Katmumn's 1st trip to Merida and Playa 2/18/2009 - 2/25/2009

katmumn · 03-01-2009

Day 1 - 2/18/2009:
Slept hardly at all as I was worried about waking up at 3 am to get to the airport. Pick up my friend Glenda and we are to the MSP airport by about 4:30 am. It only takes about a 1/2 hour total to check-in and get through security so we are to the gate before 5 am for a 6:15 am flight. Flight leaves on time and we actually arrive in Cancun 15 minutes early at 9:50 am. We arrived at terminal 3 and already I am shocked at how much things have changed. The last time I flew to Cancun was 1989. The lines through immigration and customs are long but they are moving quickly. Glenda mentions that she actually overheard someone complaining that the signs are in English and Spanish. We leave the airport about 11:00 after a little confusion about where to get the ADO bus for downtown Cancun. We get to the bus station downtown and decide to go with the 1:00 ADO GL bus for Merida so that we can have a bite of lunch before we hop on the bus. We grab some sandwiches at Ty-Coz across from the bus station. I had a most delicious hot ham n' cheese sub. The 4 hour bus ride to Merida is uneventful, i.e. kind of boring and the bus isn't very full so we spread out and try to catch some rest. We arrive at the bus station in Merida and catch a cab to the Hotel Julamis.

We arrive at the hotel and I'm already pleased in that it looks exactly the same as in the pictures. The owner was expecting us and helps us with our luggage to our room. He also gives us a map of Centro and some recommendations for restaurants and things to do based on our interests.
This is our room and the patio outside:

After unpacking a bit and a quick peek at the patio area, we decide to explore Merida a bit. There are a lot of people around as it's the 1st night of Carnival. We sit for a while in a park and relax before we head to dinner at Panchos.

I wish I had taken a picture of Panchos as it was one of our favorite dinners. At the back of the restaurant, there is a large open patio area with lots of trees and little white lights. The food was excellent - fresh-made guacamole at the table, arrachera national.

After dinner, we decide to walk around a bit more and stumble upon another square set up with a concert for Carnaval. The park is absolutely packed. Good thing we ate dinner as I have never seen so many food vendors all packed in to one place either and the food didn't look very diet friendly.

We head back to the hotel and confirm with Mel our tour for the next day to Uxmal and Kabah.

katmumn · 03-01-2009

Day 2 - 2/19/2009
I didn't sleep more than about an hour last night, unfortunately not uncommon for me when I travel. We head downstairs at about 8:30 for breakfast. The hotel serves a light breakfast of toast, fresh fruit and coffee or tea each morning. We meet Kiko, Mel's slightly metabolism challenged beagle, who graciously offers to take any extra toast off our hands for us. The van for the tour arrives a little after 9 and we hop in for our tour to Uxmal and Kabah.
There are a total of 8 people on our tour group: 2 ladies from Vancouver, CA; 1 young man from Boston, an older Italian gentleman who spoke only Italian and Spanish, a foreign exchange student from Hong Kong studying in Ontario, another student from Korea who spoke little english but perfect Spanish, Glenda and me.

It takes about an hour and a half to drive from Merida to Uxmal. The driver takes a less direct route on the way there so we pass through s number of small villages on the way. I love that one of the towns features most people on bicycles of various configurations, including cargo-bikes, taxi-bikes, etc. I also admire them for being able to ride with cargo in the 95 degree heat.
Our 1st site is Kabah, the smaller of the 2 sites.
My favorite part of Kabah is the wall with the relief masks of Chac, the rain god. I am aways amazed at how intact the detail still is.

Here is Glenda inside one of the rooms. We were intrgiued by how much cooler it was inside these rooms than outside, even though it smelled kind of moldy in most of them.

We are given 10 minutes to wander around on our own before it's back to the van and on to Uxmal. I am really excited to see Uxmal as I had heard that it was supposed to be one of the most beautiful sites.
Turns out, I agree. I loved Uxmal and maybe due to the heat it wasn't too crowded. I think Uxmal is the perfect blend of architecture and art.

I also decide during the visit to Uxmal, that despite my love of bringing home wayward animals, iguanas might not be the pet for me. They seem kind of nasty.

