Mexico 2013: Paved With Potato Chips

Such a beautiful beach! Such a strange palm tree!

I can't remember the last time I actually climbed a tree, so was impressed with my husband's nimble attempt.

Examine that classic mischievous smirk, and then just imagine what my husband did next with the coconuts.

YAY!

I love the liquidy reflection on this glassy sea water.

So strange to see my ginger in the water without 3 shirts, a hat, a hood, and sunglasses. I'm very much pro those sun protection devices, but nice to see a smiling face too.

I even found a 50-centavo coin in the sand! OK, that's about 4 cents USD, but still exciting. Finders keepers.

Time for an afternoon siesta.

Yay! Such a fun beach visit. On the way back to town, we followed a truck that had delivered resources to Punta Allen. Apparently one of the boxes didn't close right, so tons of lunch-sized bags of potato chips flew out and were all over the place. I neglected to photograph this hilarity, but when reflecting on this adventure, we both wax poetic with "for as you know, the road to Punta Allen is paved with potato chips."

Mexico 2013: Jeep Injury

On the trip back from Punta Allen we decided we wanted to pull off and frolic in the turquoise sea.

Which was just a few feet from the road, so my sweet husband put our Jeep in reverse and backed it toward the sea. Mostly it went pretty well, except we were having trouble getting over a bump or a log or a body or something in our way...

The driver jumped out to survey the sitch...

To discover a bit of a crumple in the fender smooshed up against a wee palm tree...

After a bit of forward motion, kicking, whacking, and general auto body maintenance with a green coconut, it was mostly back in pre-tree shape. My husband believes this crumple to have been an existing ding in our sweet ride, despite the very specifically wrinkled up bumper. But he did make it unnoticeable to the untrained eye. One of the many reasons I secured him for my own was his stellar auto-body-work-with-a green-coconut skills. Manipulation of tools is what separates us from the beasts.

But what's a good adventure in a Jeep in Mexico without a little bump in the road? Thankfully it wasn't a body after all! We decided the bumper was fine, moved ahead with our diversion, and made our way to the sea.

Mexico 2013: Punta Allen Boats

I loved the fishing boats just laying around in Punta Allen.

Many in the fleet looking similar...

Some in water-colored decor...

I liked their hand-painted numbers, all in the same handwriting, like an architect's.

This would have been one of the boats we would have been on had we booked a trip. Another reason we opted to not boat. Though some lovely Italian-speaking folks almost convinced us to go in on a trip with them.

Mexico 2013: Punta Allen

But after a long, long drive, we made it to the remote and tiny fishing village of Punta Allen. It mostly consisted of a couple restaurants, a couple churches, a couple mini marts, and some fishing vendors. That's one of the restaurants behind the sign about the biosphere.

A mostly open-air iglesia.

And lots and lots of lovely beach.

Plus a few sleepy iguana.

It may be a little hard to see, but this hotel advertisement's selling points are (1) it features a restaurant and a bar, and (2) it has 24-hour electricity. I'm sure there are times when absence of electricity in this town is a big reality.

Plus it had one of those amazing piers-into-the-blue sea like you see in Travelocity ads. I want to go to there.

We considered booking a boat ride, but the water was pretty rough, and it would have put our return trip late into the evening. And with the condition of our tires, no one wanted to be on that road late at night in the dark. So we opted for lunch at this restaurant. No, really, its a restaurant, trust me.

It didn't have any menus, but they did bring us chips and the fantastic ceviche of which we can't get enough, so I'm pretty sure it was a restaurant. The no-menus thing was a little weird at first...but when they brought us our check for THE MOST EXPENSIVE CEVICHE EVER, I better understood the value of no menus. It was like forty bucks for beers, sodas, and ceviche -- a pittance really, considering the view, but we had to appreciate their clever tack.

I liked Punta Allen a lot. We plan to return some day. Less white-people in a resort and more hammocky fishing resort.

Mexico 2013: Drivin' to the End of the Road

Our next big adventure was to drive to the end of the road, to Punta Allen. My chariot awaits.

I was really glad we made the drive, but it was long and bumpy. And jarring. And shrouded in jungle. For like 35 miles.

The road is along the edge of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere, so when we could see past the jungle, it was quite lovely.

With lots of birds and lovely waters.

But this was like 3 percent of the trip. The rest was dirt roads and palm fronds.

Mexico 2013: Coba!

For our adventure to Coba, we had to gas up the Jeep. Hard to see in this pic, but the tally says "$412.73." In pesos of course. Still a little jarring.

Feast your eyes: A Mexican prison. This phrase comes up a lot when planning a vacation south of the border.  "What if Stacey decides she needs to buy some blow from a dude in an alley and it turns out to be an undercover cop, and then ends up in a Mexican prison?" Well here's where she would have landed.

Coba is an ancient Mayan city deep in the tropical jungle and housed between too large lagoons. At its high point, Coba had more than 50,000 residents. The site remained relatively unknown and pristine until the first modern road to it was opened in the early 1970s.

Plus, its really really old.

And unlike Chicken Pizza, they still let you climb on it.

As evidenced by this crowning achievement.

Like Chicken Pizza, in addition to the tall temples, there were lots of cool nooks and crannies.

 I like this little guy near the stairs.

I suspect they won't let you crawl on Coba forever, so if you want to, you should go soon.

I do like this legacy technology. Without auto-unlock doors, my sweet husband would manually unlock and get my door for me, like we were courting. So sweet!

Mexico 2013: So Long, Chicken Pizza!

 I squeeze your head, Chicken Pizza.

Barbed wire at a national monument? Well, it is Mexico.

You may remember this guy from our spa day. He looks better after his spa treatment. I like that the "Mayan spa" actually used authentic Mayan features.

Husband! These weird column were pretty, but seemed structurally unsound.

My husband and the iguana are one. I couldn't believe he got this close to him!

Our biggest complaint about Chicken Pizza?  They turned this once revered and spiritual place into a giant flea market, plying us with "hey big spender! Only a dollar!" and "hey honeymooners!!" hahah.

 So long, Chicken Pizza!