Mexico: Yucatan – Riviera Maya

Photo Gallery

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September 25th, 2008 Permalink

I finally found the time to put together a photo gallery of our AMAZING trip. Click here to view the photo gallery. This has to be one of my most adventurous traveling experiences to date. Enjoy and happy viewing!

What Are The Odds…

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August 27th, 2008 Permalink

So guess what our return flight got cancelled as well! I’m never flying with United Airlines ever AGAIN! Maybe only as a last resort. We still have a $300 credit to use from the previous cancellation. This time it was another mechanical problem with the plane. Our departing flight had a connecting flight at Chicago [...]

So guess what our return flight got cancelled as well! I’m never flying with United Airlines ever AGAIN! Maybe only as a last resort. We still have a $300 credit to use from the previous cancellation. This time it was another mechanical problem with the plane. Our departing flight had a connecting flight at Chicago O’Hare and anyone trying to get to Chicago had to catch tomorrow’s flight out. Luckily for us we’re just trying to get to Seattle and a connecting flight anywhere was fine with us. I saw that Frontier Airlines had a flight out to Denver a few hours later. I was pretty sure that United would rebook our flight with Frontier since a lot of connecting flights are made in Denver. We had to pick up our luggages (never again am I counting on an airline to transfer my stuff for me) and go through customs again. Four out of the six United Airline’s counters were dedicated to rebooking everyone on the cancelled flight, but still the line moved very slow. I noticed that Frontier’s counter was slow and empty at times. I figured they must have room on their next and only flight out to Denver. I had Seung go ask them and indeed there were room for us as well as a connecting flight out to Seattle. They couldn’t help us though. United had to rebook us on their end. The only problem was that they were closing their terminal in 35 minutes and we were far from being helped at United’s counter. I suggested Seung go talk to a United staff to convince them that it was probably cheaper to help us get on Frontier’s next flight than to pay for our hotel, food and transportation for another night. I wasn’t even sure how that would pan out. Seung made a desperate attempt to go to the front of the line and begged the person at the front of the line if he could be helped next. Luckily, the lady was sympathetic and let us ahead of her. She was definitely one of the screwed folks who have to stay another night and it didn’t mattered if we stepped in front of her or not. We could’ve ended up with a very disgruntled customer who didn’t give a shit about our situation except their own. The lady we stood behind in line was also very kind. I didn’t want to lose our spot in line just in case our plan didn’t work, so she watched our stuff and saved our spot for us. I guess bad luck comes in three’s. First our incoming flight got cancelled, then our baggages were temporarily lost and then our departing flight got cancelled as well. At the end of the airport mess we’re FINALLY home! What are the odds of having your flights cancelled twice on the same trip? Maybe I should think about buying a lottery ticket tomorrow. Hmmm…

Checking Out

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August 26th, 2008 Permalink

I can’t wait to be back in cooler weather and can’t wait to see our babies Jolie and Jonas! Adios Mexico! Dropped off at kitty daycare 10 days prior.

I can’t wait to be back in cooler weather and can’t wait to see our babies Jolie and Jonas! Adios Mexico!

Dropped off at kitty daycare 10 days prior.

Isla Mujeres

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August 25th, 2008 Permalink

Today is our last full day in Cancun. Seung and I spent the day on Isla Mujeres (Island of Women). Since taxi’s in Cancun are quite expensive we decided to save some money by riding the local buses to the ferry dock at Tortuga Beach. Luckily, it was on the main boulevard as all the [...]

