corona index

in other countries there is a big mac index in Mexico there is the corona index as we learnt in Acapulco.....the places where locals go the Corona beer costs 10 pesos.....we normally pay 25 pesos......in Cancun it was 35 and here in Playa del Carmen we payed 65 pesos tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
isnt that something! so now you now that at the moment we are not in Mexico this has nothing to do with the country we visited the first 12 days......this is artificial tourist land here.......what a nightmare! I need to remind myself that we are here for the cenotes and they are really really beautiful!

dophin discovery

and while Thomas was again in a cenote I went dolphines watching...and I could go really really close!!!!!! it was wonderful!
seals and dolphins up close......


I went to Puerta de aventuras a small little hide away with boats, yachts, hotels, pedestrian zones, restaurants, golf course, cycle paths....you feel like being in another country.....all very tidy very quiet and very natural..... what a treat....

Cenotes

the cenotes are really really cool......Here I would love to dive as well....snorkelling is already wonderful but diving must just be awesome......
the stone formations and the light inside are just making me speechless and watching in awe.....great place great views great nature
!!!!

Moms Hotel

not really our standard I need to say......but I am not complaining...as unfortunately I have not found a good AND available place to stay for our 4 nights of cenote diving......so Thomas asked the dive master (by the way an ex student of mine from BRG Zell am See......) and he organised this hotel for us......
not really a hotel more a hostel but it was okay ......the best thing here is a huge English exchange library (as I have again run out of books.....this is vital)

and what really gets on my nerves is that in the pedestrian zone there are a lot of "vacancy" signs in front of really nice hotels......
but I need to stop that.....

thank god we have a car that makes us much more independent, well for the next days it will make ME much more independent as Thomas is going to do the cenotes which unfortunately with my level of diving knowledge and diplomas I am not allowed to do.....

restaurant "10"

if one day you happen to be in Playa del Carmen go to the restaurant "DIEZ" an Argentinian restaurant and try the salad 10 and the provolone asado.....very yummy......and you get the people watching for free.....

Playa del Carmen

so back we are on mainland......and the tourists are quite different here....much more mondaine....trendier...cooler......more the party crowd....and here in Playa del Ca as the locals say you do have everything just like at home.....McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks......is a little like an American beach resort.....
you have a very nice beach area and a big 5th avenue where all the shops, bars, restaurants are.......so you cannot get lost you just walk up and down "on fifth"........

bad weather

and today the weather is really bad....far too windy to go diving....what a pity......
and taking the ferry back to Playa del Carmen will be fun as well in this storm.....;-)

unbelievable

and what was the attraction of the day?????
photo shooting with Santa Claus at the beach........and yes the Americans loved it....
first Santa flew over the bay with a parasail and then he walked the beach and posed with everyone wanting a picture with him.......and yes again Americans are very easy to entertain.....

snorkelling around Cozumel

so after some waiting....yes why should the times you are given be the times when the boat really takes off? ;-)
we did board a boat and went to 4 different reefs.....
all the other guests- all American of course did look a little puzzled as I was the only one wearing my wet suit while everyone else went in their bathing costume...but it was far to fucking cold for me to go in there half naked...(honestly it was cold enough even with the neoprene....)
the snorkellingw as nice as it is always nice to be in the water with Thomas...but honestly again the underwater world here did not fascinate me much.....I have seen much more wildlife in Bali or even in La Roqueta in Acapulco....but it was nice.....but a little boring as there was not too much big fish in there......

Wyndham Spa and Resort Cozumel

and this is where we are staying with a lot of fat Americans who do not do anything but drink the whole day.....well it is all inclusive so what else should they do??????
it is more than disgusting.......so fat so unhealthy and sooooo drunk....a couple even gets their beer at 10 am in their thermos jugs.....how weird is that????

the location and the hotel is very nice and cosy and has a very romantic setting.......but......nothing is working and nobody is working.....




today we wanted to do snorkelling and/or .....but the dive schools are all closed on
Dec 25th ......

but that did not stop us from inquiring and asking and checking.....and all of a sudden we got the information that we could at least go on a snorkelling trip...YES!

view out of our window

unfortunately the 5 star all inclusive resort is not really what I expected but the seaside oceanfront bungalow is just great.....
this is our view when we wake up......

