Mexico days 7-10: resort life, wedding action, and trip overview (10/4-7/18)

*** Since the resort stay was a whirlwind of taking advantage of the resort life, I have lumped in the stay into a single post as the days blurred together.

Day 7

We woke up and had breakfast at the buffet. Went to the pool and hung out and having some drinks till it was time for lunch. Went into the lunch buffet and back into the pool to hang before we go get cleaned up for dinner at the sushi place which was delicious. Small meet and greet for the people there for the wedding and then everyone goes to the discotecca to hang out for a bit and close out the night.

Day 8

Ordered room service to have breakfast in bed, wasnt that good so we ate a little but wound up down at the buffet to get the better tasting food. Girls busy getting pretty for wedding so me and the other dates go down to Tulum to check out the coastal ruins. We get there and they have this Coatis creature running around. So cute and incredible looking creatures.

Coatis!!!! So cute. Like monkey racoons or something like that hahaha

Picturesque lil area.

Mayan ruins on the coast.

Main ruins on premise.

View from our shaded spot where we had our beers.

People playing in the beach. So gorgeous.

Enter if you dare.

Freedom!!!

Hot down there not chilling in the pool. We brought beers down with us and find a shaded area in the middle of the ruins area and have a beer or 2 which was a great idea. Ruins themselves were small and unimpressive but the sights of the ruins among the tropical coast line was awesome. We head back for the wedding, get showered and dressed up and find out the ceremony is outside. People are sweating their butts off (groom was literally dripping throughout the ceremony) and through their suits. After ceremony there was an hour break so we go to bar near the reception area, grab a drink and start cooling off waiting for the festivities to start. Reception has some dancing and food stations before dinner (though not as good the food in the rest of the resort which I didnt understand). After the reception area is closing down, we head back to the discotecca (noticing a trend?) to wind down the night.

Day 9

Much of the same of having breakfast buffet, chilling in the pool while having drinks and hanging with the wedding group and enjoying the weather before getting cleaned up for dinner at the mexican restaurant on premise which like the other restaurants they had, was absolutely delicious. After dinner, go to the discotecca for our final night as we leave the next day.

Day 10

Slow day as my body is tuckered out from all the consumption. Interesting day as there is severe rain and winds happening and was thinking it looked like hurricane type weather but not knowing anything about what was happening in the world I wasnt sure (turns out it was a hurricane that developed there and went north and hit the USA later that week). We chill around the resort until time for our shuttle to the airport. Was a slow shuttle driver but we get there eventually. No wait to get through customs. Chill in the airport, grab a bite before time for our flight (I made the mistake of ordering a cheesesteak sandwich hahah). Get home, breeze through customs and get home to finish the trip out.


Overview:

The good:
1) the cenotes are a much needed oasis amid the heat and humidity being cavernous natural pools of chilly fresh water. They are also insanely beautiful. I wouldnt mind just going back and cenote hopping and cataloging all the cenotes in the region.
2) The people were fantastic. From the complete stranger that I had the pleasure talking to in the cantina to the people I interacted with as I walked around, everyone was friendly. People worked with me as I bastardized the language trying to communicate, eventually getting the points across.
3) Resort life - its nice being able to get whatever you want to drink, eat great food, hang out in a pool and just chill with the people you came with for a couple days. It is a great way to be pampered and just enjoy the fruits of your labor. This one was especially nice as no kids were allowed which catered itself to a certain atmosphere.
4) Coatis!!!!! enough said.
5) Collectivos - people explaining it made it seem sketchy (like random people driving around in vans picking people up akin to hitchhiking) but it is a great, safe, cheap way to get around if you are going along their routes.

The bad:
1) Resort life - as nice as it is to be on a resort, I do not know that I will ever do one again. I would find the price expensive if it were in a place with a higher cost of living (Europe, USA, etc.); so it being in a place where you can get more bang for your buck, made it egregiously expensive. Even if costs were not a factor, the isolation that comes from being on a resort is the antithesis of what I like to experience when I like to travel (as is probably evidenced in my other blog posts :) ). Just like with everything else in life, staying on a resort has its time and place and people who will seek it out. I had a wonderful time and am extremely happy for the experience, just not my cup of tea for normal adventures.
2) The build up around the architecture in Valladolid - I was reading about places to see and cities to visit and many different blogs raved about the architecture and beauty of the city in Valladolid so I planned to go there to check it out. Walking around town, there are some buildings that are nice, but I found it underwhelming compared to what I had expected based on other people's experiences. That being said, I enjoyed the quaint city and was glad I visited, just was expecting more out of the buildings/architecture based on what I read.
3) Westernization of parts of Playa del Carmen - I hate being in another country and feeling like I am in a more American place than America. Does not happen often but when it does, it is very disappointing. There are many parts walking around town that do not feel this way but that 5th avenue and some of the places around it just scream consumerism and excess but clearly they are clearly being supported financially to thrive so cant blame them for making that money.

