Onion River Exploration Project: Mr Rogers Neighborhood

Mr. Roger

Day 3 (3/30-31/16)

We had kind of planned on taking another tour on Wednesday morning but everything we were interested in was already booked and we had intended on meeting our friend Roger in the afternoon anyway. So far we had taken little time to enjoy of the amenities our hotel so we decided to have a look around. As we walked down the beach we noticed that right next to our hotel there appeared to be what looked like another Mayan Ruins. We had to climb up around the outside to gain access to it but, sure enough, what we found was indeed the remains of a late post-classical period temple. It had been named the “Scorpions Temple” for the remains of a scorpion sculpture found on an inside wall. It was a rather small temple and in quite bad shape but still fun to explore and it was right next door. As I have mentioned before I am married to Miss Adventure so she decided that we should give the public bus system a try. We had read a tongue in cheek guide that described the intercity buses as somewhat questionable with drivers who all think they were formula 1racers. We were warned they just may stop for a taco along the way and that we should never assume that the drivers are going to know or care where you are going. Yeah, that about sums it up. Our first attempt got us about halfway to Rogers’s neighborhood before we decided to take a cab the rest of the way just to be on the safe side. As it turns out that was a good idea since the bus turned off several blocks from Rogers Hostel and the entry was halfway down an alley. Once we found our way the bus was a piece of cake. Once we found Roger we went out in search of “Cerveza”. We soon found a little outdoor Woodfired Pizza place that had exactly what we were looking for. After a couple of hours of catching up we moved on to another restaurant that offered more traditional fare. When we complimented our waiter on his impeccable English he informed us that he had spent most of his life in Texas and had moved back to Cancun a couple of years before. He was quite happy to have some customers to speak English to. Eileen and I both ordered shrimp cocktail our favorite traditional Mexican food and it did not disappoint. All too soon it was time to try our luck again with the bus. This time it went off without a hitch. We even met some girls from California would were just down the road from us. After getting up early to watch yet another sunrise it was off once again to old Cancun to spend the day with Roger. We spent the first part of the day checking out the neighborhood. We then decided to find a outdoor market that we had heard about. With very little trouble we eventually found it. Perhaps because it was early in the day and there were few customers the vendors were ruthless. It didn’t take long before we realized that very much of that would drive us completely bonkers so we decided to find a café for more food and Cerveza. Again we found a little outdoor establishment and before long the, I am assuming, owner had taken us under her wing and made it her priority to show us a good time. I could right volumes on the genuine hospitality of the people. By the time we had lunch and a couple of Cervezas the owner hugged us when she saw us off. After that both Roger and we had to head back to our respective lodging to prepare for leaving the next day. It had been a good time but soon it must come to an end.