An Indiana Jones Adventure

Tropical Storm Alma sure has left some fun weather in the area. Right now I'm sitting on my balcony listening to screaming winds and picturing tomorrow's flight out of here. Ugh. Apparently another depression is forming off the coast of Belize, so I think I may be getting out of here just in time.

Today I had a total Indiana Jones adventure and it was the highlight of my trip. As soon as I boarded our tour van this morning and found it filled with Italians and Belgians, I knew it would be anything but boring. Luckily the three Belgian women spoke some English, so I was able to talk with them throughout the trip. The Italians were certainly an animated bunch! When we introduced ourselves I said I was from Seattle and they all said, "Ahhh! Americano!!" I've never figured out if that is a good or bad exclamation!

Our first stop was Coba. We toured the first group of ruins, then rented bikes to ride the mile or so to Nohoch Mul, the large pyramid. It was amazing! I scaled up quickly, but halfway up stopped to take a photo and then got a bit of vertigo. I took a small sanity break, focused on the steps in front of me, then I was fine. The view from the top was phenomenal and I'm glad it was a cloudy and slightly rainy day. Climbing this in the baking sun would have been murder. Getting down also went much better than I anticipated. Thank you to whoever installed the rope! Maybe my IT band is finally getting healed, because this normally would have thrown the discomfort into high gear.

After Coba, we started the adventure part of our trip with a swim in an underground cenote. Before the swim, we had to wash off and remove suntan lotion and any other "scum". The cave formations are pretty sensitive and they are particular about not affecting them. We descended some narrow stairs and found the water deep enough for diving practice. It was cool but refreshing. After the swim, we took part in a Mayan ritual that wishes good luck and good health to its participants, then trekked through the jungle and saw Spider Monkeys swinging from the trees. Very cool! We arrived at a beautiful lagoon, paired up, and had a brief kayaking excursion that returned us to the start.

From there, we went to PacChen where we suited up in harnesses to rappel and zipline. I can't even tell you how nervous but excited I was to try this! The worst part of the rappel was just getting to the edge, leaning back, and putting all of my weight into the harness. That was a damn freaky feeling, but once I started down, it really was a piece of cake and fun as hell. I may have to start climbing now!

Waiting for the rappel, I saw people coming in on the zipline and that thing freaked me out more than anything. I couldn't believe how fast they were going! Waiting for my turn nearly gave me a seizure, but as usual, the anticipation is far worse than the actual doing, and the zipline was probably my favorite part! We were instructed not to use our little hand brake stick until close to the end, but I got there quicker than I anticipated and I think you can tell in one of the pictures that I'm a little "concerned." Haha!

After the activities, the Mayan village supplied a fantastic lunch of veggie soup, pasta, chicken, and an assortment of tortillas and other things. We hung out at the village for a while and then got to see the pictures that the tour company took while we were out "Indiana Jonesing". The pics were great! One of my favorite parts of the trip has been spending time in little villages like the one we visited today. The living conditions are humbling but the people are amazing. They are all so friendly and welcoming, and the little kids especially like having their picture taken.

On the drive back to Playa del Carmen, one of the Italians decided to hook his phone up to our tour guide's radio and we all laughed over some great 80s music and other funny songs. The Italian said it best: "Music unites!" Language may be a barrier, but it's amazing how many people start singing along to certain songs! Oh, and the Belgium girls all agreed with me: Tom Boonen is the best! Too funny!

This trip has been way beyond my expectations. I absolutely love Mexico and can't wait to return. I also want to venture further south into Honduras and Costa Rica, and then into South America soon. I just pray that my flight gets out of here tomorrow! It's going to be a rough one for sure with all this weather from Alma. The winds are still whipping up out there and it's supposed to get worse tomorrow. Good times!

More pictures from today!

Tulum and a Mexican driving adventure

The remnants of Tropical Storm Alma that hit Nicaragua are now affecting the Yucatan. Last night we had some thunderstorms that disrupted internet, so I didn't get an opportunity to post an update.

I set off early yesterday morning in my shoebox rental car for Tulum, about 30 miles or so south of Playa del Carmen. The drive went well and since I had been on the same road for the Chichen Itza tour, I was a bit familiar with it, which helped. The rental car attendant, Edguardo, also gave me a crash course in Mexican driving.

