I'm back!
It was a lovely trip. Went to Playa del Carmen, which is on the Atlantic coast, not the Pacific like I thought. Right next to Cancún. The beach was lovely, as were the topless girls sunbathing on it.
The sand was cool. The water was, uh, wet. The Atlantic never has appealed to me, though, as the Pacific waters are much cleaner. Oh well.
We stayed at a dinky little hotel called Pensión San Juan. The room was a bit cramped, but it had a covered porch, so it was all right. We spent the first couple days in town, going to the beach, sampling the local cuisine, and checking out a few shops.
Friday, I went to a club called the Blue Parrot. It was part of a hotel, and patronized mostly by tourists. Many of them cute ones. They had a fantastic show in which the performers twirled and juggled flaming staffs & chains, plus a kickass guitarist. Really awesome.
Saturday, my mom and I went scuba diving -- the first time for both of us. There was a shortish class, consisting first of a lecture, then practice with the equipment in a pool. Our instructor was a cute French girl whom it was a pleasure to get into the water with.
Then, after a break, we joined a couple other first-time divers and 2 instructors (both male 
), and everyone took a dive to 40 feet. We swam by part of the reef (which we were told by someone is the 3rd largest in the world, and the 2nd by someone else), saw some schools of fish, and generally had a very nice dive.
Sunday, we went to see some Mayan ruins at Tulum. It was raining. Bleah.
Monday, we took a taxi down to a place called Xcaret (pronounced "Eesh kuh-RET"), where they had more Mayan stuff, including a guided tour of a Mayan mine and village; an underground river that we swam through; a bunch of shows, most of which were cancelled because it was raining; and a lot of newly-hatched quail chicks in a glass case in the lobby. They were soooooo cute. The one show we were able to see, at the end of the day, was a major spectacle. It was a theatrical & musical telling of the history of the Mayans and Mexico. Part of the Mayan bit included a sport they supposedly used to play, which involved a ball that the players were allowed to strike only with their hips. I call it Buttball.
The bit after Buttball was one of the most interesting parts of the show. A Mayan god appeared and, during a speech which I didn't understand because I can't process Spanish that fast, produced a small, flaming ball. He left it in the middle of the stage, and then a dozen men in Mayan costumes appeared, carrying what looked like hockey sticks. I thought to myself, jokingly, that they'd probably play hockey with it.
They played hockey with it. Now THAT's hardcore.
Yesterday was spent taking it easy, swimming in the ocean, checking out more topless girls, relaxing in the room, and going to the Blue Parrot club again. Yeah, I was tired and ready to go home.
And now I am. It's good to be back.
It was a lovely trip. Went to Playa del Carmen, which is on the Atlantic coast, not the Pacific like I thought. Right next to Cancún. The beach was lovely, as were the topless girls sunbathing on it.
The sand was cool. The water was, uh, wet. The Atlantic never has appealed to me, though, as the Pacific waters are much cleaner. Oh well.
We stayed at a dinky little hotel called Pensión San Juan. The room was a bit cramped, but it had a covered porch, so it was all right. We spent the first couple days in town, going to the beach, sampling the local cuisine, and checking out a few shops.
Friday, I went to a club called the Blue Parrot. It was part of a hotel, and patronized mostly by tourists. Many of them cute ones. They had a fantastic show in which the performers twirled and juggled flaming staffs & chains, plus a kickass guitarist. Really awesome.
Saturday, my mom and I went scuba diving -- the first time for both of us. There was a shortish class, consisting first of a lecture, then practice with the equipment in a pool. Our instructor was a cute French girl whom it was a pleasure to get into the water with.
Then, after a break, we joined a couple other first-time divers and 2 instructors (both male ), and everyone took a dive to 40 feet. We swam by part of the reef (which we were told by someone is the 3rd largest in the world, and the 2nd by someone else), saw some schools of fish, and generally had a very nice dive.
Sunday, we went to see some Mayan ruins at Tulum. It was raining. Bleah.
Monday, we took a taxi down to a place called Xcaret (pronounced "Eesh kuh-RET"), where they had more Mayan stuff, including a guided tour of a Mayan mine and village; an underground river that we swam through; a bunch of shows, most of which were cancelled because it was raining; and a lot of newly-hatched quail chicks in a glass case in the lobby. They were soooooo cute. The one show we were able to see, at the end of the day, was a major spectacle. It was a theatrical & musical telling of the history of the Mayans and Mexico. Part of the Mayan bit included a sport they supposedly used to play, which involved a ball that the players were allowed to strike only with their hips. I call it Buttball.
The bit after Buttball was one of the most interesting parts of the show. A Mayan god appeared and, during a speech which I didn't understand because I can't process Spanish that fast, produced a small, flaming ball. He left it in the middle of the stage, and then a dozen men in Mayan costumes appeared, carrying what looked like hockey sticks. I thought to myself, jokingly, that they'd probably play hockey with it.
They played hockey with it. Now THAT's hardcore.
Yesterday was spent taking it easy, swimming in the ocean, checking out more topless girls, relaxing in the room, and going to the Blue Parrot club again. Yeah, I was tired and ready to go home.
And now I am. It's good to be back.
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Yeah I read that thread. In fact I have a semi-story behind a zot I heard about, but I sure wouldn't have been able to talk about it there or it would have been CruxbaseAlpha time