Cancun was very nice, it was fantastic to be honest. But, it had a very Miami feel to it. It wasn't that much different then going to any other upscale ocean front city. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and we enjoyed ourselves a whole bunch, but we wanted to see more of Mexico then just the sea side resort town.
So we decided to take a tour of Chichen Itza and surrounding areas. We considered renting a car and going by ourselves, but my Spanish is not good enough and neither one of us knew any of the rules of the road in Mexico, so we opted for a tour.
We took our tour through Cancun Passion. The tour cost about $90 USD per person, so it wasn't cheep, but it included pick up/drop off at our hotel, a bus ride, lunch, guided tour of Chichen Itza, and a swim in a Cenote. I know we could have gotten a cheaper one if we shopped around, but we decided to just go with the one the concierge suggested. It was the easiest option. If we do it again, we might shop around a little bit for the best deal, but maybe not.
We had a great time. We did have to wake up early that morning, but that was the only morning we did. A shuttle bus picked us up right at the front door and we were taken to the bus. It was one of those big long distance buses. The group was larger, but not over crowded and the tour guides were very funny.
We stopped at the cenote first. The grounds were beautiful. When we got there, there were only one or two other tour buses in the parking lot, so the cenote wasn't that crowded. After a quick change, both me and J jumped in. J opted for the high dive, I opted for the ladder.
The water was cold and refreshing. It was an interesting experience. The water is very clear and you can see all the little fishes that are in there, but you can't see the bottom. There is no standing on the bottom. This is a sink hole that is filled with water, there is no bottom. Well there's a bottom, it's just a long way down. For a few bucks you can rent a life jacket. I recommend that unless you are a very strong swimmer.
After the cenote, we headed to lunch. Lunch was a buffet lunch that was included in the price of the tour. It was okay for a buffet. They had entertainment, which was kinda cool.
The restaurant was very touristy. They tried (very hard) to get you to buy photos with the performers. They also had shops that sold locally made goods. You don't have to buy anything, but they will try to get you to buy stuff. The prices were reasonable, so we bought a few pieces of silver jewelry. This is how these people make their living, so we wanted to support them at least a little bit.
After lunch we headed to Chichen Itza. It was a very cool experience. J and I both love archaeology related stuff, so we had a good time. We lucked out and our tour guide was a PhD. It was a great tour. He explained all of the hieroglyphs and what all the buildings were for.
He was very knowledgeable and he didn't do any of the touristy things the other guides were doing. I was very happy that we got more of an educational tour then the run of the mill tourist tour.
They split our group into two different groups, so the group sizes werent too large. It was nice because people could ask questions and hear everything that was said. I made sure to stand right next to Jaime's side (that was our guide), I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything. I'm a dork, I know.
It was hot. Very, very hot in the sun, but not unbearable. I would recommend bringing an umbrella with because there isn't a lot of shade to stand under.
The park is a nice size with a lot to look at. We unfortunately didn't have a lot of time to look around, but what we saw was pretty great.
The downside is the sellers. They allow sellers to sell stuff right in the park. So they were trying to sell you things constantly. We had a few people come up to us even while we were in a group trying to get us to buy something. A simple "No, gracias" will do in telling them you're not interested. Sometimes it won't. But just keep walking and ignore them if they are not polite, that normally works. You do have to be careful, a lot of items that are sold to tourists in Mexico are actually made in China. So just remember that when buying goods. I wasn't thrilled with the sellers being in the park, but there isn't anything you can do about it.
Our ride back to the hotel was uneventful. We slept for most of it (the ride is a few hours). But they dropped us back off right in front of our hotel, so that was nice. We made sure to tip the guides and the driver. They did a pretty awesome job, so we wanted to make sure they knew we appreciated it.
So that was our holiday in Mexico. It was fun and relaxing and amazing. I'm so glad we had a chance to go and I really can't wait for us to go back. We were both a little unsure about going to Cancun, but we loved it. The hotel was great, the beach was great, the people were great. I would recommend it to anyone. The only problem we had was with our flight home (it was delayed 6 hours).
Now we can return to the normally schedule program. No more posts about Mexico, just posts filled with beady goodness. Thank you all for bearing with me.
Okay, one more picture. Here's Yoda with her gift from Mexico.
The downside is the sellers. They allow sellers to sell stuff right in the park. So they were trying to sell you things constantly. We had a few people come up to us even while we were in a group trying to get us to buy something. A simple "No, gracias" will do in telling them you're not interested. Sometimes it won't. But just keep walking and ignore them if they are not polite, that normally works. You do have to be careful, a lot of items that are sold to tourists in Mexico are actually made in China. So just remember that when buying goods. I wasn't thrilled with the sellers being in the park, but there isn't anything you can do about it.
Our ride back to the hotel was uneventful. We slept for most of it (the ride is a few hours). But they dropped us back off right in front of our hotel, so that was nice. We made sure to tip the guides and the driver. They did a pretty awesome job, so we wanted to make sure they knew we appreciated it.
So that was our holiday in Mexico. It was fun and relaxing and amazing. I'm so glad we had a chance to go and I really can't wait for us to go back. We were both a little unsure about going to Cancun, but we loved it. The hotel was great, the beach was great, the people were great. I would recommend it to anyone. The only problem we had was with our flight home (it was delayed 6 hours).
Now we can return to the normally schedule program. No more posts about Mexico, just posts filled with beady goodness. Thank you all for bearing with me.
Okay, one more picture. Here's Yoda with her gift from Mexico.
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