I wrote the following right after the trip, but didn't get around to uploading the pictures until nearly three years later! At first I tried to incorporate the pics within the original narrative, but since what I wrote was very short, and the pictures are very many, it didn't work very well. So below, you'll find my intital reaction to the trip and below that way more pictures than you ever wanted to see with some captions. All I can say, sitting in the middle of a Utah January, is that I'd like to go back right now! Enjoy the post!
In a way the Cancun trip was a mistake, first because it wasn’t where we really wanted to go, and second because it was the wrong kind of vacation for us. But that’s the magic of travel---it teaches you about yourself and the lessons are usually worth the price. So, in another way Cancun was a priceless gift. What happened was this:
We had just spent an extremely high stress year worrying that Dave wouldn’t find work. And then when he did find work, we worried we wouldn’t be able to sell the house in a horrible market. We worked night and day for five solid months to get the house ready. One week after we put the For Sale sign up, the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was wiped out by a flood. Our house was spared by just eight blocks. A few weeks later we moved a thousand miles back to Utah and did the work of moving in and carving out a new life for ourselves here. In short, we were TIRED.
What does that have to do with Mexico? Well, we really wanted to go to Hawaii or Europe to celebrate surviving the year, but couldn’t quite afford it. We were exhausted AND feeling poor (other than the money we saved for the trip), and that is a terrible mental place to be if you’re trying to make decisions.
I got one of those faxes at work that promise an incredible deal-- in this case 5 NIGHTS IN AN ALL INCLUSIVE LUXURY RESORT IN CANCUN FOR ONLY $150 PER PERSON!!!!!!
Here’s the scoop with those things. They really are for real—sort of. The actual cost on this one was $300 per person (which they did reveal before we booked, but only after some severe arm twisting). Naturally you spend one morning of your vacation sitting through a time-share presentation. Worst though is the abysmal customer service—good luck ever talking to a human once they have your money. HOWEVER…
Unbelievably once we got to Cancun, the resort really was first class (Sunset Lagoon---stay there)! Our room was gorgeous with a private hot tub on the patio and the French doors opened out onto a small lawn with a postcard perfect beach just steps away. There were hammocks nearby and beach chairs and all food was included even a special lobster dinner.
But fabulous as the resort was, I think we all discovered once and for all that we are just not resort people. If you stay at a resort---that’s what you see---the resort. I wanted to see Mexico. Sure we took some side trips, but I felt frustrated that I didn’t feel free to take overnight trips to interesting places. Technically we could have, but we had already paid for the resort both with money and aggravation and we didn’t want to throw it away (besides the place was incredible).
Even still, we did get to see the famous ruins of Chitzen-Itza as well the less famous local ruins called El Rey. El Rey was covered with iguanas and there was only one other tourist. Except for the Hilton hotel in the background it was easy to imagine that Indiana Jones was nearby. Don’t see Chitzen-Itza on a package tour—we only had about an hour to tour the site—impossible and frustrating. Ditto the cenotes. A cenote is a place where the limestone of the earth has caved in forming a beautiful natural pool. There are hundreds in the area. The bus tour gave only us 20 minutes but it was an amazing 20 minutes. You had to walk down about 100 feet to the water and then jump in. I don’t know how deep the pool was, but the water was crystal clear with fish swimming below and jungle birds flying above and thick jungle vines climbing the walls all the way to the top. Magical!
The best food we found was at the Parque de Palapas in the less touristy city section of Cancun--far better than anything at the resort and cheap too! The Parque was a little park that was obviously a favorite hang out of the locals. We were the only gringos there.
The Mexican people that we managed to meet were unfailingly kind to us. One man jumped into the ocean to help me and Catherine out when we drifted too far into a dangerous rocky area, another (even though he was part of the obnoxious vendor crowd) gave Dave’s money back when he overpaid for a souvenir, and our maid went beyond the call of her job in putting cute little touches in our room.
So, we did manage to have a wonderful time—though Catherine took authenticity a bit too far and came down with the flu--probably the dread swine flu--that had been on the rampage just before we took the trip, on our last day.
And now we know--next time we take a big vacation—the first question to ask ourselves is, “What is it exactly that we are trying to do?” And if the answer is “See this and see that.” Then we know we need to make seeing this and that the top priority and not to get trapped in some fancy resort however glossy the brochure may be.
And now the pics!
