling alone and in a location where not much socializing happen. In the case of Merida, I was in a major city, by myself, over Christmas. Now, some people might think that’s a terrible place to hang out but I disagree.  

I do think I spent a little extra time there than was needed but it was relaxing and I chose to pass on a few excursion options, which might have been worthwhile at other times in the year, but no problem. 

So what did I do and what am I going to write about, you’re about to find out (and I’m going to find out what I’ll write about). 

Merida is a nice city for it’s size, and when you stay in the center, you don’t really feel the size…well kind of. The hordes of people shopping and filling the sidewalks and street rivals Mexico City if not exceeded it. This may be a timing issue (days leading up to Christmas) or it could be that the city is more condensed. I’m not going to pretend to know anything, which may make this post less than informative.  

A short description: Merida is a pretty colorful city and lively to match. For Christmas, there are lights everywhere and a large nativity scene in the main square. Like many other former colonial cities, the main square is dominated by a large cathedral and flanked by two old colonial administrative buildings. The city is incredibly flat and sits on what seems to be an endless grid. People crowd within the many blocks of centralized shopping around the markets and leave several blocks almost completely empty in the more residential areas of the city. It’s in these areas that there were some fun finds. However, most of the lively people watching and food consuming was done in the main center.

As for what I actually did in the city. This one is a little harder since I did a lot of nothing. Not like sitting around the hostel “nothing”, but wandering around, eating, and people watching “nothing”. That is to say there weren’t too many stories or events the unfolded in my time there.  

I went to the Mayan museum, which is pretty impressive and has a nice anthropology/archaeology section but is overpriced and really far away from the old center of the city. As I mention “old center” I think it’s important to notice that I probably missed out on a large swath of cultural activities by staying here vs. a more modern neighborhood. I think the area I was in was more for shopping and tourism. 

I actually tried walking to this museum which led me to see one of the unofficial sights of Merida, which is a street called Paseo Monejo, which includes the  "Monument To The Flag". Along the street, and more impressive than the actualy monument are the old time mansions and houses along the street. It’s wide even by American standards and is impeccably maintained and has trees and landscaping shaping, at least the rich stretch of, road. Wikitravel says, “the wealthy constructed the grand Pasejo Montejo avenue north of the old town, inspired by the Champs-Élysées in Paris. 

The hostel I stayed at was right in the main square, which made getting around incredibly easy. It was not the most social of hostels, but that’s ok. It was comfortable enough, although the top bunk is never that exciting. It allowed me to have a great Christmas though, which was just me eating ramen, sipping beer, and watching anime. A quality night by my own personal standards. 

All other eating adventures were primetime. Merida has some good local dishes, including one that is some kind of pepper based sauce, that tastes sort of like black beans with a twist, negro relleno, and a few other things including various versions of turkey dishes. Street food is king here, just eat whatever you see.

One particular establishment to actually visit indoors though, is the tourist favorite, la negrita, which is an unassuming bar, but upon entry to the rear, you see the band and dance floor bumping salsa, etc… in the middle of a crowded bar. I went with a girl I met at the hostel named Doris. I’d recommend this place, even if you don’t dance salsa, like I don’t.

This is actually just an extension of a longer day/excursion. Doris and I tried to go to the beach in Progreso and from there to where you can see red water and a bunch of flamingos. Now of course I’d love to see a bunch of stinky pink birds in a lake. So we trekked out on the bus for an hour or so, then walked around on the crowded beach and along streets asking where we could catch a bus east to the flamingos. We were too late, there were no more collectivos that went that direction (at what was sometime shortly after 2, I think). So we decided to return which is when we started grabbing beers and snacks before ending up at La Negrita, wow that was a fast circle.  

Now that you’re all caught up, that basically sums up my time in Merida. Brief, I know. One thing I heard from two of my Aussie friends is that there is a yellow city called Izamal nearby. I skipped it, because well, the only thing to do there is blow up your Instagram feed with yellow pictures. Every building is yellow or some shade similar. I’m sure it’s exciting but it wasn’t tempting enough for me.

Maybe next time, if there is one, there probably won’t be.

  

 

Palenque /  by Brandon Cohen

This will be a short post since this only took one day. However, since it’s drastically different than the other places it is in between, it gets it’s own write up.

