Cancun - Day 1
Our flight to Cancun was fairly uneventful. We were prepared with our passports and got to the airport plenty early, changed planes in Dallas and arrived in Cancun on time. We got off the plane and were ushered through passport control (immigration) and got our passports stamped and from there we headed to pick up our baggage and get in the ever-growing line for customs.
Customs in Cancun basically worked with a random red-light green-light system. You press a button and you randomly get a red light or green light on this little stop light thing. If the light is green, you pass through. If it is red, you get searched and questions about all the junk you are bringing into the country. After waiting for thirty minutes in the really really long line, we pressed the button...green!
We paid $18 to take a shuttle to the hotel and arrived and checked into the hotel. The hotel we were staying at was actually not a hotel, but a time share resort. Roger's mom owns a time share there and so she can rent currently unoccupied rooms for a seriously good rate.
After we arrived, we decided to wander around the resort and get our bearings. The resort is actually three resorts in one so the place was huge. Each resort had a gift shop, art gallery, supermarket, pool, beach access, travel agency and at least one restaurant. One of the resorts had two restaurants.
We stopped by the travel agency to get an idea of the kinds of tours and trips we wanted to take while there. On certain days, the resort arranged tours for less than normal prices, but the days were limited. We got tickets for a tour to Chichen-Itza for Wednesday and Xcaret on Thursday.
After roaming around the resort, we decided to go shopping. We exchanged some of our dollars for pesos and headed to the bus stop to take the bus to the shopping area Roger's mom recommended, La Isla. The bus was quite an experience. Even though the speed limit in the hotel zone is anywhere from 40 to 70 km/hour (it changes depending on the area), the buses go at breakneck speed. We must have been going 100 km/hour at some points. Ak!
La Isla was a major disappointment. It was a modern American style shopping mall, complete with American stores I could browse at home. Why would I come all the way to Mexico to shop for the same stuff I can buy in the US. We left La Isla and headed back to the hotel to turn in early in anticipation of our trip to Chichen-Itza bright and early the next morning.
Click here for Day 2.
Customs in Cancun basically worked with a random red-light green-light system. You press a button and you randomly get a red light or green light on this little stop light thing. If the light is green, you pass through. If it is red, you get searched and questions about all the junk you are bringing into the country. After waiting for thirty minutes in the really really long line, we pressed the button...green!
We paid $18 to take a shuttle to the hotel and arrived and checked into the hotel. The hotel we were staying at was actually not a hotel, but a time share resort. Roger's mom owns a time share there and so she can rent currently unoccupied rooms for a seriously good rate.
After we arrived, we decided to wander around the resort and get our bearings. The resort is actually three resorts in one so the place was huge. Each resort had a gift shop, art gallery, supermarket, pool, beach access, travel agency and at least one restaurant. One of the resorts had two restaurants.
We stopped by the travel agency to get an idea of the kinds of tours and trips we wanted to take while there. On certain days, the resort arranged tours for less than normal prices, but the days were limited. We got tickets for a tour to Chichen-Itza for Wednesday and Xcaret on Thursday.
After roaming around the resort, we decided to go shopping. We exchanged some of our dollars for pesos and headed to the bus stop to take the bus to the shopping area Roger's mom recommended, La Isla. The bus was quite an experience. Even though the speed limit in the hotel zone is anywhere from 40 to 70 km/hour (it changes depending on the area), the buses go at breakneck speed. We must have been going 100 km/hour at some points. Ak!
La Isla was a major disappointment. It was a modern American style shopping mall, complete with American stores I could browse at home. Why would I come all the way to Mexico to shop for the same stuff I can buy in the US. We left La Isla and headed back to the hotel to turn in early in anticipation of our trip to Chichen-Itza bright and early the next morning.
Click here for Day 2.
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