Another Walkabout, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

The Zona Hotelera is a 22-kilometer stretch of four lanes of divided road with few stoplights along its length. Traffic moves at high speed and don't even consider for a moment thinking that a pedestrian will be treated with deference when trying to cross.  Regardless, they have these very nice road markers every kilometer along the distance and most locations are defined in those terms.  It's very easy to get around and the bus drivers are actually helpful!

I like that the walking path is not arrow straight but dodges around trees or benches or utility vaults or sometimes just randomly for no apparent reason.

Oddly, the Zone is crowded with frequent phone booths. I don't know who uses them.  I seldom observed anyone at the phone. Most locals are like most U.S. folks - they have a cellphone in front of their noses most of the time. Perhaps these pay phones are holdovers from the old days.

One thing that becomes quickly obvious is that the Mexican tourist department has perfected the art of frequent and in-your-face advertising about the tourist destinations. Seems each hotel has a desk hawking tours, there are booths along the street hawking tours, people wave signs in your face at the airport hawking tours - it is big business selling tours.  I notice on my early morning walks the buses lining up in front of the hotels to pick up the daily load - nice, new, plush, air-conditioned buses.

There is an area of the Zone for which Cancun is renown - where all the dance and party clubs are located. Perhaps a bit tacky in places but, that is relative to the eye of the beholder.

Coco Bongo is one of the places the MTV has hosted "Spring Break"  for all the young adults who find their way here for that annual rite of passage.

Public bus transportation is  frequent, fast, inexpensive, and efficient throughout the Zona Hotelera.  Buses seem to come by every three or four minutes, sometimes back-to-back as seen in the above photo.  Employees use them from downtown Cancun to get to and from work,  tourist food shoppers use them to get to and from the Zone to downtown where the supermarkets are located to buy regular food. A big Chedraui market and a Walmart are the prime large shopping choices in town.  Bus fare is 8.5 pesos each way (about $0.65 USD).  And the best part is the driver will make change!!  I did see some gringos even just hand the driver a US one dollar bill and get change in pesos - that works also. These buses, however, are not for the faint of heart, nor is any driving in Cancun - drivers are aggressive, lane markings are few, and the pace is fast.  They make Boston drivers look like a bunch of lightweight wimps. (By the way, in the photo above one would think that is the back of the bus with all that writing on the window obscuring the view - it's not - you can see the driver's head silhouette peeking above the lettering.

A Walk Out and About, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

My morning routine here is a long walk (at least 5K) starting at about sunrise. Sometimes I'll pop into one of the many spectacular hotels that line the beaches here (if they'll let me in - some don't). This is the dramatic view from the Riu Palace Hotel looking across their infinity pool out to sea. (Panorama - click to view full width). I mentioned this Riu Hotel company in a recent blog post from Playa del Carmen where they also have a spectacular property.  If fact, this Spain based company has more than 100 properties in resort locations around the world.

A patch of sunshine in an otherwise mostly cloudy sky this morning at Playa Caracol, one of the public beach access points.

A very small part of the very large Riu Palace Hotel - it made me think of the White House in Washington, DC.

Riu Palace Hotel and beach (Panorama - click to view full width).

The lobby rotunda at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The view from the Hyatt Regency, one of the most spectacular beach views I've seen of them all so far.  Location, location, location. (Panorama - click to view full width).

Bay View Grand condos.  Looks like a great place to stay on a future visit, hmmmmmm?  

The Art of the Deal, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Why a picture of these pretty earrings, the color of the turquoise sea? 

Well, Amy was feeling the urge for a new pair of earrings.  But not just any retail earrings.  They must be a good deal - no - not just a good deal but, a really good deal - no, it must be a great deal.  

So we traveled by bus and foot to a place in Cancun Centro known as Mercado 28.  It is a multi-block roundish shaped warren of handicraft shops, clothing shops, jewelry shops, and restaurants. And each and every shop has at least one or more owners/employees who assertively attempt to get your attention as you walk by.  They are not shy - they do not wait patiently for you to walk in as would  shopkeepers in the U.S.  They are in-your-face verbal trying to entice you in. Some even touch your arm or shoulder to try to steer you in.

So in we went to one of the jewelry shops, it was perhaps a dozen feet long and five feet deep.  The mirrored walls were lined with shelves of jewelry.  Amy was clear that she wanted earrings with silver and a stone the color of the turquoise sea.  And the beautiful pair above caught her eye and fancy.