Waking up at 4 am is how I started this journey, rough beginning. The bus picks you up and immediately you are on your way through a winding and bumpy road, making it difficult to catch a few extra hours of sleep.

First stop is Agua Azul - a cascading chain of waterfalls along a river. You can walk along the river and enjoy the nature. I found it gradually less pleasant since my exhaustion crept in (I had gone to a “concert” at a bar the night before) and the heat was coming out. I was by myself so I just walked up to the top, came back down, and took a little nap before we got back in. It was nice, it’s a super blue and powerful waterfall but the amount of time spent there is a little high. You can swim in the pools but who wants to jump in a van in a wet suit? That could have made it more fun though.

Second stop is Mizol Ha - A smaller waterfall by volume but it stands alone and is much taller. Similar to many of the waterfalls in Iceland, you can walk behind it and feel the spray and (less here than Iceland) feel the power directly. Here we had less time, which was appreciated and there was a place to get elotes. For those of you who are unfamiliar, an elote is a boiled cob of corn with mayo, lime juice, chile, and cheese. It’s classic street food and is delicious. There is an alternate variant, called esquites, which is cut off the cob and eaten out of a bowl. It’s less messy and easier to eat so I prefer it.

Third stop, Palenque – A jungle town from the Mayan area. There are temples and other buildings that are hidden in the trees or standing in the grass fields. They are incredibly impressive and are very different from the desert ruins of northern Mexico. I didn’t have a guide and the signage is minimal so my added knowledge of Mayan culture is limited, although my imagination was able to run wild given the scenery. It is the kind of place that without proper guidance is still an incredible place to walk around, but hard to understand. On the ride into town to drop me off, I finally had started talking to the Argentinian girl next to me, who could have been a travel buddy all day. However, thanks to little sleep and my occasional anti social nature, it waited until the end. However, it made the end of the day a little more enjoyable. I think this trip should help me with this issue of sporadic situational shyness. Some people think I’m super extraverted, but honestly, it’s pretty hard for me. Anyways, only one way to work on it, and that’s to work on it.

After touring the ground, I stayed at a hotel to refresh before another long ride to Merida by bus. That’s it, see I keep my promises.

Puerto Escondido /  by Brandon Cohen

Well — I’m writing this again because I just lost my first draft; amateur hour. I wasted approximately, I don’t know how much time, but one Tecate Light tall boy and a bag of Fuego flavored Takis.

*abre el segundo tecate, mientras escuchas “Danger Zone”

This isn’t an adventure filled post. it’s largely a tale of relaxation and a plausible alternate life.

(I sad that I lost my earlier writings, I’m realizing version two won’t be as good. *bangsheadagainstscreenbutnothinghappens Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled programming)

The hostel I stayed at is called Pacific Buddha. It’s more of a shared house than a hostel. Maybe I lucked out on guests, but I have a feeling that it’s just the vibe of the place.

It’s located on the southern beach in Puerto Escondido (PE for the rest of this article) called La Punta. It’s further away from the city and has a different vibe. When waves are firing (read: not when I was there), the pipeline is near PE, I don’t know how big they get at La Punta. I’ll get to the waves a bit later though.

The Pacific Buddha is down the street from the beach, maybe a block away. On the way to the beach, there is a fruit and vegetable stand that would basically become my second home. Hyperbole, yes. But I didn’t really eat out at all for a week, so maybe not so much. I basically ate only food that I prepared, and given the selection I basically had the following: Bell peppers, onions, jalapenos, oaxaca cheese, eggs, tortillas, bananas, pineapple. Before you leave, saying, “there he goes again with the food”, don’t worry that’s it. There aren’t any fancy restaurants or specific specials that I had here. That being said, here’s my “recipe” I made up, tasted, and enjoyed. Then yes, I’m done.

