thursday mario and i slept late and then we walked down and met his parents ... they upgraded their white hotel room to a red 1 bedroom suite ... then we walked around the property some and headed out to playa del carmen where we had lunch at a restaraunt that specialized in fajita steak ... some fine eatin ... and then we headed on down the road to xcaret ... http://xcaret.com ... we got there about 130 and mario and i had our swim with the dolphins scheduled for 330 so by the time we got to the back side of the park there was not a lot of time to do much before it started ... we went to the beach and swam around the dolphin tank and got a feel for what we were going to be doing ...
then we headed over to the dolphin tank and got signed up ... they split us into 3 groups of 10 people ... and since mario and i were so big they put us in the group with the 2 oldest and largest dolphins ... abril and alux ... the first thing they had each of us have the dolphins to a trick ... i made them sing ... mario had them roll over so he could scratch their stomach ... the would also stand up and twist, splash their tails and wave ... then half of our group got to do the dolphin push ... you turned on your belly with your legs fully extended and locked and the dolphins would each put their nose on your foot and both of them would push you across the pond ... kind of like you were flying .... then they lined us up and had the dolphins jump over us ... then we all spaced ourselves out and the dolphins swam amongst us and we were able to pet them ... then our group got to do our push ... that was really cool ... although when i fully extended my legs my nose was in the water ... but once they started pushing ... wow ... last they had each of us hold the dolphins head and take our picture with the dolphins ... mario had to do his twice because he was pulling the dolphin up out of the water ... some people will do anything for attention ;-)
after we finished with the dolphins we went to look at the pics and the dvd ... i decided i wanted both so we had to hang around for 20 minutes for the dvd to be ready ... by then, it was 510 and the "river" was closing at 530 so we hauled butt across the park so we could get in ... the sign said the water was 62 degrees ... luckily it wasnt that cold ... but it was very nice ... we were in the underground river about an hour ... in and out of the ground although mostly the section we picked was underground ... the water was salty - although not as salty as the ocean
...
we finished there and headed back to the front of the park to change into dry clothes and mario schlepped the wet ones out to the car ... then we went for the 3 hour Noches Spectacular - a sort of Mexican fiesta. it began with a history of mexico - from the mayans to the introduction of columbus ... and - as mario puts it - the destruction of our culture ... in any case - it showed the combination of the cultures ... they also played a game of mayan ball where the rules were put the ball in the hoop without touching it with your hands or your feet ... violations were self policed as people would go to the back of the pack ... mostly they threw their bodies on the ground to bounce the ball with their hip ... ouch ... then another group played hockey with balls of fire ... i think they were probably coconuts that were burning ... because on a couple of occasions the ball would literally split into 2 burning masses that would no longer roll ... after intermission there was different music and dances from around the country ... and during the entire show, we were served a 5 course meal ... muy fantastico.
then we headed back and mario and i had a pizza before calling it a nite ... i'm glad i dont have to get on the scales until friday - it gives me some time to lose some of the wait i'm sure i gained this week ...
friday was to be a "stay at the resort day" - mario and i got up and had breakfast buffet and then headed to the pools where we both proceeded to burn ... i was supposedly staying in the shade - so i did not put on any sun screen - and my legs are the color of bing cherry. OUCH ... of course we were drinking pina coladas and had one of the drink specials of the day which was bad - whatever it was ... and we had pizza for lunch ... then about 2 or 3 we decided to head to puerto morelos to see what was there and eat there as well - we went to the artists exhibits and i bought a quilt - but we didnt find any place there we wanted to eat - so we went back to the fajita place in playa del carmen and walked around until about 10 and did a little shopping along the way ... by the time we got back to the hotel i was in SERIOUS pain ...
today we got up, checked out and came home ... are thinking about heading to the pride parade tonite and willl probably go look for chinese foot in a bit ... all in all it was a nice trip ... i'm sure we'll go back - but next time we'll probably go in september - risking the hurricane season - but it's not supposed to be so humid ...
until next time ... hasta luego.
