THURSDAY | Even though the flight between Cuba and Cancun is less than two hours we arrived exhausted and grumpy. The baggage claim would load 5 bags, start the conveyer belt then stop for 5 minutes. Ash once again got chosen for a full bag search so this added an additional 30 minutes to the process and then finally when we cleared customs we couldn't find an ATM that didn't only dispense USD. So, we lined up for cash then finally headed out to get a cab but what we got instead was only "shuttle services" with a per person fees. After being approached by all the different shuttle sales men we finally settled on a company only to have to wait 40 minutes for a shuttle driver to take us to the ferry. During this time Ash was on the phone to ANZ as another one of our credit cards had been hacked by Joffrey and I glared at them constantly so finally they gave up trying to get more people and took just the two of us. Luck was finally on our side when we got to the ferry station and were told it was only a 10 minute wait till the next boat to Isla Mujere. We boarded as the sun was setting and by the time we arrived on the island darkness had set in. We grabbed a taxi from the port and he zipped through the side streets till we arrived at Na Balam - our ocean front resort for the next couple of days. The room had a white minimalist Flintstones feel about it but it came complete with separate queen beds and a pool view, so we were stoked. We wandered the two minutes over to the beach front restaurant, locked into the wifi and enjoyed a quiet social media filled dinner by the shore. FRIDAY | No alarm meant we rose mid-morning and strolled over to the resort restaurant for a three course breakfast. Shortly after we secured two beach side beds and there we stayed. Reading, snoozing and swimming we spent the day doing absolutely nothing other than indulging in the resort lifestyle. For lunch, we tip toed over the sand to the health food shack for a smoothie and salad. Our server turned out to be an Aussie so we picked her brain on the best places to go for dinner. Then we promptly returned to our day beds to do absolutely nothing. When it was finally time for dinner we popped back to the room for a quick change the walked the few blocks into the centre of Isla Mujere. We strolled the main strip and despite plenty of offers from spruikers settled on a rooftop bar with live music, fishbowl sized margaritas and an adorable dog. The down side was a boastful old American dude seated at the bar next to me who kept wanting to chat and tell me all about his amazing island connections. Over playing nice we headed off the main drag to a Mediterranean restaurant called Olivia's. Upon arrival, we were informed it would be an hour wait so we chilled at the bar and made mates with the staff. We also encountered another old American dude who took it upon himself to write out pages of pages of notes of all the places we should visit on our road trip. All his suggestions were places he'd loved decades earlier, so it will be interesting to see if any of them still exist. Many beverages later we were seated for dinner and thus began a delightful culinary experience that last lasted a couple of hours. Post dinner for a night cap we headed across the road to the burger joint that also features live music. We stayed for a short while because whilst the music was good the audience made up of rowdy middled aged American women was not. We strolled back through the warm island air happy to retreat to crisp white beds after a long day of doing absolutely nothing.
SATURDAY | Our last morning on the island was a combination of walking the local shops and beaches followed by more sitting around doing nothing. We'd had intentions of being up early and hiring bikes but instead we gave into our desire to keep it low key and just enjoy the island. After another delicious lunch at the health food shack we strapped on our backs and walked the 30 minutes to the ferry port. Sweating dripping off us and backs aching we threw down our bags, sat on the roof of the boat and tried to drown out the live music that was unfortunately being thrust on us on the boat.
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