Mexico day 6: Diving Cozumel then starting the resort life (10/3/18)

Wake up and had decided to pay the extra amount to go to Cozumel on the dive boat from Playa instead of taking the time to go to the ferry terminal, take the ferry, get to the dive shop since tonight I head to the resort to start that part of the trip. Boat ride over is rough due to open seas and the boat size. No padded seats which with the frequent pounding from the wakes, make the rough water also rough on our bodies. Brought my dive book and other stuff with me and realized quickly that was a mistake as with the rough ride, water splashing everywhere and got all my stuff wet. haha lessons learned. Do a drift dive along a reef wall as current too strong to try and swim against it. See plenty of sea life (turtles, eels, lobsters, etc.) and was incredibly pretty. We all get back on the boat and while doing our surface interval, the guides ask the group if we want to do a wreck or more reef diving. My ears perk up and I say wreck cause I have always wanted to do that. A few other people say reef so we wind up doing reef Mofos!. Swim along this reef plateau going over and through it frequently to see the life under and on the other side of the rocks. Come up and everyone gets on the boat and we head back across the way to Playa. Return my gear, rinse my computer off, and then get back to the hostel and take a quick shower before heading down to the Resort (Unico) on a collectivo. I am the last passenger to get out and I get to the gate. Security comes and gets me and then I check in with our personal concierge which we never used and wasnt sure what the point of it was. Drop my bag off in the room, unpack, grab a small bite to tide me over until dinner and have a smoothie and the first of many drink combos that we would later call the Tre special - a shot of flor de cana 7yr (to sip on) next to a negra modelo. Later on we go to the steakhouse for dinner as the other places are either full or closed. Have a delicious dinner and then the group goes over to the discotecca so people can dance and grab a drink and hang on the patio.

Mexico day 5: Cenote diving then walking around town (10/2/18)

***Today and tomorrow will not have any pictures as I was mostly diving and didnt have my camera with me for the dives.

Got up and had breakfast at the hostel which was nothing special. Quick and easy. Head to the dive shop, get my gear and then my guide grabs the car and we head south to the cenotes. We do one dive through the cave formations and checking out fossils in the formations of coral and other sea life that used to call this place home. Come up and get tanks swapped out and then do the bat cave dive where we surface in a bat cave with bats flying all around which was really awesome to be able to just chill in a cave for a little bit and watching them in their home. The cenote dives were vastly different than any diving I had done to this point; clear fresh water with streams of sunlight coming in through various openings in the rocks highlighting the formations underneath while also having a flashlight to look at the formations where there was no natural light. Hardly any sea life present but going into it knowing you are there for the views and how the light plays with the vastness of the caves made not seeing many animals fine as the sights were fascinating. Get back into town and park to unload the gear. The second we get inside, the sky opens up and a freaking monsoonish type rain come down for about 5 mins. Once it dies down, walk back to the hostel to shower/change and walk on over to El Fogon for dinner. Delicious food (ordered too much but was great so was ok with that :) ) and after a beer or 2, head back towards the hostel taking a meandering path to see more of the city. Get back and hang for a little bit having a beer before going to bed as I have another day of diving tomorrow.

Mexico day 4: Morning bike ride then on to Playa (10/1/18)

Wake up early to take a quick bike ride out of town to check out the oxman Cenote. Its a good 20 min bike ride or so and down a really rough road but eventually get there. I got there right around when they were opening up and its this clean and well maintained property that I am sure is like a little escape for tourists in the middle of nowhere outside of Valladolid. Since it is so early, I am the only one in the area. They have some good deals that would have made more sense if I had more time to enjoy there (you can pay 150p which gives you access to the cenote and the pool and gives you 150p worth of food and drink at the poolside bar), but since I was a man on a mission, I just paid for the cenote entrance. Was amazing getting there before anyone else was in there. So quiet and serene. I pause for a little bit and listen to the water dripping and the calmness of my surrounding before taking the rope swing to launch me into the cenote. Once in the water, I float around looking out of the hole above me and just relax. Eventually a group of guys comes down and is swimming around, rope swinging in, and having a good time. I put my shirt in the water to get it cooled off for the bike ride back.