Our travel pages - the pictures and the tales that go with them.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
cancun Day 7
today was the first really pretty day since we got to cancun ... so we started out at the pools ... although neither of us thought we were burned ... we are both a little more red than we thought ... c'est la vie ... we picked the pool with the bar in the middle ... after 2 pinas ... and three somethings called a roadrunner ... take a pina and add stuff ... vodka and amaretto and grenadine ... nice ... we decided we had enough ...
we changed and headed out ... first to playa del carmen for lunch ... again a really nice meal for not a lot of money ... and then on to tulum ... http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/places/tulum/tulum.htm
really nice set of ruins ... not really big ... but location ... location ... location ... what a spot to build a house ...
back to playa del carmen and the grocery store for sandwiches and back to the resort ... mario and i thought we would catch the show tonite ... but alas its game nite ... no show ... so hopefully we can catch it friday since tomorrow we will be at xcaret ... http://xcaret.com/ mario and i are swimming with the dolphins at 330 and we have tickets for the show tomorrow nite ... should be a nice day ...
hope work is going well for ya'll ... i know ... i¿m a bitch
we changed and headed out ... first to playa del carmen for lunch ... again a really nice meal for not a lot of money ... and then on to tulum ... http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/places/tulum/tulum.htm
really nice set of ruins ... not really big ... but location ... location ... location ... what a spot to build a house ...
back to playa del carmen and the grocery store for sandwiches and back to the resort ... mario and i thought we would catch the show tonite ... but alas its game nite ... no show ... so hopefully we can catch it friday since tomorrow we will be at xcaret ... http://xcaret.com/ mario and i are swimming with the dolphins at 330 and we have tickets for the show tomorrow nite ... should be a nice day ...
hope work is going well for ya'll ... i know ... i¿m a bitch
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
cancun Day 6
last nite after the email mario and i went over to the pool to swim but decided it was TOO cold after the full day of rain ... so we went to one of the bars and had a pina colada ... muy rico ... and called it a nite ...
today, mario and i were up early and actually ready to leave at 9 as per the plan ... but when we called martin and mary ' we woke them up ... lol ... so we had to wait for them for a change ...
today, we left and headed to playa del carmen http://playaguide.com/ so we could catch the ferry to cozumel http://www.islacozumel.com.mx/ ... we got there just in time to catch the next one (they only run every 1 to 2 hours ... as oppposed to the every 30 minutes they tell you online), so we were really lucky ... the ride over took about an hour, and my motion sickness hit me with a vengenance ... not enough to make me heave ... just enough to wish i could ... we were upstairs where the ship was not air conditioned and the combination of the side to side and the hot air was more than i could handle ... i went downstairs to the a-c part but there were not any seats down there so i just leaned against a wall until we could get there ...
martin wanted to snorkel ' so we all decided to make that the trip of the day ... we all bought tickets for the glass bottom boat and snorkeling ... 250 pesos each ... which included snorkeling gear and 2 bebidas ... drinks ... water, coke or beer ... i did the water coke routine and the morenos did the beer ... just never been much of a beer drinker ... we did 3 different reefs ... i was much better at doing it today, although getting back in the boat was no better ... at the last stop, there is a plane on the bottom of the sea ... apparently sunk there for a movie production ... was rather cool ...
about the time we got in the boat, it really started raining and rained probably until the 3rd reef stop ... and rained super hard ... stinging our backs as we snorkeled. mary likes to swim but not snorkel so she just enjoyed it all from the boat while we snorkeled ...
after the boats, we went to get dinner ... martin had the sea food special which smelled delightful ' mario and i had the mexican plate ' 2 enchiladas and a chili releno and mary had mary had tampiqueña ' whatever that is.
martin and mario had beer, mary had a lime soda she had packed in and i had a diet coke and a margarita on the rocks ... a really good one too ...
then we headed back to the ferry landing ... mario needed to stop at hard rock to buy another bear for the hard rock bear collection ... his mother and dad went ahead and caught the ferry ... we made it with about 1 minute to spare ' but i was afraid we were going to miss it.
the ride back bothered me some ' but not as much as the ride over ... once back we went swimming some more ... and i remembered why i don{t swim ... the movement of the water makes me dizzy ... cést la vie
i decided to wash the swim suits and a towel in the spa tonite ... the laundry is only open in the day ... we shipped a few shirts over there today but figured the towel and suits could be hand washed just as well ... i needed to wash my hat too ... it was smelling fishy ... although i{m not sure why.
i'm still a little dizzy as i write this so i need to see if i can find my
meds when we get back to teh room or i may have to see if i can find a mexican equivalent tomorrow ... i want to be in top shape for the dolphins on thursday ...
tomorrow we're going to tulum
http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/places/tulum/tulum.htm
now back to the room and room service for dinner ... hasta luego.
today, mario and i were up early and actually ready to leave at 9 as per the plan ... but when we called martin and mary ' we woke them up ... lol ... so we had to wait for them for a change ...
