Cancun in NYT’s ‘Why We Travel’ Photo Essay

All of the travel guides—they are typically shallow overviews of going to this place, or swimming with that thing, or jumping into whatever. They’re like reading a technical manual.

“It is recommended that you verify the temperature of the body of water prior to submersion. Temperature too low may result in minutes of slight discomfort and potential hypothermia.”

Or you could just leap on into that pool and tough it out.

What is lacking are accounts of experience. You can read all the online reviews you can find, but in the end you are left with pockets full of vague descriptions.

“The butterfly garden was exhilarating.”

Exhilarating, really? What if my definition of exhilarating is funneling a pot of coffee and driving 120 down the interstate at 3 in the morning blaring black-metal? Is this butterfly garden going to be exhilarating? Probably not.

The only way to truly experience a place is by visiting it. However, the next best thing, in my opinion, are photo essays.

In January, The New York Times published ‘Why We Travel‘, 17 brilliant photographs and accompanying essays that sample the globe.

Here is Cancun’s entry:

STROLLING ALONG THE BEACH AT SUNRISE, CANCÚN, MEXICO, JAN. 14, 2008

Gengquan Liao, 26, a student of food sciences at Penn State University, from Guangzhou, China. “I’m very curious about what’s going on outside of China, so I travel a lot; I’m hoping to visit all the corners of the earth someday. I was in Mexico for three weeks, and while I was there I went to Xcaret and swam with the dolphins, I went to Cancún, and I went snorkeling in a cenote, which is like an underground water cave. But I went to Mexico mostly to visit Mayan cultural ruins, which I’ve been interested in for a long time. Several years ago, I went to Cambodia to see the ruins at Angkor Wat, and after I went back to China I realized that there were actually three places in the world with these kinds of pyramid ruins: Cambodia, Mexico and Egypt. I’m going to visit all of them one day.” As told to Austin Considine

The Miami Herald Loves ME

The Miami Herald Loves ME

Again, again, ME Cancun is source of more news; this time in the Miami Herald, where we were given a gleaming review.

“Spacious and sparsely furnished lobby is decorated with abstract sculptures, mostly representing fish, water, and mermaids. On one side is the hotel’s bars and two restaurants. Salt, a stylish Mediterranean restaurant, and Silk, an eclectic Asian bistro decorated in deep red and pink hues, where women are offered a pillow for their feet.”

Reads like a setting right out of a Hemmingway novel, doesn’t it? Alright, not so much, but they did a class job of describing the resort; meaning that they probably wouldn’t mind staying at ME Cancun, again.

The normal flow of Cancun news is a bit stagnant this week, so until the next one….

NYE Photos and Cheap Airfare

As the CUPID Party fast approaches, I figured I’d share some recently published photographs of the 2007/2008 Passion Lounge New Years Bash; you know, to give you an idea of what you’ll be skimping out on, come the 14th. Cheers.

If you can’t make this one, you could-maybe-perhaps make the next one? Aerobus is offering 10 dollar one-way flights between Cancun and Austin, TX beginning May 1. Plan ahead!

The Cancun-Veteran Secret

It’s a little town hidden in an area just South of Cancun’s Hotel Zone. Puerto Morelas is one of those secrets that Cancun Veterans know about but are reluctant to talk about. But the way I see it, this is some type of fraternity-esque hazing ritual that has you missing out on a Mexican-gem. It’s obnoxious, and anyone that would put you such a position is a jerk.

Why is Puerto Morelas such a for-your-eyes-only, hush-hush, if-I-told-you-I’d-have-to-kill-you operation? The Great MesoAmerican Reef. It is located 300 feet from shore and is integral to the town’s eco-tourism. The reef system is the second longest in the world; which doesn’t really lend to location’s anonymity.

Something else certainly worth checking out is the town’s Selvatica guided tour through the Yucatan jungle; consisting of 2 miles of zip-line riding, mountain biking, jungle diving, seclu—

Backup… Jungle Diving… Diving through the air in a jungle… Continuing…

—secluded swims, and snorkeling. Experiencing all of this is not confined to the Cancun-veterans, or those staying in Puerto Morelos, as Salvatica provides delivery to and from ME Cancun and many other resorts.