Coba

On our second day in Mexico we rented a car so that we could pick up our friends and go visit the Mayan ruins in Coba. Coba has smaller ruins than the more widely know Chichen Itza but the crowds are generally smaller & you can still climb the largest pyramid called Nohoch Mul. You can read more about Coba here.

The first part of our adventure was getting a rental car & going to pick up our friends in Playa del Carmen. We had hoped to all stay in the same resort but they ended up at the Iberostar Quetzal in Playa. When we got our rental van, the air conditioning worked but the check engine light, the traction control light & one other light I can't remember were all on. Hmmmm....and we're planning to drive for at least an hour to Coba and an hour back? Hmmmmm. We set out on our grand adventure. Driving in Mexico is fun. Right up until you get to the first speed bump (Tope). They aren't kidding. It's more like hitting a wall. They are GINORMOUS! We quickly figured out that you have to slow WAY down, pretty much stop or else the wheels will probably fall off. Otherwise, though, the drive was pretty uneventful.

Unfortunately we picked the one rainy day of our vacation to visit Coba. Thus the super stylish ponchos. Ugh!

Here we are learning all about Coba from our tour guide. I know you are jealous of the ponchos!

Our friends Daniel, Nancy, Andre & Katherine. They live in Austin. Dewey and I used to work with Andre. Andre also played in a band with Dewey in Austin.

Me & Dewey in front of one of the smaller pyramids.

There is no evidence of human sacrifice at Coba (unlike Chichen Itza). Dewey thought we could remedy that!

Me & Dewey getting ready to climb Nohoch Mul. It's REALLY big (and I'm a really big chicken!).

I made it to the top! Now what?

How did I get myself into this??????

One more picture before we head down.

I'm already at the bottom of the pyramid at this point. I climbed down one stair at a time on my butt just like Katherine & Nancy in this picture. The stairs are very uneven and very steep. At some points you couldn't even see the stairs that met the ground. Going down was DEFINITELY scarier than climbing up!

Boo!

After exploring we stopped for a quick beer & then hopped back in our lovely rental. We headed back to Playa del Carmen via Tulum. We had hoped to stop at the ruins in Tulum but they closed at 5 and we didn't get there until 4 so there wasn't much point in going. We went to 5th Avenue in Playa to do some shopping and grab a bite instead. The guys were happy because they got to see part of the Canada vs Slovakia Olympic hockey game. All in all it was a great day and we recommend the visit to Coba. Renting a car & driving yourself saves alot of money especially if you have more than 2 people (most tours charge ~$99 per person while the rental car was ~$130 total).

Have any of you been to any Mayan/Aztec/etc ruins? What did you think?

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El Dorado Maroma - Playa del Carmen

I thought I would break the vacation posts up a little so that each post won't be sooooo picture heavy. Dewey must get all the credit for deciding where we went on vacation. We decided on Playa del Carmen together & then he took it from there. We talked to Nana and Papa Don (proprietors at Chez Nana - toddler all inclusive) to determine if this was going to be a "with kid" or "without kid" vacation. Chez Nana had room so we moved into the "without kid" column! I love Evan and I love kids BUT if I am not taking my child on vacation.....well....I don't really want to deal with yours. So....adults only resort for us!

Dewey has an aversion to what he calls "Vegas style" resorts. They are huge, party palaces with hundreds (or sometimes thousands) of rooms. I've never stayed in one that big so I really can't comment but Dewey HATES them. The resort we ended up staying at is called El Dorado Maroma. It is just north of Playa del Carmen on Maroma Beach (voted one of the 10 best beaches in the world). It has 75 rooms and is adults only. We LOVED it! We never had to wait for a beach chair. The staff was so attentive (I think the ratio of guests to staff was about 2:1). There isn't a ton of night life but we were completely okay with that. This vacation was mostly about rest & relaxation! For the guests who DID want more activities, there is a marina beside the resort with diving, waverunners, sailing excursions, snorkeling excursions, etc.

One other plus is that this resort has no buffets! You can order a la carte meals at every meal. At breakfast they do have a small buffet with a "eggs your way" station but the menu is always an option. They have 3 restaurants for dinner (Italian, Caribean/Mexican & Japanese). They also have two "special" dinners per week...one Italian and one Mexican.

So for today's post, I'm focusing on pictures of the resort & surroundings. I will have one more post for our visit to Coba to see the Mayan ruins & our outings with friends.

Our room. We stayed in the Mi Hotelito section (cheapest part). The upside to these rooms is that they are closest to the beach. We really liked having a ground level room b/c we were steps from the beach & the swim up bar! One thing to note is that this resort has no elevators. If you can't do stairs, definitely insist on a ground floor room!

Our outdoor bed on our patio. Nice for relaxing when escaping the sun for a few minutes.

The Marina next door. Lots of diving/snorkeling adventures to be had if only I could pry my lazy butt out of the beach chair!

Dinner at El Dorado Maroma with our friends (starting on left) Sven, Angelle, Andre & Nancy.

Our cute elephant towel animal. We didn't get towel animals every day so they were a nice surprise when we did. I thought the elephant was super cute!

Okay...this towel creation wins the "What the hell is it?" award. Your guess is as good as mine!

Beautiful!

Enjoying breakfast poolside.

Awesome, awesome singer in the mariachi band. These guys were a highlight of our stay. They played on Saturday night at the "Special Mexican Dinner".

Dewey finding his inner mariachi. He said the sombreros were really, really heavy.

And last but not least....the view from one of the swim up bars.

We loved El Dorado Maroma and will be going back as soon as possible! It's a little piece of paradise in the Mayan Riviera!

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I Want Sexi Coffee!!!

On our last night in Mexico, we went out to dinner in Playa del Carmen. We ended up at a restaurant called Big Lobster since the guys wanted....you guessed it.....lobster. The food was pretty good but what made the night was our awesome waiter. He was HILARIOUS!

At the end of the meal the guys were ordering espressos but my friend, Angelle, and I weren't going to get one. Our waiter said "What!?! You don't want a sexi coffee??? (There was a sign & I swear it was spelled with an "i".) We asked what it was & he mentioned liqueurs and ice cream so how could we resist! Little did we know how big of a show we would get. He flambeed it right at the table & gave us a few dance moves too!

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We're Back from Paradise!

We arrived back in Calgary late (very late) last night after a wonderful week in Mexico. Evan stayed at Chez Nana (also known as the Farm....it's very exclusive!) so that Dewey and I could have a kid free week away. It was absolutely marvelous! I promise to blog about it in mind numbing detail in the next few days but tonight.....well, tonight I am just too darn tired! I finally got to bed last night at 3 am & then was up at 8. I need more sleep than that!

Until tomorrow, here are a few pictures. I promise I will blog & post more ASAP.




So how was your week while I was away? What did I miss?????

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