today, we left and headed to playa del carmen http://playaguide.com/ so we could catch the ferry to cozumel http://www.islacozumel.com.mx/ ... we got there just in time to catch the next one (they only run every 1 to 2 hours ... as oppposed to the every 30 minutes they tell you online), so we were really lucky ... the ride over took about an hour, and my motion sickness hit me with a vengenance ... not enough to make me heave ... just enough to wish i could ... we were upstairs where the ship was not air conditioned and the combination of the side to side and the hot air was more than i could handle ... i went downstairs to the a-c part but there were not any seats down there so i just leaned against a wall until we could get there ...
martin wanted to snorkel ' so we all decided to make that the trip of the day ... we all bought tickets for the glass bottom boat and snorkeling ... 250 pesos each ... which included snorkeling gear and 2 bebidas ... drinks ... water, coke or beer ... i did the water coke routine and the morenos did the beer ... just never been much of a beer drinker ... we did 3 different reefs ... i was much better at doing it today, although getting back in the boat was no better ... at the last stop, there is a plane on the bottom of the sea ... apparently sunk there for a movie production ... was rather cool ...
about the time we got in the boat, it really started raining and rained probably until the 3rd reef stop ... and rained super hard ... stinging our backs as we snorkeled. mary likes to swim but not snorkel so she just enjoyed it all from the boat while we snorkeled ...
after the boats, we went to get dinner ... martin had the sea food special which smelled delightful ' mario and i had the mexican plate ' 2 enchiladas and a chili releno and mary had mary had tampiqueña ' whatever that is.
martin and mario had beer, mary had a lime soda she had packed in and i had a diet coke and a margarita on the rocks ... a really good one too ...
then we headed back to the ferry landing ... mario needed to stop at hard rock to buy another bear for the hard rock bear collection ... his mother and dad went ahead and caught the ferry ... we made it with about 1 minute to spare ' but i was afraid we were going to miss it.
the ride back bothered me some ' but not as much as the ride over ... once back we went swimming some more ... and i remembered why i don{t swim ... the movement of the water makes me dizzy ... cést la vie
i decided to wash the swim suits and a towel in the spa tonite ... the laundry is only open in the day ... we shipped a few shirts over there today but figured the towel and suits could be hand washed just as well ... i needed to wash my hat too ... it was smelling fishy ... although i{m not sure why.
i'm still a little dizzy as i write this so i need to see if i can find my
meds when we get back to teh room or i may have to see if i can find a mexican equivalent tomorrow ... i want to be in top shape for the dolphins on thursday ...
tomorrow we're going to tulum
http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/places/tulum/tulum.htm
now back to the room and room service for dinner ... hasta luego.
Monday, June 20, 2005
cancun Day 5
after some swimming in the pool last nite ... we called it quits and had a good nites sleep ...
this morning we headed out and drove to cancun ... we took the ferry over to isla mujeres http://www.isla-mujeres.net/ ... it was raining when we left the hotel but we figured it would pass soon ... so on the way over we rented a golf cart for 450 pesos so the 4 of us could tour the island ... but when we got to the island it was raining even harder ... we waited for about 20 minutes hoping it would clear to no avail, and they said we could trade up to a boat ' so for 1000 pesos we rented a boat, a capatin and probably his son ... it took us first to a spot near one of the light houses and a reef there where we got to go snorkeling ... a first for me ... it was fun ... although i didn{t use the fins they made my feet float too much ... and basically they drop you off 'upstream' (yes even the ocean has a current) and let you swim back down stream and pick you up again ... of course my body weight (even in the new slimmed down by 40 pounds version) was still enough to radically tilt the boat to one side when i tried to climb back in ...
from the snorkeling we went on ... still in the raid ... and had lunch ... which was included in the 1000 pesos ... we had baked fish (pescado), rice, and spahghetti with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on it ... the spaghettie was really good ... served by the captain and his crew ... the fish hit the spot although it was really a little fishy tasting ... with the hot sauce and the lime thought it was pretty good ...
from there mario and i walked the beach for a bit and i picked up a few pieces of washed up coral and a rock for my altar and then it was back to the boat to see the rest of the island ... one of the things we passed was a spot where you can swim with the dolphins (which we are doing at xcarat on thursday) ... i have mixed feelings about it since i expect to find them in captivity ... was true of the ones we saw today ' they are basically in a fenced off area of the water at the shore ... time will tell ...
as we made the last turn about 1/2 mile back to shore, we ran out of gas ... a friendly boater threw the captain a line and got us into shore ... the captain then walked us out to the street and flagged down 2 cabs for us ... 2 of us in each cab ... that got us back to the ferry landing ... my guess is he didn{t make much on that trip ... but we enjoyed the adventure ... we walked around for about 20 more minutes and did a little shopping while we waited for the ferry to come and then headed back ...
