Days 23, 24 - Punta Allen - where if you are poor, you eat lobster

On Monday, Ana and I decided to leave Cozumel and go on a little adventure for a couple of days somewhere on the mainland. When we met at the Coffee Bean in the morning, we had no idea where we would go. All we had was a map of Mexico, a change of clothes, a mosquito repellent and a flashlight.

After a very quick discussion at the rental car "office" in Playa del Carmen, we chose to brave the road to Punta Allen - a lobster fishing village, located very close to Tulum, in the Sian Ka Biosphere Reserve. I mean, close distance-wise. The road is full of potholes, so it takes 2 hours to cover those 50 kilometers. But we didn't really notice the time: Ana was enjoying the "video game" feeling of navigating our jeep through the maze of potholes, and I was happy to stare at the amazingly picturesque landscape that was opening up as we moved along the road. Hopefully, it will never be fixed, to keep most tourists away from this beautiful village, ensuring that it stays pristine.

Of course, the lively conversation also helped. I wonder why it is that every long trip discussion ends up in sharing relationship stories and general thoughts on the concept of relationships. Is it the most interesting topic for everybody nowadays? Or does it help find the common ground to establish more intimacy? Whatever the reason, talks like that are always entertaining and at times illuminating. Ana and I spent the whole trip on this very subject and never got bored.

Punta Allen greeted us with a very friendly Mexican who had the most hilarious Texan accent. I had a lot of trouble restraining myself, but fortunately I didn't burst out laughing in his face. Armando - that's his name - turned out to be a representative of one of the village's "cooperativas". This is a very interesting concept of social unions in Mexican towns: a cooperativa allows its members to communally participate in various forms of business and equally share in the revenues. There is one strict rule in those cooperatives - everybody waits for their turn to do things. For example, we wanted to hire a boat to do a trip to the lagoons and sea jungle that Punta Allen is famous for. In order to do this, we had to go through the proper chain of command. We thought that we might be able to pay a little less going directly to a captain, but no one would do it because that would screw up their reputation and create more problems for them in the long run than it's worth. The population of this village is only 350 people, so obviously everything is known before it even happens. Armando arranged a private boat trip for us at 7AM the following morning, recommended a good restaurant to have their famous lobster at, and gave us a key to a room right on the beach. We received this full service within our first 10 minutes in town, which was very convenient, not too expensive, and worth every penny anyway.

After having an amazingly tasty 4-hour long lobster lunch at the beach, we finally checked our room, which turned out to be unexpectedly luxurious considering the place and price. The only tiny problem was the complete absence of light. There was absolutely no power in the village at night. Thank God Ana is an experienced traveler in Mexico and always carries a flashlight. We went to the beach and comfortably situated ourselves in a hammock under the palapa. A young guy from Chicago camping out here joined us. Almost immediately a powerful thunderstorm started a gorgeous light show that we could not abandon even though Ana and Mateo were getting soaked (while somehow I remained absolutely dry). The lightnings, the sound of pouring rain, the soothing rythm of a rocking hammock, the songs Mateo sang to his guitar - all of it in complete pitch black darkness - made the whole experience very surreal and extremely sensual. I finally saw Mateo's face the next morning and it was totally different from what I had imagined under the palapa.

At 6AM the next morning it was overcast and foggy - more of the surreal beauty. We had a quick breakfast and started our sea tour with Manuel, the boat captain. This area is famous for mangroves that host unbelievable number of wild birds of every rainbow color, beautiful peaceful lagoons, dolphins, sea turtles, coral formations, and above all - total tranquility. Time stops. Thoughts cease to exist. Softness of colors and sounds overwhelms you. The only way I can describe this is as involuntary meditation.

The boat captain, who I was forced to speak Spanish with while Ana was snorkling (I personally dislike snorkling very much), told me that he would never ever want to live in a big city. Going to Tulum (that has 15,000 inhabitants) is always a terrible experience for him: there's too much noise and stress, and on top of everything he always gets blisters because in Punta Allen he is used to walk barefoot. He is a fisherman, and also he does tours like ours. He works when he wants to or needs food. He eats lobster when he has no money. He wouldn't care about going to opera or a play. What a strange life! On our ride back, I tried to imagine myself in a little town like this and I got an anxiety attack just thinking about it. But for a couple of days it is my paradise and gives me a sense of unconditional happiness. Ana is glowing with the same feeling.

There are no banks in Punta Allen. Apparently, not everybody knows that. This is why we end up giving a ride back to Tulum to a nice couple, who got a little stranded in this little town because they had no cash for a colectivo (a special route bus). They are in their 50s, and travel with 2 impressively small backpacks for 2 weeks - this is their style, they say. I compare this to a huge suitcase of useless clothes that I don't even wear because of this unexpected weather and get a little ashamed. And to think that I was so proud of taking only one suitcase for 5 months with me! People are so different, indeed.

On the ferry back to Cozumel, Ana and I are both disgustingly sweaty, salty, sandy, but immensely happy. How can you not be after such a beautiful adventure? Especially when you have a chorizo sandwich and delicious pineapple with you to quench your after-trip hunger.