02-25-2009
|
#1 (permalink) |
|
life=playa
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 947
|
2nd time around 8-22 Feb
2nd time around 8-22 Feb
This won’t be a true trip report, but I thought I make some notes on our trip. Basically, to give something back as some many people have adviced me here. Maybe somebody gets new ideas what to do in Playa. Can’t promise there won’t be the normal bar and beach pics though  This was our second trip to Playa and again we spend there two wonderful weeks. Last summer we started to plan the winter vacation and talked about different countries in Asia, but here we are… We had so much fun last year that we decided to return to Playa. I save you from the horror stories of 14 hours flight and tiny space for your knees in a charter plane and go straight to the point. Trip to Hidden Worlds Cenote Park Ok, first a confession. Last year we never had a time to visit a cenote… We stayed in an AI, got lazy, had too much fun in the evenings, slept late in the mornings etc etc. Excuses, excuses, I know  This time we were destined to see a cenote, so this was our first trip this year.Redhairgirl1 had sent me some pictures on Hidden Worlds and off we went. Took a collectivo (for the first time too) and sat down to see the interesting view on the highway down to Tulum. At place we got some instructions and stuffed ourselves in a wet suit (will have nightmares on that for eternity I guess, yikes  ). The staff drove us with a Indiana Jones type of vehicle into the jungle. Felt so adventurous. We left our stuff in a locker and walked through jungle about 500 metres path. We could have taken the jeep but we wanted to see the spider monkeys. They were cute but I felt kind of sorry for them being trapped there in the cage even though it was quite a big one. In the jungle, but not quite there still…  We also met lots of very friendly mosquitos; they just loooved the sweaty, white skin of poor skandinavians. No pictures of those; we needed to run  In the end of the path there was a skycycle. We were harnessed, locked onto the chair and off we went. Sun was shining, nice breeze, no mosquitos up there, beautiful view… I can recommend this one! It was only when we were cycling back when it hit me… Why oh why don’t I ever go to the gym and get some muscles in my thighs Well, too late to be sorry!  We cycled all the way to a cenote La Iglesia, the Church. There, first of all, I noticed that I had lost the key to our locker  The guy promised to call the main site to see if they found it. Secondly, I noticed that I had put my wet suit backwards as I was wearing it as “shorts” at the time so I needed to take it off and put back on. Continuous nightmare, double yikes . Luckily the beautiful cenote was worth it. We put the snorkel and mask on and followed the guide into the caves. No words… just peaceful and breathtaking.  Once we cycled back to the base, we went through two other cenotes, but unfortunately I don’t have a good enough camera.  There was an opportunity to do a zip line and splashdown in a cenote, but there was the limit to our adventurous minds. We walked back to the highway and took collectivo back home.  To be continued… Day in Isla Mujeres Trip to El Balam ruins and X’keken cenote Days on the beach And… the night life
__________________
Playa here we come again :-) 26 Dec, 2011 - 9 Jan, 2012 China experience April 2009 2nd time around, Playa 8-22 Feb 2009 Playa 16-30 Dec 2007 ... wow... 
Last edited by isomami; 03-01-2009 at 01:57 PM.. Reason: Links for pictures |
|
|
| register to remove these adverts | |
|
02-25-2009
|
#9 (permalink) |
|
ańejo
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Grand Lake, Co
Posts: 8,978
|
I am so glad you went to Hidden Worlds! I don't see very many reports of it, and all's i can say is that it is simply underrated, and more people should check it out!