we stopped off and bought a few groceries and headed back to the resort, ate a small meal and now we're diong the email thing and heading to the pool ...
tomorrow we're headed to cancun ...
this morning we headed out and drove to cancun ... we took the ferry over to isla mujeres http://www.isla-mujeres.net/ ... it was raining when we left the hotel but we figured it would pass soon ... so on the way over we rented a golf cart for 450 pesos so the 4 of us could tour the island ... but when we got to the island it was raining even harder ... we waited for about 20 minutes hoping it would clear to no avail, and they said we could trade up to a boat ' so for 1000 pesos we rented a boat, a capatin and probably his son ... it took us first to a spot near one of the light houses and a reef there where we got to go snorkeling ... a first for me ... it was fun ... although i didn{t use the fins they made my feet float too much ... and basically they drop you off 'upstream' (yes even the ocean has a current) and let you swim back down stream and pick you up again ... of course my body weight (even in the new slimmed down by 40 pounds version) was still enough to radically tilt the boat to one side when i tried to climb back in ...
from the snorkeling we went on ... still in the raid ... and had lunch ... which was included in the 1000 pesos ... we had baked fish (pescado), rice, and spahghetti with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on it ... the spaghettie was really good ... served by the captain and his crew ... the fish hit the spot although it was really a little fishy tasting ... with the hot sauce and the lime thought it was pretty good ...
from there mario and i walked the beach for a bit and i picked up a few pieces of washed up coral and a rock for my altar and then it was back to the boat to see the rest of the island ... one of the things we passed was a spot where you can swim with the dolphins (which we are doing at xcarat on thursday) ... i have mixed feelings about it since i expect to find them in captivity ... was true of the ones we saw today ' they are basically in a fenced off area of the water at the shore ... time will tell ...
as we made the last turn about 1/2 mile back to shore, we ran out of gas ... a friendly boater threw the captain a line and got us into shore ... the captain then walked us out to the street and flagged down 2 cabs for us ... 2 of us in each cab ... that got us back to the ferry landing ... my guess is he didn{t make much on that trip ... but we enjoyed the adventure ... we walked around for about 20 more minutes and did a little shopping while we waited for the ferry to come and then headed back ...
we stopped off and bought a few groceries and headed back to the resort, ate a small meal and now we're diong the email thing and heading to the pool ...
tomorrow we're headed to cancun ...
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Cancun Day 4
Today was more laid back ... we slept late, got up and did the e'mail for yesterday ' walked around the complex for a bit ... checked out the pools http://www.mayanpalace.com/riviera/over.cfm and the ocean right beyond it ... thats the multi'colored water folks ... and yeah ... it looks JUST like that ...
then we went into cancun ' a good 30'45 minutes from here ... and did some shopping ... bought very little ... had some good food ... sweated four or five more gallons of water ... drank not nearly enough to replenish all of that ... went to the grocery store so i could be some fruit, we could buy some water and some coca light ... and now i{m sending this email and we{re getting ready to head to the pool for an evening swim .... that will undoubtedly be followed a little later with some cheese, some flat bread and some more fruit ... and then some tv ... perhaps in soak in the double person hot tub and i{ll probably wait until tomorrow to wash a load of clothes ...
all in all ... it beats working any day ... lol
then we went into cancun ' a good 30'45 minutes from here ... and did some shopping ... bought very little ... had some good food ... sweated four or five more gallons of water ... drank not nearly enough to replenish all of that ... went to the grocery store so i could be some fruit, we could buy some water and some coca light ... and now i{m sending this email and we{re getting ready to head to the pool for an evening swim .... that will undoubtedly be followed a little later with some cheese, some flat bread and some more fruit ... and then some tv ... perhaps in soak in the double person hot tub and i{ll probably wait until tomorrow to wash a load of clothes ...
all in all ... it beats working any day ... lol
merida cancun Day 3
these spanish keyboards are going to kill me
yesterday, we got up earlier than expected after a VERY restful and comfortable sleep ... it was heaven compared to the heat of the day before ... we went downstairs and had our americano breakfast ' bacon or ham with eggs (chopped into them), bread, fruit, juice and coffee.
then we checked out of the hotel. we had decided to go ahead and drop the rental car in merida ... we could just ride with marios folks that way and we didnt have to worry about what time we were going to get back into cancun ... it cost more money since we were leaving it somewhere other than we rented it ... but we decided the flexibility was worth it ...
martin and laura picked us up and we went back to the aunt{s house to finish loading up the vehicle and say goodbye to everyone ... then we all got in the van and began our journey of the day ...
