Advertisement
Published: January 29th 2008
Wine bar
next to the Italian restaurant we ate at in the Resort.The subject just means (quote)How to log in(end quote). Has anyone used a Mexican keyboard before? They have to have quotation marks somewhere...
Alex is in bed and does not want to get up. I think he has a cold. Again. Or maybe
still is more appropriate. His doc put him on a Z-pack before we left for just in case. He has been cold like for about two months. Now he is back to square one, no appetite, ache, and stuffy. I just went to their store to get health food for dinner...chips, water, and cookies. We do not have a fridge in the room for anything perishable.
Alex wants me to go to the time share breakfast presentation just to see what he and Jamie went through. They had us put down a $20 deposit for it when we checked in. Jamie being the lovely lady who commented on my last entry. Apparently it is not as easy as free breakfast and 10%!o(MISSING)ff everything we purchase during our stay here. I am not old enough to purchase one here anyway...you have to be 30....so why not, I say!
We traveled
into town (Playa del Carmen) today and it was everything I could have hoped for in a Mexican tourist city. It was a bit run down, gated buildings, prescription drugs sold at every pharmacy to anyone without a prescription, people walking around with beer in hand, and food...LOTS OF FOOD! We ate lunch at a Mexican joint (surprising, I know) where we each had fajitas, Sol (pretty much exactly like Corona, but different name), and chips with salsa. mmmMMMmmmm! There was a live band playing and cute pup at the feet of the customers eating next to us.
While walking around the resort we found that they have pink flamingos here. Real, live, pink flamingos...I can see why they post not to make noise, climb over the rail, or toss things in...it is tempting. They just stand there, on one leg, sleeping...that was it. Nothing more to see.
Life is full of perfect moments. The fourth of July was perfect. We took the pontoon out on the lake, it was dark except for the stars and the fireworks going off around the lake at different neighbors houses. It was just the two of us out there, eating sandwiches,
grapes, cheese and crackers with wine. Perfect. Tonight was like that...jacuzzi for two, candle light, bubble bath...then Romeo had to call it a night. He requested Doritos for when he wakes up. I love him. He had a Freudian slip and referred to himself as my husband while we were walking through town.
I wish I had more to report, but Mexico just does not look like it will be as full of adventures.
Tuesday, November 22, 2008 Today, Alex and I just lounged in the pool all day. After all the sleep we got, he has his energy back.
I have decided that I developed an allergy to either
The awful, itchy excema like rash is back and the only thing that I think could have made it go away during our short stay in the States is the lack of both. Oddly, it is not on my face.
The bars around here are neat in that they have swings hanging down instead of stools for you to sit at. I wanted to order a drink just because it looks cool.
After swimming and
Fabulous photos
decorating the wine bar walls sunning for a good portion of the day, we decided to try our hand at Parasailing. It was AWESOME! Neither of us had done it before and it was well worth it. It could take up to three people, so we were both glad that we could do it together. The guy said it goes up about 200 meters, and if that is accurate, we were about 600 feet above the ocean. I would hate to fall from one of those things....ouch. To get out to the boat that takes you out, we had a wild ride on a jet ski...first time for that as well for me.
For dinner we went to an Italian place within the resort that has a wine bar attached to it before calling it a night.
Wednesday, November 23, 2008 We woke up at 7 to get an early start to Tulum. After I was out of the shower and almost ready to go, Alex still refused to get out of bed so we slept until 11...so much for an early start. Our goal for the day was to explore the Mayan Ruins. I heard that there is no
shade and it is best to do this in the morning or on a cloudy day. We, of course, went during part of the hottest part of the day.
We hired a guide who explained to us that Tulum translates into Smelly Land. We had the pleasure of seeing sacred areas that were once used for ceremonies with 15 year old virgin girls that are now occupied by the local Iguanas. The photos will do the talking for this.
Tips for visiting the ruins in Tulum
Take/wear sunscreen
a bathing suit
a towel
a bottle of water
maybe even an umbrella if you cannot handle a lot of sun.
We found out after we got there that there is a staircase going down to the ocean for those that planned ahead to cool down.
After our adventure, we ate dinner at a Mexican joint in the area. Of course, it would not be dinner in Mexico without a random cat curled up at your feet. They call the orange coated fur ball Sr. Garfield.
I've learned that to really make the experience, you should rent a car and get a first hand dose of
their insane drivers. The lines on the road may or may not be there and even if they are there at some points, it is tough to distinguish between current lines and old faded lines...watching the other cars, we figured out that it more or less is one wide road and you can go where ever you please. We watched cars go into the oncoming traffic lane and then pull into the lane of the car next to it almost shoving it off the road. The left lane is for turning left at the intersection, but if you are fast enough and in the right lane...feel free to cut everyone off and make your way over.