I wish the US actually adopted more of the rules (or lack thereof) that they have here. The main goal is to keep the most amount of traffic moving. Slower traffic moves to the right side of the road on the shoulder to let faster traffic pass. Of course, since many roads are 2-lane highways with each lane having about a 1/2 lane shoulder, that means cars in both directions need to move to let someone pass. So if you suddenly have oncoming traffic coming at you, move right! The road to Tulum is fairly well traveled, so it certainly wasn't as big an adventure as going further inland. That's when the roads get a bit sketchy.

Tulum was absolutely gorgeous! Iguanas were everywhere and boy did they have fabulous views. The beach area was a Caribbean postcard and it was awe-inspiring. This is one place I would not visit with a tour group. Renting a car and getting there early before the tour buses arrived was fabulous. There were only a handful of people, I was able to take extraordinary pictures, and I could enjoy the sound of the ocean and the quietness of the place. I'm very glad I read a few travel books and got the tip. I had about an hour to enjoy the ruins before bus loads of people showed up. I can't believe how many people descended on the place! I'm so glad I was on my way out when they were all coming in.


I had the best chilaquiles at a little restaurant in Tulum and then spent some time checking out the town and shopping for deals. It's neat to go into all the little shops and look at everything being sold. It rained a few times today, which made the humidity even worse, but it felt refreshing to feel rain.

Once I got back, I visited the Aviary Xaman-Ha and made friends with a pushy little Toucan. He kept pecking at me and trying to get into my backpack, probably for food. I hit the hotel for dinner, watched their nightly dance show, then took some salsa lessons sponsored by the hotel. I certainly don't claim to be a salsa expert, but now I know the basic moves and it's really not too hard to add to it. Who knew salsa was so much fun? I may have to enroll in more dance classes when I get back home.

More pics from Tulum...

Broken car

A few days ago I befriended a couple from Vancouver, BC who were kind enough to invite me along with them on a trip to Coba. They said they had secured a car and would be happy to take me. They picked me up this morning at the hotel and when they pulled up I couldn't believe how tiny and old this car was. I have no idea what it was, but it wasn't very happy. I assumed they were getting a rental, but this car clearly wasn't and I had some doubts about driving in it.

The car got us about 50 miles or so before dying. Luckily we had just passed through a town and weren't too far into the jungle yet, so we walked back and found a guy named Julio who was eager to drive us back to Playa for a generous offering of Pesos. We even gave him a 6-pack of Coke, which seemed to make his day. I'm not sure what they ended up doing with the car, but they said they would take care of it. Unfortunately I got no pictures, and it's probably a good thing we didn't make it to Coba, because I left my memory card in my laptop last night. I would have been one very pissed off chick, so I guess it all worked out in the long run.

I was seriously bummed about Coba so I hit the beach and after a few Dos Equis decided I would call Expedia and extend my trip another two days. I'm leery of driving solo to Coba, so I booked the Mayan Adventure guided tour for Friday. As part of the tour, I get to rappel 65ft into a cenote, do a z-line crossing over another cenote, kayak across a lagoon, have an authentic Mayan lunch, and then visit Coba. This should be fun!

I did decide to make the drive to Tulum in the morning on my own to beat the crowds, so I took the plunge and rented a car. This car looks a bit more reliable, but it's still barely a shoebox on wheels. Everything seems half normal size. Wish me luck on my hour drive to Tulum, though I've been reassured by many it is a much safer drive than to Coba. Now I'm off for ladies night at Senor Frogs!

Chichen Itza and cenote swimming

I departed the hotel at 7am this morning for a guided Chichen Itza tour. We cruised out of Playa and it didn't take long to get away from the resort scene and into real Mexico. The drive to Chichen Itza was about 2.5 hours on mostly narrow two-lane roads through the jungle. We passed through several small towns that had Topas (crazy speed bump things) that required us to slow. Experiencing areas like this always puts things in perspective for me. It's unbelievable some of these communities are so poor.

A few miles before Chichen Itza we were stopped by Federales at a military checkpoint. We had to all get out of the tour van while they checked it for elicit items. It's fun to stand there with men carrying machine guns, hassling people over not having their passports. I had mine so I was safe! After a few more hassles we were back on board and entering Chichen Itza.

I can't even describe how awesome this site is. I've heard lots of people talk about crowds, but there were far less people than I was expecting. When our tour arrived, we were among the first and were able to view a lot of the ruins before other larger groups even showed. The exactness, precision, and detail in some of the ruins is amazing. How the hell the Mayans could build something so extraordinary is beyond me.