Cozumel feeling

not too bad is it???

happy christmas

happy christmas to all!!!
we are thinking of you with our feet in white sand and palm trees all around us while we listen to the sea and the wind and sip our pina coladas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and of course Santa Claus is with us)

car ferry to Cozumel

ferry oh yes you go out on the interstate and up to punta venado and there you take the ferry....very helpful and of course in Spanish and of course with the common curious question- how come you speak spanish......we were looking for our point of embarkment.....
and when we finally found the punta venado we got the following statement:

"ferri? la proxima es manyana en la tarde...."....


and yes once again the timetable on the internet and the one the authorities decided on did not at all match.....and honestly I thought I jump out of the car and onto the throat of this stupid uniform.....
especially as I do not need to remind you that today is Dec 24th......christmas and the only place I want to be now is this spupid island where I booked the most expensive hotel of our whole trip....

but of course I am much to trinergy experienced for that and so I took a deep breath and immediately thought of plan b.....

"lets go back to Playa del Carmen and take a tourists ferry there and leave the car in Playa del Carmen" ....


thank god Thomas is so easy and immediately went along with the alternative.......and of course once we arrived in Playa del Carmen the last ferry for today was supposed to leave within the next 10 min....
so off I ran, bought the tickets, told Thomas we needed to hurry, found a parking lot, negotiated the price, unpacked and repacked our things and hurried off to the pier......


and YES we made it in time and are sitting on the ferry to Cozumel now!

next stop Isla Cozumel

and after these 2 days we were more than ready to head off to Playa del Carmen to catch our ferry to the supposed paradise of Isla Cozumel.....

Senor Frog

so what would you do after finally getting back to Cancun and being slightly worn out?
yes right you go into a tourists temple for pleasure and enjoyment....and as we already have been to Margaritaville we chose Senor Frog tonight.....oh boy what a mess......660 pesos for 2 drinks (which in comparision we normally needed to have dinner in other places.....)
but there would have been no other place to get rid of the tension of this long ennerving drive.....and do some stupid people watching......what the hell do they do here? and this is supposed to be called christmas holiday?
sorry and yes some judgement is crossing my buddhist mind here....

our infinite way back home

dont you ever decide NOT to take a highway when there is one in Mexico...we missed the turn to the cota and found ourselves on the normal federal road....it took us ages to get back......double the time you would need on a highway and you are nearly there......and the worst thing not being the trucks but the TOPES.......hills in the middle of the road which pop up without warning and force you to brake and/or jump over them.....and you will find them every 100 m for about 400 km......and yes we did come home pretty late.....and no dont ask me if I was slightly unconfortable....

Chichen Itza by night

and after a phantastic sunset over the big pyramid and some hours of awe we were politly thrown out of the premises......only to find us waiting for 2 hours to be able to reenter for the light and sound show (in Spanish of course but with tranlation through headphones for those not speaking any Spanish) and you imagine that all the restaurants and bars would be open from 5-7 right? well, not here.....everything closes with the day horario....and so you find yourself totally abandoned in a place where there is nothing .....

so we waited, chatted and made the best of our time till we could enjoy the sound and light show..



well in comparision with the light and sound show of the Pyramids in Egypt it was pretty basic and bad quality but what they narrated was quite interesting.....but by daylight I find the place much more inspiring.....
but I would not have wanted to miss that experience.........and it was different than the day trip.......

Chichen Itza history

Chichen Itza which means “at the mouth of the well of Itza “, is the 2nd most visited archeological site of Mexico today. The Kukulkan Pyramid in Chichen-Itza which known as “El Castillo” (the castle), is one of the new seven wonders of the world elected in 07.07.2007. It is exactly 24 m. high considering the upper platform. Apart from the Kukulkan Pyramid, in Chichen Itza there many other archaeological sites to visit, all carrying traces from Mayan Culture in many ways.

Chichen-Itza, now including one of the new 7 wonders of the world; the Kukulkan Pyramid, is located in the Peninsula of Yucatan, in the Yucatan State; Mexico, between Valladolid and Merida and is just120 km from Merida.


The New Seven Wonders of the World were announced on july 7th, 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal after seven years of publicity and promotion.