The tour stops at a restaurant for lunch. I'm expecting standard tour, i.e. touristy, fare but it is actually the best meal of the trip - sopa de lima (amazing), pollo pibil and a mexican creme for dessert. We chat up the two ladies from Vancouver (the 1st of a number of fun encounters with Canadians) about travel, the economy, what to do on the coast, etc.
Unfortunately, the young man from Boston was very ill after the visit to Uxmal as he wasn't wearing a hat and maybe had heat stroke. Glenda makes the 1st of a number of jokes about my Girl Scouted-ness as I had packed a small collapsible cooler in my backpack so we had plenty of water, plus sunscreen, bug spray, a small microfiber towel, a guidebook on Uxmal, etc, etc.

We get back to the hotel at about 5:00. I take a nap and Glenda heads to the plunge pool off the patio. later, we head for dinner across the street at Restuarant D'al for another delicious meal. We decide to see if any of the shops are still open. They are, but we mostly just browse for now. We see many children still in their costumes from the Carnaval children's parade and we unanimously decide that small children in costumes are adorable. (Since we both have older teenage boys, we kind of miss the cute and adorable stage.)
Back at the hotel, we hang out on the patio for a while and meet another couple from Canada. The gentleman is a sculptor and the woman owns an art gallery. Mel, the hotel owner, has provided a tray with Kahlua, Tequila and assorted other beverages that Glenda and the Canadian couple enjoy while relaxing on the patio. I'm still pretty wiped out from the night before so I head off to bed about 11:00.

katmumn · 03-01-2009

Day 3 - 2/20/2009:
After another enjoyable breakfast with Kiko, who has now learned that I'm a sucker for a cute dog face, we decide to check out the Museum of Anthropology. In case you have never been to Merida, the museum is located on Paseo de Montego where there are many mansions that were once occupied by descendants of the Spanish conquistidors. Anyway, as an architecture buff, I have to remember to keep my eyes on where I'm going and stop staring at the beautiful buildings. (Actually there are houses of all sizes in Merida that would frequently stop me in my tracks. Note, don't follow too closely behind me on crowded sidewalks.)
The museum in housed in a beautiful mansion.

Inside, I am struck by the juxtaposition of the Mayan ruins against the ornate architecture. Many of the displays are in both Spanish and English, and I found the museum to be wonderful at both explaining what the items represented but also how they were used. The differences between the Toltecs and Puuc cultures was also explained very well. I would highly recommend the museum if you are interested in Mayan Culture.
We spend the afternoon wandering around Merida and do some shopping. Glenda buys a hammock for her new place, and a pullover for her son, and I buy a Talavera plate for my mom. While walking along Calle 59 we pass the most amazing bakery. We decide to peek our heads in and we decide that since we are on vacation, we are going to cheat and have pastries for lunch. This turns out to be a good call as they were sooooo good. Plus, I couldn't always tell 100% what we were buying as the labels weren't very clear so it turned out to be an adventure.
We head back to the hotel to clean up a bit and rest before the big Carnaval parade at 8 pm.

About 7 we head towards Paseo de Montejo to find seats (hopefully) for the parade. It is absolutely packed. I've never seen this kind of turnout for a parade back home. The bleacher seats are all taken, so we sneak across to the other side of the street and find a food stand where they are selling seats for 30 pesos. We decide to buy the seats. We sit down and I immediately notice the mix of people around us- young, old, families, couples. There is an adorable family with 3 young kids sitting right next to us. The 2 little girls are proudly showing their mom how many shirts they have on. 1 had 2 shirts, a sweater and a jean jacket and the other had 3 shirts and a sweater. Glenda and I are amused by this as we are both in short sleeves. It was maybe 65 degrees, or about 50 degrees warmer than it was at home.
The parade gets off to a slow start, as the Corona float comes by but it's about 10 minutes after that before we see another float. The parade was an absolute highlight of the trip. Lots of music, everyone was dancing including the little kids, and the parade included everyone from groups of schoolkids to beer company floats to senior citizens all dolled up in fancy costumes.

