Cancun Blues

After my last real vacation to Italy in December 2007, you can imagine — after two and half years of neck-breaking toil — how wonderful it is to be on holiday again.

Having been to Cancun in December 2006, going back is easy. A holiday package is booked, and in no time Jet Blue unloads me into the signature turquoise waters of Cancun. My goal: not to get a tan.

The hotel is Marriott CasaMagna Resort, but these pictures are from the more picturesque JW Marriott next door. It is the low season and the pools are almost deserted. For four days, I did not dipping even my toes into the water.

It was full moon for two days, and the silver moonlight on the ocean was divine, though impossible to capture with a camera.

There are several restaurants on the bay side from the hotel. El Shrimp Bucket has great food. Below: virgin mango margarita. It tastes just like mango lassi in India.

This is my favorite dish: raw tuna tostada. It has a slightly sweet sauce, which mixes well with the tuna and avocado.

Shrimp taco is essentially a shrimp salad on top of tortilla

Fish taco on soft tortilla, which I like better than the crispy version.

Grilled shrimp… a disappointment.

La Destileria is a Mexican restaurant across from the Kukulcan Mall. The restaurant has a terrace overlooking the bay and yummy Mexican food.

Pad Thai from Sasi Thai restaurant at the Marriott CasaMagna. If you are used to authentic Thai food, stick to Mexican food while in Cancun.