Hola or hello from Mexico. I feel like we were not
really in Mexico but we were, albeit at a luxury resort area called Playa del
Carmen near Cancun. Our resort was an all-inclusive kid free paradise and we
certainly enjoyed every second. We could not have asked for anything more except for a few more Spanish words in our vocab. This
was a chance to rest and relax rather than one of Merryl’s express holidays
where we are on the go from daylight to dark. The resort was huge, a massive
area of forest with buildings and paths, pools and bars and a beach. There were
about 9 restaurants and bars everywhere. The staff were excellent and I would
say this is hands down better than our Indonesian/Thai resorts. When we arrived I thought the resort was reminiscent of Fantasy Island, that
ol’ TV show from the 70s with Mr. Roarke and Tattoo. I was waiting for Tattoo
to find me and ask me what my fantasy was – I did have my Batman gear on hand
should the opportunity to be a superhero did arise.
There were lots of wildlife in the resort. The most cutest were the little coatimundi or hog-nose coon. They are related to the racoon.They have a long nose and long tail and there were families of them running around. There were lots of birds, iguanas and mapaches.
The arrival at Cancun Airport was sheer chaos. Our
instructions were to collect our luggage and we’d be met by our driver holding a sign
with our name on it. Crikey, we went outside to a mass of about 200 drivers all
yelling and waving signs at about 500 other travellers who all had the same
instructions. I could not see our names anywhere and after travelling all day
and being hit with heat and humidity, it was very frustrating. I eventually
called the travel service and with the help of a friendly Mexican next to me
translating on the phone, we were found and delivered to our hotel. They have
little electric car things (like the airports have) to transport people around
and we were overwhelmed at the size of the resort and the many paths. Our room
was huge and we backed straight out onto the pool. We had our own little patio
with deck chairs and the pool was fairly quiet as the main pool was further
away. Wow, it really was special. The other tourists were friendly and we
noticed the pleasure of a kid-free resort. We got lost a lot trying to find our way around despite the good signs. You could pick all the newbie's as they were lost too, always reading the maps - exactly like we did.
The beach was lovely, water was nice and somewhere on the far side was Cuba. We hope to visit Cuba before we return home - so many have been and recommend it to visit. The food was fantastic - two restaurants which offered buffets for breakfast for lunch and then a variety to cuisines to choose for dinner...Mexican, Italian, Indonesian, French, Steakhouse. Given our recent good work with slimming down, our tummies were not used to the rich food or the quantity we indulged in. But it was only for a few days so we made the most of it as it would be back to grass and leaves when we return home.
The beach was lovely, water was nice and somewhere on the far side was Cuba. We hope to visit Cuba before we return home - so many have been and recommend it to visit. The food was fantastic - two restaurants which offered buffets for breakfast for lunch and then a variety to cuisines to choose for dinner...Mexican, Italian, Indonesian, French, Steakhouse. Given our recent good work with slimming down, our tummies were not used to the rich food or the quantity we indulged in. But it was only for a few days so we made the most of it as it would be back to grass and leaves when we return home.
We took the shuttle into Player Del Carmen to check out Fifth Avenue which is the shopping strip for tourists - completely nothing like 5th Avenue New York. It was full of rubbish I thought. This was like Phuket with one long street of 40 blocks with tourist trinkets and trash, bars, eating houses and very persistent people wanting to get your attention to sell you anything they could. I had heard this was a good street but it was several hours of nothing and I would not go again. We were actually discouraged by the constant badgering which the locals don't realise pushes people away rather than suck them in.
We took a long day tour to see the Chichen Itza
Mayan ruins. As always, seeing historic monuments and wonders is incredible.
Courtesy of wiki….Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and likely to
have been one of the mythical great cities. It is now federal property and one
of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico. The layout of the site
developed during 750-900 AD. The site includes a large temple, a huge ballcourt and the huge temple of warriors.
