Mayan Hammocks

Who doesn't like a hammock?

In the Mayan culture it is traditional to sleep in hammocks. No Sealy Posturepedics or bowling ball mattresses thank you. Also no linen to wash; what's not to like! Adults and babies enjoy the rocking equally and overall you get a great night's rest. Or so a recent Swiss study showed. According to many websites sleeping this way is much better for your back. Of course you do not sleep in a hammock like a banana, but you  lie diagonally across the hammock, so that your body is straight. There are some YouTube videos out there showing the correct method, but please, even though the chick in the itsy-bitsy mini bikini or the hunk with the six pack may be more enjoyable for some of you to watch, the traditional Mayan's way will be the one you really want to follow...

This is not the reason why we decided to get hammocks mind you. We just wanted to get hammocks because they are fun to chill in. After some dilligent research we decided to get the Mayan cotton "grande" version so that we can try to sleep in them. Man oh man - are they great or what? In this heat these hammocks are amazing to keep us cool!

So now we are swinging away in our newly purchased hammocks from Hamacas El Aguacate Pensiones a local store in colonia Franciso de Montejo (not the one in Centro).

Herman's hammock packed away on wall hook.

Denise's hammock ready for use. Except usually without a pillow!

All the houses here have hammock hooks in most rooms as well as outside so you can fold up your hammock in the traditional twisty way and take it with you. It is the only way I can handle the heat in the afternoons and with the larger hammocks you can easily wrap yourself in the material if the winds gets a little chilly (however, this has not happened to me yet).

If you buy a hammock for outside use only, the nylon ones will last longer, but the cotton ones are softer. The Mayan's are the best weavers of hammocks, so buying one in the Yucatan is apparently the best place to buy one. The prices vary dramatically and especially when you buy in the tourist areas you can pay up to $500USD for the large hammocks. However, you can bargain with vendors, so please do that and be realistic; how much is it worth to you?