“Dice and pan fry some onion, jalapeno, and tomatoes with some oil and tajin seasoning. When it’s all done, put them aside and fry up cubed pineapple without washing the pan. Make sure to add some more seasoning and some hot sauce to taste. After that, heat up some tortillas (ideally fresh corn. If you’re not in Mex, any good ones will do). Add some sliced avocado and boom, that’s it. ”
— Me

Ok back to the beach. There is a long strip of clean beach from PE to La Punta, the water doesn’t have many rocks or reef and the water is warm, perfect right? Well I’m sure with good waves it becomes a little better. I’d rate this beach pretty highly. The drawback is the shore break and more deleteriously, the lineup is packed, and not only with wave catchers. Of course, you have surfers, and countless teachers blocking your way so their students can get waves. In addition, you have some SUP dudes (pronounced like suh dude, for obvious reasons), body boarders, pelicans, and fisherman boats. Oh confused are you? Same, these dudes are dropping nets around, meanwhile the pelicans are dive bombing for lunch and showing the fisherman where to go. Honestly though, couldn’t complain, it’s nice to catch a wave after a hiatus. Especially when you get to trunk it.

When you hit the southern edge of the beach there are some shallows and rock arches you can meander through until you get to a near-private beach. Just long stretch of clean sandy beach. I did get stopped by the police to get searched, as did Lucas and Leisa, so beware of that. I think it might be a common drug transaction spot, but I don’t want to do too much assuming. A darker side of me also thinks the search was to cover up some police misconduct but who knows. Not my place.

Ok, one day trip to discuss, briefly. Mazunte.

To get ther you walk up to the main road and catch a bus. From the bus you get off a stop in front of an Oxxo, the bus driver will tell you where if you ask. Then you hop in the back of a collectivo and ride down to the beach/town. It’s pretty easy, takes about an hour and change. Pretty cheap as well.

The town is a little bigger than the main section of La Punta and is far more tropical feeling. That is, it’s kind of like a jungle. When you walk down the roads, there are straw roofs and trees everywhere. When you get to the beach, there are three connected beaches that make up the shore. From what I hear, there’s another good beach (also for nudists — mostly old dudes) that’s about 10 minutes south in a taxi. The waves here definitely break on shore and are pretty strong, there was also a decent current toward the northern rocks. However, beautiful place to swim around and hang out. We met up with some friends from the hostel who had left and they had made new friends so we all joined up. We were there a while, hung out on the rocks in the shade and went swimming. It was a nice full day trip. i could see relaxing in that town being enjoyable for longer but we didn’t. Oh well, you can’t do everything.

Also, apologies, I don’t really take my phone to the beach so there aren’t many photos. I also can’t promise this is a good read, I think the first one was better, but this seems to have turned out ok.

Oaxaca /  by Brandon Cohen

I’m going to write this section a little differently. Focusing on individual day trips or experiences I thought were important. Some of them will blend days and time because of people I met, etc.. You’ll just have to deal with it because, well… I’m the author. I’m justifying it to myself because I think it’s easier, since I was in Oaxaca for a decent amount of time, part of which was used relaxing and just walking around the city.

Day Trip to Hierve El Agua

First, along with Lucas and Leisa, we walked over to where you can catch a bus off the side of the road to take you about an hour out to Mitla. From there you are supposed to hop in a collectivo, a pick up truck with a little rack over the bed. It’s pretty cheap but because of that you have to wait until it fills up. Despite the irksome nature of waiting, it turned out super well because we would meet some new friends to experience Hierve with and some that would/will continue to play a part in my travels. Eliza and Kyle - from Newcastle, Australia; Julian and Sarah - from Malta, and Loche (I don’t know the spelling, it’s a nickname) from Melbourne.

We grabbed a beer each on the way and we began the ascent up a mountain, with the chilling air blowing on us in the back of the truck. Sipping our beers while cramped in the back of a pick up is an easy way to make friends. We got acquainted quickly and as travelers in the unknown are known to do.

Once we arrived, there is a little abandoned resort looking area and a few restaurants that are empty, it’s pretty strange. However, the rock features themselves are impressive. My limited geology knowledge will make explaining this interesting…My understanding is that the waterfalls from the springs calcified over time and have made large rock formations that look like waterfalls; kind of like extreme stalagmites. In addition, water still flows down one and has a pool that you can swim in. I think it’s natural but I’m not sure. We went for a dip after starting the hike that presumably goes into the valley that you overlook but we only went part way and turned back. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t even the least equipped to hike in vans. Anyways, with the proper gear and water, it would be a great hike. Downhill into the sprawling tree covered valley down to the river and back up sounds like fantastic jaunt. However, with new friends and new adventures you can’t go wrong no matter how things play out. We ended up meeting up again at night in the plaza of Oaxaca for drinks at night and then parted ways. However, that’s not the end. I continued to travel with Lucas and Leisa through San Cristobal and have seen Eliza and Kyle in both Puerto Escondido and briefly in Merida (At the time of writing I just got here). I’ll explain those later.

