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Published: January 9th 2009
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Dec 2008 trip to Cancun, Mexico
Trip: Cancun, Mexico Dec 22-31, 2008
Top ten travel notes from Weerapperuma family
We visited Cancun, Mexico from December 22- Dec 31, 2008. Here is some useful info if you plan on taking the same trip.
1. If you are a US citizen, you don’t need an entry visa to visit Mexico. It is easiest just to travel with a valid passport. Cancun airport is easy to navigate, make sure you fill every required box in the immigration form before you go to the officer. Otherwise you will have to stay back and fill it out yourself even if it is just the date or flight number you forgot to write in. They will not let you do it in front of the officer. Also, bags are checked randomly. You are asked to push a buzzer and if it came red, your bags gets checked top to bottom. Real time waster, but you cant do anything about it.
2. Renting a car is the biggest problem you will encounter in Cancun. Make sure you get full insurance (non deductible) and understand all the papers you are signing (about 10 million of
them). Don’t hesitate to argue/bargain or ask for explanations. When you come out the airport lots of people will try to sell you time share opportunities or taxi services. Just say no thanks.
3. Do not spend everyday on a beach chair, but get about and visit the country. It is just beautiful and if you just stay in the hotel all day you will miss out on a great opportunity. There are many guided and organized tours if you don’t want to drive yourself. Two places you must visit are Tulum and Chichen Itza. Both filled with tourists, so go early to avoid the crowds.
4. Driving in Mexico is relatively simple. Two things to remember- there are frequent speed bumps even on major highways. They are huge and can damage the undercarriage if not driven over slowly. Some are not marked properly, so be careful when driving at night. Street lighting is sparse. Second thing is there are many police check points and you may have to stop for random checks. We were not stopped for the whole 2 weeks we were there, but may be we were just lucky.
5. Tulum- From Cancun it
is about 1.5-2 hrs drive. Tulum has a huge car park, enough for all the tourists,$3 for parking. Walking to the entrance just takes 5 minutes, but if you are not a walker, there is a shuttle you can ride for $1.50. They are in the process of building a walkway, so it will get easier than jumping over muddy pools of water. Admission fee to the ruins is $5, and if you are taking a video camera that is extra $4. Tulum is a Mayan fortress city on a cliff above the sea. Large stone structure -Castillo (castle) above the cliff is stunning. Temple of frescoes apparently contains 13th century wall painting, but entrance in no longer permitted. Walking among ruins in Tulum can make you very tired and hot. Take a cool water bottle and wear comfortable walking shoes. There is very little shade, so wearing sunscreen and a hat is a must.
6. Chichen Itza- Gets very crowded by 11am. So, go early as possible. From Cancun it is about 3 hr drive on highway 180D. Toll is very expensive- about $25 from Cancun but it is the best way to go we were told. Car
park is in front of the entrance to ruins. Admission is $10, free for children under 12. Video cameras $4. Biggest attraction is El Castillo pyramid which was built in accordance with Mayan Calendar. Four stairways each have 91 steps, totaling 364 steps which with the central platform make 365 days of the solar year. Spring and fall equinox’s casts a shadow on to the northern stairway apparently making a diamond pattern that looks like a snake descending to earth. We obviously missed that, but heard it is not worth fighting the crowds on those days. Entrance to the structure was not permitted. Other note worthy ruins to visit includes Ball court, Sacred Cenote, El Caracol (observatory) and Temple of Panels. Mayans believed in human sacrifice, so prepare to hear gory details. Visiting ruins will take a better part of the day and again it gets very hot and humid. Wear appropriate cloths/shoes. Restaurants are available on site and so are many souvenir selling vendors along the paths. Reminds very much of Anuradhapura, both in climate and environment.
7. Snorkeling- Go snorkeling in Akumal on your way back from Tulum to Cancun. It is one of best beaches in
Playa de Carmen area also and plenty of snorkeling opportunities where you don’t need a boat to carry you to the reef. You can swim out in hip deep water for about 100 ft. Punta Nizuc at the southern end of the hotel zone is another good place to snorkel. We stayed in Westin and it is about 5 minute walk to the snorkeling area behind club med property. You have to walk across the club med beach area to get to the snorkeling site. You are not really trespassing as beaches are public in Mexico. Again very easy to snorkel in that area and great snorkeling for kids. You will see the most colorful fishes.
8. Sub Sea Explorer travel- To see underwater reef and fish, you can take Aquaworld’s sub see explorer. While you will see beautiful under sea sightings, it is very brief. Kind of a let down and our kids were disappointed it ended too quickly. Under sea travel was limited to about 30 minutes. However, some people were quite relieved it was short as travel inside sub see explorer can make you queasy. We took “Dramamine” beforehand, so we were fine. Regardless, a better
option may be to take a day trip to Isla Mujeres (Small Island near Cancun) and take a boat to the reef for snorkeling. Heard there is a much better under sea sub in Cozumel, but then you will have to go to Cozumel which is bigger Island near Cancun.
9. Hotel Zone in Cancun- If you don’t travel outside the hotel zone you can imagine you are in Clearwater, FL. Hard rock café, McDonalds and Starbucks is easily accessible and you will not feel you are in another country. Also if you don’t want to make a trip to Tulum or Chichen Itza, then at least walk or take a bus to El Rey, Mayan ruins within the Hotel Zone itself. While the area is quite small comparatively, it is worth a visit and you can see plenty of sunbathing iguanas there also.
10. Shopping and eating- Take a trip to downtown Cancun. Big difference to Cancun hotel zone and you will see a bit of real Mexico. Specifically visit Market 28. Restaurants and shopping available for reasonable price. We ate at a great authentic sea food restaurant recommended to us by a local and did some
souvenir shopping also. Crowded and noisy, but a great place to walk about and do some window shopping. Silver jewelry is widely available and you should learn to ignore the requests to visit the shops if you don’t want to. They claim to sell things at no profit or almost free!
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The information is very helpful for the first time taveler to Mexico. The history part is facinating and deatailed. I love reading your blog.The pictures remended me Anuradapura and Polonaruwa.