We have been sitting in minus 25 degrees temperature with high wind chills for the past couple of weeks. Our water supply froze up the other day and Geo had to climb down into the well casing and thaw out the frozen pipe and replace the heat tape on it. So we've decided it definitely is time to get serious about looking for a winter vacation in a warmer place.
The question is where to go. We decided that we want something tropical, ocean side, restfull, all-inclusive, with the option of some sight seeing, short non-stop flight and value for $. We've checked and found a Signature package thru selloffvacations.com to Cancun which seems to be just what we need. Geo's never been to Cancun and I was anxious to see how much it has really grown since I was there twenty years ago.
We arrived in Cancun on January 11, 2011 after a five hour flight from Calgary. There is a colder weather front going thru with lots of wind, but it still is warmer than at home! We are staying in an ocean-view room at the Royal Solaris Hotel which is at the 20km mark on the Paseo Kukulkan Hotel strip.
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| Royal Solaris Hotel, Cancun, Mexico |
The first few days are spent at the poolside, on the beach and just taking it easy.
There is plenty of variety of food on the buffets and it is tasty. The hotel is really clean.
Our only complaint is that the hotel is noisy during the night and we both are woken up several times when other hotel guests are yelling and noisily making their way back to their rooms after partying. We both agree that the walls seem paper thin, people are just ignorant, and that we definitely need to change rooms. We both question that possibly we are just getting older - but no - that can't be happening and isn't an excuse for their behavior. The last straw is after being woken up by the people right below us who have decided it is time to have a noisy hot tub party on their deck at 5:00am.
Later that morning we comment to the staff at the front desk and they react very positively by moving us to their Royal Solaris Caribe next door into a very nice time-share/ hotel suite. We are in a separate ocean side lower level off on its own and it is very quiet.
Update Note: As of Feb, 2011 the Royal Solaris is no longer connected to the Caribe Tower next door. They will not transfer your stay to the Caribe Tower anymore. Also, you can no longer eat or use the pools at both resorts as they are separately owned now. So beware - the Royal Solaris is noisy at night!!
Views of our hotel:
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| Royal Solaris Caribe, Cancun |
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| Royal Solaris Caribe Tower |
Weds, January 26, 2011 The local bus is cheap and easy to travel on, so we take it down to El Centro. We don't last long here as we are attacked from every direction by hawkers, people selling tours, time-shares and wanting you to come in for drinks and meals, after all this is Mexico.
Thursday, January 27, 2011 We are up early and on our way to Chichen Itza at 8:45am. We have booked a bus tour through Yasmine at our hotel with Sol Ha Tours.
Along the way we drive thru the town of Valladolid, seeing Spanish Colonial style architecture, historical churches and the central plaza. All of which were freshly painted and very clean looking.
We then stopped at IK Kil Cenote. A cenote is a sink hole in the limestone bed, giving access to an under ground river. The cenotes were very important to the Mayans as their main perennial source of potable drinking water as the Yucatan Peninsula has almost no rivers or steams and only a few marshy lakes. The rivers in the interior of the Yucatan run underground. Cenotes have also had a great religious significance. There are stories of sacrificial victims being thrown into the cenote, along with offerings of treasure. Jewelry, pottery, figurines and the bones of humans were found in the Chichen Itza Sacred Cenote when it was dredged in 1904 to 1910 by an American Edward Thompson who had bought the land around the site. An international dispute arose when he shipped the findings to the Peabody Museum at Harvard, where some of the artifacts still remain.
The IK Kil Cenote that we stop at is close to Chichen Itza and is in a beautiful park like setting. To access the cenote to swim, you walk down a set of about 70 stairs. Just a short way down is another place to take pictures. Some of our tour go for a swim in it. The water is clean and about 150 feet deep with fish swimming in it. The cavernous walls are covered with plants and vines and long tendrils hang from the opening above. Life jackets are available for rent.
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| Ik Kil Cenote, Yukatan Peninsula, Mexico |
Next we stop for a buffet of authentic Mayan food and a small show of traditional dancing in the town of Piste. The food is good and the dancing lively.