The ancient Maya ballgame called pitz was part of Maya political, religious, and social life. Played with a rubber ball ranging in size from that of a softball to a soccer ball, players would attempt to bounce the ball without using their hands through stone hoops attached to the sides of the ball court. The ball court itself was a focal point of Maya cities and symbolized the city’s wealth and power. I have to say though, the hoop reminded me of a giant lifesaver lollie!!
The ball game goal was to get the ball through the high stone hoop which ended the game. We couldn't fathom how they played without using their hands and getting up to the hoop. The scorer was then taken to the tower where he was given ‘drugs’ to make him unconscious as he was going to heaven, and then they would decapitate him, offering his heart to the gods as sacrifice. (The 'lifesaver' hoop wasn't quite so life-saving after all). The story was extraordinary to hear but this was an honour. I cannot do the story justice here in words but suffice to say, I would not want to play the game let alone score the bloody goal !!
The ancient Maya ballgame called pitz was part of Maya political, religious, and social life. Played with a rubber ball ranging in size from that of a softball to a soccer ball, players would attempt to bounce the ball without using their hands through stone hoops attached to the sides of the ball court. The ball court itself was a focal point of Maya cities and symbolized the city’s wealth and power. I have to say though, the hoop reminded me of a giant lifesaver lollie!!
The ball game goal was to get the ball through the high stone hoop which ended the game. We couldn't fathom how they played without using their hands and getting up to the hoop. The scorer was then taken to the tower where he was given ‘drugs’ to make him unconscious as he was going to heaven, and then they would decapitate him, offering his heart to the gods as sacrifice. (The 'lifesaver' hoop wasn't quite so life-saving after all). The story was extraordinary to hear but this was an honour. I cannot do the story justice here in words but suffice to say, I would not want to play the game let alone score the bloody goal !!
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| Ball court |
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| Temple of Warriors |
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| Winner dies here |
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| Ball court in better shape |
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| Ball court hoop - the Lifesaver lollie |
You cannot climb the ruins anymore but they are
fascinating to view and the guides provide excellent history on the purpose of
the buildings and the Mayan beliefs. Everything has a purpose, everything is
connected and everything has meaning. The temple aligns with the sun movements
and solstices and their drawings and carvings tell so many stories. They were very clever people, knowing the movement of the sun, the number of days and the
shadows/light cast on the temple at certain times was all for a reason.
One part of the tour suckered us in to paying $20 each for a Mayan calendar - sometimes not speaking Spanish is expensive. Deb and I had seats apart on the bus given we were last on the bus and we both slept as it was a long morning drive to the ruins. Sadly, I missed the guide telling us about the 'next stop' blah blah blah. We each had to fill out a small piece of paper with our name and date. We got off the bus at a local art work place and were handing over $20 each and the piece of paper for what I thought was entry fee to the art place. Later Deb said it was for this calendar. When they handed out the calendars in the afternoon, I only then realised it was a calendar for our 'birthdate'. The date I wrote on the piece of paper was today's date as I thought it was the art place entry thing. Great, I have a calendar and lots of Mayan info and my horoscope for my birthday that was, TODAY !! Deb laughed and said, didn't I hear the guide saying how lots of people often put Today's date !! I said no, but thanks for telling me by the way.
We managed to run a few mornings which was extremely difficult in the humidity. But falling into the pool at the end made it very worthwhile. I have been trying to convince Deb that this tropical lifestyle is ideal for retirement. We met some lovely people including a couple of Canadian ladies from Toronto who provided good advice for our upcoming road trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto. Another couple from London were very interesting, he was a VP for Starbucks and she in an accomplished author of children's books about animals.
I managed to sample a few cocktails but I found them quite watered down with the ice. I think this helped my afternoon sleeps so they couldn't have been too weak.
It was a great week of relaxation and Cricket and Macey enjoyed being spoilt by our great friends P&AH - many thanks to them for dog sitting so our pups could stay at home.
The resort name was Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya and the link is found below. We can highly recommend it and I would easily come back here again rather than try another resort. Many people have been here multiple times so I guess when you're on a good thing, stick to it.
Click here....Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya
adios Mexico !!
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