My fly ride and its prime parking spot.

Entryway to the grounds.

Sign for the place.

Time to go check this place out.

Dont think I could ever grow tired of these Cenotes. 

The sound of silence in a Cenote

Back at the hostel before check out to pack up and make my way to the bus station. Buy a bus ticket and wait for a little under an hour for my bus to Playa (this station had announcements in English unlike that in Cancun which I found odd since Cancun gets way more visitors coming through there). Get in and it had just finished raining so I didnt have to walk in the rain to find my hostel (which wasnt too far from the bus station). Check in and put my stuff down then go down the street to check in and get squared away for my days of diving coming up with the people at Scuba 10 Dive shop (coincidentally right down the street from my hostel - The Yak). After that go back to hostel and hang out for a little bit before heading out to grab some dinner; wind up going into Yala which was a middle eastern spot around the corner serving up some delicious food (had a shawarma/lentil/rice mix). Walk to the beach to take in the dusk sights along the water then walk around a bit down the calle quinta avenida (a little tourist trap from hell). There are a few samsonite stores and all kinds of shops/restaurants/etc. along this path which many had some cool architecture but the whole thing just screamed excess and consumerism. Guess it is a big spot for when cruise ships are in town or something but definitely not something I thought I would see on this trip. Make my way back to the hostel and shower and start winding down. Go to the hostel's happy hour, hang out with a few people I met down there and we play some beer pong and hang out a little bit before I have to turn in as I have diving in the morning.

Wall art at the Hostel. Extremely pretty.

Wall art at the Hostel. Knows me so well :)

Mexico day 3: Learning about the Mayans (9/30/18)

Wake up early and meet a few other people at breakfast going to Chithen Itza that day so we go to the collectivo spot together and get over to the ruins early in the morning to try and beat the crowds. Get in and its relatively cheap (5-10$pp) for a guide since our group was big enough so we get a guide and begin a guided tour of the grounds which was probably a good idea. The amount of information that was given to us was interesting and gave a deeper appreciation of the Mayans.

Forgot to take note as to why the guide told us to take a picture of this type of tree but it had significance hahah.

One of many pictures of a symmetrical pyramid taken from many different sides. Sorry for all the pictures but its pretty so deal with it. 

Really enjoyed the plants in the foreground. Looked interesting and had some little pretty flours.

Are you ready for some football?!!?!?!?!

Exploring the game field.

Some of the field ruins

Engravings on the stone of the field.

Announcer pulpit

Field of play with the goal hoops along the sides.

Slight inward arc of the wall allowed for the speaking at one end to be carried throughout the field even tough it is completely open.

Outer wall of the field.

Plants infiltrating the stone of the field wall.

More of these flowering stalks.

Warned you there were many pyramid pics.

Listening to the bird noises from the claps. It was funny hearing all the guides/people at the different sides clapping.

Such an impressive structure.

This side had some of the ruins from below ground excavated.

More pyramid. You are welcome.

Believe this was the observatory

Some pretty cool ruins around the grounds.

More engraving on some of the ruins on the perimeter. 

Field from the outskirts

Another view of the field from in the middle.

Little panoramic shot of the playing field.

View of the moon from the field.

They had these strange looking monkeys climbing all over the rocks.

Cool pick of the pyramid.

Some engravings. Makes you feel at ease no?

Dragon heads?

Some cloud pics of our pyramid.

Alter with pillars all around it.

Some good aisle pics through the pillars.

So disgusting looking especially compared to the cenote visited yesterday and ones visited after this.

