Cancun vacation, day 5

Today was pretty much the opposite of yesterday: just lounging by a pool, instead of a long excursion.

We had a buffet breakfast, and I enjoyed the fresh-from-the-comb honey:

We then spent the day lounging by the pool, facing the beach:

An iguana visited us:

And a number of birds:

One of several cocktails:

A gazebo over the water:

Dinner at an open air restaurant:

We reluctantly head home tomorrow. It’s rare to not be ready to go home after several days away, but that’s how we feel now.

Cancun vacation, day 4

We had an all-day excursion to Chichén Itzá and a few other places today: about 11 hours round-trip.

Chichén Itzá is a collection of Mayan ruins on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

Here’s the famous wonder of the new world, El Castillo:

The ball court:

Stone carvings of figures:

Inside the ball court:

More of the ball court:

A wall of skulls:

Feathered serpent heads:

The top of the pyramid:

Steps:

Ruins:

Observatory:

Hole:

More ruins:

Iguana:

Pillars:

The pyramid again:

Next we headed to a local village for a tasty lunch (plus sangria and horchata, rice water):

Lunch entertainment dancing:

Then we headed to a cenote (water-filled sinkhole)… with more dancing on the way in:

The cenote has a tunnel path to the water level, so people could go down to jump in to the frigid water:

It was certainly a long day, but definitely interesting.

Cancun vacation, day 3

Another day in paradise!

This morning we went for breakfast at a neighboring resort that is owned by the same company, and had a tour. This one is only a year old, and very nice. Like the one we’re staying at, this is an all-inclusive, adults-only resort. It is divided into three main pool areas:

An overview of the “Preferred” area:

We’re enjoying our vacation so much, we decided to join the club. Like a wine club, we can enjoy their 60ish properties, plus hundreds of affiliated ones, at a discounted rate:

A champagne gift:

After a casual lunch, we sat on the beach for a couple of hours, enjoying the view:

Then had a dip in a pool near our room:

These birds are always hoping someone drops something tasty:

Finally, a mediterraean-style dinner:

Cancun vacation: day 2

Today was the first full day in Cancun, where we started to unwind.

We started the day with room service breakfast on the balcony, overlooking a pool and the Caribbean sea:

Some pelicans flying over:

After sitting by the pool (and having a brief dip), Jenn went for some spa treatments, while I stayed by the pool for a while, then wandered along the beach.

Here are some old buildings next to the resort:

A cabana over the water, and pelicans on a rock:

Closer:

More birds:

The paths are lined with many varieties of hibiscus:

This evening, we had a special romantic dinner on the beach:

Jenn:

Our building:

Some lighted figures lining a path:

Cancun vacation: a long travel day

This morning we woke up at 1:30 AM to get to the airport, to fly from Portland to Cancun, via Houston, for a vacation.

We did splurge on flight upgrades, which made them much more pleasant. We got first-class upgrades for the Portland to Houston leg, which included a tasty breakfast (and of course much more comfortable seats):

Plus business class for the Houston to Cancun leg, which included nice lunches:

One of the first views of Mexico:

After almost two hours waiting in the immigration line in Cancun, and half an hour waiting for the hotel transport, we arrived at the resort. (Note to self: Don’t travel on Easter Sunday.)

Our room had some nice celebrations of our anniversary:

The view from the deck:

The resort is all-inclusive, with several restaurants. Appropriately, we opted for Mexican cuisine for dinner:

Tomorrow we’ll explore the resort, do a bit of swimming, and general relaxing.