We walk back to the hotel to drop our stuff as we realize we forgot to eat dinner. As we head out again, we run into the Canadian couple again who tell us with much enthusiasm about their evening in a local bar before the parade where they traded shots of tequila with the locals. They want us to meet up with them later at a Jazz club. We head off to dinner. Dinner was unremarkable this time, but the pina colada I had was good. It's about 11:30 when we head back to the hotel, sad that this is our last night in Merida.

katmumn · 03-01-2009

Day 4 - 2/21/2009:
We wake up and finish packing. After breakfast, we take a cab to the bus station, store our luggage and buy our tickets. We decided to take a later bus so we could look around Merida a bit more. We walk to the grocery store, as I love to check out grocery stores when I'm out of the US as you never know what you'll find. I buy my son a bottle of habanero hot sauce as that's hard to find back home. We head to a park across the street and spot a restaurant stand that looks packed. We decide to get some food before we get on the bus. I have the best damn 8 peso shrimp tacos you could possibly imagine. I have no words.

We hop on the 1:00 bus to Cancun as there are no afternoon 1st class buses direct to Playa. I manage to sleep for a while despite the odd selection of onboard entertainment this time- some cop drama with lots of shooting, an animal bloopers show and one of those worst jobs TV shows. We arrive and Cancun and grab a bus to Playa about 10 minutes later.

At Puerto Morelos the bus stops and the little girl who was sitting next to me gets off the bus and an older American woman gets on and sits next to me. She promptly says "Hola" in a very loud, very slow voice. I answer "Hello, I'm an American." I get to listen to her for the next 40 minutes (lots of traffic) talk to her friend across the aisle complaining about Mexico. I focus on the scenery that looks nothing like it did in 1989.

We arrive in Playa and grab a cab to our hotel - the Aventura Mexicana. Our room is nicer than what I was expecting so I'm pleased. It's on the 3rd floor and split into 2 separate bedroom areas.

It's getting late, so we head out to try to find Bad Boyz. We finally arrive about 7:30 and I'm surprised by how dark it is. I wander around trying to see if I recognize anyone and finally see BluesPicker (Eric) and introduce myself. Jan stops over and says hi and asks us what are plans are. She recommends Cenote Azul for the fish pedicure. I also say hi to Rick. Glenda and I enjoy a drink (ok, I really just had a Coca Light) and decide to go get some dinner. We head to Carboncitos. The food was ok but the service was really awful. Our waiter was text messaging the entire time and seemed to forget that we were even there.

katmumn · 03-01-2009

Day 5 - 2/22/2009:
We eat breakfast at the hotel. I have hot cakes with fruit that are really good. We pack up and head for the beach. It's packed near Kool and Mamita's so we decide to walk a ways north to find a quieter spot.

We find a spot that's not too crowded and lay down our towels. Ahhh, it's hard to believe I'm here. I haven't thought about Minnesota or work in days now and that feels so good.

See photo for explanation:

We lounge at the beach for several hours before heading back to the hotel. I take another nap before a quick shower. We head off to El Fogon for dinner. We order more guacamole and I have the arrachera especial. Yum! We stop at another bakery on the way back and pick up treats for later.

We drop the leftovers off in the fridge and decide to head out again. We browse in some shops and decide to stop at a wine bar for a glass of wine. I can't remember the name of it but it's across the street from Mosquito Blue. Both of our wines were absolutely excellent.

katmumn · 03-01-2009

Day 6 - 2/23/2009:
Today we plan head off to Cenote Azul. We make a morning run to Mega as I want more sunscreen and Glenda needs flip-flops. We also make a quick run to the ATM and we pass a wine store on 10th so I pick up a bottle of Pinot Grigio (no Pinot Gris

) and drop it off at the hotel.

We take a cab to the cenote. I'm amazed at how lush the cenote is. We find the spot that Jan told us about and dip our feet in. We are there for about 15 minutes when it starts to rain. We decide to try to stick it out thinking it will be just a quick shower. Uh, wrong! After an hour, we decide we should get going.

Luckily this fish didn't give me a fish pedicure or I might have lost a toe:

All of the cabs had left however so along with another Canadian couple we had met while standing in the rain, we decide to try to flag down a taxi or collectivo. They want to head back to Playa, while Glenda and I decide to continue our adventure to Akumal. After about 5 minutes of me standing near the highway I flag down the collectivo and we head off to Akumal.

We walk into Akumal from the collectivo stop and duck into a small grocery store to find a snack and hopefully a bathroom. Once we come back outside, the rain has stopped to we decide to check out the beach. I really like Akumal as it's pretty quiet. We rent some loungers and relax for the afternoon.