Today is our last full day in Cancun. Seung and I spent the day on Isla Mujeres (Island of Women). Since taxi’s in Cancun are quite expensive we decided to save some money by riding the local buses to the ferry dock at Tortuga Beach. Luckily, it was on the main boulevard as all the hotel resorts in the hotel zone and no transfer was required. Isla Mujeres is a very small island and is about a 25 minutes ferry ride from Cancun. What drew me there was Playa Norte. It’s a beach on the northside of the island that doesn’t get much surf and is supposedly very clear. Before we went to the beach I wanted to check out Tortugranja (a turtle farm). It’s located on Sac Bajo, the southern end of the island. The turtle farm is funded by the Mexican government, which I think is great. If only the government helped support The Jungle Place too. The taxi ride from the ferry dock to Tortugranja was 42 pesos and the entrance into the turtle farm was $5.oo USD. I’ve never seen so many baby sea turtles in my life! They were so cute and adorable. I just felt like picking them up even though you’re not supposed to. A few eggs also hatched while we were there. We didn’t see it happen, but we saw one of the staff help dig them out of the sand. I rushed over and was able to get a pic of the new baby turtles. The turtle farm is a pretty small place for the price you pay to get in, but the hatchlings totally made the visit worth it. After visiting the turtle farm we walked over to Isla Mujeres Palace. One of the perks of staying at a Palace Resort hotel is that you can use any of the amenities and eat at the restaurants at any of the Palace Resort hotels for free. The hotel there is fairly small and seem to have only one buffet restaurant. Food was quite disappointing, so I didn’t get to eat much (or more like I didn’t want to). The pool and beach was also not so great. Good thing there’s Playa Norte! We caught a taxi there for $5.00 USD. At first the beach didn’t seem as nice as everything I’ve been reading about it, but if you look out you can see patches of clear blue crystal water. You have to walk pretty far out though. I’d have to say the water was the nicest of all the beaches we’ve gone to so far. It was almost as nice as Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. Seung and I spent a couple of hours in the ocean. It was amazing that the water was only chest deep even though we were far from shore. I was able to practice treading and floating in the water and did quite well. I was so proud of myself. If only I’m able to do this more often. I’m pretty sure I could learn to swim in no time. We wanted to catch the second to last ferry back to Cancun and so we walked back downtown. It’s was a nice short walk and the area reminded me a little of Playa Del Carmen, which I miss very much! Well, the beach and the turtle farm was all that we did on the island. I’m sure there are other things to do and see, but I’m also sure they’re the same activities you could do on the mainland as well. I think Isla Mujeres is worth a trip if you’re ever in Cancun. Pictures to come…

Waiting for the ferry to Isla Mujeres.

Wow… just breathtaking!

Bienvenidos a la Isla Mujeres.

At the turtle farm.

There are turtle eggs under the sand in all these wired links. It takes up to 60 days for the eggs to hatch.

This one hatched today! How cute!

Enjoying the breeze at Isla Mujeres Palace.

Playa Norte

Check out the ocean!

Had to squeeze in a shot of Seung, hehe.

Us together.

Look how far we are from shore.

Leaving Isla Mujeres.

Cancun Palace

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August 24th, 2008 Permalink

We arrived in Cancun from Playa Del Carmen yesterday via the ADO bus. We then had to catch a taxi from downtown to our hotel. We stayed at the all-inclusive Cancun Palace. I had originally wanted to stay at Sun Palace, which is an adult only resort, but my discount rates didn’t apply there or [...]

We arrived in Cancun from Playa Del Carmen yesterday via the ADO bus. We then had to catch a taxi from downtown to our hotel. We stayed at the all-inclusive Cancun Palace. I had originally wanted to stay at Sun Palace, which is an adult only resort, but my discount rates didn’t apply there or something and I didn’t want to ask why. Upon check-in we were greeted with a cocktail drink of the day. Not once during this whole trip did we get carded. I also received a stem of carnation flower. How cool and sweet! Our room is amazing! We got a corner room on the fifth floor with a balcony facing the pool and the famous turqouise waters of Cancun. We had a king size bed, flat screen TV and a double jacuzzi in our room. In fact that’s the standard room here. The room is also very modern. I just love how the bathroom, sinks, jacuzzi and the rest of the room flowed into each other. Now this is what you call a relaxing honeymoon!

Double bowl sinks!

Our nice room!

The shower.

Biosilk shampoo & conditioner included.

Complimentary bottle of red wine (which we never touched).

This gets restocked everyday.

This gets restocked everyday as well. We didn’t drink an ounce though.

View from our balcony. Right below is the Steakhouse restaurant at night.

The ocean!

Cancun’s beach or what’s left of it after the numerous hurricanes.

View of the hotel at night.

Testing out the jacuzzi, hehe!

Today we just totally chilled out. We headed out to the pool around 10:00AM and stayed there until the late afternoon. We also did a quickie dip into the ocean and took pictures just to say we’ve been in Cancun’s water, hehe. I loved the pool water more. Just imagine unlimited drinks and food right there as you lay by the pool. Total pampering! Seriously, that’s all we did today. It was really nice, hehe. I’m crazy dark now. I wish I could do something with the remaining pale spots that weren’t exposed to the sun. I’ll give a more detailed review on the “all-inclusive” later after our stay. Stay tuned for pictures…