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Mayan Coronas
Keeping it local |
13.0.7.6.7 | |
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We woke up this morning to the news that Irene and Chistoph had tested positive for COVID-19 when they returned home to Switzerland. The good news was that Christoph only had mild flu like symptoms and Irene felt fine but had lost her taste buds.
Of course it was the news we were all dreading, that someone from our Mayan Coronas group had contracted the virus. Julie and I still felt OK. Last night's meal may have been a bit bland but that wasn't our tastebuds! We had no temperature, no dry cough, and we could still hold our breath for twenty seconds without coughing!
It made us realise how unpredictable people's reactions were. Some were dying from the virus whilst others didn't even know they had it! And whilst statistically it was the eldery or vulnerable who were dying, it wasn't excusively the case. Seemingly healthy younger people were also dying.
These were scary times indeed.
At breakfast we had a glass each of anti-flu smoothie this morning for that extra immunity boost!
We placed our usual order, French Toast and Chilaquiles.
I have to say the chilaquiles seem to be getting better and better. My taste buds were certainly receiving a proper workout. I had the addition of avocado today, with a lot more of the salsa verde, and it tasted spicier. Perfect!
We didn't rush out. In fact we spent a couple of hours back in the room after breakfast. We had this feeling that we should keep ourselves to ourselves as much as possible. We didn't want to be part of the problem and spread the virus all across Tulum.
Shortly after 12pm we had enough of locking ourselves away and went for a walk down the main street of Tulum town (or puebla). Keeping our distance from peope as best we could.
We came to a bar called El Mariachi Loco. It had some great seats at the bar. They were like seats of a swing, a wooden board suspended from the ceiling. They did seem a little pointless as you couldn't swing back and forth without bashing your knees against the bar. Although in theory you could swing from side to side, like one of those desktop pendulum toys.
Anyway, Julie decided to sit on a good old fashioned sturdy chair.
We sat at a table looking out over the pavement. It was a large traditional wooden hut with an impressive thatched roof. Judging by its name I imagined El Mariachi Loco hosted some crazy Mexican musical evenings. This morning however the place was subdued as most bars are after the excess of the night before.
We weren't especially hungry but decided to share some plain quesadillas. The beer they sold here was Sol , my least favourite of all the Mexican beers. It's the type of beer you really need to add a wedge of lime to give it some flavour!
Whilst we were waiting for food this guy came to our table with a very large camera and motioned permission to take our photo. Julie declined but I allowed him to take mine. I assumed it was for their web page or something.
After we had eaten he returned with my mugshot printed on a label of a bottle of tequila!
We couldn't stop laughing!
He wanted $400 pesos for it which was a total rip-off. I doubt that it was even tequila inside, but we found it so funny we simply had to buy it. It was such a novel way of making money!
We continued our stroll down the High Street, before crossing the road and heading back up the other side where a stand of Mucho Libre (Mexican Wrestling) masks caught our attention. We thought about buying one for our grandson Harley Quinn (no. 4) who is very much into his WWE wrestling. Unfortunately they were all adult sizes, none were suitable for a seven year old.
It wasn't long before it was time to stop at another watering hole and we chose La Querida, a small bar and pizzeria right on the road. They had quite extensive menu but we weren't hungry. Instead we ordered a margarita each.
They arrived in a chunky tumbler with a plastic straw, but no matter how unceremoniously presented, they were the best we had tasted all trip. They certainly hadn't skimped on the tequila, it had a decent kick. We enjoyed them so much we ordered another round.
We could have stayed here all day. The staff were lovely, the cocktails were perfect but we decided to head back to hotel room for a siesta. Calling it a siesta sounds so much better than an afternoon nap!
I spent most of the time swinging in the hammock in our small patio garden. We only had one which was a shame because Julie also quite likes to swing in one. After Brazil we bought one for home and one afternoon Julie tried it and found to her surprise that she actually enjoyed it.
A couple of hours passed and our thoughts turned to food as it usually does. We headed out in search of a restaurant called El Asadero. It wasn't too far at all, just around the corner, one block across, and one block up Avenue Satellite.
We decided to sit outside at a table on the pavement. It was a bit dark and we struggled to see the menu, resorting to using the torch function on the phone. But it was just nice to be outside.
El Asadero specialised in grilled meats so I was pleasantly surprised when they had a vegetarian "burrito" on the menu. I do like a good veggie burrito but unfortunately it was really disappointing. It was more like a large Chinese spring roll, filled with bland stir-fry veg. In complete contrast Julie really enjoyed her T-Bone steak.
We left El Asadero for the short walk back to our hotel. The streets were dimly lit and pavements uneven or non-existent so the return leg took us a little longer. We were glad it wasn't far.
Back in our room we made a start on our packing, tonight was our last in Casa Agape. We were heading to the beachfront tomorrow.
I then got a WhatsAp message from Alberto of Villa Pescadores. He was confirming we were still arriving. It sounded like they had many cancellations.
He informed us we were being moved. They owned nine properties along the beachfront, including Ahau where we were yesterday. It seemed they were closing several of them and consolidating the guests into fewer hotels.
At first I was disappointed. We had picked Villa Pescadores because their Ocean View room looked amazing. His message said we were being moved to Kai Hotel and were being upgraded to a better room. A quick search on the internet and the images of the new hotel looked very promising. I gave Alberto our approval with a thumbs up emoji.
The pandemic continued to shock the world with almost 800 people dying in Italy in one day despite the country going into full national lockdown to restrict peoples movements to attempt to stop the spread.
In the UK the daily deathtoll was creeping up following a similar pattern to Italy and Spain. Fifty three fatalities today but it wasn't unreasonable to expect those numbers to be in the hundreds in a few weeks times.
Which is why my jaw hit the floor when I saw photographs on friends Facebook posts of Snowdonia National Park today. It seemed that every Tom, Dick and Harry who had ever holidayed in North Wales decided that today would be a good time to visit. The Mountain Rescue service said it had been their busiest day on record. Lives were being put at risk.
Next day >