This is me in the 1 piece (sorry, not ready for a 2 piece just yet) in Akumal:

We grab a collectivo back to Playa. We duck into a sport bar near the collectivo stop to find a restroom. We decide to oder some nachos, which were surprisingly good.

Back at the hotel, we head down to the bar area to borrow a corkscrew. We split the bottle of wine while sitting near the pool on the sofa. The wine is ok, but not on my top 10 list. We meet another peep, spotted because he was wearing a Playa.info t-shirt and his wife, who were from Alberta. I can't remember his screen name sorry. After we drop the glasses back at the room, we decide to head out and do some people watching. We stop at the Tequila Barrel and sit with a good view of 5th. We order dos limonadas.
We pretend that we are capable of issuing fashion citations and commendations to passers-by. After dos more limonadas , we head back to the hotel as it's now about 1:30 am.

katmumn · 03-01-2009

Day 7 - 2/24/2009:
After last night, I'm not feeling terrific this morning. I feel much better after another batch of hot cakes with fruit however. I need to finish my souvenir shopping today and we want to spend 1 more day at the beach.
After some quick shopping, we wanted to head to the beach. However, it starts to rain. So we decide to get massages first. We head to Veronicas. The massages are great ad well worth the $30. We leave very relaxed and the rain has stopped. We get ready to head to Kool for 1 last day at the beach.

Kool is busy but not as packed as it was on the weekend. We rent two of the wood loungers and settle in. I'm feeling so relaxed after the massage that I nearly doze off. We order mas Coca Lights and enjoy the beach.

We stay at Kool until about 4:30 when it starts to get a little chilly. We head back to the hotel to shower and change. It's starting to hit me that we have to fly home in the morning and I'm a bit sad.

We stop at Ah Cacao and have a little treat and then to El Oasis for shrimp tacos. It's hard to find good shrimp tacos in Minnesota. (Perhaps it's time to move, I think to myself). A good dinner and then we park ourselves on a bench of 5th for 1 final round of people watching.

Yummy shrimp tacos-

We head back to the hotel by 8, and start packing. During the night I feel really sick. Not looking forward to the long flight tomorrow.

katmumn · 03-01-2009

Day 8 - 2/25/2009:
Heading home.

Not much of a trip report for today. We are delayed by 30 minutes out of Cancun waiting for a plane. I feel sick the entire flight to Dallas. It takes an hour and a half to get through customs & immigrations in Dallas, and then right back on the plane for our flight to Minneapolis. We were about 40 minutes late into Minneapolis. Glenda's mom picked us up at the airport. Back to down parkas and heavy clothes. Can't I just get back on the plane to Mexico, please?

Please be kind, this was my 1st ever trip report.

stacie628 · 03-01-2009

Great pictures, especially of Cenote Azul. Sorry to hear that it rained while you were there AND that you were sick on the way back - although I guess it's better to be sick on the last day than sick while you're there!

bamboo222 · 03-02-2009

Thanks for sharing your trip report. I really enjoyed your photos especially the cenote azul......we'll heading to PDC in April and really wanted to visit Cenote Azul...We're staying near Xcaret. Can you tell me how much it would cost to take a taxi to Cenote Azul? Thanks!

HAWKEYE · 03-02-2009

Please be kind, this was my 1st ever trip report.
Great job and pic's.
Glad you had fun.
Craig.

katmumn · 03-02-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by bamboo222

Thanks for sharing your trip report. I really enjoyed your photos especially the cenote azul......we'll heading to PDC in April and really wanted to visit Cenote Azul...We're staying near Xcaret. Can you tell me how much it would cost to take a taxi to Cenote Azul? Thanks!

I would think your taxi might be a bit less than we paid which I think was about $16.

Sophia1 · 03-02-2009

I thought your TR was great - seems like you packed in a lot of variety in the week you were there!

janied · 03-02-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by katmumn

Please be kind, this was my 1st ever trip report.

You did a wonderful job!

Love your pictures!

Jacko · 03-02-2009

Thanks so much for a great trip report...the pics were very good and I love your informative style...I need to go to Merida and Uxmal next trip! And btw, you look like you would look just fine in a two piece.

