(MAX AND BRIDGE – PLEASE IGNORE THE CLEAVAGE)
For my 10th year wedding anniversary my husband and I decided to go to Mexico. My first choice would have been Italy. My husband’s first choice would have been Hawaii. Both were very expensive. We opted to go the swine flu route and planned a trip to Mexico.
Mexico was CHEAP. For $1,300 both my husband and I were able to fly to Cancun and stay in an all-inclusive resort. Just our plane tickets to fly to Florida to book a cruise were about that.
Oh… we booked our trip through cheapcarribean.com in case you were wondering.
Cancun was HOT. Cancun was HUMID. Even the ocean was hot. I would take showers in “cold” water, but it was still warm.
Our resort, Grand Oasis Caribbean Resort, was fine. I hear that the resorts farther south from where we were are nicer, but it was perfectly fine. I read a lot of reviews on Travel Advisor, and half of them were negative. I am beginning to think the people that made those reviews were extra picky. The hotel was hot, but so is everywhere in the Caribbean. The air conditioner in our room worked great. The service was exceptional. Anytime I was in the vicinity of a worker they would stop and greet me. So polite.
When we went to our room the first day my husband realized he had LOST HIS PASSPORT. An employee of the hotel called the airport for us, and they were going to look and call the hotel back. Well the airport didn’t call back. The next morning a representative from cheapcarribean.com named George called his coworkers at the airport and they tracked down the passport. They even delivered it to George who in turn delivered it to us. Thanks again George!
(THE OCEAN VIEW FROM THE HOTEL LOBBY)
Now let me tell you about some of the people we met in Cancun. We met two cool chicks from New York on vacation for a 30th birthday. Mayra and Carlixta were there names. We consumed a lot of beer with them. A lot of tequila too. I can thank Ernesto the bartender for that. This picture was taken right after I told him I didn’t want any tequila. He said, “I don’t care.” And then he poured me a shot of tequila. It didn’t matter how long the drink line was. If I asked for a drink he would get it for me first. Tipping goes a LONG way.
(ERNESTO… THE BEST BARTENDER EVER)
For one of our excursions, Max and I went to see Chichen Itza. It was amazing. I have to put it on par with seeing Stonehenge. People talk about feeling energy. I definitely did. My tour was AMAZING. It was run by Olympus Tours. They picked us up at our hotel in the morning and then gave us coffee, fruit and bread. Later that day they were giving us Coronas and sodas. Never before have I had such great service on a tour. Two of the four tour guides were even Mayan. They were so enthusiastic about everything and it really showed. I learned more about the Mayans and other Mexicans in one day than I have ever in my entire life. Who knew it wasn’t the Mayans who did the sacrifices? Until the tour I had no idea.
(CHICHEN ITZA)
(THESE HATS SAVED OUR LIVES. NOT ONLY DID WE LOOK LIKE DORKS, BUT WE DIDN’T GET SUNSTROKE. NOTICE THE LOVELY SACRAFICIAL TEMPLE IN THE BACKGROUND.)
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After Chichen Itza the tour took us to a cenote to swim. It is basically a huge hole in the ground that connects to the underground rivers. It was very refreshing, beautiful, and also kind of creepy. Some of these cenotes were used to sacrifice.
(CENOTE)
My husband and I also decided to go snorkeling. We were also supposed to go scuba diving, but had problems finding the tour. Anyways, the snorkeling was great as well. They took us out 3 times to the reef, and they even fed us. Oh, they also gave us as much beer as we wanted. I love Mexico. I saw: two rays, tons of random fish, brain coral, an octopus, a starfish, a hermit crab, conch shells, a box fish, and a jelly fish. Luckily I didn’t see a shark. /whew
(MAX BEFORE SNORKLING. YES HATS LIKE THIS ARE A MUST.)
My advice to anyone who is going to visit Mexico anytime soon is to take a lot of $1 bills. We would have spent a lot less money and tipped way more if we had. No one seemed to have change. Also learn how to haggle. It is annoying, but you really can talk them down. I am not sure if I got any “good” deals on the few things I brought back, but I know I didn’t get “bad” deals.