There were many interesting tidbits, most of which revolved around their ability to understand and exploit acoustics; their open sport field allowed for voices from the "announcer" pulpit to reach to the other end and back without much need for yelling, the main pyramid will produce a bird sound when you clap on the ground in front of the opening on top (not from the sides. With the good come the bad. The grounds had vendors all essentially selling the same cheap shit, all for 1$ apparently (I doubt this but its what they would post and tell you as you walked by - I didnt take the time to talk to them about it and find out how much everything was). Some of these vendors also had these little wooden toys that when you blow or something into them, they make these loud jaguar sounds. In theory this is cool, but when you hear these sounds coming from all over the grounds as you walk around with a frequency that rivals the number of steps you take exploring the 740 acre site. Lastly, they have a cenote on site that might be some of the most disgusting water I have ever seen; even though access is not permitted (wouldnt want to go regardless) I at least expected it to be pretty as the one I saw the day before (and future ones) was gorgeous. We wrap up and most of the group decides to head back while me and these 2 others decide to get a taxi to nearby Cenote Ikkil. It is an incredibly beautiful cenote but also was a giant tourist trap. They have lockers to store your stuff (gotta pay, cant just use your own lock), large bathrooms to change, shops, restaurants, etc. scattered on the grounds.

Such a beautiful view from above of Ikkil.

This cenote looks promising.

View out of the Cenote from the water level. 

Cenote was crowded but beautiful and had tiers on the side to jump from different heights. We go down and put out stuff in the corner and jump in and swim around and enjoy the chilly water and the sights of being in such a beautiful place. We eventually are done with our dip and go to the road to wave down a collectivo which was harder than we thought; not many drove by and the ones that did were full from people coming from CI or Piste (the town closest to CI). After a good 30 mins or so, we were starting to think about trying to wave down a taxi when a collectivo drove by that had space for 3. Get back to town, and go grab a bite at the Bazar which is a little food court place in the main square that has a bunch of stall serving decently priced food. After the meal, I go check out the San Roque Museum around the corner which has a bit of history of the area/town and is free (just gotta sign in). After chilling in the park out back of the museum for a tiny bit, decide to go across the street to a cantina that I walked by yesterday that looked cool and get a drink (La Joyita Cantina). Walk past the wood entrance protector that cantinas have (I guess so people who walk by cant see who is inside) and realize I am the probably the only person not from Valladolid in this little bar. People staring at me and conversing with each other about this, that, and the other. I sit at the bar and order a drink, the bartender asks if I want some of the food snacks he has behind the bar (come to find out cantinas offer this as you drink to hopefully have you drink more as the food is spicy and salty). I decline and have a few sips from my beer when this gentlemen next to me leans over and asks if I speak spanish (in spanish) and I respond. From there we spend the better part of an hour having a conversation about the history of the town and cantinas, how things have been changing over the year, etc. and I have a few beers in the process. Come to learn that cantinas used to be male only (some still are), most, if not all, cantinas are owned by one of the 2 big beer groups (this one didnt have modelo so I asked and was given directions to the modelo cantina he frequents when he isnt at this place), a little about his life, etc. Was great to A) being able to mostly carry on a conversation (no matter how broken it was and how much of a struggle it was at time to get our points across) and B) learn a bit about the history from someone there instead of a book. After a few beers, I say adios and thank the guy for the conversation and directions and I walk in the rain over to the modelo cantina he told me about (Tenampa on the other side of town (small town so only take 10 mins or so).

Finally found some Modelo Negra on the trip. Happy place :)

Roads draining and rush hour happening in Valladolid.

This one had women inside and seemed more modern both in its appearance and in its rules based on what I picked up from the last place. The rain that was off and on while I was walking, picked up while inside and streets were somewhat flooded but stopped in time for the flooding to start going down a little for my walk back to the hostel. Meet a group who were getting ready to go out to dinner so get ready and we eventually head out to grab dinner at a decent place in the main square, Las Campanas. Good music being played inside, but the music was so so; nothing too good or bad to really mention. As we are eating, there is this party double decker bus driving by every now again blasting music. We leave restaurant and see the bus so we go see whats up and its like 10 pesos pp to take a ride and it goes around town which was a decent time. On the tour we see a bar worth checking out so once we park back in the city center, we walk over to it (Condesa). On the way I run into the people I went to CI in the morning and they join for the drinks. Order drinks and apparently it was happy hour so some people got 2 for 1s which they didnt mention when we were ordering. After our drinks, everyone is exhausted from their respective days so we all head back to call it a night.

Town's cathedral at night.

Party bus crew. Had to watch out for and avoid being decapitated by low branches from trees and power lines as we drove through town.