03-01-2009	#1 (permalink)
katmumn añejo Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6,884	Katmumn's 1st trip to Merida and Playa 2/18/2009 - 2/25/2009 Day 1 - 2/18/2009: Slept hardly at all as I was worried about waking up at 3 am to get to the airport. Pick up my friend Glenda and we are to the MSP airport by about 4:30 am. It only takes about a 1/2 hour total to check-in and get through security so we are to the gate before 5 am for a 6:15 am flight. Flight leaves on time and we actually arrive in Cancun 15 minutes early at 9:50 am. We arrived at terminal 3 and already I am shocked at how much things have changed. The last time I flew to Cancun was 1989. The lines through immigration and customs are long but they are moving quickly. Glenda mentions that she actually overheard someone complaining that the signs are in English and Spanish. We leave the airport about 11:00 after a little confusion about where to get the ADO bus for downtown Cancun. We get to the bus station downtown and decide to go with the 1:00 ADO GL bus for Merida so that we can have a bite of lunch before we hop on the bus. We grab some sandwiches at Ty-Coz across from the bus station. I had a most delicious hot ham n' cheese sub. The 4 hour bus ride to Merida is uneventful, i.e. kind of boring and the bus isn't very full so we spread out and try to catch some rest. We arrive at the bus station in Merida and catch a cab to the Hotel Julamis. We arrive at the hotel and I'm already pleased in that it looks exactly the same as in the pictures. The owner was expecting us and helps us with our luggage to our room. He also gives us a map of Centro and some recommendations for restaurants and things to do based on our interests. This is our room and the patio outside: After unpacking a bit and a quick peek at the patio area, we decide to explore Merida a bit. There are a lot of people around as it's the 1st night of Carnival. We sit for a while in a park and relax before we head to dinner at Panchos. I wish I had taken a picture of Panchos as it was one of our favorite dinners. At the back of the restaurant, there is a large open patio area with lots of trees and little white lights. The food was excellent - fresh-made guacamole at the table, arrachera national. After dinner, we decide to walk around a bit more and stumble upon another square set up with a concert for Carnaval. The park is absolutely packed. Good thing we ate dinner as I have never seen so many food vendors all packed in to one place either and the food didn't look very diet friendly. We head back to the hotel and confirm with Mel our tour for the next day to Uxmal and Kabah. __________________ Playa April 8-15

03-01-2009	#2 (permalink)
katmumn añejo Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6,884	Day 2 - 2/19/2009 I didn't sleep more than about an hour last night, unfortunately not uncommon for me when I travel. We head downstairs at about 8:30 for breakfast. The hotel serves a light breakfast of toast, fresh fruit and coffee or tea each morning. We meet Kiko, Mel's slightly metabolism challenged beagle, who graciously offers to take any extra toast off our hands for us. The van for the tour arrives a little after 9 and we hop in for our tour to Uxmal and Kabah. There are a total of 8 people on our tour group: 2 ladies from Vancouver, CA; 1 young man from Boston, an older Italian gentleman who spoke only Italian and Spanish, a foreign exchange student from Hong Kong studying in Ontario, another student from Korea who spoke little english but perfect Spanish, Glenda and me. It takes about an hour and a half to drive from Merida to Uxmal. The driver takes a less direct route on the way there so we pass through s number of small villages on the way. I love that one of the towns features most people on bicycles of various configurations, including cargo-bikes, taxi-bikes, etc. I also admire them for being able to ride with cargo in the 95 degree heat. Our 1st site is Kabah, the smaller of the 2 sites. My favorite part of Kabah is the wall with the relief masks of Chac, the rain god. I am aways amazed at how intact the detail still is. Here is Glenda inside one of the rooms. We were intrgiued by how much cooler it was inside these rooms than outside, even though it smelled kind of moldy in most of them. We are given 10 minutes to wander around on our own before it's back to the van and on to Uxmal. I am really excited to see Uxmal as I had heard that it was supposed to be one of the most beautiful sites. Turns out, I agree. I loved Uxmal and maybe due to the heat it wasn't too crowded. I think Uxmal is the perfect blend of architecture and art. I also decide during the visit to Uxmal, that despite my love of bringing home wayward animals, iguanas might not be the pet for me. They seem kind of nasty. The tour stops at a restaurant for lunch. I'm expecting standard tour, i.e. touristy, fare but it is actually the best meal of the trip - sopa de lima (amazing), pollo pibil and a mexican creme for dessert. We chat up the two ladies from Vancouver (the 1st of a number of fun encounters with Canadians) about travel, the economy, what to do on the coast, etc. Unfortunately, the young man from Boston was very ill after the visit to Uxmal as he wasn't wearing a hat and maybe had heat stroke. Glenda makes the 1st of a number of jokes about my Girl Scouted-ness as I had packed a small collapsible cooler in my backpack so we had plenty of water, plus sunscreen, bug spray, a small microfiber towel, a guidebook on Uxmal, etc, etc. We get back to the hotel at about 5:00. I take a nap and Glenda heads to the plunge pool off the patio. later, we head for dinner across the street at Restuarant D'al for another delicious meal. We decide to see if any of the shops are still open. They are, but we mostly just browse for now. We see many children still in their costumes from the Carnaval children's parade and we unanimously decide that small children in costumes are adorable. (Since we both have older teenage boys, we kind of miss the cute and adorable stage.) Back at the hotel, we hang out on the patio for a while and meet another couple from Canada. The gentleman is a sculptor and the woman owns an art gallery. Mel, the hotel owner, has provided a tray with Kahlua, Tequila and assorted other beverages that Glenda and the Canadian couple enjoy while relaxing on the patio. I'm still pretty wiped out from the night before so I head off to bed about 11:00. Last edited by katmumn; 03-04-2009 at 02:33 PM..

