We are in transit back from our Cancun getaway, and I am pleased to report that we had a good time. While the weather was windy it was not too hot which made it perfect for doing some sight seeing, a bit of shopping and spending time perfecting how to laze about the pool. Clearly I still have to work at that last part as people did look at me in an odd fashion as I was typing things up on my Linux based eeePC by the pool. No one asked me, but of course I did have a ready made excuse at hand – that was the best place for wifi based Internet reception, so really what other choice did I have ? At any rate, it was pleasant and I managed to get a lot of writing done while SWMBO‘d caught some sun and we both sampled the occasional tequila based wobbly pop in order to remain properly hydrated in the tropic heat.
The absolute high point of the week for me was the day trip to the ruined Mayan city of Chichen Itza which flourished in the northern part of the Yucatan peninsula roughly between 600 AD through till about 1200 AD. This visit had a special significance for me as back in the early 1960’s when I was in Grade 5, I had had a ‘difference of opinion’ with my grade 5 teacher about whether South American pyramids were the same as Egyptian ones. According to the teacher I lost that debate, and I then had to write out several hundred lines as a result. Since that time I have been lucky enough to see the pyramids in Egypt with my own eyes, and then this past week also see the central-American version. OK – I am not one to hold a grudge, so I will admit that the temples at Chichen Itza are indeed ‘pyramidal’ in shape, so my Grade 5 teacher was (perhaps) half right. On the other hand, I think he owes me a refund of about 250 lines as they clearly were not built for the same reasons. If I see him at the 50th Anniversary event for Crosby Public School, I may ask him about that and see what he says – and then again, perhaps I won’t as based on past experience, doing so could earn me another few hundred lines !
Cancun itself was slightly different than I had expected – Walmart was packed with locals as well as tourists all doing their regular shopping, and it was the best place we saw to buy vegetables and other odds and ends. The beach area was lovely where it could be seen, but for the most part was totally blocked out by massive resorts which stretched for miles in all directions. It is an unabashed tourist town and does not pretend to be anything else which clearly is what most visitors are looking for – and it does have its own Hard Rock Cafe which of course we did visit one evening.
Bottom line – I’m not sure we will be back, as there are so many interesting things still to be seen in other parts of the world – but if all you need is nice weather with a nice pool to sit beside, with good wifi service and a decent means of keeping you properly hydrated, along side a happy SWMBO’d, then its quite tolerable ! And seeing the Mayan ruins fulfilled the childhood dream I’ve had since I was about 10 years of age, of seeing both old and new world pyramids so I am returning home happy.
Still on the list of places to be seen are Easter Island and Moscow. An observant person will note that they aren’t very close to each other, so it will be tricky to work them into one trip, and of course I’m not at all sure what the wifi Internet access is like in either place !