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We had planned to get up at 4:00 am, but a thunderstorm woke us up at around 3:40 and we weren't able to get back to sleep. We left for the airport at around 5:10. When we arrived, there was a huge check-in line. We were still in line at 6:00, and our flight was scheduled to leave at 7. They finally plucked us into another line, and we got through security with time to spare. We got breakfast to go at Burger King, headed to the gate, and were able to board immediately. The flight was very empty, and most other passengers had already boarded, so we got to spread out on the plane.
We ate our Burger King breakfast (Craig got a sausage Croissanwich and I had French toast sticks), and soon into the flight they served us breakfast, Craig got the breakfast burrito (seemed appropriate for a flight bound for Mexico). I wasn't all that hungry, so I just had corn flakes. We were given free headsets on the flight, and watched "Matchstick Men", which was very enjoyable. The flight took four hours, and we arrived in Cancun at 10 am (they are an hour behind Eastern Daylight Time). There was no line at immigration. Customs had a big stoplight, and we had to press a button which would "randomly" determine whether or not we needed to be searched more thoroughly. Of course, we were singled out for the luggage search. But the airport staff was very friendly. As we only had carry-on luggage, this search was very quickly accomplished, and we were sent on our way. The airport was really empty, but all of the employees were incredibly helpful. Many different employees checked to make sure that we were ok and pointed us in the direction of Olympus Tours. We had heard that the time share folks at the airport can be very aggressive, so we were a bit cautious when people approached us. But everyone was on the up-and-up, and was genuinely trying to help. We met an Olympus Tours representative and he immediately brought us to the place where their van would pick us up. I took out my camera to snap a few photos of the airport, and one of the employees came over immediately and offered to take our picture. The service was really amazing. When six other passengers arrived, we got into the van and headed east toward Cancun and then south down highway 307 out of Cancun. The highway didn't have traditional exits. You could turn off the highway to go down a road to the right, but if you wanted to reverse direction, you needed to make a U-turn from a center lane, and it was somewhat of a free-for-all. At one point, our driver pulled over and asked if anyone wanted something to drink. He then sprinted across the highway to buy someone in the group some water. We were impressed at the level of service. We stopped at two Riviera Maya hotels to let people off. These were all-inclusive hotel resorts which were right on the beach and right off the highway, but were pretty isolated. We saw a coati mundi cross the road on one of the hotel properties. On the ride we were immediately stricken by the fact that the vegetation was very similar to that which we had seen in Belize: mangroves, fan palms, ceiba trees, etc. We then continued on to Playa del Carmen. We arrived at the Gran Porto Real at noon. One hotel "hospitality" staffer named Valentina snagged us before we even checked in and welcomed us to the hotel, giving us a map and some coupons for local restaurants. Craig immediately whispered "timeshares" into my ear but we let her continue. At first she seemed to be really helpful, but it soon degraded to a time share pitch where she invited us to see the hotel's new property across the street. We immediately said no thank you and took our leave. Craig checked in while I headed over to the Best Day Tours desk in the lobby to confirm our Chichen Itza tour for tomorrow. Because the hotel offers an all-inclusive option, and we were not taking advantage of it, the front desk fitted us with brown wristbands, which identified us as hotel patrons of the non-all-inclusive variety. They assigned us to room 509. We decided to head up to the room and get settled in. It took us a while to find it, as the elevator only goes as far as the second floor. We then had to climb a flight of stairs to the third floor, wind our way down a couple of corridors, and then go up a small flight of stairs to the 500 level rooms. These rooms had a nice patio which overlooks a rooftop pool on the 4th floor. When we got to the room we found it to be quite pleasant. There was a TV which we never turned on, a small fridge, and two double beds which had "headboards" of backlit palm tree scenes carved into the wall. There was a huge moth between the window shutters outside the room. It looked like something from "The Silence of the Lambs". Valentina from "hospitality" then called the room to try to schedule a time to talk to us about a free breakfast and tour of the new property. We told her that we had already talked to her, and she said that she would write her name down next to ours so that nobody else would bother us. At around 1:00 we headed down to Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue). It is a pedestrian street which parallels the coast of the Caribbean. It seemed pretty devoid of tourists in the midday heat, and we were solicited by many shopowners who wanted to sell us good and services (like hair braiding). We ran the gauntlet and didn't get suckered in. We went into one cute shop which had a lot of interesting artwork in Day of the Dead motifs. Workmen were laying new pavers on the street. It was quite warm and we were starting to get hungry, so we went into the air-conditioned Haagen Dazs for some ice cream. We had waffle cones which were hand-dipped in chocolate with sprinkles. I had a scoop of "Cookie Doug [sic] Dynamo" and a scoop of chocolate chocolate chip. Craig had a scoop of cookies and cream and a scoop of macadamia nut. It was decadent and really hit the spot. After finishing our ice cream, we continued down 5th Avenue. Craig's old sunglasses finally broke, so we stopped at a pharmacy to get him a new pair. This was quite a lengthy and interesting experience but came with its own brand of entertainment. There was an entire wall of prescription drugs such as Cipro which could be purchased for relatively little money and without a prescription. We located the bus station and priced tickets to Tulum. We continued walking until we got to the pier where the ferry to Cozumel docks. We went into Señor Frog's for a drink. We sat at the bar and sipped