Jan 6, 2012 - Tulum and Playa del Carmen

An early morning start to catch the ferry to San Pedro. According to the locals it was the inspiration for Madonna's hit song in the 80's. Then the long ferry ride to Chetumal, Mexico. Picture it, if you will-a full speedboat ferry of approximately 100 passengers, a windy day and very rough seas...and no one got sick! My bum is still sore from sitting on the middle row of storage boxes for 2 hours. I was so happy to finally sit on the bus for 2 hours to get to Tulum. The ride was great- I slept for most of it. We arrived in Tulum with...

Dec 14, 2011 - Back In Southern California

Hello Everyone, Well, this concludes my travel journal for 2011. I truly thank all of you who mentally travel with me. I am back at home safe and sound. My luggage even arrived home the same time I did. As I almost missed my connecting flight from Miami to L.A., I have to remember to allow at least 2.5-3 hours layover time between connecting flights when re-entering the states. This is because you have to do a passport check, reclaim your luggage, go through customs, recheck your luggage, and a lot of times catch the airport train and go to...

Dec 12, 2011 - Isla Mujueres Day

Hola Everyone, Today I went to the Isla Mujueres with the Cathy, one of the owners of the place where I am staying. She invited 3 other nice ladies, who are from Chicago, who are also renting one of her other units. We all had a great time. Prior to heading to the island she took me to breakfast. It was very good. Cathy is a very friendly,lovely lady, she has a great spirit about her. I wore jeans but it got too warm so I bought a pair of shorts and flip flops and changed into them there. Isla Mujueres is an island off of Cancun. Sort of...

Dec 11, 2011 - Boredom is starting to set in...

Hola Everyone, As the title reads...boredom is starting to set in,...and the holiday blues are to. I have a few more days here, but in all actuality, I'm ready to go now. There is nothing else that I want to do, or to see. I am scheduled to take a short boat tour today, but I think I am going to cancel that. I don't feel like being too tourist like today. I hung around the resort yesterday, probably will be more of the same thing today. Tomorrow I am scheduled to go to Isla Majueres with the owner of the spot that I am renting. She is...

Dec 11, 2011 - Feeling A Bit Better Mentally...

Hola Everyone, Well, as the day moved on, I started feeling better mentally. I am still ready to head home, but the day didn't turn out as bad as I felt that it would. I decided to do the "Duck Tour" today. My friends from England decided to do it with me. The "Duck Tour" is one of those land and water tours. You know where the bus goes into the water. I had never taken that type of tour before, though I had seen them. Of course we didn't go into the ocean, but the lagoon. The guide stated that there are many crocodiles in the water here....

Dec 10, 2011 - Unplanned Free Day...

Hola everyone, Today turned out to be an unplanned free day. Unplanned because originally I was suppose to do a day trip to Cozumel. The tour package that I had chosen was canceled due to the Harbor Master over in Cozumel canceling all water activities. Something about the water being rough. I don't mind that they canceled the tour because I'll get a 100% refund, and I needed to recoup from yesterday's tour. What I do have a problem with is that they did not contact me at the resort to let me know ahead of time. They waited until we got to...

Dec 9, 2011 - Tulum and Coba Tour Day

Hola Everyone, Today was another 12 hour day, and I have yet another long day tomorrow. I'll be heading to Cozumel for the day. They will pick me up at 7:00 a.m. Why I scheduled 2 long tours back to back is beyond me. What was I thinking...? I rescheduled my short tour on Thursday to Sunday, but depending upon how I feel when I get back tomorrow, I might scratch Sunday's tour and get some rest. I'll probably lose the money that I paid for it, it was less than $50, so I won't cry over it too much. Now let's talk about Tulum and Coba a bit....

Dec 8, 2011 - Cancun Day Of Leisure

Hola Everyone, Today was a day of leisure for me. It was a bit on the cool side, not cool enough for a jacket, and somewhat windy. I'm sure the weather was still nicer here than back in Cali. I prepared breakfast and lunch for myself, did a little work , and I did not get dressed until 4:00 p.m. I was somewhat mentally and physically drained from the long day yesterday (Chichen Itza tour). I canceled the short tour that I had scheduled for today until Sunday. Tomorrow I have yet another long day ahead of me. I am touring Tulum and Coba. The...

Dec 7, 2011 - Chichen Itza Tour Day

Hola Everyone, Today I did the tour of Chichen Itza. Just about a 12 hour day. It's a long drive from the hotel zone to Chichen Itza, about a 2.5 hour drive...each way. I was the first pickup...7:25 a.m.,...needless to say I slept a bit on the bus this morning. Sheila, Catherine, and Sheila's husband, Howard were my touring friends. They are from England. Older people, but they were fun to hang with on the tour. On the bus coming back, we watched a documentary on the history of the Mayans. Afterwards, I dozed for a bit. On the bus I felt...

Dec 6, 2011 - Doing Cancun Like A Local...

Hola Everyone, There was tropical rain early in the a.m. It rained for at least 3 hours this morning, maybe longer, but by 6:00 a.., the rain had stopped, the clouds were starting to clear and the sun broke through. Even with the clouds, the sunrise was beautiful. Today I did Cancun like a local. What I mean by that is that I took the bus to Walmart to buy groceries and a few other things, then later I hopped on the bus again and went to the major flea marker here,...Market 28. At Market 28 I bought souvenirs, and of course things for me....

Nov 9, 2011 - Isla Cozumel

Today we moved from one Caribbean island to another. I wanted to go to an island called Cozumel. As there is no direct link between the two islands, getting there was complicated and expensive. First we took a bicycle taxi to carry our luggage to the ferry. Then the ferry to Cancun and a taxi to the bus station. Next, a bus from Cancun to Playa del Carmen. The bus station in Playa del Carmen is very close to the shore so we did not need a taxi here. That saved one step in the trip. Instead we used another of the handy bicycle taxis to carry...

Nov 6, 2011 - Isla Mujeres

Today we went by ferry to a small island off the coast of Cancun. The Yucatan peninsula juts out into the water with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other. We are on the Caribbean side, which is the south side of the peninsula. Therefore, technically the island is a Carribean Island like Cuba or Jamaica, yet we are still in Mexico and just a few kilometres from the mainland. The ferry took 20 minutes to get here. The name of the island is Isla Mujeres which means Island of Women in English. It is called the...