Abhishek and I had one of our most memorable and enjoyable vacations in Cancun, Mexico. This trip had the perfect mix of everything - Cancun's gorgeous beaches and sunny weather provided a wonderful atmosphere to unwind, the water park rides and snorkeling at Xel-Ha added exhilaration and adventure to the trip, and the ancient Mayan ruins and Chichen Itza took us back in time, enriching us by teaching us about history and Mexican and Mayan culture. And I haven't even talked about the delicious food yet. What more could one ask for? This is a memoir of the lovely memories made on this trip.
Our itinerary was:
Day 1: Xel-Ha water park
Day 2: Isla Mujeras island
Day 3: Chichen Itza
Day 4: Tulum ruins and Hidden Worlds Cenote
Our itinerary was:
Day 1: Xel-Ha water park
Day 2: Isla Mujeras island
Day 3: Chichen Itza
Day 4: Tulum ruins and Hidden Worlds Cenote
Cancun's Beaches
Cancun's beaches deserve special mention, even though they don't figure in the itinerary above. They are what I remember most distinctly about our trip - Wide, long beaches, with soft, warm sand, our lazy evenings spent on the beach eating a great dinner, and partially swimming/partially floating in the warm ocean water. Beaches are the underlying fabric of everything in Cancun - everything is on or near one!
I think one of the reasons the beaches figure so prominently in our memories is because the day before we were in the midst of this:
I think one of the reasons the beaches figure so prominently in our memories is because the day before we were in the midst of this:
This is us less than 12 hours later!
This was right outside our hotel. We'd carefully chosen a smaller hotel, rather than the all-inclusive resorts so that the beach it would be a little bit quieter. Some other pictures on the beach outside our hotel.
Xel-Ha Park
Xel-Ha is an aquatic theme park 2 hours south of the Cancun Hotel Zone. The park is named for Xelha, an archeological site of the pre-Columbian Mayan civilization. The park itself is formed around a lagoon, which mixes fresh water from underwater currents and sea water coming in from the ocean. This creates a unique natural aquarium, and the shallow lagoon is teeming with fish in a rich ecosystem. The park has a number of distinct rides, all created with the lagoon as the central theme.
There was tubing down the river into the lagoon, snorkeling, zip lines starting at the tree line and ending in the water, among others. There were multiple all you can eat restaurants around the lagoon. So the pattern was - go for a ride, eat some good food, rinse and repeat. All in all a very fun day.
Pictures of us tubing down the river into the lagoon.
There was tubing down the river into the lagoon, snorkeling, zip lines starting at the tree line and ending in the water, among others. There were multiple all you can eat restaurants around the lagoon. So the pattern was - go for a ride, eat some good food, rinse and repeat. All in all a very fun day.
Pictures of us tubing down the river into the lagoon.
In and around Xel-Ha.
I really liked the naturally themed water park idea. A wonderful way to enjoy the natural ecosystem while also sustaining it.
One of the ideas I really like from "The Fault in our Stars" book is that we should all "tread lightly" on this planet. I believe we should strive to leave this planet behind more pure and beautiful than we found it. We're but a small blip in the time horizon of this planet, and have no business polluting or plundering it. I do hope that more entertainment in the future is structured around the natural beauty of the ecosystem of the area.
One of the ideas I really like from "The Fault in our Stars" book is that we should all "tread lightly" on this planet. I believe we should strive to leave this planet behind more pure and beautiful than we found it. We're but a small blip in the time horizon of this planet, and have no business polluting or plundering it. I do hope that more entertainment in the future is structured around the natural beauty of the ecosystem of the area.
Isla Mujeras
We spent the next day at Isla Mujeras. Isla Mujeras literally means Women Island. The island was named so by the Spanish in the 16th century for the many women goddess statues they found on the island. The island is sacred to the Mayan goddess of childbirth - Ix Chel. This is her statue at Punta Sur.
The island itself is pretty small, it's just about 4 miles in length, and is famed for its long beaches, and calm water. It's less than 10 miles from the Cancun coast, so we took a short ferry out to the island from our hotel in the morning.
There's a ring road around the island coast that pretty much takes you to all the spots of interest. The primary means of transportation for tourists is golf carts! Here's our rented golf cart, was pretty fun to drive. It did require a license to operate :)
There's a ring road around the island coast that pretty much takes you to all the spots of interest. The primary means of transportation for tourists is golf carts! Here's our rented golf cart, was pretty fun to drive. It did require a license to operate :)
Driving around pretty Isla Mujeras.
Later in the afternoon we snorkeled near the reef. We snorkeled near an old rusty ship, and discovered lots of tiny fishes hidden in crevices.
All too soon our second day in Cancun drew to a close, and it was time to head back to our hotel. We finished up the day with a great meal on the beach, and then hopped on the cruise. In fact, every place we went to in Cancun had fantastic food.
