on the yucatan road

It is the small things that count.

When I stay in hotels while traveling, a lot of things matter. The bed. The size of the refrigerator. The presence or absence of a bathtub.

But what will peg my meter are the bathroom amenities. Particularly, the soap and the shampoo containers.

There must be a special engineering degree for designing soap wrappers that are impossible to open without using a shiv or a shampoo bottle's top where no finger can obtain purchase if even a hint of moisture is on your fingers. Somewhere Allen Funt is green with envy that shower cams were not readily available in his era.

Fortunately, I have not experienced that frustration on this trip. For the past three days, my cousin Dan, his wife Patti, and I have been staying in the Hotel Plaza Cozumel on, as you may guess, Cozumel. The hotel is far from a luxury all-inclusive. But it makes up for that in character and its pure utilitarian nature.

Take a look at the photograph. Someone deserving of a Nobel Prize has actually designed a soap wrapper that is both attractive and functional. A readily-recognizable perforation with plenty of packaging allows an adult to open it under a running shower. The same goes for the little shampoo bottle. Its top twists off even with the soapiest of hands. Why a $60-a-night hotel can solve this simple task while $400-a-night luxe pads can't is a mystery.

But even the best of bathroom discoveries come to an end. Tomorrow we fly out. Them to Fort Lauderdale -- and eventually Mallorca. Me to Los Angeles, where I will lay over for three days before I return home.

It has been almost two weeks since I left Barra de Navidad to fly to the Yucatan -- a part of Mexico I always find interesting. I had intended to keep you informed each day on our adventures. But, I did not have time to sit down and think. While I am in Los Angeles, I will update you on the past two weeks. I hope. 

Here is a short list of what may or may not show up in future essays:

• Our stay at La Dichosa, a bed and breakfast in Vallalodid, owned and operated by Carlos and Teresa, friends of Dan and Patty. A place with a changing cast of international guests that would make a perfectly-serviceable remake of Grand Hotel.
• Visits to the archaeological sites of Ekʼ Balam and Mayapan -- two of the smaller Mayan city-states that are far more interesting than the over-hyped Chichen Itza.
• A reprise stop at Mani, one of Yucatan's magic towns that I last visited in 2010 with fellow-blogger Wayne Jahr.
• A quick trip to Mérida, the state capital of Yucatan, to drop off a family memento to Joanna van der Gracht de Rosado, another fellow-blogger.
• No trip would be complete without a wildlife segment. Ours was to see the pelicans and flamingos of Las Coloradas.
• And, of course, our three-day stay on the island of Cozumel, where Dan and Patti lived and ran a business.    

I usually wait to pass on my bottom-line of the places I visit until I share the experience with you. I am far more deductive than inductive. The seductive I will leave to the younger crowd.

Of course, the purpose of this essay is to let you know that I have not been kidnapped by Somali pirates. Any kidnapping has solely been a family affair.

And those details will soon follow.