On that note...
Tip for renting a car - Do not rent from Executive
The couple before us, while examining the car, came in complaining of blood being on the passenger seat. Now, if it was really blood or not, I do not know...but still...that is never good to hear.
The car we got is a dirty little bomb that was greased over to make the interior shiny. It has A/C...but that is about it.
Thursday, November 24, 2008 Today we skipped out of joining a group tour to Chichen-Itza (Alex has a cousin that calls it Chicken Pizza...that helps for remembering how to pronounce it) and hopped in the car for our own tour. It takes about three hours to get there from where we are (somewhere between Playa Del Carmen and Puerto Morelos). The roads are a lot less busy, but there is a $25US toll fee. Just getting gas was a trip. We have not seen any self serve gas stations and the men working the pumps all flag you into theirs just the same as they hollar for you to come into their stores or like people do at the fair trying to get you to come play their game. They washed our windows, checked the oil, and the air in the tires. Through all the confusion, and multiple cars lined up at the pump, Alex thinks he gave him like a $20 tip. They charge extra for the oil checking on top of that...we did not even know what was going on.
Before reaching Chichen-Itza, we stopped at a decent looking place for lunch. They did not speak much english and we
do not speak much spanish so it was interesting. I had a plate sat down in front of me with two tortillas and some kind of shredded white meat. I ordered two beef tacos, figuring I could scrape the meat off, because we could not figure out how to order vegetarian tacos...bean tacos did not translate. I was so bummed to only find shredded mystery meat on my taco and complained that these are not tacos. Alex laughed and said,
why dont you explain to him that you are from America and how tacos are supposed to be made? We decided that they were Chihuahua tacos, so he ate them and I stuck to greasy tortilla chips. Hey, sometimes you luck out with random stops, and sometimes you dont....it is all apart of the fun and mystery of travel. Oh, speaking of mystery...Alex ordered burritos and they came as tortilla wraps with cheese and that nasty, thin, slimy ham sandwich meat. He ate those too.
I walked into the bathroom stall and luckily noticed there was not toilet paper in there before I proceeded with my business. I found one big roll at the entrance that you are supposed
to take before you go in. That was different...I have not seen that one before.
We rolled into a small town with a man walking with a concrete block on his head, run down houses, and a lot of dogs running around before arriving at Chichen-Itza. I wish I could say that it was an incredible, breath taking experience, but the only word I can use to describe it was
overwhelming. As soon as you bought your tickets and bracelets in, there were swarms of guides offering to take you around, that you see more with a guide, please - here - let me help you put on your bracelet, it was a challenge just to get in the gate. Once inside, it does not stop...now people want you to buy their Mayan masks, hand sewn handkerchiefs, water, pop, etc....
Only one dollar....10 pesos! Almost free!
Cheaper then K-mart! (no joke...we really heard this)
It is cheaper on the way back! My little sister, Calley, wanted a pair of earrings and I had already bought her a bracelet so I did not want to spend much on another gift. A guy said a pair was $30 US
and as I browsed more, his price came down more. Learning how the game is played, I got him down to $14 and was quite pleased with my purchase. Before we left, the cutest little boy did talk me into $10 for a ceramic mask and a Mayan statue...he explained what all the symbols mean, but it was in Spanish, so I have no idea what I really bought. But hey...$10, the kid was happy.
Once we were passed all the bombarding sales pitches, the place really is incredible. I cannot believe they let you walk around on these ruins, and the ones that are roped off have huge chunks of the buildings lying around that you can see original carvings in...just out for anyone to touch...randomly left around. There was the ruins of something that is now used as a bench...nobody knows what it is, or was, so nobody cares. There is a lot of history just being destroyed from traffic and sold as imprints on shot glasses and tote bags.
On the way back, we took a different route that little did we know, was not a direct route, but a longer one going through city
after city. Kids approached us at every speed bump offering peeled oranges and one boy had a turtle in an old plastic bottle for sale. It made you want to toss all of your money out to them at each stop you came to, but what good would it do? It is their life style...they would need education, employment, shoes....things that money for a day will not solve. The run down houses are smaller then our living room...and that is for an entire family. It looked like people here just scatter their garbage in any clear space of ground available.
We finally found ourselves in the heart of Cancun (we think) and on the right track back home. Randomly, we would pass military looking vehicles with guys in uniform behind a machine gun. It was similar to our experience in Honduras...I think it just shows who is boss.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 15; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0275s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Denae
non-member comment
Photo 35
They forgot the 'y'....