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza was a major center of commerce in Mayan civilization, and had its heydays between 600 - 1200 AD. Today it is a World Heritage site and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Mexico receiving more than 1 million visitors every year.
We visited Cancun in December 2012 when the Mayans had prophesied that the world would end! The Mayan calendar ends abruptly on 21 Dec 2012, and a major calamity or a transformative experience for all of humanity was predicted. As we now know it was a Friday like another other (just regular TGIF). It was quite humorous to see that at Chichen Itza, which was the epicenter of Mayan civilization, there was hardly any talk about this while it was all folks in Boston and the US could talk about, sitting half a continent away!
Here we are in front of the El Castillo, also known as the Temple of Kukulcan - an icon of Mayan civilization. The temple dominates the Chichen Itza archeological site.
We visited Cancun in December 2012 when the Mayans had prophesied that the world would end! The Mayan calendar ends abruptly on 21 Dec 2012, and a major calamity or a transformative experience for all of humanity was predicted. As we now know it was a Friday like another other (just regular TGIF). It was quite humorous to see that at Chichen Itza, which was the epicenter of Mayan civilization, there was hardly any talk about this while it was all folks in Boston and the US could talk about, sitting half a continent away!
Here we are in front of the El Castillo, also known as the Temple of Kukulcan - an icon of Mayan civilization. The temple dominates the Chichen Itza archeological site.
Our guide at Chichen Itza told us some interesting stories about Mayan civilization. As a race, the Mayans worshipped nature, and this was an integral part of their culture - there were gods for the the Sun, Moon and Rain and sacrifices were made to appease these gods. It got me thinking about Indian culture, which also has gods for various aspects of nature - there is Indra the Rain God, Surya the Sun God, Chandra the Moon God. Indian culture is one of very few civilizations that has continuously existed uninterrupted, being passed down from generation to generation, from the AD times. Indian culture never got wiped out by invasions etc., which unfortunately happened with many civilizations like Egyptian, Mayan etc. Many aspects of Indian culture practiced even today can be directly traced back to early civilizations in the Indian subcontinent. Perhaps our nature gods whom we still worship today are from the same time as the Mayan civilization? It was incredible to think about this as we were walking around the ruins.
The image on the left is of The Temple of the Warriors. Our guide told us columns were erected for the bravest warriors who lost their lives either in battle or who were sacrificed to the gods.
Sacrifice seems to have been a big part of Mayan civilization. There is a large open structure called the Great Ball Court near the north-west corner of El Castillo. According to our guide games played here tested physical strength, and the warrior who won was often sacrificed to honor and appease the gods. It was considered a great privilege. A column for the warrior was then erected at the Temple of Warriors.
When hearing these stories it is hard to separate fact from fiction, and usually over simplifies the habits of an entire civilization. Perhaps the representative image from our civilization is people bent over phones and laptops!
Sacrifice seems to have been a big part of Mayan civilization. There is a large open structure called the Great Ball Court near the north-west corner of El Castillo. According to our guide games played here tested physical strength, and the warrior who won was often sacrificed to honor and appease the gods. It was considered a great privilege. A column for the warrior was then erected at the Temple of Warriors.
When hearing these stories it is hard to separate fact from fiction, and usually over simplifies the habits of an entire civilization. Perhaps the representative image from our civilization is people bent over phones and laptops!
Tulum Ruins
On our fourth day at Cancun we went to the Tulum Ruins. Tulum was a bustling Mayan port, and was among the last bastions of Mayan civilization. The Tulum city and fort is built against a gorgeous backdrop, it is on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It may have also been called the City of Dawn, since it faces the rising sun.
On our way back we stopped by a Hidden Worlds Cenotes Park. A cenote is a natural pit with water, almost like a well, which is formed when the limestone bedrock collapses revealing the water beneath. The picture below is a fairly large underground cenote. There was actually a cenote network carved out of the limestone bedrock, and people were snorkeling in it.
Our last night in Cancun we had dinner in a little cottage on the Nichupte lagoon! It has to be the best ambience I've experienced in any restaurant. This was in a place called Thai Lounge. There were small bridges from the coast for each cottage. The images below are of the little cottages lining the lagoon, there were very few of them, so we were lucky to get a reservation ((these images are from marzipanmixtape.wordpress.com and cancunmenus.com).
It was so private, cozy and romantic! Couldn't have asked for a more fitting end to a wonderful trip!
It was so private, cozy and romantic! Couldn't have asked for a more fitting end to a wonderful trip!
Cancun was one of the first vacations Abhishek and I went on together, and it was everything we had hoped for - there was action, adventure, great food and incredible history and culture. We had a great time planning the trip, and an even more enjoyable time on our little adventures there. We really cherish our time there. Thank you Cancun for a truly memorable vacation!