the first destination was to chichen itza http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/chichen/chichen_index.html ... http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/mayan/TourEntrance.html
the main pyramid has 365 steps ' 91 on 3 sides and 92 on the 4th ... we picked the side that had 92 ... why quibble over one step ... me and my fear of heights ... not thinking about how i was going to get back down ... went up it one step at a time ... that bad knee you know ... and i walked on my feet and hands at the same time so i was going up at the same angle as the pyramid ... it was SUPER HOT (muy caliente) and the steps were burning my hands as i went ... but it was worth it to get to the top and walk gingerly around (close to the building) to see around us and feel the power emanating from within ... when it came time to leave ' i told mario just to fly me up some water and send me some food ... i wasnt going back down ... but he finally got me started back down the same way i came up ... and stayed with me as i went ... there was one point where i nearly lost my balance ... that would have gotten me down ... but probably not alive in the process ... but i finally made it to the bottom and collapsed on the grass ....
we were constantly being harrassed by people wanting to sell us something ... all i wanted to buy was water ... and we finally found someone that would sell us that ... apparently its ok for artisans to sell their wares but not for the merchants to sell water ... i drank a large liter bottle of water without stopping and then got another one .... there is a lot there besides the main pyramid and i think once i recovered we managed to see most of it ... i kept praying to CHA ' the mayans rain god ... and at the tail end of the visit ... he listened enough to make it worse ... lol ... go figure ....
from there we drove a little further to Valladolid to go the dzitnup cenote there http://www.xaac.com/playacar/dzitnup.htm ... spectacular ... about 30 steps down into the earth ... with ropes to hold onto for support and 3 candles to light the way ... you get down into the earth to this large lake ' about 50 yards in diameter ' and there is a hole at the center that lets light in from above ... it was really nice .... but unlike caves in the us ... mexico caves are NOT cold ... it was probably 80 degrees and 99.9% humididy ... mario went back out and got our suits and we went swimming ... the water is perfectly clear ' you could see your toes and once you get off the slippery and rough ledge, it was super deep as well ... the water seemed cold at first ' it was probably 80 degrees also though, but it was VERY NICE after nearly passing out from the heat prostration of the our earlier visit ... but soon enough it was time to leave ... it was now 5 and we had not eaten lunch yet ...
we got back into the van and traveled o into the small town of valladolid and had during at the meson . similar to a food court at a mall, but that was the extent of what the place was ... we had a pork dish that was similar to brisket (cochinita pibil) ... mario and i ate twice ... and the food bill only came to 220 pesos for all 4 of us ... then we headed out to find the autopista ... the toll road .... which we never found .... and apparently that was the only town we could get onto it from .... so instead of 2 hours back to cancun we spent about 4 ... with martin driving, me yelling anytime i saw a tope (speed bump ... but like driving over a horse in the middle of the road) or a tope sign (damn things are hard to see) and at one point when martin and i were both trying to read signs we hit one doing about 40 ... ouch .... (and of course mario was bitching everytime we hit one) but i think that was the only one we hit full on ... martin and i make a pretty good team i think
we finally got to the resort and got checked in ... just looking at prices, its obvious the owners of this plush resort are americans ... we have definitley left the low cost of mexico behind .... mario says all of cancun is that way .... c'est la vie ...
guess thats all so far ' were off to explore the resort and later are going into cancun shopping .... ugh ....
but that DOES remind me ... mary bought a necklace yesterday ... and after she gave martin the change and walked on out he looked at me like i{m sure i look everytime mario goes shopping ... so i guess he has parts of both his parents ... i wish i had had a camera to capture that look on film it was priceless....
back to the riviera ...
yesterday, we got up earlier than expected after a VERY restful and comfortable sleep ... it was heaven compared to the heat of the day before ... we went downstairs and had our americano breakfast ' bacon or ham with eggs (chopped into them), bread, fruit, juice and coffee.
then we checked out of the hotel. we had decided to go ahead and drop the rental car in merida ... we could just ride with marios folks that way and we didnt have to worry about what time we were going to get back into cancun ... it cost more money since we were leaving it somewhere other than we rented it ... but we decided the flexibility was worth it ...
martin and laura picked us up and we went back to the aunt{s house to finish loading up the vehicle and say goodbye to everyone ... then we all got in the van and began our journey of the day ...
