THIS IS MY DETAILED MEXICO TRIP TRAVEL LOG. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ ALL NIGHT LONG ABOUT MY TRIP, THERE IS A CONDENSED VERSION BELOW….JUST SCROLL DOWN SIX PAGES OR SO :)
There are many words that I can use to describe our trip to Mexico, but I've decided that PARADISE would be the best one. We had a blast!! There is nothing like relaxing away from the mundane work days we live on a day to day basis. We lost track of time and it was ok. We took naps on the beach and in hammocks and it was ok. We stayed out as late or as early as we wanted and it was ok. We did whatever we wanted and IT WAS OK!
I think I love Mexico! The weather was very humid and sticky especially after it rained. I felt like everything was always sticky…including me. I was actually quite surprised at how windy it was, but it was a nice warm breeze so we were perfectly comfortable swimming in the Caribbean and hanging out in our swimsuits all day. There was a very loud thunderstorm one night. It sounded like it struck right in the resort. Earlier that day, we had watched the storm make its way toward us. In the distance we saw a beautiful rainbow, and then it turned into a double rainbow. It rained through the night, but by morning the storm clouds had floated away and the sky was beautiful. The sand was like powder, so soft and white. A lot of the buildings had Palapas which are the grass looking roofs. I loved them. The water was a beautiful turquoise and coolish warm. The waves were mild. There was always an employee standing guard by the restaurant that faced the ocean. We think it was to protect the drunks from making their way out into the water and drowning. Our room was close by what seemed to be a working "factory". I am not 100% for sure but I think they bus a lot of their employees because every night the bus came and I watched upper-employees check the released employee's bags before they got on the bus. Perhaps to make sure nothing had been stolen from the resort or the people staying there. I couldn't help think pretty much the entire time I was in Mexico that it was almost as if a mob boss was running Mexico. Everything from stores on 5th avenue, to the taxi drivers and even the employees of the hotel, seemed to be working together. Perhaps I am wrong and they are just that organized. I may never know. One thing that I really enjoyed and kind of miss is the constant music playing. Everywhere we went, there was Mexican music playing. All different varieties like mariachi style to pop, love songs to party songs. I even heard Justin Beiber going but that was in McDonalds…which is American anyway. One thing that I will not miss in Mexico is the fact that they don't sell diet pepsi or diet coke. It's "Coke Light" which doesn't taste the same. I probably should have just kicked my addiction while I was in Mexico, but it wasn't THAT bad. I did find Diet Squirt and Diet Dr. Pepper which was all my taste buds needed!
Because I have so many thought and want to document as much as I can remember, this post isn't going to be in chronological order. It will be in a more categorized form. This way I won't ramble the same things over and over again throughout the entire post. Instead I'll just ramble over and over in one paragraph.
AIRPLANES "It worked out well even if the big snoring guy in front of us thought it was ok for him to put his trash in the empty seat next to me." ~Rachael
I am not one that enjoys airplanes. I've had some pretty disgusting bad experiences on them in the past. I won't go into detail about the past trips, but I will tell you that it involved throw up and no barf bags in sight…you can make your own assumptions. I don’t travel much so I kind of dreaded the whole "flying on an airplane" part of this trip, but it was surprisingly ok. Our first leg was from Sacramento, CA to Phoenix, AZ. We had to catch a 6am flight so we were up and ready to go at 3:30am. That is what time Patrick usually goes to sleep, but he managed to get a few hours in before we left. I knew we were going to be able to get some good naps in on the plane so I wasn't worried about being sleep deprived. Our first leg was about an hour and a half from Sacramento, CA to Phoenix, AZ. We then headed straight to Cancun, Mexico. That was about 4.5 hours. We initially got sat next to a lady with a child who was about a year and a half old. The space was tight and I thought it was going to be kind of a hard flight with it being so long and having a child right next to us, but as luck would have it, we were sat in a row that only had 3 oxygen masks so the lady with the baby had to move and we were able to have that extra space all to ourselves. It worked out well even if the big snoring guy in front of us thought t it was ok for him to put his trash in the empty seat next to me…who does that???
