Entry tags:
Cancun
We spent the last week in Cancun on vacation, the 70-80 degree temps a sharp contrast from the single digits and negative temps of MN. Friday was ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wolfie74's birthday and she really wanted to spend it somewhere with sun, water, and sand that was not behind clouds, frozen, or used for traction on the ice.
Thursday
We left MN at about 1:15 am, after working a full day Wednesday. Between planes and layovers and taxis, we got to our hotel about noon. It was technically a resort, but felt more like a hotel with extra amenities than some of the others we saw along the way, which was rather more comfortable for our Midwestern ways.
There was about an hour before our room was to be ready, so we ate real food at the restaurant attached, which is covered and netted but technically still outside. After check-in, we rested and wandered the beach a little and tried to relax.
Friday
At the airport, we got roped in to a "presentation" with a free breakfast for a different resort-like thing. Apparently, the majority of the hotels and resorts in Cancun are not actually Mexican due to how the investors and whatnot were originally set up, and now Mexico would like in on more than the 15% they are paid from the others, and that's what this is about.
Of course, it's not just a resort but also a timeshare and wow were they pushy, like seriously so. Beautiful place, don't get me wrong, but not our lifestyle and not cost-effective for us to buy into something that costs as much per month for 30 years as what we normally pay for a single vacation that we only take once a year. Free breakfast though, and discounts on the tour packages we wanted anyway, and a huge honkin' bottle of tequila thrown in the mix.
[Side note: because of the tourism factor and the usual clientele in Cancun, most places are honestly surprised if you don't want booze, usually tequila - tiny little shops will offer you a free shot if you are willing to look at their wares.]
Anyway, after fighting our way to get the place to understand that no means no, we fought against a similar presentation at our own hotel and then chilled on the beach for a while and then I tookwolfie74 out to a steakhouse for her b-day dinner. Fabulous food. Seriously, fabulous. It was an Argentinean place and we had mushroom starters and roast pig and wine and just, really, excellent service and food. More expensive than some of the touristy places, but worth it and probably less than what you'd pay in the states for the quality and service.
[Side note: they played a combo of tango and piano bar music at the restaurant - the waiters could not understand why we both lost it and cracked up at a piano version with a soft, slow, female voice singing "I used to love her, but I had to kill her" and "Take me on."]
Saturday
Saturday was our first real tour on this trip, and we went to Chichen Itza. Couple hours ride by bus with a stop in a small town with handicrafts and food. Beautiful handmade items and, yes, we bought some even though we knew it was technically a tourist trap, but the artisans were both local and tribal and split the money between themselves for pretty much every purchase.
The ruins themselves were spectacular. Interesting to learn how they were built and some of the significance of the different sites. We were also able to see the sacrificial cenote and the more usual bathing one, though we didn't hit the observatory because of time constraints. The site is huge and decently maintained and full of locals wanting to sell you everything, some seriously underpriced and some over. I will admit to getting tired of the jaguar whistles sooner rather than later though.
After that, we hit a cenote that you can wade and/or swim in, and then back to the hotel.
[Side note: there were two families with small children on the tour. One little girl was so well behaved and only cried for maybe 10 minutes of the almost 10 hour day, and that was when she woke up on the bus and didn't know where she was. The other family's little boy truly and utterly needed to learn the meaning of the word no. They ended up buying handicrafts they didn't want/need because he broke them, and they ended up late more often than not because they were not paying attention. The young uncle who was with insisted they tip the tour guide a crap ton for putting up with them, so there's that.]
Sunday
Sunday was beach day for the most part. We did a little wandering, but a lot of laying in the sun and splashing in the water. And burning. Like, seriously burning. Like I forgot to put sunblock on my thighs and might have had almost 2nd degree based on the color and pain factor. Apparently the sun in Cancun is a slow burn - you lay out and kinda feel it, but still look mostly unscathed. Then you go inside and ripen over several hours to new shades of fuchsia.
We also hit some of the shops near us just to see what they had. Many are family run and many are total tourist traps. Be careful with pricing as some of the less reputable places really want you in there, but they change the price when you get there (we avoided these but saw others get hit).
Dinner was some truly excellent chirozzo and horchata and then we wandered some more.
[Side note: sunburn hurts, yo.]
Monday
Monday was what we thought was a tour of Isle Mujeres. We walked down to the pier and watched the ships get ready, and then it was utter and complete chaos as they loaded ferries and catamarans and tours all at once. Aswolfie74 said, far too many people do not know how to queue.