03-01-2009	#3 (permalink)
katmumn añejo Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6,884	Day 3 - 2/20/2009: After another enjoyable breakfast with Kiko, who has now learned that I'm a sucker for a cute dog face, we decide to check out the Museum of Anthropology. In case you have never been to Merida, the museum is located on Paseo de Montego where there are many mansions that were once occupied by descendants of the Spanish conquistidors. Anyway, as an architecture buff, I have to remember to keep my eyes on where I'm going and stop staring at the beautiful buildings. (Actually there are houses of all sizes in Merida that would frequently stop me in my tracks. Note, don't follow too closely behind me on crowded sidewalks.) The museum in housed in a beautiful mansion. Inside, I am struck by the juxtaposition of the Mayan ruins against the ornate architecture. Many of the displays are in both Spanish and English, and I found the museum to be wonderful at both explaining what the items represented but also how they were used. The differences between the Toltecs and Puuc cultures was also explained very well. I would highly recommend the museum if you are interested in Mayan Culture. We spend the afternoon wandering around Merida and do some shopping. Glenda buys a hammock for her new place, and a pullover for her son, and I buy a Talavera plate for my mom. While walking along Calle 59 we pass the most amazing bakery. We decide to peek our heads in and we decide that since we are on vacation, we are going to cheat and have pastries for lunch. This turns out to be a good call as they were sooooo good. Plus, I couldn't always tell 100% what we were buying as the labels weren't very clear so it turned out to be an adventure. We head back to the hotel to clean up a bit and rest before the big Carnaval parade at 8 pm. About 7 we head towards Paseo de Montejo to find seats (hopefully) for the parade. It is absolutely packed. I've never seen this kind of turnout for a parade back home. The bleacher seats are all taken, so we sneak across to the other side of the street and find a food stand where they are selling seats for 30 pesos. We decide to buy the seats. We sit down and I immediately notice the mix of people around us- young, old, families, couples. There is an adorable family with 3 young kids sitting right next to us. The 2 little girls are proudly showing their mom how many shirts they have on. 1 had 2 shirts, a sweater and a jean jacket and the other had 3 shirts and a sweater. Glenda and I are amused by this as we are both in short sleeves. It was maybe 65 degrees, or about 50 degrees warmer than it was at home. The parade gets off to a slow start, as the Corona float comes by but it's about 10 minutes after that before we see another float. The parade was an absolute highlight of the trip. Lots of music, everyone was dancing including the little kids, and the parade included everyone from groups of schoolkids to beer company floats to senior citizens all dolled up in fancy costumes. We walk back to the hotel to drop our stuff as we realize we forgot to eat dinner. As we head out again, we run into the Canadian couple again who tell us with much enthusiasm about their evening in a local bar before the parade where they traded shots of tequila with the locals. They want us to meet up with them later at a Jazz club. We head off to dinner. Dinner was unremarkable this time, but the pina colada I had was good. It's about 11:30 when we head back to the hotel, sad that this is our last night in Merida. Last edited by katmumn; 03-01-2009 at 08:52 PM.. Reason: add another picture