the first destination was to chichen itza http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/chichen/chichen_index.html ... http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/mayan/TourEntrance.html
the main pyramid has 365 steps ' 91 on 3 sides and 92 on the 4th ... we picked the side that had 92 ... why quibble over one step ... me and my fear of heights ... not thinking about how i was going to get back down ... went up it one step at a time ... that bad knee you know ... and i walked on my feet and hands at the same time so i was going up at the same angle as the pyramid ... it was SUPER HOT (muy caliente) and the steps were burning my hands as i went ... but it was worth it to get to the top and walk gingerly around (close to the building) to see around us and feel the power emanating from within ... when it came time to leave ' i told mario just to fly me up some water and send me some food ... i wasnt going back down ... but he finally got me started back down the same way i came up ... and stayed with me as i went ... there was one point where i nearly lost my balance ... that would have gotten me down ... but probably not alive in the process ... but i finally made it to the bottom and collapsed on the grass ....
we were constantly being harrassed by people wanting to sell us something ... all i wanted to buy was water ... and we finally found someone that would sell us that ... apparently its ok for artisans to sell their wares but not for the merchants to sell water ... i drank a large liter bottle of water without stopping and then got another one .... there is a lot there besides the main pyramid and i think once i recovered we managed to see most of it ... i kept praying to CHA ' the mayans rain god ... and at the tail end of the visit ... he listened enough to make it worse ... lol ... go figure ....
from there we drove a little further to Valladolid to go the dzitnup cenote there http://www.xaac.com/playacar/dzitnup.htm ... spectacular ... about 30 steps down into the earth ... with ropes to hold onto for support and 3 candles to light the way ... you get down into the earth to this large lake ' about 50 yards in diameter ' and there is a hole at the center that lets light in from above ... it was really nice .... but unlike caves in the us ... mexico caves are NOT cold ... it was probably 80 degrees and 99.9% humididy ... mario went back out and got our suits and we went swimming ... the water is perfectly clear ' you could see your toes and once you get off the slippery and rough ledge, it was super deep as well ... the water seemed cold at first ' it was probably 80 degrees also though, but it was VERY NICE after nearly passing out from the heat prostration of the our earlier visit ... but soon enough it was time to leave ... it was now 5 and we had not eaten lunch yet ...
we got back into the van and traveled o into the small town of valladolid and had during at the meson . similar to a food court at a mall, but that was the extent of what the place was ... we had a pork dish that was similar to brisket (cochinita pibil) ... mario and i ate twice ... and the food bill only came to 220 pesos for all 4 of us ... then we headed out to find the autopista ... the toll road .... which we never found .... and apparently that was the only town we could get onto it from .... so instead of 2 hours back to cancun we spent about 4 ... with martin driving, me yelling anytime i saw a tope (speed bump ... but like driving over a horse in the middle of the road) or a tope sign (damn things are hard to see) and at one point when martin and i were both trying to read signs we hit one doing about 40 ... ouch .... (and of course mario was bitching everytime we hit one) but i think that was the only one we hit full on ... martin and i make a pretty good team i think
we finally got to the resort and got checked in ... just looking at prices, its obvious the owners of this plush resort are americans ... we have definitley left the low cost of mexico behind .... mario says all of cancun is that way .... c'est la vie ...
guess thats all so far ' were off to explore the resort and later are going into cancun shopping .... ugh ....
but that DOES remind me ... mary bought a necklace yesterday ... and after she gave martin the change and walked on out he looked at me like i{m sure i look everytime mario goes shopping ... so i guess he has parts of both his parents ... i wish i had had a camera to capture that look on film it was priceless....
back to the riviera ...
Friday, June 17, 2005
Merida / Cancun Days 1 and 2
We left Houston on time yesterday afternoon (about 340) and arrived in Cancun a little before 6. By the time we cleared customs, and picked up the rental car, we were on the road about 7 ... We got to Merida about 10 and spend a little time with Mario's cousin Laura and then went to see her sister and mom and Marios parents .... After a pleasant evening with them, we got back to the hotel and checked in about 1.
The room was hotter than 10 kinds of hell ... and the a-c did not make that much better all nite ' by 8 this morning, the room was approaching 95 ' already hotter inside than out ' and its hot outside ...
Ultimately, we moved across the street to a different hotel (Casa del Balam) ' the room there is MUY FRIO ' i.e. COLD ... which works for both of us. I probably won't be able to get back any of the money from hotels.com ... so here's a hint ' don't use them.
We had breakfast at a nice little cafe on the town square ... we both had Huevos Ranchero and Coca Light ... it came with bread and we both ate it ... the diet will just have to wait another week.
