Hand-made sisal hammock

The Mérida area is famous for being the best place in Mexico to buy hammocks. The good Mexican hammocks are the ones that hark back to an ancient Mayan tradition: hand-made; dyed with natural, local plant products; and woven from the sisal fibres that are easily obtained from the native cactus plants. A local pointed me to one of the top hammock outlets in Mérida, and I picked myself up a beauty of a genuine Yucatán hammock.

Got it for 700 pesos (USD$70), down from 1,200. Lonely Planet says that less than USD$100 is a pretty good deal, as long as it's genuine. And I'm pretty sure it is.

My new sisal hammock.

The shopkeeper claims that his hammocks will:

• Last at least 20 years.
• Naturally repel mosquitoes.
• Survive machine washing.
• Survive rain and other severe weather.

Time will tell the validity of these claims. I'm planning to spend a few nights in my new hammock, on the beach at Tulum, and in the jungle at Palenque. These will be good opportunities to give my new hammock a baptism.

Sorry — I mean bris.