03-01-2009	#5 (permalink)
katmumn añejo Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6,884	Day 5 - 2/22/2009: We eat breakfast at the hotel. I have hot cakes with fruit that are really good. We pack up and head for the beach. It's packed near Kool and Mamita's so we decide to walk a ways north to find a quieter spot. We find a spot that's not too crowded and lay down our towels. Ahhh, it's hard to believe I'm here. I haven't thought about Minnesota or work in days now and that feels so good. See photo for explanation: We lounge at the beach for several hours before heading back to the hotel. I take another nap before a quick shower. We head off to El Fogon for dinner. We order more guacamole and I have the arrachera especial. Yum! We stop at another bakery on the way back and pick up treats for later. We drop the leftovers off in the fridge and decide to head out again. We browse in some shops and decide to stop at a wine bar for a glass of wine. I can't remember the name of it but it's across the street from Mosquito Blue. Both of our wines were absolutely excellent. Last edited by katmumn; 03-01-2009 at 09:04 PM.. Reason: I'm forgetful

03-01-2009	#4 (permalink)
katmumn añejo Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6,884	Day 4 - 2/21/2009: We wake up and finish packing. After breakfast, we take a cab to the bus station, store our luggage and buy our tickets. We decided to take a later bus so we could look around Merida a bit more. We walk to the grocery store, as I love to check out grocery stores when I'm out of the US as you never know what you'll find. I buy my son a bottle of habanero hot sauce as that's hard to find back home. We head to a park across the street and spot a restaurant stand that looks packed. We decide to get some food before we get on the bus. I have the best damn 8 peso shrimp tacos you could possibly imagine. I have no words. We hop on the 1:00 bus to Cancun as there are no afternoon 1st class buses direct to Playa. I manage to sleep for a while despite the odd selection of onboard entertainment this time- some cop drama with lots of shooting, an animal bloopers show and one of those worst jobs TV shows. We arrive and Cancun and grab a bus to Playa about 10 minutes later. At Puerto Morelos the bus stops and the little girl who was sitting next to me gets off the bus and an older American woman gets on and sits next to me. She promptly says "Hola" in a very loud, very slow voice. I answer "Hello, I'm an American." I get to listen to her for the next 40 minutes (lots of traffic) talk to her friend across the aisle complaining about Mexico. I focus on the scenery that looks nothing like it did in 1989. We arrive in Playa and grab a cab to our hotel - the Aventura Mexicana. Our room is nicer than what I was expecting so I'm pleased. It's on the 3rd floor and split into 2 separate bedroom areas. It's getting late, so we head out to try to find Bad Boyz. We finally arrive about 7:30 and I'm surprised by how dark it is. I wander around trying to see if I recognize anyone and finally see BluesPicker (Eric) and introduce myself. Jan stops over and says hi and asks us what are plans are. She recommends Cenote Azul for the fish pedicure. I also say hi to Rick. Glenda and I enjoy a drink (ok, I really just had a Coca Light) and decide to go get some dinner. We head to Carboncitos. The food was ok but the service was really awful. Our waiter was text messaging the entire time and seemed to forget that we were even there.