[Side note: this is where you will get ripped off the most. Shops sell towels and sunblock and disposable cameras if needed. The towels are overpriced and they will short you change, the sunblock is the type the sign next to them says you can't use in the reef, and the cameras are so faded from the sun, it would be a miracle if the film was still safe. There are also people who claim it is their job to tell you the rules, and will insist on seeing your sunblock to make sure it is the right kind. Per them, despite the sign next to them, whatever you have is wrong and you need to buy theirs, which is of course overpriced and they will change that price on you depending on whatever cash you have with. Yes, we got hit with this one.]
The tour we took was excellently run, but not the one we though we signed up for. Unlimited free drinks, a stop for snorkeling and this cool "ride a sail attached to the catamaran over the water" thing, and holding a shark and such. We stopped for food and it was awesome and I may have eaten mashed potatoes with habanero sauce, but don't tell anyone. We finally made the main port of the island, and were only given an hour to see it and shop. This was not nearly long enough to travel the 5 miles to the ruins we had wanted to see, nor the restaurant Chefwolfie74 had wanted to eat at. Kinda disappointing in that, and we weren't the only ones who had thought it was a tour of island and not the sea around it, so we didn't feel as bad. It was a fun time though, there is no denying that.
For dinner, we stuck to the hotel, mainly because it was dark when we got back and it was there.
[Side note: the service is slow, but consistently so - it may be a cultural thing as it was that way every place we went, but there was the trade off of good food, so there's that.]
Tuesday
Tuesday was a chill day. We slept in and then wandered down to Plaza Corocal because they had a Starbucks andwolfie74 wanted a huge coffee and I wanted an iced mocha. Not exactly absorbing the culture, I know, but there are very few coffee shops and it was also the only place we went where we were told, "Excuse me, I believe I overcharged you, would you like a pastry to make up for my mistake?"
We tried to walk down to one of the other mall-type areas, but totally misjudged the distance. We thought it was maybe a couple of kilometers and made it about 4 km out of what we later discovered was 5, but both my sunblock and my feet were giving out by then, so we wandered back on the other side (in the shade). Beautiful walk though, even if it was warm, and thenwolfie74 hit the beach for a bit and I hit the AC for a bit, and pulled out my iPad for the first time since I got here to start writing this up and poke at a story.
[Side note: iguanas will pose for pictures, trufax.]
Dinner was a place across the street from the place from two nights before and some seriously delicious food. Also? My first margarita of the trip. I know.
[Side note: totally recommend avoiding the big bars and such and hitting the smaller food places - always a good sign if you see locals lining up to eat.]
Wednesday
Wednesday was our last day there, and a partial one at that. Breakfast was at the hotel buffet, drinking up as much of the slowly handmade hot chocolate as I could manage. We sat on the beach for a bit, where it was considered cold by the locals due to the wind before we headed for the airport and the long trip home... to temps of negative 40 with the windchill.
Brief little tidbit about the airline we used. I had never heard of Spirit Airlines before. They are tiny and, as such, have weird times as that's when they can get access to the runways. The customs process could have gone smoother, but they were blatantly honest about everything from the prices of any extras to their opinions on everything. The stewardesses put up with multiple assholes calmly and with an admitted amount of snark. I totally have to include my favorite quotes from them:
"No, seriously, you're standing in the middle of the safety briefing while we taxi?"
"Please turn off your electronic devices. Do not leave them on, do not leave them in 'airplane safe' mode, and do not leave them in 'hide them from the stewardess' mode."
"If you need to smoke, quit. Otherwise, get through customs and outside and hope you have enough time to make your connecting flight."
[Side note: for as much crap as these people had to put up with, they did so without losing their tempers and were actually legitimately helpful. Give them credit.]
All in all, a pretty good trip. Beautiful sites, excellent food, awesome weather. We didn't hit the hugely touristy spots (everyone assumes you want to go to Coco Bongo and Señor Frogs, which are huge Spring Break places, but not for us) but still had a good time.
[GIMP and iCloud are not playing well with each other (actually, iCloud is not playing well with itself either after the latest iOS update), so the pictures turned out a bit large. Because of this, I am tacking them on at the end behind their own cut instead of within the main text.]