Arriving at Chichen Itza our group goes directly in as we have pre-purchased tickets. Our group is then split into two, English and Spanish. Each group will have it's own guide. Our guide is Raymond, again. He gives a good over-view of the main larger areas after which we have another hour to wander on our own.
After going through the main gate there are tables literally lined up along the walkways and vendors approach you from all sides. "Good Price", "One Dollar", "Almost Free". If you are interested in souvenirs the prices are way better than the stores in Cancun. So buy your Mexico souvenir here. You'll find some unique items along with the usual blankets, masks, etc. There are some crafters carving and working on their pieces so you know they are original. But there are also lots of poured resin mass produced ones.
If you are not interested in souvenirs walk quickly with a polite "No, Gracias" to avoid getting into a discussion and to avoid being bombarded by them. If you stop or show interest you will be really attacked. Do not let this detract you from experiencing the ruins.
Chichen Itza "At the mouth of the well of the Itza" is a Unesco World Heritage Site and a national park. It has been recently voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It lies about midway between Cancun and Merida. The drive from Cancun is about 2.5 hrs via the toll Hwy #180.
It is the most visited site on the Yucatan. Chichen Itza has been widely studied, excavated and restored more than any other Mayan city. Yet it's history is still clouded in mystery and there are many contradicting theories and legends surrounding it. It is clear that a large Mayan culture thrived here between 700AD and 900AD and built most of the structures in the southern area. However, the main buildings including the pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of the Warriors and the Ball Court, are Toltec in design and influence. The Toltecs originated from Central Mexico. There are fragments of evidence to support different theories, but no conclusive evidence for any single theory. Compounding the mystery are ancient legends passed down thru Mayan tribes and also the Toltecs.
The Pyramid of Kulkulkan or "El Castillo" is 79 feet high and has a very structured feel to it. Two of its sides are completely restored. The other two are left to show the condition before work commenced.
Evidence shows that this pyramid was linked to the Mayan interests of astronomy and the calendar, is demonstrated at the spring and autumn equinox. On these days the shadow of the sun on the stairs from the corner tiers causes the illusion of a snake slithering down the pyramid to the serpent's head at the base of the pyramid in the direction of the cenote.
The four sides represent the four seasons. Each side has originally 91 steps, adding the platform at the top as a final step to total 365 steps -one for every day of the year.
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| Pyramid of Kukulkan "El Castillo", Chichen Itza, Mexico |
The Ball Court (Juego de Pelota) is one of the largest of its kind in the Maya world. The length of the playing field there is 40ft and two 25ft high walls run alongside the field.
The game itself involved two teams, each able to hit the 12 pound rubber ball only with the elbows, wrists or hips, and the object was to knock the ball through one of the stone hoops hanging on the walls of the court. This was not a casual sport as the carvings on the lower walls of the courts show blood spurting from headless necks. Some legends say that the captain of the losing side was executed by the winner. It is also said that the game was used as a method of settling disputes, or as an offering to the Gods.
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| Ball Court Loop |
The Group of the Thousand Columns incorporates the Temple of the Warriors and a series of columns, some of which feature carvings of Toltec warriors. It is believed that the columns originally supported a thatched roof which may have been used as a market place.
I highly recommend this tour if you want to see these sights. It is a long day and we were lucky that the weather wasn't too hot and there were no massive crowds to fight at the time of day when we arrived. This package was good value for what we paid - $70.00 Canadian each. We added up the individual cost of tolls, admissions, lunches, parking, transportation, guide and found that we could not have done it on our own for that price.
Friday, January 28, 2011
We take the local bus to the La Isla shopping area for a coffee at Starbucks. This is a nice area to get out and go walking around. Here there are only a few time-share and souvenir peddlers to hassle you. The area has a feel of a European shopping area with high class stores in it. There is definitely a presence of police in this area.
Sat. Sun. and Mon. We spent most of this time lazily beside the pool taking in sun, reading and getting caught up in our vitamin D.
It was minus 30 degrees with the wind chill when we arrived at the Calgary Airport at 12:30am. After taking the foot of snow off of our car and getting it warmed up we drove home. To bed at 3:00am.
Now we are sitting in a snow bank again!!