The flight home was way longer than the flight there. Patrick, being the cheap skate that he is, decided to fly all the way to the east coast of the USA before heading back to the west coast. I am not judging him but I sure hope it was worth the money that we saved. We flew from Cancun to Charlotte North Carolina. That was about a 4.5 hour flight. We had an extra seat in between us for that flight too so that was nice. From NC we flew all the way back to Phoenix, AZ. Another 4.5 hour flight. This time we had a pleasant neighbor. She was a 19 year old girl heading to Alaska for college after visiting her family for Christmas break. She also had a dog with her. At first I was like "This might be worse than having a child next to us" but after the first 20 minutes, I forgot the dog was even there…
Phoenix to Sacramento was quick and painless. We arrived 20 minutes early and by that time, I was ready to get home and cuddle the kids and fall asleep in my very own bed. Having as many flights we had changed my thoughts about flying. It really wasn't bad at all. All in all, we flew 5,871 air miles. That is a lot of hours in a cramped area, but we survived.
BAGGAGE AND CUSTOMS "After watching a lady in front me trying to manage 3 different suitcases by herself, I was glad that I'm not a high maintenance girl."
Patrick talked me into packing light. He's been on this kick about bringing the bare necessities and washing what you need while there. So all we had were carry ons. After watching a lady in front of me trying to manage 3 different suitcases by herself, I was glad that I'm not a high maintenance girl. Having only a carry on actually worked out really well. I never had to wait in long lines for my luggage and all my stuff was right under my feet the whole time (while on the airplane). I actually didn't even wear some of the stuff I brought. I had just what I needed and it all worked out well.
Customs was kind of a joke. When we got into Mexico, I watched the guy working the luggage scanning screens. He seemed way more interested in the girls coming into his country than what was in their luggage. I had to laugh…I thought this kind of thing was really important. After the scanners, we pushed a button. If it was green, we were able to move on. If it was red, they searched our bags. We got green, but we had no idea what that meant at the time. There were no signs anywhere and of coarse there was a language barrier…but we made it out of customs in Mexico without incident…we were then led into open waters infested with a bunch of sharks…These sharks were men and women who would jump on you (not literally) asking where we were going and that they could give us a ride. We were actually forewarned about these people from Patrick's co-workers and on our vouchers as well…we just ignored them and found our caravan to the hotel. It would be another hour before we reached our destination.
Customs back into the USA was much more organized than in Mexico. Signs were clearly posted and people ushered passengers in correct places. Passports were checked then we were ushered to where our baggage would be…We of course didn't have any baggage so we skipped that part. I am not sure if we made a wrong turn or if we did everything correctly, but somehow we ended up in the main part of the airport. Our carry ons never being checked by customs. I am still perplexed by that, but I don't travel so it very well could have been the norm.
LANGUAGE "The only Spanish I really know I learned from Dora the Explorer" ~Rachael
I was a little worried about the language barrier. I took French as my foreign language in high school and I only passed because I learned the phrase "Je ne sais pas" which means "I don't know". Every time my teacher would ask me a question, I would say that phrase over and over and I would receive great praise from her. She obviously didn't catch on because I got an A in that class. I tell you this because something strange happened while I was in this foreign land. Every time I wanted to say something in Spanish, my French would kick in. I remembered things that I haven't thought about since high school and every time I was asked a yes or no question, I wanted to reply "oui" which means yes. Every time I wanted to thank someone, "merci" came to my mind. I was confused. It was kind of a trip having that language come back. The only Spanish I really know I learned from Dora the Explorer and even then, I couldn't muster up a phrase to save my life. I pretty much let Patrick do all the talking in Spanish as he studied a lot before we left. He also had the advantage of already knowing a second language from his time spent in the Philippines which I am sure helped him with how to piece words and phrases together and what not. Most of the locals we were surrounded by spoke English anyway, so I never felt like I couldn't communicate with them.
DRIVING THE STREETS OF MEXICO (TAXI SERVICE) "It's like controlled chaos" ~Rachael
My first impression of the roads and driving in Mexico was crazy. I couldn't believe the way these people drive. The best way I could describe it was like controlled chaos. It's funny because everyone is in and out, swerving left and right, they drive with their hazards on for some reason, pass by "police" stations with cops who carried machine guns as a standard issue and no one gets mad at each other or honks or anything. A lot of motorcycles were on the road too. I am not 100% for sure but I think they actually have a smaller lane made just for the motorcycles. They drive real fast too. As crazy as the driving was, I never felt unsafe. It was kind of weird.
