La Bamba on the Bus

March 2, 2009
One of the surprising things about Cancun are the public buses, which are the most cost-effective means of traveling around town, or between the town and the hotel district. For about 50 cents you not only get transportation, but entertainment too. Imagine hurtling along at 50 miles per hour in a safe but rickety bus while a guitar player and his buddy sing "La Bamba" at the top of their lungs as the sun sets across the lagoon. That is what we experienced today. We started the day at the pool. John is demonstrating the luxurious cabanas that we have at our disposal. There is a thick mattress and pillows inside. It's like your own little play house. I spent much of the early afternoon reading "Loving Frank," a fictional historical novel about Frank Lloyd Wright's affair with Mamah Cheney. John is reading "Ghost Ship," about the Mary Celeste, a ship that was found drifting in the Atlantic in 1872 without its crew. We then took the bus to the museum of art and folklore, which was charming. The photos show the collection of colorful churches and the decorated gourds. The museum was organized by theme, such as gourds, and highlighted the differences in techniques used in different regions of Mexico. Lastly, we dined at a restaurant that was in a former distillery. The photo shows our typical Yucatecan dish of the day, "sopes de cochinil," marinated pork on taco-like shells with onion and avocado. In the back is the habanero sauce. Even though I put a pin-sized drop of the sauce on my sopes, it packed a wallop!