Too funny about the skycycle, cause i thought the same thing. After we made it to the cenote, i thought "Shit! Now i gotta go back  "Too bad you didn't do the ziplining, especially the one into the cenote. Ahhh so refreshing! Didn't you just love the "Jungle Buggy" (As we called it) going into the jungle? I felt the same way, like an adventure in Indiana Jones. They should play that music on the way in there I hope you post some more! I look forward to it! |
|
|
|
|
02-26-2009
|
#10 (permalink) | |||
|
life=playa
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 947
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
I'll continue as soon as I have time. Uploading pictures took more time than I thought. |
|||
|
|
|
|
02-26-2009
|
#11 (permalink) |
|
life=playa
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 947
|
Day on Isla Mujeres
I have read so many nice stories and seen beautiful pictures of Isla Mujeres that I just needed to go there myself. First we thought about staying there over night, but ended up spending only a long day. Looking back now, we should have brought our beauty bags and stayed longer. It was lovely! We left Playa after 8 am. We didn’t bother to ask about time schedules beforehand, but had a great luck with transportation! We bought the tickets, walked straight into Ado bus and out in Cancun (after 1 h 15 min in the morning rush), avoided the double pricing taxis at Cancun bus station, got on the other side of the road and catched taxi there. It’s not about the money itself, I just find it annoying that you charge double price from “stupid tourists” popping in a new place. Anyway, we got taxi immediately and got to Porto Juarez (some signs said Gran Porto, some said Porto Juarez. We came to conclusion it is the one and same place with two names. Are we right or wrong? Anyone?) We bought tickets to Ultramar ferry and our luck continued. The 10.00 o’clock ferry was leaving in Mexican schedule at 10.15 and we managed to walk straight in  In Isla Mujeres we finally stopped for breakfast. Pancakes for Kaisa and scrambled eggs & bacon for me… did they taste good! With happy bellies we walked to rent a golf car. I’m hopeless with cars, so Kaisa was the designated driver. To support her morally, I didn’t drink during the day (between us, quite a sacrifice  ). The island is only 7 kilometres long and less than a kilometer wide, so the traffic was very easy and we could safely drive around with our golf car, wind in our hair, feeling very free… This is what the holidays are about!First stop was in a spot where people go to swim with dolphins and to take a zip line above the sea. The sea has amazing colours around Isla Mujeres! I don’t know if it’s different kind of sand, corals or what, but amazed we were. That shades of turqoise are all my favourites. Look at this one!!!  And look at this sharp designated driver – how dependable does she look!  After taking photos we drove to the south end of the island, the most eastern point of Mexico the sign said. There was a light house and a statue park, but we concentrated on buying nice necklasses  The iguanas did their best poses on the rocks. Tyra Banks must have trained these mannequins.  The southern part is dedicated to a goddess of fertility, if I understood right, but there were also male statues. I didn’t want to take any chances with the fertility goddess, my boyfriend not joining us in the vacation and all  After good shopping and sightseeing we hopped back on our faithful vehicle. No air conditioning needed, by the way.  The eastern side of the island towards the Caribbean Sea is way rougher than the other. The western side has beaches, but here we saw just rocks. We stopped the car and went to collect sea shells on the water line. We found the shells only in all shades of pink – is there a marine biologist to explain this?  The road called again, but suddenly we heard another call. This sign had much to do with it – who would not stop  I didn’t have the beer though, as decided. I just watched other people enjoying and cold it seemed   After a while we hit the town.  I just couldn’t stop photographing the houses in all the colours you can imagine. Here is only a tiny part of what’s on my camera. There must live only happy people in these ones, don’t you think?      Once in town we decided to explore the North Beach and it was a beauty even though the erosion has hit the beach quite badly.   The beach was so shallow that you could walk almost 100 metres before the water hit your shoulders. I also saw a sea star. Can you make wish when it moves??  We stayed on the beach until we needed to return the golf car at 5 pm. After that we walked through the town on the other side and saw one more beautiful beach just before the sun set. You can see the long shadows of me taking the picture.   And then I got my beer. No, actually I took a glass of sparkling wine (make it two ) as we saw this nice Italian restaurant on the local “La Quinta”. In the town of Isla Mujeres they also have a pedestrian street with bars and restaurants. Looked very cosy. We ended up eating in a fish restaurant – had a seafood plate for two. There was so much food that we also feeded our local friend The Cat.After dinner it was time to walk back to the harbour, get the ferry to the mainland and a bus back to Playa. Two happy travellers came back hotel with huge grin – great day, great trip and a great island! Again… we should have stayed over night. You do better when you go there! To be continued… Trip to El Balam ruins and X’keken cenote Days on the beach And… the night life |
|
|
|
|
02-26-2009
|
#13 (permalink) | |
|
life=playa
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 947
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
02-26-2009
|
#15 (permalink) | |
|
ańejo
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: nova scotia, canada
Posts: 5,636
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
great beginning!