The shopkeeper, sensing he had a live one, moved in for the sale, calculator in hand to translate the pesos into dollars.  He did the computation and proudly stated, "$185 USD."  Not immediately reading a positive reaction in Amy's eyes, he quickly said, "but today I will give you 25% discount - only $138 USD."

Well, I know that a 25% discount on jewelry in this situation is nowhere near enough to interest Amy but of course, he didn't know that.  He didn't know that no matter what the item, Amy never wants to own it more than the seller wants to sell it - that's her secret. That's how she always gets good bargains - she can walk away every or any time and often does.

Amy shook her head "no" and made a movement towards the door.  His eyes widened, he sensed the sale was getting away from him. He said, "okay, for you today only, $60 USD."  At that point, I was starting to reach for my wallet.  Sounded good to me, in fact, it sounded great to me, that's almost a 70% discount.  

That's when Amy said, "nope, I really only planned to spend $20 USD."  I'm thinking, are you kidding? This guy has already come down almost 70% from $185 to $60 and you say you only want to spend $20?  Of course Amy is doing all this haggling in fluent Spanish so the seller knows he's not just dealing with another common gringo.  He knows he's losing her, too, so he offers, "okay, my best offer is $40 USD."

By now I'm dumbstruck stunned but Amy's piercing look at me has clearly been received - keep my hands off my wallet - so I just keep watching and listening to them.

She tells him what a beautiful piece it is and how she knows it really is worth $185 but, she really planned on spending only $20 today.  He shakes his head "no" and says, "okay, just for you, today only,  I'll take $25 USD."  And Amy says "thank you, that's a great offer, but no," and she takes my arm, turns, and starts for the door.  The deal is off.

And that's when it happened, that's when he said, "okay I'll take $20 USD."  And that is when I got out my wallet. 

So there's the story of how I was able to take a picture of these pretty earrings, the color of the turquoise sea, sitting on the nice soft cloth bag he put them in for us to take home. 

Learning Our Way Around, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Part of the fun of travel is finding our way around each new place.  Where are the sights, the markets, the bus stops, the bakery, the automated teller machine that doesn't charge fees, the beaches?  Where do the locals go and do and what are their lives like? What are their local customs and practices?  What does this yellow flag on the beach mean?  It's some kind of caution to swimmers but, for my purpose, it sure looks nice juxtaposed against the turquoise blue Caribbean Sea. 

I know this doesn't look anything like The Beatles' Abbey Road cover photo but that's what it made me think of - go figure.   

This pelican was so "tranquillo" that his feet had disappeared deeper and deeper into the sand with each successive wave.  He must be in mellow vacation mode, too!  I waited to catch a wave crest behind him mimicking his own crown.

We were up so early exploring that some of the mushroom-like palapas were still lying in the sand sleeping.

Beach view at the Playa Marlin public access point. (Panorama - click to view in full width).

Beach view with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on the left. (Panorama - click to view in full width).

I never tire of looking at these warm turquoise waters and feeling a warm breeze blowing almost all the time.

These boats cruised by late at night, partying I assume.  I was already in bed trying to sleep but the driving thump of loud disco-ish music sometimes is a bit much. I must be getting older and crankier.

Thirty years ago this was called a blurry picture - now it might be called art by manipulating the exposure to take advantage of the boat's gentle movement on the water.

Arrival in Cancun, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

We traveled north an hour and a half from Puerto Aventuras to our next home in Cancun. This is our first morning's sunrise. The beach and tourist area where we are staying, Zona Hotelera, is east of  Cancun Centro and shaped somewhat like the number "7."  The most famous beaches and hotels are located on the downward leg of the "7," facing to the east.  We are staying on the top part of the "7."  The sandy beaches on our portion of the coastline are interrupted by stretches of impassable rocks instead of miles of unbroken soft sand.  Definitely not my preferred kind of long, straight, flat, walking beach, but, on the other hand, it's warm here, folks back home are still recovering from a horrible blizzard, many of them spent days without heat or power - I am a fortunate man and I am not complaining.

It is an interesting cultural shift to move from Puerto Morelos and Puerto Aventuras for the past two months and now spend three weeks in Cancun.  The Puertos were "muy tranquillo," and Cancun has the pace and feel of Miami, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City rolled into one.  Quite a difference.

There is a nice jogging/walking/bicycling path that parallels the main highway along the Zona Hotelera.  But the main highway adjacent to it is noisy and full of fast moving cars, taxis, and buses.  That's good news and bad - we don't have a car but the buses are frequent and inexpensive - 8.5 pesos a ride  (about $0.65 USD).