We tacked on a day at the beginning and end of our trip to stay in a cheap hotel so we wouldn't waste any resort time in arriving and departing. This is a Ramada Inn which we got for about $30 a night and we thought it was beautiful!
Cool vines going up on all sides.
A pretty pool.
A sullen teenager.
A nearby market. We warned these ladies that Catherine's hair is super thick. They were still astonished.
Taking a break at the market. We learned early on that all of us hate haggling.
One of my favorite little shops. We bought the parrot on the upper left hand side. It lives in our kitchen now.
The "Parque de Palapas" a wonderful gathering place near our hotel. This was the real Mexico--no gringos here.
Don Javier's stand was mentioned in the guidebook for good reason. The food here was MUCH better than the resort food.
Cute little cars and cute little kids.
Street entertainers. I still feel embarrassed about this clown. He posed especially for me and I didn't realize that I was supposed to tip him until too late. Stupid Tourist!
Catherine under a "Fire Tree" On the way to the Parque.
No parking!
Cool looking mailbox
The resort. We were extrememly relieved to find that yes, it was real, and yes, it was as nice as advertised.
Much nicer than advertised in fact. This is our private jacuzzi.
Stunning landscaping.
The beach right outside our door.
A split level swimming pool.
Free bikes, and kayaks to use.
Towel animals!! I saw these for the first time on our cruise and never expected them here.
Even the toilet came gift wrapped.
A towel swan.
A towel fight.
A nifty fountain.
The world's slowest slide.
Pool hugs.
THE place to be after getting a PhD.
The all you can eat buffet. It was ok. I liked the street food much better.
The ruins of El Rey in Cancun. This was fun to visit, there was only one other man there, and we could climb on the ruins, which we couldn't do at the more famous Chitzenitza. It felt very isolated and mysterious (so long as you didn't look at the Hilton Hotel in the distance.)
The ancient Mayan Hilton.
Iguana everywhere.
There weren't any signs identifying anthing. Which made it all the more authentic to explore.
It was a boiling hot day and not much shade at El Rey.
About ready to keep over from sunstroke.
Right across the street though was this pretty beach with families playing in the water.
We nicked named this beach the "Beach of Death." The current was FIERCE. The ocean would drag you out then SLAM you down and scrape you across the rocky bottom. Once you got past the surf into deep water it was ok, except that me and Catherine drifted too far and if it hadn't been for a very kind Mexican gentleman we never would have made it out without breaking our legs.
Mile Markers in Mayan.
The biggest temple in Chitzenitza.
The snakes capture the solstice.
An ancient Mayan game. You have to get a ball through the hoop. Losing team gets beheaded.
Carvings on this building were still nice and deep. I hadn't realized that Chitzenitza wasn't just one temple. It's a whole city.
New digging on the site.
An anciet sacrificial pool to throw the virgins in.
Every possible kind of craft.
Everyone claimed everything was handmade. It was nice to see this guy really carving something.
Goddess Catherine.
An ancient observatory.
The tour came with lunch and Mexican dancers. Obviously a family affair. Very sweet.
We got to visit one cenote--the biggest and most famous. Our camera did a poor job in the dim light, but these pictures I hope, capture at least some of the Indiana Jones feel of the cenote.
Dave and Catherine for a swim. Water was pretty cold but worth it.
Catherine striking out for the middle. The water was too deep to touch bottom and there were fish.
Vines going up hundres of feet
Tourists at the top watching us brave souls below
As you swam at the bottom with fish beneath you, you could look up and see birds flying overhead.
Dave went a bit bananas photographing statutes. This was a cool one.
The free entertainment was pretty lame. I guess you get what you pay for.
On the ferry to Isla Mujeres--The island of women
We rented a golf cart but were mean and didn't really let Catherine drive.
The island had a little aquarium.
Also a light house. You could climb up and have a good view.
A sculpture garden by the lighthouse.
The farewell towel design left by the maid.
The ceiling at Senior Frogs.
Awesome bathroom sign.
We didn't eat at the Hard Rock this time, we had other plans.
At the big mall.
Dave and Catherine looking homeless and wretched. All three of us spent all the next day at the Atlanta airport looking just like this.
Cool little money changing truck.
Sick or not, we had to go here!
After the trip. And where is Catherine the sick one who should have been resting? We got home on Monday, took her to the doctor who pumped her full of Tamiflu and sent her off on another adventure to Turkey on Thursday.
And to finish off another copy of the picture of the firetree. It will not be deleted. And why not? It's a very impressive tree.
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