Mexico Road Trip: Can Cun and the Cocobango Club
We pull into a restaurant called Las Tres Hermanas – the Three Sisters – another good sign. There are a dozen truckers eating and drinking coffee and all indicators point to a good meal…often the food is not so good where beer is the primary attraction; another pointer I’ve learned over my many years of road travels. One of the Hermanas comes and asks us if we are going to eat and we say yes. She says they have beef steaks or pork steaks; we order pork steaks. She brings me a soft drink and Angelica a cup of hot water with slices of lemon…the truckers are laughing, smoking and ordering more coffee. This is my kind of place.
She brings us our plates with tortillas, a bowl of refried black beans and a saucer with slices of lemon and habanero chiles. They don’t each much salsa here on the peninsula…The food is superb.
Good choice, says Angelica.
So was the cenote, I reply. She smiles. Some days on the highway things just go right…I pay the bill and we are off to Can Cun.
The sun is starting to set and we can see a brilliant rainbow…a fitting end to such a day. We drive on the Libre and through small towns with many unmarked topes or speedbumps…all a driver has to do is hit one of these things and they slow way down…
It’s Saturday night and we can see several parties starting outside the huts…it must be a birthday or quince anos. I suggest we stop and Angelica said they would probably invite us in…and they probably would. But it is getting dark and we are still a ways from Can Cun…
It’s dark when we get in…once again the black night turns into suburbs in a kilometer. There are all sorts of large warehouses and trucks and I am reminded that more than a half million people now live here and there are some estimates that put it up to 700,000; not the sleepy little village it was 30 years ago. I can see graffiti scribbled on the walls and building and am reminded we are in civilization once again. What a contrast from the Cenote.
We drive into town and stop at the first hotel we find…it’s certainly not fancy but has a place to park the car off the street. At the front desk counter they sell chewing gum and candy and condoms and I think we have arrived at one of those hotels again; but I’m just too tired to drive around anymore. They don’t take credit cards so I have to go out on the street to an ATM. It is definitely a bit on the seedy side but not like the Tenderloin in San Francisco…I look at the street sign and it says Jose Lopez Portillo. Appropriate I remark to Angelica, Lopez Portillo being one of the more infamous Mexican presidentes in recent history. There are drunks and nightclubs and our hotel is right next to the Cocobango Club and we can hear live music blaring out. I don’t see any tourists…
We stop for some ice at a convenience store and the door is locked with an open service window, just like the liquor stores in New York City. Can Cun was at the very bottom of my visit areas for this trip and this is why…
We go back to the hotel room and can hear the Cocobango Club music. A couple is arguing in the hallway and he is trying to convince her to stay…several cars enter the parking lot as several leave. Life goes on despite the lover’s quarrels, condoms and locked convenience store doors. We fall asleep listening to the music and the hum of the overhead fan…it’s hot and so is the Saturday night.
We sleep late and I am so lazy I don’t get out the laptop. Besides it’s Sunday and we spent most of Saturday in a sacred hole…we both need a day of rest. We finally get up and head back out onto the street and the daytime has transformed it all…it doesn’t look seedy at all. We look for some breakfast and decide on a spot that is filled with locals…we have been in Can Cun for almost twelve hours now and haven’t seen a single tourist yet. We sit down at a table with a family…Mexican style. It is common for restaurants in Mexico to seat different customers at the same table…
Of course Angelica strikes up a conversation….she just can’t help herself. She asks what is good on the menu and the lady tells us…her husband offers his opinion and we order. The husband is a taxi driver and goes up and down the Maya Riviera and Angelica asks him where is a good spot to spend several days on the beach. He mentions a spot near Akumal. He says that Xcaret and Xel-ha now charge $50 U.S. entrance fee…and I cannot believe it. Those damn Germans. We have previously been to each spot and they were nice, but not great. He explained they have expanded them somewhat but they still are not great…he tells us how to get to his favorite spot. Angelica looks at me and I don’t say anything…after the Cenote No Name tip I better stay quiet.
The family wishes us ‘buen provecho’ or good eating…a polite custom when one leaves the area where others are eating. The waiter brings our food and it is very good. Actually most of the food on our trip has been good to very good…with only several meals that have been not good. Eating out is a always a roulette wheel and we have done very well so far. I pay the bill and we walk back to the hotel room. It’s hot and humid and I notice everyone is wearing shorts and flip flops. Turista City… It’s Sunday and I notice many men are buying beer and putting it into large plastic bags. Later we would see why…
We have several contacts in Can Cun and we get on the cell phone. My North American call plan works well here… The first is an old pilot friend that I haven’t seen for many years but he is out of town and his new wife is not very friendly so we say we’ll call back another time. The second is a cousin of Lencho’s, Paco, and he says, sure, come on out and we can stay with them. The house is small but they will find a place for us to sleep somewhere, he laughs. My kind of people.
We drive to the outskirts of Can Cun into what is one massive housing projects area. I realize this is where the service workers live. We have only been here a short time but have noticed many ‘help wanted’ signs. Housing workers has to be a major problem here…these massive projects are an attempt to solve the problem.
We get lost and call him again on the cell. He says to stay put and he will come get us…it’s hot and I buy some beer at an Oxxo convenience store. He meets us there and greets us warmly and warns us the house is very small. That’s okay, I say we can even pitch our tent tonight. There is no ground, he laughs, but we have some extra hammocks.
We drive to his apartment and would have had a lot of trouble had he not come to get us. He introduces us to his wife Pancha. I could not believe how small his apartment was…my guess was around 225 square feet. There were no beds and I could see the hammock hooks on the walls…there was literally no place for beds. I offer him a beer and he declines saying he has to go to work soon. I ask if it’s okay to put the beer in the fridge and he says it’s okay; the fridge is almost empty.
We work all the time, he says, like most of our neighbors do. Pancha has no time to cook so we almost always buy prepared food…she works 60 hours a week at a day care center. She makes 1400 pesos every two weeks, he offered, plus she has to pay the bus each way to work and back. I work right in the tourist area. I made really good money before the hurricane and we are actually buying this place, but now we are struggling. Until the tourists come back, we will continue to struggle.
Paco excuses himself and leaves. I ask Pancha where is a good place to get food and she says at a stand near the project’s entrance. I go and buy a kilo of pork ribs and a chicken…included are rice and beans, salsa and tortillas. I take it back to their place and we eat…the chicken and ribs are delicious.
Pancha is tired and takes a nap. Angelica and I go for a drive back into town…we are on the Backside of Can Cun…the place where no tourists go. That’s fine with me…I don’t really care to speak with any New Yorkers or Germans yet. Little did I know...
Jack D. Deal