Monte Alban

This section is going to be a tad disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very cool place. But without just reciting history that I’d have to look up to be accurate and detailed, it’s not very exciting to write about ruins. There is a very amazing and preserved city atop a hill overlooking Oaxaca, and I recommend it. But it’s not easy to write about non-eventful museum visits. I could tell you about things I learned or turn this into philosophical thoughts about time and culture — which might be exciting to read. It might also be terribly boring, and unless I’m in the right state of mind to write that, it won’t translate well. Let’s just have that conversation in person. I’ll say this.

It’s staggering how these things are built and how they have lasted. No way could you undertake things of this nature today, there’s no financial justification. Slavery and mental slavery i.e. the gods told us to do it have a way of making great monuments. I’m grateful we don’t have to deal with that today, but I know we won’t produce things of this nature much ever again unless another powerful dictator/god-monarch comes to power somewhere.

Go see ruins, get in your own head, ponder stuff.

Art Collectives and Other Cultural Notes

There is a lively art scene in Oaxaca, and it’s not your mom’s. Most of it is highly political and addressed violence, immigration, drugs, and more things than I’m privy to. A lot of it is similar stylistically to street art in the states, others use indigenous themes and styles with a modern twist. We went to a gallery/collective that has a few locations. They were similar events to small art shows in Newport but they had mezcal, chellas (as far as I can tell, just another word for beers), and a vibrant community that will be discussed again in San Cristobal.

Leading up to Christmas there was a holiday called The Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (Dec. 12) but it’s more like a week. It’s been celebrated in a few places. Specifically including fireworks that are more like cannons (not visibly fireworks but explosions in the sky) that go off starting at the crack of dawn and go all day. It doesn’t make sense. Anyways, I was there for the actual day and there was a big parade in the streets, similar to a secondline in New Orleans. Brass brands, drunk kids, crowded streets, lively to say the least. A cool experience, but my distaste for large, slow moving bodies of people got the better of me and I didn’t watch long. Plus, it was competing with the art gallery I mentioned, that’s much more my speed.

Other fun notes — they love anime and cartoons down here (again mentioned in San Cristobal). I’ve seen several DBZ, Naruto, etc themed books, advertisements (typically on food carts), shirts, you name it. I’m into it, obviously. Well obvious to those who know me.

Puebla y Cholula /  by Brandon Cohen

Puebla

When I arrived in Puebla by bus I was embarking on the first frontier of my trip. At the bus station, I went to go book a cab — I didn’t know that they had Uber. This turned out to be a very fortuitous occasion because I gave two Australians a ride in my cab - Lucas and Leisa. (Turned out we would be fast friends and travel together for the next few cities).

Puebla is a colonial town. The old style Spanish buildings provide a nice. colorful backdrop from which to explore. However, there is not much to explore other than the buildings themselves. With my new friends, we explored the main cathedral in the Zocalo. The zocalo is reminiscent of European plazas where slightly more upscale people eating and sipping drinks while facing the plaza. There are some touristy looking booths but it’s hard to guess if they are locals or tourists, since most people seemed hispanic.

Day one we got a few beers to get to know each other and also snagged a few food items to try; a semi-street torta out of a whole in the wall, it was fine. Tacos; better, as they always are. Lastly, a churro - which was a little old and nothing special (to be honest, I haven’t been blown away by any yet).

The second day we went to an amazing museum that would take up a few hours — Museo Amparo. There were several cool exhibits but my personal favorite was the punk culture that sprung from the midst of some revolutions (in the 70s?). There was another artist who was Mexican/Polish who did weird physical exhibits in public and did live demonstrations, that wasn’t my style.

Also, in the northern part of the city, there is a large park and old fort from colonial times. Just south of the park there is a historically shady neighborhood that has been painted by several artists in order to draw tourist attention and clean it up. It’s called Barrio de Xanenetla. It’s a few blocks of mediocre housing that has turned into an artist’s playground/mural sketchbook.