After breakfast, we went to a couple of the churches here in Merida to see what they were like. The big one on the town square is supposed to be one of the (if not the) oldest church on the continent. The second one we stopped in although smaller was a little more plush with stained glass windows and better art in my opinion ... it was also EMPTY!
Mario's folks and Laura picked us up and we headed out to see the sites, the first place we went to was in a little town called Cuzama http://www.yucatantoday.com/destinations/eng-daytrip-cuzama.htm ... the best part of this trip to me was the transportation to get there ... we had been driving parallel to a railroad track about 2 feet wide for 10 or so miles before we got there ... and when we get there we negotiated for 2 'train' cars ... really buggys ... pulled by a horse ... that carried us into the jungle for the sites... of course ... everyone but ME knew what we were going to see ... but i got to be surprised. The buggies were nice ' although my butt is still a little sore from the bumping ... in any case it was defintely i different way to travel ... and the buggies cost us a whopping 130 pesos for each one ' i.e. about 12.50 american or 25 total for the 5 of us ... not a bad deal ... and they strapped the ice chest on
gratis as well ...
We were there to see the cenotes ' or caves ' and in this case ' with water in the bottom ... the first one had a set of super steep and narrow stairs ' about 30 of them ' that went down to a small underground pond ' that was perfectly clear ' blue and the water was nice for swimming ' but since we had forgotten the suits we decided to pass .... the second one we stopped at (which was actually the last one) i chose not to go into because it was a ladder that went about 50 or 60 feet almost straight down where mario and his folks reported a really nice lake that spread out in all directions and they said the views were really spectacular ... although i finally got on the ladder ' i could not make myself take the next step to move on down into the cave ... marios pictures were nice but im sure did not begin to show the beauty ... and i havent had a chance yet to look at the web page to see what pictures they might have. the third site we stopped at the guides told us was even more ardous than the first, so we decided not to even go into that one .... and just rode back out ... all in all, we covered about 14km or 10 miles or railorad track and had an enjoyable although extremely HOT day.
after getting back to where we started ' mary ' mario's mother ' bought hand made hammocks for the family home in Cerralvo. they were 350 pesos each ' about 32 dollars ' in multi colors ' and probably the bed was about 7 feet long and 7 feet wide for each one ... super nice ... and a lot of work ' we watched them weave a row on one ... i looked at them, but just couldnt figure out where i would put a second hammock ... c'est la vie.
we left there, and after getting lost NUMEROUS times ... and Martin (mario's father) hitting untold topes (road bumps) that he didn't see first ... we made it to a little town called Mani where we ate lunch. the restaurant was an outdoor cafe underneath a large palapa ' a large frame work without walls that is covered in palm branches to keep out the sun and the rain ... i kept thinking what a great party place it would make in a back yard some day ... ha ... we all ordered the speciality of the place ' a pork dish cooked in lime ... in my opionion ' a little too much lime ' but i did eat the radishes that were garnish on top and found them actually good after some lime juice .... it was good just the same ... as was the guacomole and the chips we started with and the frijoles negros sopa (black bean soup) that we had as appetizers ... i also had dessert ' a bowl of helado ' ice cream ' flavor of coco ' or coconut ... which was really great and it was garnished with a chocolate wafer cookie (galleta) ... a number of coca lights ... and i had a glass of jamaica water (a tea made from Hibiscus ... it tastes to me a lot like blackberry juice)too.
from there, we made it (again after getting lost a few times) to uxmal http://www.yucatantoday.com/destinations/eng-uxmal.htm one of the many mayan ruins in this end of the world ... after the ruins close each day they run people out and then have a light show in the center of the ruins where they tell their story. although in spanish ' mario interpreted for me so i was able to get the gist of what was going on ... it was really neat and someday we'll have to go back so i can spend some more time actually going through the places ... although the one i want to see the most i don't think is open to the public ... go figure .... it seemed to emanate a LARGE amount of power to me from there we drove back into town and stopped by the internet cafe so we could both check email and i could send this note ... we're going to try to drop our rental car here tomorrow rather than driving it back to cancun ' and just ride back there with his folks. that way we can take our time and see a bit more on the way back since we wont be confined to the schedule of the car ...
thats all for now i guess ... theres supposed to be a cyber cafe at the mayan riviera where we are staying as well ' so hopefully i can stay on task and get you an update along the way
The room was hotter than 10 kinds of hell ... and the a-c did not make that much better all nite ' by 8 this morning, the room was approaching 95 ' already hotter inside than out ' and its hot outside ...
Ultimately, we moved across the street to a different hotel (Casa del Balam) ' the room there is MUY FRIO ' i.e. COLD ... which works for both of us. I probably won't be able to get back any of the money from hotels.com ... so here's a hint ' don't use them.
