Travel: Cuba and Mexico, who's been?

[UNCLE BOOG]

Hey guys, the lass and I are planning a trip to our fav spot, Austin Tx, and this time, rather than travel around other North American cities, we're going to venture south.

Shes eager to check out some Mayan magic in Mexico, and I have always wanted to go to Cuba... so I put it out to the force faithful, anyone been? got tips?

[GAFFA]

a mate of mine just got back from the USA and had a brief stop over in Mexico.

They where at a shopping mall using the escalator and someone, not with them fell causing everyone to fall.

Being 4 strong lads they helped everyone back to their feet. Next thing you know they are under arrest and spend 2 days in jail until they could come up with enough money to pay the cops off...


Enjoy your time in old Mexico.

[UNCLE BOOG]

haha, not the first story like that Ive heard!

[Dr C]

Go to Cancun. The amyan pyramid & city of Chichen itza is 2 hours drive into the jungle. Everyone does excursions. even taxi drivers will do you a deal. Also, you can do excursions from Cancun to Havana. it was a 90 minute flight from memory.

We stayed in a hotel called the Las Velas. 5 all inclusive restaurants and at the old end of the new town. it was designed to look like a turn of the century Mexican village.

Happy researching.

[brokendown gunfighter]

mate of mine was in Cuba last year--he said the place was alright but in the main,the food was shite!

[SNOB]

We stayed in Porto Vallata in Mexico which was fantastic some good trips out from ther but no Mayan ruins in that area that I heard about.
Stayed in a great resort area in Cuba and did a couple of trips out. Havana is a must. Great country no Maccas and no coke!

[blueandblack]

Been to Mexico. See here:

http://svvwea.org/?page_id=176

[UNCLE BOOG]

see, I knew this place had a wealth of knowledge outside the laws of a long arm.

[UNCLE BOOG]

flights are being booked (Texas)... Cancun, Havana (head to the beach for 3 nights), Mexico City, LA, home.
and my bank just about had a fucking conniption fit when a transaction for $1400 popped up on my credit card from Cuba! hahaha.
Im keen as mustard to see some cock fighting in Mexico City, the missus argued it might not be her cup of tea, I reminded her that she sees cock fighting down the paddo every time we play the All Blacks! hahaha.

[WFDom]

Used to go in & out of San Diego on the boats around 2001 / 2002. If we had time used to head straight down to Tijuana. Probably not a great idea with the missus though. I was in my 20's & very much single! ........ Areeba!!!!! ;-)

I've worked in the Gulf of Mexico a bit & hurricane season is normally pencilled in from 1st of June to the 1st of December, so Cancun & such places on the Gulf of Mexico side can be dodgy. Cuba's obviously affected aswell.

Ventured futher down on the peninsula to Ensenada & Cabo aswell & had a few surfs on the way, all good down there.

Mazatlan was awesome

If you go off the beaten track, keep your eyes open, can get dodgy very quickly. The federales charged us "surf tax" in a couple of places. Luckily one of the guys with us was well travelled down there & kept us right.

[Elf1]

A surf Tax FFS don't Barnett

[blueandblack]

Mexico City you could spend ages in (by ages, i mean weeks and months). Puebla was a good size and quite enjoyable. Merida was another great place and has a few Mayan sites around (all of which I missed unfortunately). Hated Palenque totally. Tikal in Guatemala was a super place to visit.

[Hansie]

Cuba = awesome.

We spent a week here in march. Music, cigars and great restaurants. Hired a car and drove to Trinidad, past bay of pigs. No iphones or tablets, you actually see young people on the street TALKING to each other, guys taking girls on their bicycles, smiling happy people. Buildings are a bit tired, but you have to think Havana must have been party central in the 50's.

Some capitalism is creeping in so get there before it all changes and the septics %%^* it up.

[LarryNJ]

I've been to Mayan Riviera several times. I don't like Cancun much but further south is awesome. Make it to Tulum if you can.

Never been to Cuba, we aren't allowed to travel there from the states. From what others have told me it's very cool. The people are great, the food is not.

[UNCLE BOOG]

Used to go in & out of San Diego on the boats around 2001 / 2002. If we had time used to head straight down to Tijuana. Probably not a great idea with the missus though. I was in my 20's & very much single! ........ Areeba!!!!! ;-)

I've worked in the Gulf of Mexico a bit & hurricane season is normally pencilled in from 1st of June to the 1st of December, so Cancun & such places on the Gulf of Mexico side can be dodgy. Cuba's obviously affected aswell.

Ventured futher down on the peninsula to Ensenada & Cabo aswell & had a few surfs on the way, all good down there.

Mazatlan was awesome

If you go off the beaten track, keep your eyes open, can get dodgy very quickly. The federales charged us "surf tax" in a couple of places. Luckily one of the guys with us was well travelled down there & kept us right.

yeah, Ive done a few solo stints in Eastern Europe and predict Mexico will have the same 'nope, this is clearly a wrong turn' vibe to it!
at this stage, its just an introduction into south/central america... the missus is a good backpacker, but not quite as rough as myself! And since when I travelled alone, I was pretty much fearless, and its a totally different game with her on the trail, I actually have to stay sober enough to get her home safe etc!
we're doing Cancun since its the one of two places we can get direct flights from Austin Tx, but we've looked into trips to Chichén Itzá (mayan ruins) and Isla Mujeres.
work stipulates that itll be a short trip, basically 5-10 days in each stop, so sadly cant spend months anywhere, let alone Mexico City!
Mexico City was a destination of necessity also, since we fly home out of LA, and there were only flights Havana-MexCity-LA that fit into our timetable. We plan on visiting our friends in Tx every year (or as often as possible) so further trips south of the border will definitely happen.
Its not quite the 'just get a one way and make it up' I usually do, but we've both got 'big person jobs' now, slave to the man! haha.