Don’t forget about Mt. Popo either, a staggering Volcano on the horizon that stands, snow capped, overlooking the whole valley (if you can call it that).

Cholula

Not too far to the west of Puebla is Cholula, best known for its Great Pyramid. There is a church on top of where the pyramid used to be, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios. After walking around, we were able to watch a demonstration of a Mesoamerican dance where they swing from a tall pole while sitting a top the pyramid. (Danza de los Voladores)

The highlight for me was walking the city after. It’s a bit more quiet and still colonial, just like Puebla. However, we reached this market and when we found a little restaurant inside we were beckoned by a group of four guys telling us this was the right spot. They kind of ordered for us and we just sat and waited. We ended up with about a kilo of meat, and then various fresh goodies that the waiter procured from around the market; avocado, salsas, tortillas, and cheese). Then we just made taco upon endless taco until we were too full, great time.

Los Primos (Kiefer and Nathan visit) /  by Brandon Cohen

Week two in Mexico City featured two unexpected guests. My brother, Kiefer, and one of my cousins, Nathan. I’ll sum up some of the things we did since it was an incredible and heavily packed week. However, I’d like to say, as the first cousin trip this set the bar high.

I’m very used to traveling alone and with people I meet along the way. We have, with our families and at a younger age traveled a bit together. Obviously, Kiefer and I have done quite a bit together. However, as a trio, by ourselves, and as adults was a different thing entirely. I’d recommend traveling with close family if you can. There is a different type of closeness you get with family. Even if you “hang out” less than some of your friends, there is a knowledge of where they came from and a deeper understanding of how each other work. Anyways, it made for a great trip. Not to mention on this particular occasion, neither of them had done any work, so I had to bullshit my way through as a tour guide. We made out pretty well. If you happen to know either of them, just ask them about “El Caifan”.

Roma

For the first few days, we stayed in Roma. Roma is a bit more upmarket and hipster than some of the other neighborhoods in the area; littered with coffee shops, skate stores, and restaurants with clever interior designers. When Nathan arrived, I knew what we had to do first, get tacos. We hit Orinoco which was a few blocks from where we were staying. They have incredible Al Pastor, the other stuff isn’t bad either…If you’re thirsty you can grab a liter of jamaica juice (hibiscus).

Have you caught the theme that I talk a lot about food yet?

Nathan is a bit of a "style maven” or at least he postures like one. So we hit the nice area, Polanco, where he could look at all the designer and street wear as well as see where all the rich folk are. Not surprisingly there are A TON of killer restaurants here.

Cabanna was dinner #1. Solid fish tacos. A rule for me is always get quality pulpo and raw tuna when available. It delivered.

The next day we did a little sight seeing and prepped for Kiefer’s arrival, which meant we bought some Lucha Libre tickets and booked Puyol…oh and Quintonil. Both two of the best restaurants on the planet. Not my opinion (though I agree), like the actual “experts” voted on it. Just know that if you call in, you have a MUCH better time getting into these fine dining places, even though they are booked over 2 months out. I’m assuming it’s like that everywhere, but Mexico for sure.

…I’ve been trying to do mini workouts in the mornings because the bulk of what I do is eat or look at stuff. So if I start looking pudgy in my Insta stories, you’ll know why…

Kiefer was lucky to have missed Tuesday. Not that he didn’t miss out on some stuff, he did. But some of the stuff he missed out on was stuff no one wants to really do. Nathan and I cruised north to Guerrero area to go see some ruins and a very modern and unique library.

Turns out we walked through a very busy market and, you guessed it, the hood. Now you might say, Brandon, that’s just poverty. But when you have cops looking at you funny and obscuring your view of “happenings” with someone they look like they apprehended, you know something is up. Anyways, we kept our speed and heads down and made it to the library, which as I mentioned, was totally worth the trek.