It was a great blessing having taxis readily available. They were everywhere and it wasn't hard to find a ride. We were able to see a wide range of men and cars bustling around the city. There were the drivers who spoke enough English to hold a very small conversation. There were those who didn't speak a lick of English at all and then there was my favorite driver. I open the door to this cab and the first thing I see was a drop down TV playing a video from LMFAO and as I slid into the car he says "Wazzzzzz Up!" You know, like that Budweiser commercial. He had a nice car and spoke English like he had lived in the states…which he had when he was a child and let us know that his parents are still in Washington State very close to where my grandma lives. I was finally able to ask all the questions I had about the taxi service in Mexico. 1. They own their own cars. 2. All the fares are the same for all the drivers. 3. Cops do pull people over in Mexico, but smart drivers carry 20 bucks to pay them off because it's easier to do that than fight it in the courts. Can you imagine trying to pay a Highway Patrol off here…I'd probably end up in jail! Like I mentioned before, the taxis were owned by the drivers so there was a huge amount of difference from one to another and we definitely got to experience them all. We had the nice cars with leather seats that smelled fresh and clean. We had the stained old dirty cars that you could barely see through the window because it was so dirty. Most of the cars were stick shifts and we were lucky enough that the drivers actually knew how to drive them. We saw the cars that were blinged out like the guy sporting the DVD player and the other driver with neon lights flashing inside and out. 90% of the cars did sport a check engine light though…thank goodness none broke down while we took a ride with them. It cost about $10 each way to downtown Playa. Not too bad to have readily available transportation.
OUT ON THE TOWN "Just don't make eye contact" ~Rachael
I am a homebody at heart so it really didn't change much when I was in paradise. I had to keep telling myself that I probably won't be able to experience this again for a very long time so Patrick and I ventured off into two different worlds that weren't very far apart.
5th Avenue was populated more with white people than brown. It was your typical "tourist trap" I really didn't like this area but somehow we ended up there 3 times (Patrick 4). It was lined with shops and 99% of the shops had these men that hounded everyone who walked by trying to get them to buy from their store. They would say anything just to catch your attention. Once you looked at them, they tried with all their might to real you in. I would hear anything from "Hey Amigo, friend, come to my store, I show you what I have." to "I like your shoes, I'll give you a dollar for them." Another funny one was "you buy something for your lady, (Patrick says no), your mother in law then?" I had to keep reminding myself and telling Patrick "Just don't look them in the eye and keep walking". It sucked because anytime you stopped to look at anything, they were all over you trying to usher you into their store. One night, Patrick and I were walking down the strip and fielding all the hounders when one guy said "Hey, you remember me? I work at the resort you staying at." I was like "Seriously dude, that's a new one I haven't heard." Patrick stopped and the guy said "You're from Canada" I rolled my eyes. He then said "You don't drink". It was true! The guy really did work at the resort we were staying at and he happened to be working the 5th avenue strip that night with his uncle selling jewelry. Patrick recognized him, but I did not. Turned out his name was Carlos. I guess Americans who go to Mexico for vacation who don't drink really stand out. We talked to him and told him we were Mormon and he let us know that he had Mormon friends who he thought were the most honest and kind people he knew. He then put a bracelet on my wrist (I'm still thinking that this was probably going to be a trap since it was on my wrist he wasn't going to let me take it off and we would have to buy it), but alas, I was wrong. He kissed my hand and said it was a gift to his new friend. Patrick I think was a little jealous and gave the kid 50 pesos for it anyway. All the stores on 5th avenue carried pretty much the same thing. I felt like the entire street was owned by one big mafia boss and all these people were trying to make more money in hopes to impress the "Boss"
Bartering is perfectly acceptable on 5th avenue. I think that is one of the reasons I didn't like the street. I heard a lot of "How much do you want to pay". The problem with that was they would still try to get more money out of you than an item was worth. We learned our lesson from the first purchase. We paid $7 each for two bracelets and found them at another non-bartering store down the way for $4 each. I think Patrick's most successful barter was for two pairs of "Oakley's". I guess the correct term would be more like "Jokely's"…The guy thought he could convince us that they were the real deal. After Patrick called him on it, he went down from wanting $80 a pair to $15 a pair…They look real, but we know they're fake! There were many "American" stores there including 7 Eleven, Haagen Dazs, McDonalds, Starbucks, Sunglass Hut and Burger King. One of the days we went, the entire street had no running water. It wasn't very accommodating as we had to use the restroom and there were none available…until we rounded the street that ended in a very nice outdoor mall. No people hounding us to go in and buy their stuff, cleaner, and yes, running water which meant bathrooms. I think my biggest advice would be not to buy anything until you've walked the strip because you are bound to find a store that has the same item with set prices for cheaper.