Pictures
Resort
The Beach
Cenote at Chichen Itza
Pyramid at Chichen Itza
Foodage
Sunset at Isle Mujeres
wolfie74's birthday and she really wanted to spend it somewhere with sun, water, and sand that was not behind clouds, frozen, or used for traction on the ice.Thursday
We left MN at about 1:15 am, after working a full day Wednesday. Between planes and layovers and taxis, we got to our hotel about noon. It was technically a resort, but felt more like a hotel with extra amenities than some of the others we saw along the way, which was rather more comfortable for our Midwestern ways.
There was about an hour before our room was to be ready, so we ate real food at the restaurant attached, which is covered and netted but technically still outside. After check-in, we rested and wandered the beach a little and tried to relax.
Friday
At the airport, we got roped in to a "presentation" with a free breakfast for a different resort-like thing. Apparently, the majority of the hotels and resorts in Cancun are not actually Mexican due to how the investors and whatnot were originally set up, and now Mexico would like in on more than the 15% they are paid from the others, and that's what this is about.
Of course, it's not just a resort but also a timeshare and wow were they pushy, like seriously so. Beautiful place, don't get me wrong, but not our lifestyle and not cost-effective for us to buy into something that costs as much per month for 30 years as what we normally pay for a single vacation that we only take once a year. Free breakfast though, and discounts on the tour packages we wanted anyway, and a huge honkin' bottle of tequila thrown in the mix.
[Side note: because of the tourism factor and the usual clientele in Cancun, most places are honestly surprised if you don't want booze, usually tequila - tiny little shops will offer you a free shot if you are willing to look at their wares.]
Anyway, after fighting our way to get the place to understand that no means no, we fought against a similar presentation at our own hotel and then chilled on the beach for a while and then I took
wolfie74 out to a steakhouse for her b-day dinner. Fabulous food. Seriously, fabulous. It was an Argentinean place and we had mushroom starters and roast pig and wine and just, really, excellent service and food. More expensive than some of the touristy places, but worth it and probably less than what you'd pay in the states for the quality and service.[Side note: they played a combo of tango and piano bar music at the restaurant - the waiters could not understand why we both lost it and cracked up at a piano version with a soft, slow, female voice singing "I used to love her, but I had to kill her" and "Take me on."]
Saturday
Saturday was our first real tour on this trip, and we went to Chichen Itza. Couple hours ride by bus with a stop in a small town with handicrafts and food. Beautiful handmade items and, yes, we bought some even though we knew it was technically a tourist trap, but the artisans were both local and tribal and split the money between themselves for pretty much every purchase.
The ruins themselves were spectacular. Interesting to learn how they were built and some of the significance of the different sites. We were also able to see the sacrificial cenote and the more usual bathing one, though we didn't hit the observatory because of time constraints. The site is huge and decently maintained and full of locals wanting to sell you everything, some seriously underpriced and some over. I will admit to getting tired of the jaguar whistles sooner rather than later though.
After that, we hit a cenote that you can wade and/or swim in, and then back to the hotel.
[Side note: there were two families with small children on the tour. One little girl was so well behaved and only cried for maybe 10 minutes of the almost 10 hour day, and that was when she woke up on the bus and didn't know where she was. The other family's little boy truly and utterly needed to learn the meaning of the word no. They ended up buying handicrafts they didn't want/need because he broke them, and they ended up late more often than not because they were not paying attention. The young uncle who was with insisted they tip the tour guide a crap ton for putting up with them, so there's that.]
Sunday
Sunday was beach day for the most part. We did a little wandering, but a lot of laying in the sun and splashing in the water. And burning. Like, seriously burning. Like I forgot to put sunblock on my thighs and might have had almost 2nd degree based on the color and pain factor. Apparently the sun in Cancun is a slow burn - you lay out and kinda feel it, but still look mostly unscathed. Then you go inside and ripen over several hours to new shades of fuchsia.
We also hit some of the shops near us just to see what they had. Many are family run and many are total tourist traps. Be careful with pricing as some of the less reputable places really want you in there, but they change the price when you get there (we avoided these but saw others get hit).
Dinner was some truly excellent chirozzo and horchata and then we wandered some more.
[Side note: sunburn hurts, yo.]