Our guide, Gregorio, offered up tons of great information and we spent about two hours touring the ruins. As the day progressed, it definitely got hotter and I became adept at finding shade. At the end of the tour, we were given 45 minutes to browse at our leisure before having lunch. I visited a cenote near the ruins but so many locals were selling gifts at the site that I spent my time with several others haggling and getting some good deals. Meeting and chatting with locals (and attempting to use Spanish) has been really fun.

We left Chichen Itz and headed to the Cenote Dzitnup o X'keken for some swimming. This sidetrip turned out to truly be a memorable experience! The cenote is subterranean and you descend down a set of narrow and slippery stairs to get to it. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The roots of a tree growing at the top extend down through a hole all the way to the bottom into this crystal clear water. Swallows flew all around the tree roots in circles. It was really unbelievable. We all hopped into the chilly water for a quick swim, which was refreshing after the heat of Chichen Itza.

After the cenote, we completed the tour by making a quick stop in Valladolid, a beautiful old town with a gorgeous church. Once again we hit the crazy narrow jungle road to head back to Playa. As we slowed for Topas, I took some pictures of the towns we drove through. Overall, this was a most memorable experience and one I won't soon forget. I met some awesome people on the tour, bought some neat artifacts, was humbled by many Mexican towns, and won't soon forget the amazingness of Chichen Itza or the cenote.

Pics from today.
Pics from yesterday!

Dos Equis!

Current drink count:

Margaritas: 3
Dos Equis: 5
Miami Vice: 3
Some weird fruit cocktail thing with a mega hit of alcohol: 1

Today was beach day and this morning I spent a few hours lounging and reading, then hit the town for some browsing and shopping. Met a nice guy named Julio who had iguanas, one of which was the biggest I'd ever seen. He took my picture and then asked me to go to Acapulco. Haha! Everyone here is very nice and outgoing, especially the locals.

I visited a very small Mayan ruin area in Playacar, then rented a jetski and cruised around for about an hour. While I was walking back through town all of a sudden a Policia stopped and said, "Una momento senorita." Talk about a mini heart attack. The Policia here have machine guns, so I was a bit nervous. Turns out he was very friendly and just wanted to check out my tattoo, haha!

We talked for a few minutes and when I told him I had plans to rent a car to drive to Coba, he said, "Caution! Jungle! Tarantula!" Grrrrreat. Apparently the road has tarantula crossings, no shit. I can't wait for this one.

Right now I'm listening to an awesome mariachi band, drinking margarita #4, and watching wild cats run around. Olé!

P.S. How many iguanas can you count in that photo? Hint: The big one I'm holding isn't the only one :)

More pics from today!

Welcome to Playa!

For once I had pretty smooth flights and the time went by much faster than I anticipated. Maybe I'm getting used to this flying thing and finally just don't mind if I die. Landing in Cancun was a trip. There were some big enough air pockets dropping the plane that everyone on board collectively "oooh'd" and "aaah'd". Me? I sat in my chair, lounging, reading a book without a care in the world.

I assumed the plane would fly over the Cancun resort area and land near it. Instead, it descended into jungle. A few feet from the top of the trees I was thinking, "Ok....there IS a landing strip here, right?" The guy next to me even expressed some concern about the existence of an airport. Then suddenly right when I figured we were jungle bait, boom. There's the strip.

I then spent about 45 minutes in line to pass through customs, then another 30 minutes waiting on ground transport to Playa. Another 30-40 minutes for the drive to Playa and then surprise...more time waiting in line for the hotel check-in. I deplaned around 3:30 and finally walked into my room at 6.

The room is crazy huge. I swear it might be bigger than my condo. I have a partial ocean view, and it's really nice. I spent the evening strolling around Quinta Avenida trying to speak and understand Spanish. The atmosphere is very fun and energetic and everyone is trying to get your attention. I do wish I spoke more Spanish, I think it would make the trip much more enjoyable. I had some great enchiladas and Dos Equis for dinner and made friends with a couple from Vancouver, BC who are also staying in my hotel. We met this local guy, Miguel, who promises to hook us up with a cheap car to drive to Tulum later in the week. We'll see how that goes.

I'd love to check out the nightlife tonight, but the 30 minutes of sleep I got last night are killing me, so I'm checking out way early and getting some sleep. Tomorrow I'm hitting the beach.

More pics here!

T-minus 1 day to Mexico!

I fly out Sunday morning for Playa del Carmen and I'm so excited! I can't believe I'm actually going! Here's to Negra Modelo, margaritas, and sun! Maybe this will finally jump start my learning Spanish. I'll be posting some pics and updates while I'm down there, but at $.99/minute for phone calls, no one will be hearing from me.

¡Cuidate!