We decided to venture off out of the tourist area and found ourselves walking to Wal-Mart. Remember how I mentioned the driving…well, try crossing the street with all that chaos going around. They had a few crossing guards, but I think that was the most scared I ever got the whole time we were in Mexico. The Wal-Mart was so ghetto. Yes, I know, Wal-Mart IS ghetto, but this one takes the cake! The culture is obviously different there. You don't normally see huge loafs of cornbread baked and sitting out for people to cut off and buy by the pound. Mexicans must use a lot of cooking oil too because at all the stores we went to, they seriously had an aisle dedicated to just cooking oil. The baggers at Wal-Mart looked like they were 12 years old. They probably were.
One of the nights we were there, Patrick wanted to go back to 5th avenue. I decided to stay in the hotel that night. Since we didn't have phone service, the only way we could get a hold of each other was if we had available internet. That night I stayed up worried all night that Patrick got himself into trouble with the locals because he didn't get back to the hotel until 1:30am. He decided to take a taxi to a local mall and watch Sherlock Holms in the theatre they had there. He didn't have internet access so; I was left to imagine the gruesome and horrible things that the locals were doing to him until he got back. The next day, we both headed back to that mall which was surprisingly pleasant. It was very nice and clean and had a food court and stores, and the movie theatre. We decided to watch Mission Impossible 3. The movie was in English and had Spanish subtitles. All the previews were in Spanish though…It was a tad bit different than the USA and I am glad that I got to experience it. Especially since it only cost us $3 to get in and $3 for a drink AND popcorn. We are so being over charged here in America! Patrick was so excited after the movie was over to purchase a drink out of a vending machine using Peso's. He's such a dork. Hanging out at the mall was the first time our whole trip that I actually felt like I was in a foreign country. I knew what it was like to be a minority and felt like everyone was watching me. It has forever changed the way I see foreigners in my country.
There was pretty much two ways for us to get back to our resort. The freeway and going through "real" Playa. I am not sure the reasons as to why our taxi drivers took us each way, but I will never forget the sites of going down the back streets in Playa. I was shocked to see that 10x10 concrete squares made homes for many of the locals, iron rod gates kept babies from crossing chaotic and busy streets, laundry was strewn in front yards where the locals tried to keep cool on hot days. I felt very blessed for what I have after driving these back streets and am glad that our taxi drivers took us that route home. I will not complain about not having the silly things ever again.