Monday
Monday was what we thought was a tour of Isle Mujeres. We walked down to the pier and watched the ships get ready, and then it was utter and complete chaos as they loaded ferries and catamarans and tours all at once. As
wolfie74 said, far too many people do not know how to queue.[Side note: this is where you will get ripped off the most. Shops sell towels and sunblock and disposable cameras if needed. The towels are overpriced and they will short you change, the sunblock is the type the sign next to them says you can't use in the reef, and the cameras are so faded from the sun, it would be a miracle if the film was still safe. There are also people who claim it is their job to tell you the rules, and will insist on seeing your sunblock to make sure it is the right kind. Per them, despite the sign next to them, whatever you have is wrong and you need to buy theirs, which is of course overpriced and they will change that price on you depending on whatever cash you have with. Yes, we got hit with this one.]
The tour we took was excellently run, but not the one we though we signed up for. Unlimited free drinks, a stop for snorkeling and this cool "ride a sail attached to the catamaran over the water" thing, and holding a shark and such. We stopped for food and it was awesome and I may have eaten mashed potatoes with habanero sauce, but don't tell anyone. We finally made the main port of the island, and were only given an hour to see it and shop. This was not nearly long enough to travel the 5 miles to the ruins we had wanted to see, nor the restaurant Chef
wolfie74 had wanted to eat at. Kinda disappointing in that, and we weren't the only ones who had thought it was a tour of island and not the sea around it, so we didn't feel as bad. It was a fun time though, there is no denying that.For dinner, we stuck to the hotel, mainly because it was dark when we got back and it was there.
[Side note: the service is slow, but consistently so - it may be a cultural thing as it was that way every place we went, but there was the trade off of good food, so there's that.]
Tuesday
Tuesday was a chill day. We slept in and then wandered down to Plaza Corocal because they had a Starbucks and
wolfie74 wanted a huge coffee and I wanted an iced mocha. Not exactly absorbing the culture, I know, but there are very few coffee shops and it was also the only place we went where we were told, "Excuse me, I believe I overcharged you, would you like a pastry to make up for my mistake?"We tried to walk down to one of the other mall-type areas, but totally misjudged the distance. We thought it was maybe a couple of kilometers and made it about 4 km out of what we later discovered was 5, but both my sunblock and my feet were giving out by then, so we wandered back on the other side (in the shade). Beautiful walk though, even if it was warm, and then
wolfie74 hit the beach for a bit and I hit the AC for a bit, and pulled out my iPad for the first time since I got here to start writing this up and poke at a story.[Side note: iguanas will pose for pictures, trufax.]
Dinner was a place across the street from the place from two nights before and some seriously delicious food. Also? My first margarita of the trip. I know.
[Side note: totally recommend avoiding the big bars and such and hitting the smaller food places - always a good sign if you see locals lining up to eat.]
Wednesday
Wednesday was our last day there, and a partial one at that. Breakfast was at the hotel buffet, drinking up as much of the slowly handmade hot chocolate as I could manage. We sat on the beach for a bit, where it was considered cold by the locals due to the wind before we headed for the airport and the long trip home... to temps of negative 40 with the windchill.
Brief little tidbit about the airline we used. I had never heard of Spirit Airlines before. They are tiny and, as such, have weird times as that's when they can get access to the runways. The customs process could have gone smoother, but they were blatantly honest about everything from the prices of any extras to their opinions on everything. The stewardesses put up with multiple assholes calmly and with an admitted amount of snark. I totally have to include my favorite quotes from them:
"No, seriously, you're standing in the middle of the safety briefing while we taxi?"
"Please turn off your electronic devices. Do not leave them on, do not leave them in 'airplane safe' mode, and do not leave them in 'hide them from the stewardess' mode."
"If you need to smoke, quit. Otherwise, get through customs and outside and hope you have enough time to make your connecting flight."
[Side note: for as much crap as these people had to put up with, they did so without losing their tempers and were actually legitimately helpful. Give them credit.]
All in all, a pretty good trip. Beautiful sites, excellent food, awesome weather. We didn't hit the hugely touristy spots (everyone assumes you want to go to Coco Bongo and Señor Frogs, which are huge Spring Break places, but not for us) but still had a good time.
[GIMP and iCloud are not playing well with each other (actually, iCloud is not playing well with itself either after the latest iOS update), so the pictures turned out a bit large. Because of this, I am tacking them on at the end behind their own cut instead of within the main text.]
Pictures
Resort
The Beach
Cenote at Chichen Itza
Pyramid at Chichen Itza
Foodage
Sunset at Isle Mujeres