At night, we went to Soul la Roma, which is a kind of Americana/cocktail bar/burger joint. It’s got that “we went to the states and liked the minimalist gastropubs so we brought one back here” vibe; much like Palermo in Buenos Aires or Barranco in Lima. Anyways, the food was amazing, to say the least. Most burger joints back home can’t compare, so don’t sell somewhere short just because it’s not “theirs”. Another example is Darren from Final Table (a show worth watching btw) who gets crap from people for making Japanese food as a white dude in Alberta, Canada, but makes clearly delicious food. (As I’m typing this and linking to the restaurant, it looks like they’re also a motorcycle company — which explains the motorcycle as decoration. Cool combo, Deus Ex Machina-esque except for that they have a full blown restaurant vs. cafe. )

Ok so since there was so much other stuff we did, I’m going to do the highlights again with some of my impressions. Get ready for some more stream of consciousness…is there any other way?

Puyol: Where do I begin. When I walked in, my first feeling was, “I want my house to look like this one day”. The courtyard is so simple and stunning and once you walk inside, you know you’re in for a hell of an experience. The lights sit behind pitch black circles so the dining room is illuminated by eclipses. There is also a ton of glass that opens to the garden in the back, it is just incredibly inviting. It also automatically dims your voice and gives you a sense of awe I imagine medieval people felt in churches. I don’t know what that says about me, is food my god? I don’t know about that, but I’m sure a fan.

Once we got to the food we went through a 6 (but more like 8) course meal including all sorts of things like ants and ash that you wouldn’t expect to work, but it does. Each dish tastes like Mexico in a different way, without even knowing what it tastes like, I understand. Odd sensation. Watch the Chef’s Table and you’ll get it a little more.

Quintonil: After Puyol, Kiefer and had been to 2 of the top 3 Latin American restaurants (the other is Maido) according to this list. Why not hit another top 10 member? The tasting menu was a different style and we got it for lunch so it was different. It was roughly the same price (~$130 after tax + tip) but here it was less fancy and about twice as many courses. As it happens, my favorite dish was made out of ant larvae, so always have an open mind. My other favorites were actually off of the pescatarian menu which Kiefer got, the seabass and some cactus fungus tortilla thing. If you couldn’t pick up the theme, it’s like a traditional Mexican flavors dressed up to be fine dining. Honestly, amazing. The restaurant itself isn’t anything crazy but the flavors are unlike anything you’ve ever tasted or imagined.

El Caifan

Not fine dining, but I ate here 4 times in two weeks. Nathan and Kiefer fell in love as I expected and it’s a place you could eat daily. The al pastor torta and salad bar leave nothing to be desired, they are perfect.

El Tizoncito

Self proclaimed creators of Al Pastor — I call BS since everything in the states is the best or award winning or whatever, I don’t trust that. BUT this is the best al pastor I’ve ever had, better than El Caifan. I had 6 tacos. I could’ve have eaten more had it not been for some (limited) common sense. Salsa was also amazing. Street atmosphere not great but it doesn’t matter because the tacos are music to your taste buds. How’s that for poetic?

Thanks to our Uber driver for this recommendation! Seriously, they are a good source of local info if you can manage some conversation. We managed to squeeze this one after bragging about El Caifan’s al pastor. Seriously, we didn’t shut up about it.

Zinco Jazz Club

Maybe we got a good band, or we just found a great spot. After asking some construction people if we could walk through the construction site, we descended a little door that sat a tad below the street. You enter a small hallway and on the left is a quintessential small club. We grabbed some fries and beers to chill and watch the show, really suave spot.

Lucha Libre @ Arena Mexico

Honestly, one of the best forms of entertainment I’ve ever seen. Cheap tickets, raving fans, cheap beers, midget fighting, old fat dudes, high flying rope leapers; it has it all. Super high octane and never a dull moment. Knowing Spanish isn’t even that important since it’s so dramatized. Everything goes is semi slow motion until you see the camera-capture on screen.

Teotihuacan

One of the most impressive old monuments that I’ve been to. Given the age range (~2100 years old I think), it’s incredibly well preserved. Two massive temples are there to be climbed, with great views and a realization that Mesoamericans must have had the biggest thighs. A quick stroll through the avenue of the dead lets you meet a bunch of peddlers selling useless crap (Nathan bought a whistle) and the and they try to sell you the garbage while you want to really just climb the Pyramid of the Moon and  Pyramid of the Sun.

Other highlights w/o anymore info, sorry mates.

