Holiday Road

20Apr10

Hola guapisimas! I returned on Saturday night from a week in Cancun, Mexico, where I had the grand opportunity to catch up on sleep (read: temporary narcolepsy), put my face in the sun, and turn off my iPhone. Despite a couple of days of rain, the trip was just what I needed to feel rejuvenated for my upcoming race. Per my last post (and thanks to my travel partner, Beth, for picking them up during the mad rush to get all my work finished and get the heck outta dodge), I got to read two books from my reading list: Eating Animals and Skinny Bitch. I am still digesting (if you will). More to come on these.

Many people associate Cancun with raucous Spring Break trips; however, not only does Cancun have breathtaking Caribbean beaches, it is also a fantastic jumping-off point for trips to see nearby Mayan ruin sites. On Tuesday, sufficiently caught up on sleep and slightly bronzed, we took a day trip to Tulum, an ancient Mayan trading post with magical views of the sea.

During the two hour drive to Tulum, our knowledgeable tour guide, Jaime, told us the Mayan creation story as told to him by his own grandfather, a Mayan sorcerer. Revered by the Mayans, corn or maiz plays a central role in the story and ends up the material from which the Mayans were created. This sacred crop also popped up in many of our meals – as the dipper for our guac or to fill fajitas with veggies, black beans, and rice. We also learned that the Mayans raised hairless dogs, not for pets, but for food. Poor buddies!

Knowing it might be difficult to find veggie fare (and despite a mishap at the airport in which our natural peanut butter was confiscated by security), we arrived armed with instant oatmeal, flax crackers, almonds, raisins, cereal, dark choc, granola and Lara bars, pumpkin seeds, and a few other miscellaneous items to get us through the week. At the resort market, we were able to pick up key staples like multigrain bread, peanut butter, and fresh fruit. Halfway through the week, Beth even discovered soy milk (marked not soya, but “sin lactosa” or without lactose). Que milagro!

I will admit, it was somewhat challenging to be a vegan in Cancun – most menus simply did not provide a vegetarian, let alone a vegan option. But, in spite of the inherent challenges, we enjoyed the quiet solitude of PB sammies and snacks in our room and relied on the kindness (pity?) of our waiters (Oscar, Alejandro to name a couple of favorites), who were so helpful in delivering our food sin queso, sin crema, sin leche de vaca y sin carne (thats without cheese, cream, cow’s milk, and meat, for my non-Spanish speakers). Fifteen years of Spanish certainly becomes practical on trips like these.

Whereas during my [vegetarian] semester abroad in Spain, there were numerous mishaps (read: ham in a Spanish tortilla as requested without meat), in Mexico, our meals were delivered as promised. On a side note, we even found a Thai restaurant (aptly, named Thai), where we stuffed ourselves with tofu in green curry sauce and sauteed veggies.

Finding food to fill our hungry vegs bellies following self-inflicted beach boot camp, training runs and gym workouts was no small feat in Cancun. I recommend you go prepared, not only with snacks to tide you over between meals, but also with a few phrases to help communicate your own dietary needs in a place where vegetarianism is not the norm. Not that I ever wanted to be the norm…

Next trip: vegan macro cruise? My tummy is growling just thinking about it.

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Filed under: Food, Travel, Vegan   |  1 Comment
Tags: Cancun, Caribbean Vacation, Eating Animals, Skinny Bitch, spring break, Thai La Isla, Tulum, vacation, Vegan, vegan travel