* Chichen Itza, Mexico
* The Great Wall, China
* Petra, Jordan
* Christ Redeemer, Brazil
* Machu Picchu, Peru
* The Roman Collesseum, Italy
* The Taj Mahal, India

Chichén Itzá ist eine Ruinenstätte auf der mexikanischen Halbinsel Yucatán, etwa 120 Kilometer östlich von Mérida. Der Name Chichén Itzá besteht aus drei Wörtern aus dem yukatekischen Maya: chi’ („Mund, Rand, Ufer“)[1], ch’e’en („Brunnen“ oder „Höhle mit Wasser“)[2] und itzá (Eigenbezeichnung des Volkes). Insgesamt also: „Am Rand des Brunnens der Itzá“. Mit dem Brunnen war der Cenote der Stadt gemeint. Ein anderer Name des Ortes ist in den Chilam Balam-Büchern erwähnt. Chichén Itzá ist einer der ausgedehntesten Fundorte in Yucatán; die Stadt spielte zwischen dem 8. und dem 11. Jahrhundert eine überregional bedeutende Rolle.

for more details check out wikipedia....it has pages full of interesting facts about this fascinating place....

ps unfortunately you cannot climb the high pyramid anymore....which of course I was very tempted to do...but too many guardians with whistles all around the place....

on our way to Chichen Itza

so we made ourselves on the way .....very spectacular as there is only one main road and several junctions ......but we did manage all right.....4 hours through deep jungle.....only a straight road nothing else....and of course nobody tells you that there is NO petrol station.....
so we really nearly nearly made it.....we had NOTHING left in our tank...nothing....we litterally rolled into the first petrol station we encountered........

and immediately had lunch as well there in this little town called VALLADOLID....





so what do you think we had for lunch? yes for sure guacamole....but what else???
you will never ever guess that?!?!?!
so we had cheese fondue maya......with spinach and chilis but for the rest it tasted like Swiss cheese fondue...quite strange to sit on the Zocalo in a typical Mexican town and eating something so far away from Mexican food.....but it was good...

and the town has a very nice flair...
and some weird vehicles....


and then we went on to our final destination.....Chichen Itza.....and had our first positive surprise.
when we wanted to buy our tickets the guy told us to wait for another 5 min because from 4 to 5 pm it is free.....
so we saved 30 euros....isnt that something? it is not about the total amount it is about the approach in a country which has given us the idea that money is everything.....what a nice surprise....
so we entered this Unesco world heritage with yet another and more positve energy....and I was totally taken aback by the power location and its flair and energy.....which it still has and uses today...you cannot help but feel the positive energy all over the place....

weather

but something is wrong with paradise.....we would have ordered sunshine at least when we are at the sea but something does not work with our orders to universe......every day it is cloudy and windy and not at all perfect for the beach.....
so on we went to Chitzen Itza........and yes we do have a rental car....dont ask us about the hassle till we got it and dont ask about the shape of my nerves but now we do own a Dodge for 12 days......independence here we come!

impressions of Cancun

without any tourists it would be a really beautiful spot.....
which again leads me to my already know thoughts....how much tourism is good for a place????

Gran Melia Hotel Cancun

what a deal we have got....a 100 USD bought us into the only not so ugly 5 star hotel in the Zona Hoteleria....you cannot imagine what they have done here...after the success in Acapulco the Mexican president decided in the late 70s to make another resort just like Acapulco and the scientists identified Cancun as the perfect spot for this Reissbrett stadt....you you have there 30 km of hotels .....one after the other....they are all there....you name it....Hilton.....Marriott.......RUI.....everyone.....
and masses of American tourists....and burger king, mcdonalds, starbucks,kfc.....you feel like being in the US.....
but the good thing is...if you know how to do it, you can really get a great deal.....
so we will spend 2 nights in the Gran Melia Hotel....a very very nice resort....
very fancy....

culture schock

this place is just amazing in both ways of the word...this is a completly different world here and I am not sure I like it here......this is like Jesolo but times bigger .....


and what did we do?
after all the same food on the mountain we went- even before we checked into our fancy five stars hotel to Margaritaville.....
THE place in town for party and Americans....everything is fake here....fake and loud and artificial.....get me out of here!