03-01-2009	#6 (permalink)
katmumn añejo Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6,884	Day 6 - 2/23/2009: Today we plan head off to Cenote Azul. We make a morning run to Mega as I want more sunscreen and Glenda needs flip-flops. We also make a quick run to the ATM and we pass a wine store on 10th so I pick up a bottle of Pinot Grigio (no Pinot Gris ) and drop it off at the hotel. We take a cab to the cenote. I'm amazed at how lush the cenote is. We find the spot that Jan told us about and dip our feet in. We are there for about 15 minutes when it starts to rain. We decide to try to stick it out thinking it will be just a quick shower. Uh, wrong! After an hour, we decide we should get going. Luckily this fish didn't give me a fish pedicure or I might have lost a toe: All of the cabs had left however so along with another Canadian couple we had met while standing in the rain, we decide to try to flag down a taxi or collectivo. They want to head back to Playa, while Glenda and I decide to continue our adventure to Akumal. After about 5 minutes of me standing near the highway I flag down the collectivo and we head off to Akumal. We walk into Akumal from the collectivo stop and duck into a small grocery store to find a snack and hopefully a bathroom. Once we come back outside, the rain has stopped to we decide to check out the beach. I really like Akumal as it's pretty quiet. We rent some loungers and relax for the afternoon. This is me in the 1 piece (sorry, not ready for a 2 piece just yet) in Akumal: We grab a collectivo back to Playa. We duck into a sport bar near the collectivo stop to find a restroom. We decide to oder some nachos, which were surprisingly good. Back at the hotel, we head down to the bar area to borrow a corkscrew. We split the bottle of wine while sitting near the pool on the sofa. The wine is ok, but not on my top 10 list. We meet another peep, spotted because he was wearing a Playa.info t-shirt and his wife, who were from Alberta. I can't remember his screen name sorry. After we drop the glasses back at the room, we decide to head out and do some people watching. We stop at the Tequila Barrel and sit with a good view of 5th. We order dos limonadas. We pretend that we are capable of issuing fashion citations and commendations to passers-by. After dos more limonadas , we head back to the hotel as it's now about 1:30 am.

03-01-2009	#7 (permalink)
katmumn añejo Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6,884	Day 7 - 2/24/2009: After last night, I'm not feeling terrific this morning. I feel much better after another batch of hot cakes with fruit however. I need to finish my souvenir shopping today and we want to spend 1 more day at the beach. After some quick shopping, we wanted to head to the beach. However, it starts to rain. So we decide to get massages first. We head to Veronicas. The massages are great ad well worth the $30. We leave very relaxed and the rain has stopped. We get ready to head to Kool for 1 last day at the beach. Kool is busy but not as packed as it was on the weekend. We rent two of the wood loungers and settle in. I'm feeling so relaxed after the massage that I nearly doze off. We order mas Coca Lights and enjoy the beach. We stay at Kool until about 4:30 when it starts to get a little chilly. We head back to the hotel to shower and change. It's starting to hit me that we have to fly home in the morning and I'm a bit sad. We stop at Ah Cacao and have a little treat and then to El Oasis for shrimp tacos. It's hard to find good shrimp tacos in Minnesota. (Perhaps it's time to move, I think to myself). A good dinner and then we park ourselves on a bench of 5th for 1 final round of people watching. Yummy shrimp tacos- We head back to the hotel by 8, and start packing. During the night I feel really sick. Not looking forward to the long flight tomorrow.

03-01-2009	#8 (permalink)
katmumn añejo Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6,884	Day 8 - 2/25/2009: Heading home. Not much of a trip report for today. We are delayed by 30 minutes out of Cancun waiting for a plane. I feel sick the entire flight to Dallas. It takes an hour and a half to get through customs & immigrations in Dallas, and then right back on the plane for our flight to Minneapolis. We were about 40 minutes late into Minneapolis. Glenda's mom picked us up at the airport. Back to down parkas and heavy clothes. Can't I just get back on the plane to Mexico, please? Please be kind, this was my 1st ever trip report.

03-01-2009	#9 (permalink)
stacie628 way into it Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: New Jersey Posts: 104	Great pictures, especially of Cenote Azul. Sorry to hear that it rained while you were there AND that you were sick on the way back - although I guess it's better to be sick on the last day than sick while you're there!

03-02-2009	#10 (permalink)
bamboo222 very sparkly Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 25	Thanks for sharing your trip report. I really enjoyed your photos especially the cenote azul......we'll heading to PDC in April and really wanted to visit Cenote Azul...We're staying near Xcaret. Can you tell me how much it would cost to take a taxi to Cenote Azul? Thanks!

03-02-2009	#11 (permalink)
HAWKEYE reposado Join Date: May 2007 Location: Windsor Hts. Iowa Posts: 1,370	Please be kind, this was my 1st ever trip report. Great job and pic's. Glad you had fun. Craig.

03-02-2009	#13 (permalink)
Sophia1 ruined Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 93	I thought your TR was great - seems like you packed in a lot of variety in the week you were there!

03-02-2009	#15 (permalink)
Jacko añejo Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 30,949	Thanks so much for a great trip report...the pics were very good and I love your informative style...I need to go to Merida and Uxmal next trip! And btw, you look like you would look just fine in a two piece.

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