We had breakfast at a nice little cafe on the town square ... we both had Huevos Ranchero and Coca Light ... it came with bread and we both ate it ... the diet will just have to wait another week.
After breakfast, we went to a couple of the churches here in Merida to see what they were like. The big one on the town square is supposed to be one of the (if not the) oldest church on the continent. The second one we stopped in although smaller was a little more plush with stained glass windows and better art in my opinion ... it was also EMPTY!
Mario's folks and Laura picked us up and we headed out to see the sites, the first place we went to was in a little town called Cuzama http://www.yucatantoday.com/destinations/eng-daytrip-cuzama.htm ... the best part of this trip to me was the transportation to get there ... we had been driving parallel to a railroad track about 2 feet wide for 10 or so miles before we got there ... and when we get there we negotiated for 2 'train' cars ... really buggys ... pulled by a horse ... that carried us into the jungle for the sites... of course ... everyone but ME knew what we were going to see ... but i got to be surprised. The buggies were nice ' although my butt is still a little sore from the bumping ... in any case it was defintely i different way to travel ... and the buggies cost us a whopping 130 pesos for each one ' i.e. about 12.50 american or 25 total for the 5 of us ... not a bad deal ... and they strapped the ice chest on
gratis as well ...
We were there to see the cenotes ' or caves ' and in this case ' with water in the bottom ... the first one had a set of super steep and narrow stairs ' about 30 of them ' that went down to a small underground pond ' that was perfectly clear ' blue and the water was nice for swimming ' but since we had forgotten the suits we decided to pass .... the second one we stopped at (which was actually the last one) i chose not to go into because it was a ladder that went about 50 or 60 feet almost straight down where mario and his folks reported a really nice lake that spread out in all directions and they said the views were really spectacular ... although i finally got on the ladder ' i could not make myself take the next step to move on down into the cave ... marios pictures were nice but im sure did not begin to show the beauty ... and i havent had a chance yet to look at the web page to see what pictures they might have. the third site we stopped at the guides told us was even more ardous than the first, so we decided not to even go into that one .... and just rode back out ... all in all, we covered about 14km or 10 miles or railorad track and had an enjoyable although extremely HOT day.
after getting back to where we started ' mary ' mario's mother ' bought hand made hammocks for the family home in Cerralvo. they were 350 pesos each ' about 32 dollars ' in multi colors ' and probably the bed was about 7 feet long and 7 feet wide for each one ... super nice ... and a lot of work ' we watched them weave a row on one ... i looked at them, but just couldnt figure out where i would put a second hammock ... c'est la vie.
we left there, and after getting lost NUMEROUS times ... and Martin (mario's father) hitting untold topes (road bumps) that he didn't see first ... we made it to a little town called Mani where we ate lunch. the restaurant was an outdoor cafe underneath a large palapa ' a large frame work without walls that is covered in palm branches to keep out the sun and the rain ... i kept thinking what a great party place it would make in a back yard some day ... ha ... we all ordered the speciality of the place ' a pork dish cooked in lime ... in my opionion ' a little too much lime ' but i did eat the radishes that were garnish on top and found them actually good after some lime juice .... it was good just the same ... as was the guacomole and the chips we started with and the frijoles negros sopa (black bean soup) that we had as appetizers ... i also had dessert ' a bowl of helado ' ice cream ' flavor of coco ' or coconut ... which was really great and it was garnished with a chocolate wafer cookie (galleta) ... a number of coca lights ... and i had a glass of jamaica water (a tea made from Hibiscus ... it tastes to me a lot like blackberry juice)too.
from there, we made it (again after getting lost a few times) to uxmal http://www.yucatantoday.com/destinations/eng-uxmal.htm one of the many mayan ruins in this end of the world ... after the ruins close each day they run people out and then have a light show in the center of the ruins where they tell their story. although in spanish ' mario interpreted for me so i was able to get the gist of what was going on ... it was really neat and someday we'll have to go back so i can spend some more time actually going through the places ... although the one i want to see the most i don't think is open to the public ... go figure .... it seemed to emanate a LARGE amount of power to me from there we drove back into town and stopped by the internet cafe so we could both check email and i could send this note ... we're going to try to drop our rental car here tomorrow rather than driving it back to cancun ' and just ride back there with his folks. that way we can take our time and see a bit more on the way back since we wont be confined to the schedule of the car ...
thats all for now i guess ... theres supposed to be a cyber cafe at the mayan riviera where we are staying as well ' so hopefully i can stay on task and get you an update along the way
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