Our view looking sort of west is towards Cancun Centro.

Our view north is the open water.  Faintly right of center on the horizon is Isla Mujeres. (This image is a portrait orientation panorama - click to view full width).  See Amy's blog post at this link for more about where we are staying.  It is still difficult to get used to the climate here - it is warm and comfortable around the clock, both water and air - no sweaters, no long pants, no long sleeves, it's just always comfortable. And we have no routine need for an automobile since the buses are efficient and frequent to take us food shopping or anywhere else when need.  I think I could stay here for a while, a long while.........maybe even come back again next year?

Yal-ku Lagoon, Akumal, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Yal-ku lagoon is a seawater inlet on the north side of Akumal on the Riviera Maya.  It is a popular spot for snorkeling in protected waters.   The entrance fee is - $12 USD and palapas and shade are available on the grounds for an additional fee.

The entrance area and one of the many sculptures on the property.

A red-shorted man (Santa?) makes his way into the lagoon as statues sit on a bench nearby.

A flotation vest, flippers, and snorkel make for a very leisurely float to check out the undersea wildlife.  The house owner in the background has built quite a nice observation deck above the lagoon.

A thinker-like statue contemplates the water. There were not many people in the water when we visited but I understand it can get quite busy at times.

Riu Palace Hotel, Playacar, Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Penisula, Mexico

The Spain based worlwide Riu Hotel chain has perhaps a half dozen properties in the Yucatan.  We stopped in to visit this one in the resort of Playacar just outside Playa del Carmen.  It has that spectacularly grande European style and feeling.  What a place!

Long and broad footpaths towards the beach.

Fountains, gardens, and heavy wrought iron style furniture for al fresco snacking.

Ornamental pools and sculpted gardens.

And for beach use, no little palapas or flimsy umbrellas to sit under to block the sun - they have their own palm forest of sunblock.

And Oh, what a beach!  (Panorama - click to view in full width).

Multiple swimming pools and fountains.

An employee polishes the brass stair knob with a toothbrush.

And no pesky, noisy weedwackers - instead they trim the grass edges with hand clippers. All you hear is snip, snip, snip.

Checking on the internet, a random daily cost in April for the least expensive room is $3700 pesos a night including food ( about $284 USD).  It's more than I'd like to pay as a retiree, but not out of line with rates I've seen in many locations in both the US and elsewhere in the world.  With a package deal, there are probably better options available.

Xcacel Beach, Tulum, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Some have said this is one of the most beautiful undeveloped beaches in Mexico.  I haven't personally seen very much of Mexico's 9300 kilometers of coastline but, I have to say that Xcacel (pronounced ish-ka-sell)  is certainly a mighty beautiful beach.

The beach is maintained as a turtle sanctuary to protect habitat.  A "donation" was requested of 10 pesos per person  (about $0.75 USD). On the sign above, the quotation under the name of the sanctuary  translates as: "Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish caught will we realize we cannot eat money" - American Indian Wisdom.

We were among the first people to arrive on this early morning and noted that there were no human footprints in the sand but rather these curious tracks crisscrossing and covering everything.

I guess that the tracks belong to the many, many iguanas who call this home and range freely especially after the humans leave and the gate is chained shut every night. This mom and junior were not particularly intimidated by my presence - more annoyed - but they both skittered away at my approach. A regular beach goer I talked with cautioned that if you are eating fruit they will climb your leg to get to it.  Not sure if I believe that but I didn't test the theory.

This one enjoys a nice oceanfront burrow/condo.

Cenotes are sinkholes that fill with groundwater.  The limestone bedrock characteristic of the Yucatan peninsula fosters thousands and thousands of these freshwater delights. This one is a short walk from the beach.

 Some of the more developed/famous cenotes include ziplines, amusements, and all manner of enticements to attract the tourism dollars.  The one just off this beach shown here was maybe 50 feet in diameter and tightly encircled with mangrove/jungle vegetation.

And why is Amy smiling so happily as she stands waist deep in the cenote?

Because as she looks down.......

.....she sees and feels hundreds and hundreds of little fish performing free exfoliation services (nibbling) on her legs!

The sandy path to/from the cenote tracks along through the greenery parallel to Xcacel Beach.

Clear water, clean white sand, a warm breeze, and endless sunshine. 

And here's a 30-second audio/video clip if you'd like a short visit to Xcacel. Sorry it's jerky, I'm not much of a videographer.