And So It Begins /  by Brandon Cohen

So it’s Black Friday, in the states that is. Here in Mexico City it’s just another day. But it felt like Black Friday this morning, meaning I still was groggy from the food coma last night and didn’t feel like getting out of bed. This morning Rebecca and I went to a pastry shop and a walk. A great decision that made me feel like it was Black Friday (something I’ve never “celebrated”), I got four massive pastries for $2.

Anyways, I figured I’d start from scratch and recap the last few days of exploration. Nothing crazy, but certainly not short of activities or things I’d recommend.

As a quick note, since this is the first post of this adventure, this isn’t going to be a blog. There won’t be travel tips, suggestions, strategies for planning and packing, or even a day to day catalog of events. I honestly do hope that I post a lot for my own memory but I won’t make any promises. I wrote something about this on Medium a while back in anticipation of the trip and before I decided to create this site. If I write anything about travel in general or in a more Medium-like style, maybe I’ll put it there.

Anyways let’s get back to the plot, if you will.

I arrived in the Tijuana airport late at night (it’s amazing and easy to travel out of here, message me if you have questions) and crossed the border ready for a red-eye to Mexico City. Aside from seeing someone getting CPR, things didn’t look good for him honestly, and paying a little extra for additional weight in my bags, everything went according to plan. I arrived early morning and Uber’d to my friend Rebecca’s place where I’m staying. I took a nap and finally woke up feeling like a normal person. It only took over 12 hours to digest all the food we scored at the Brazilian steakhouse last night. All you can eat is a real challenge, can’t let them beat you!

The last few days have been crammed with museums and food with walking in between. I’m not feeling particularly witty, funny, or descriptive today so I’ll just do a mini recap of some highlights vs. specific anecdotes.

Museums

Museo de Arte Moderno (Chapultepec): There was some good stuff here. Nothing I knew as famous really but I was introduced to Remedios Vara, who from what I can tell, is a badass painter.  

Templo Mayor/Bella Artes Museum/Plaza de la Constitución/Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral (Zocalo): This is one of the big hubs of Mexico City. There are cobblestone streets lined with businesses out of garage door fronts with vendors and street people of all kinds. You can imagine this if you’ve ever been to a large metropolitan city before. It’s hard to understand the magnitude of everything and the people until you’re there but it’s quite a sight. Then the Templo Mayor museum is the best part. There is a ton of history that is virtually unknown to most Americans (other than “Yeah, I know the Mayans, they said the world was going to end. Or was that the Aztecs? Or Incas? Did they all like gold? I saw Road to El Dorado.”) Do I understand everything, not even close. Do I have a better idea of what was going on? Yes. The problem is that most stuff is in Spanish and mine is mediocre. In the Bella Artes museum there were only two exhibits. The first are permanent murals on the walls by Diego Rivera. I liked a few, others not so much. There’s a lot of political context I could get from half assed reading in Spanish on the interactive displays. The other was a Kadinsky exhibit. I hadn’t heard of him, but I was really impressed. I’d check him out online, who knows if this is permanent or is only temporary. But isn’t everything temporary in the grand scheme of things? ;)

Soumayo Museum: This is Carlos Slim’s personal collection. It’s like a mini-Louvre, it’s amazing. There were a lot of Rodin sculptures, a ton actually. He’s supposed to be one of the best ever but I’m not a huge fan of sculptures so I didn’t care much BUT he did The Thinker and Gates of Hell which are both famous and pretty damn impressive. There was also a good amount of the European Art I learned about as a kid so I got to pretend I was smart and cultured; da Vinci, van Dyke, Monet, and a few more. Honestly, the best parts though were the Ivory sculptures from China, something I had seen much of but am very impressed by, even not art related, the sheer size of tusks was shocking, and the building itself, a beautiful work of architecture. Was that a run on sentence? I’ll just blame David Foster Wallace (I’m reading Broom of the System now).

Food

Vegamo (Centro): Think healthy, trendy, juice/food place. I got a killer sandwich (Yoda) on matcha waffles, a juice, coffee, and a (TINY) pasty that was basically a fig newton for $5. I could get used to this. They have bomb smoothies too so I’ll be back.

El Caifon: As of 11/23/18 this is the best torta I have ever eaten. They had an amazing salsa bar and a huge and delicious el pastor torta. ‘Nuff said.