THE RESORT "The resort was like a mini town" ~Rachael
We stayed at the Royal Hacienda's in Playa del Carmen. I was nothing but impressed. We had the smallest of the rooms but at least it came with a kitchenette (a tad bit bigger would have been perfect). From the grounds to the ashtrays and from the activities provided to the views, the entire resort was immaculate. All of the employees were very friendly and very helpful. We had one disaster though. While Patrick and I were out at the beach, the cleaning lady busted a pipe in our room flooding part of it. All the water damaged some food that we had purchased. Patrick had run up to our room to grab a snack when they were cleaning it up. They replaced all the food that got ruined and I would have never known anything had happened if Patrick hadn't gone up there. The floors in the hotel were all tile so it was easy to clean up. My favorite part of our actual room was the bathtub. It was huge and I took a bath in it every night. I've decided that some day I will have something similar to soak and relax in…hopefully soon. The resort was like a mini town. With an activity center, playground for kids a grocery store, and two restaurants, we didn't necessarily need to leave at all. My favorite part of the grounds was probably the lounge chairs out on the ocean. There is nothing like relaxing on the beach, getting served virgin Miami Vice's, and listening the waves break on the coast. I was able to sit with my iPod and finish the book Divergent which was really good. Kind of a tamed down Hunger Games. Another favorite spot was the hammocks. There were plenty to choose from. The entire resort was peaceful and quiet. It was very family oriented and we didn't see any drunk partiers at all. We did however see someone's emptied stomach all over the wall of the hotel. That was gross. We met some fine folk from Minnesota. We happened to meet in the elevator. Well, Patrick took the stares to see if he could beat me in the elevator. They happened to be on the elevator as well and of course Patrick pushed the buttons of the floors he passed so the elevator had to stop at each floor which in turn made him win and we started up a conversation. They were on their honeymoon and she was pregnant. Turns out they got married 6 months ago and were just now taking their trip. We hung out with them a few times. It made for a nice time. We really enjoyed their company and I think that when we go again, it would be nice to have another couple with us. Any takers? You'll have to provide the finances but we'll provide the awesome company…
TULUM and XELHA "The little guy wanted to share my snack…that, or eat me, I wasn't sure which" ~Rachael
One of the days we were there, we took a tour bus to Tulum and XelHa (pronounced Shell Ha). We loved it but if we go back, we would definitely devote one entire day to each place. We didn't have enough time to enjoy all that each place had to offer.
Tulum was amazing. The ancient ruins of Mayan was discovered there. To see these buildings that were made by hand back in the 1500's still standing shows that they really knew what they were doing when they built the structures. This was Patrick's favorite part of the trip, but like I said before, a whole day would have been nice. Our tour guide gave us a lot of information about the ruins and the Mayan people. One important piece of information was that the Mayan's did not predict the world's end in 2012. It was just the end of a cycle according to their calendar. This came as devastating news to one lady in our tour. We learned a lot while there and we saw many awesome things…including many iguanas. At one point I pulled out a snack and sat down. I hadn't even opened the wrapper when I felt like I was being charged by a big green spiky iguana. He got pretty close and kept coming closer as I opened the wrapper. I think the little guy wanted to share my snack…that, or eat me, I wasn't sure which. I was able to get a few close up photos of my new friend, but quickly jumped up and ran away soon after.
XelHa would have been even better if we got to spend more time there. First off, they had I think 4 different restaurants. Our entrance was all inclusive, so we got to eat all we wanted and drink all we wanted including our virgin strawberry daiquiris. We also had full privileges to snorkel, cliff jump, zip line, float along the lazy river and probably many other things that we didn't have time to explore. After eating lunch, we went and snorkeled. IT WAS AWESOME! I got so close to fish and normally I would be freaking out knowing there were fish so close to my toes but this was such a different experience. We saw all sorts of fish, sting rays, and big ol' crabs with conch shells scooting along the bottom. I loved it, but after awhile, my neck started hurting which started to make me a little nauseas and by the time I got out of water, I was not feeling good at all. Patrick then went and ate again and I took a little nap in a chair. That and ice cream were all I needed to get back on my feet for one last adventure….Cliff Jumping. I wasn't planning on doing it. Patrick wanted so we went. After he jumped I was down to do it, until I got to the ledge and looked down. I started freaking out. The only thing that got me to jump was the knowledge that I would be totally disappointed if I didn't…so I jumped and then I jumped again. It was a rush.
Patrick and I have been bitten by the travel bug. As soon as we got home, Patrick was looking up trips to Europe and NYC. One day we will get there, but for now we will enjoy the memories we made in Mexico. I've compiled a short 8 minute video of all of the footage that we captured from our trip. Patrick was constantly pulling out the camera so you'll see more of me than of him because according to Patrick, I am "Rachael Poindexter…International Woman of Travel"…
(You can view this video at the end of this book titled "Durlings Take Mexico")
And finally...Pictures...I wish I would have brought my good camera, but glad I got what I did with my phone.
Goodbye Mexico...We are missing you!
