3-20-16
A early Sunday morning and Jarrett stopped by at 5:15am to pick us up to drop us off at the Duluth airport. All the flights went well except the last one. Flying out of Houston to to Cancun had a 1.5 hour delay because of thunder storms and radar problems in Cancun. This made the day of traveling feel extra long for me. We landed in Cancun around 9pm and waited to catch our shuttle to Playa Del Carmen. The temp in Cancun was warm with a lot of humidity. Something I hadn't felt in 6 months or so. We were super thankful to be at our destination and ready for some sleep after splitting a beer.
Our first day of exploring Mexico
Almost unreal to see how blue the ocean is when we first walked down there.
The beach was in beautiful shape and generally pretty clean.
A lot of palm trees. This one was outside our room
Some wildlife in the backyard
Coatimundi - super friendly and generally harmless
Looking into the lobby from the back
The fountain in the middle of the lobby
The front entrance
Rui Tequila was really impressive. The staff keeps everything in tip top shape.
The main lobby
Our first day was generally relaxing and we explored the resort and had some great food.
Coatimundi came out to dig holes. Probably looking for insects.
This was near the pool while we were reading our books
They were everywhere
The animals around the resort were entertaining and I really enjoyed this one cat who hung out by the restaurant. We would see her almost every day. I almost brought it home (kidding)
On Tuesday we walked into town to get a feel for the real Mexico.
Above- downtown Playa by the beach. There where ferries taking off to go to Cozumel.
We found where the colectivo buses loaded and explored the streets. Colectivo is a van/taxi that allows a person to get from town to town for very little money. There are hundreds of shops selling the usual trinkets and souvenirs. I don't know how they all stay in business. A eye opening experience to be in a totally different country and be the minority. I wish I had strong Spanish speaking skills.
There is a bird sanctuary on the way to town. There were some large parrots hanging out.
3-23-16 Wednesday
A trip to Tulum
We got up and going a little earlier today and had a big breakfast and a walk to town to catch the colectivo to Tulum. The van made its way through Playa and other small towns to drop people off and pick people up on the way down the coast. We didn't really know exactly where we needed to get off to walk to the ruins. We ended up getting off late and had to backtrack through town towards the ruins. We took a right on a road we thought was the road to the ruins. There was a nice bike path to use but the sun was up and baking us a bit. We weren't seeing anything about Mayan Ruins after an hour of walking and were getting frustrated. I voted to turn around and at that moment a Taxi pulled up and asked if we needed a ride. We gladly jumped in (feeling frustrated that we walked all this way down the wrong road) and he gave us a ride to the ruins. The road to the ruins was packed with people. Crowds like the Minnesota State Fair. We paid the driver 100 pesos and marveled at the crowds and began walking to the entrance of the ruins. I was feeling hesitant because of all the people and after some discussion we decided to pay the 65 peso entrance fee and go in. In the end I am glad we did. A really unique place on the ocean. Amazing to think how old all the stone buildings are.
Up a hill and our first look at the ocean after walking through the jungle.
This place had iguanas everywhere. We started counting but then gave up after seeing over 20 of them basking in the sun.
This is an area where sea turtles come and lay their eggs
The swimming beach. We were not wearing our suits.
A circus act we caught the end of our visit to the ruins. 4 guys on ropes swinging around this pole upside down, tied on by their feet. Pretty wild. One guy way at the top.
On our way out the line of people waiting to get tickets had quadrupled. We were super thankful to be there before noon. We caught another van for a packed ride back to Playa. I rode front and center next to the driver. By the time we got back to the resort we had walked over 10 miles and were thankful for the fruity drinks at the bar.
One of the more amazing things at the resort was the food. So much variety at the morning, noon, and dinner buffets and all the food was great quality.
At dinner they had carved watermelon. Pretty impressive.
The cheese area at the dinner buffet
Desert bar at dinner. A lot of variety
Lots of fresh fruit at every meal.
Mike!
The entrance to the dinning area. A pretty fancy place
Homemade donuts every morning
The juice bar. Everything from carrot juice to mango
Carb time. Waffles, crepes and pancakes
Fruit bar
The pastries. Delicious cinnamon rolls and banana bread
More bread - artisan style
There was more than just bread at breakfast. A huge variety off eggs, yogurt, cereal, and fresh fruit
Our last night of dinner - Sushi
The evening shows
Every night they have some live entertainment which is generally pretty impressive. Our first night we watched Mama Mia. Second night was a Michael Jackson impersonator. Skipped the 3 night show and the 4th night was Moulin Rouge. It was fun to be able to go to this kind of performance for free and see some talented people dance.
Miscellaneous images
A look at the building we stayed in. Very well kept and nicely decorated. We had the room on the main floor farthest to the right.
One of the many bars where you can order up some drinks - no cost
The stage area for evening performances/shows
Towel animals left by the maid.
Wow, you did a great job of documenting your trip. So many beautiful photos. It was wonderful to relive our many memories of Mexico. I sure do love that place. It looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing!
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