margaritas while looking out over the Caribbean. The place was an obvious spring break type of hangout. There was a boat with two large stuffed frogs suspended from the ceiling, as well as many fluorescent signs with funny, witty, and vulgar sayings on them. The floor was covered with sawdust. Soon we decided that we'd like some food, so we moved from the bar to a table. We ordered beef fajitas, which came with very fresh (though too few) tortillas. We ended up ordering a few more tortillas to go along with the meal. The rowdy folks at the table next to us were doing shots. The waiters were pouring the shots down their throats for them, pounding their heads, etc. The patrons got to keep the little plastic shot glasses, and one of the guys noticed that it said "Señor Frog's Puerto Rico" instead of Playa del Carmen. He yelled to the waiter to "chuck it onto the beach" and he quickly obliged. The waitstaff laughed and brought him a stack of 10 Playa shot glasses on the house. We stopped in a small store to buy some Gatorade for tomorrow, and then headed back to the hotel for our meeting. We were supposed to meet Pablo, our hotel's Olympus Tours representative, at 4:30 to confirm our transfer to the airport on Monday morning. When we got there, he said that he couldn't confirm our pickup yet, and that we'd need to meet him before 7:00 pm Sunday night. He asked if we needed to book any tours, and we said we had already booked Chichen Itza through Best Day. He seemed a bit miffed that we had done that, and said that he was our travel agent and that we were supposed to book everything through him. He said that if we booked through other people we had no recourse if they didn't show up. We tried to explain that noone had told us that, and that we had booked the entire trip online before leaving home. When he learned this he was a little more relaxed. He asked what we were doing on Sunday and we said that we planned to head to Tulum and the Xel-Ha ruins on our own, by bus. He discouraged us, saying that we should take their expensive day trip to Tulum and Xel-Ha Ecopark. We said that we didn't want to go to the ecopark; we wanted to go to the Xel-Ha ruins which are across the street from the park. He insisted that there are no Xel-Ha ruins, and that we were talking about Tulum. We insisted that we had read about the Xel-Ha ruins online and in guide books and we wanted to see the murals that reside there. He insisted that "the only nearby ruins" were Tulum. We went back and forth a few times. He was very condescending and said that he had been in this field for 11 years, and didn't we believe him? He kept trying to push the day tour, saying that if we went on our own, the bus would drop us on the highway and it would be a 45 minute walk to Tulum, there are no buses back, etc. This contradicted everything we had read, so we just held out and told him we'd take our chances. That pretty much concluded our meeting. Good thing we made it a point to meet him at exactly 4:30 for such a productive session! In the end, our meeting with Pablo just solidified our resolve to head out on our own on Sunday and see these "non-existent" Xel-Ha ruins. We had fantasies of showing him photos when we met with him on Sunday night. We went back to the room feeling frustrated yet proud of ourselves for sticking to our guns. We changed into our bathing suits and headed to the rooftop pool. This is a tranquil, more adult-oriented pool than the large pool on the beach. There was a pool bar and you could sit on stools in the pool while enjoying a drink. Craig got a couple of beers, and we lounged in the warm water. We met Lisa and Joe, a newlywed couple from Detroit. We talked sports with Joe, talked about what they had done on their honeyoon, etc. The weather was nice, the water was nice, it was very comfortable. We then got changed and caught a cab to Alux ("Ah-looosh") for dinner. It was a $4 cab ride and took about 5 minutes. When we arrived, we descended a stone staircase which was lit by paper bags with small lightbulbs in them. It was 7:00 pm, and the place had just opened, so we were the first customers there. The restaurant itself is within a limestone cave. Stalactites, stalagmites, waterfalls, and pools of water surrounded the tables. The light was dim, and there were colored lights illuminating the intricate stone structures. Ambient (if somewhat techno at times) music was being played. There were fans circulating the air, and the temperature was quite comfortable. We sat at a table right in front of a small stage. Craig ordered a Dos Equis beer, and I ordered sangria, which was delicious and refreshing. They brought us a plate of fresh breads and butter. We each ordered the Filet Alux, which was served with roquefort cheese, ham, and a baked potato. It was delicious. We enjoyed it thoroughly, and then ordered another round of drinks. By now, the place was starting to fill up. We asked if we could have a tour of the caverns, and an employee showed us around. There were several other chambers behind the main one where we had been eating. There were several private nooks with cement couches and tables. The cave formations were beautiful. After a couple of minutes, our "guide" had to get back to work, but he said we were welcome to continue exploring. There was a large open area with a small stage area which could be used as a function hall. We marvelled at what a fantastic location this would be for a small wedding reception. Parts of the cave were still active; water was dripping from the stalactites. There was steam rising from a pool of water. It was breathtaking. We went back to our table and sipped our drinks. Soon a belly dancer came onto the stage and performed. After she was done, she walked out between the tables and danced with patrons, including me. When her performance was over, a guy played electric guitar while a woman sang. Though they did a really deep blues cut by Big Bill Broonzy, overall it was too loud and didn't really seem to fit the ambiance. We were done with our drinks by this point, and we decided to leave. An employee signalled a cab with a flashlight, and we arrived back at the hotel at around 10 pm. We walked out to the main pool and caught the tail end of a Mexican dance show. We walked onto the beach and marvelled at the full moon reflected in the Caribbean. It was amazing how much light it gave off. We went back to the room, and I wrote in the journal. We went to sleep at around 11:30. |
        
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