Day One: Convening in Cancun August 7, 2008

Convening in Cancun – How we got from Ogden, Utah, USA to San Pedro, Belize, the cheapest way possible — not necessarily because we are cheap, but because we wanted the adventure.

August 7, 2008

Ah travel. If only getting away itself were easier. After months of preparation the easiest of things, like how to get to the airport becomes hard. You would think that at least 1 of our 5 children living in this area could take us there — but it can’t just be simple. One adult kid said, “I’ll take you”, (meaning I want to borrow your car so I don’t have to drive mine all the way to scout camp in Wyoming.) But then he finds out that the class he has to take for work starts at 8:00 a.m. and the plane didn’t leave until 9:50, so that would put us at the airport at 6:30, leaving an hour earlier. Not that spending the whole day getting to where we want to go is a long enough trip. But oh, by the way, make sure that you leave the keys for the car anyway.

Mark on the ADO bus to Playa del Carmen

So we find someone to drive us the 9 blocks down the hill to the Frontrunner, and take it and the bus to the airport. We’re traveling light. It’s really no big deal.

Then there’s my worry-wart husband, who makes a big deal out of most everything because that is his job. I leave to get some breakfast and he panics because they started boarding while I was gone. This was Delta – reserved seats. I could have shown up right before they took off and it wouldn’t have made any difference. Like I said, he makes problems even when none exist.

Arriving in Cancun, it took us about 30 minutes to get through customs. We were then descended upon by helpful tour-agents who were concerned that no one was picking us up. When we explained we were taking the bus, they lost all interest. The bus ticket station was right in the airport. Only hitch was that there were no direct buses to Tulum. We had to go to Playa del Carmen, but we were assured that there was a bus there we could transfer to. We got on the air-conditioned ABO bus, complete with movie, (in Spanish of course) $8.50/person to Playa del Carmen, and after a long stop at the other air-terminal, we were off.

A new friend in Playa del Carmen

Lots of greenery, we sat on the wrong side of the bus and missed the hotel entrances on the other side. Besides the short (in stature) jungle on our side, we could have been traveling on any highway, anywhere. Arriving in Playa del Carmen, we were met with a Mexican version of Monterey, or Fisherman’s Wharf. Lots of tourist shops, more liquor and pharmacies then usual and pretty sleazy. When I was checking out rooms, I noticed the prices in Playa where a less expensive there, then in Cancun, or Tulum. Now I can tell why. I am so glad that I decided to stay where we are staying, even for 2 days.

The beach at Playa del Carmen

After a wait of

Street artist in Playa

about 45 minutes, we finally got on the bus to Merida. This was the Mayan line that goes to all the ruins. It said Merida, which is a city on the other side of the Yucatan, near Chichanitzen, I was a little apprehensive that it was the right bus, but it was, as many others were going to Tulum. There were mostly locals on the ride. Nothing as entertaining as little old grandma’s sitting there with a chicken in their laps and not as nice as the ABO bus. The upholstery is a little torn and there are no movies, but a pleasant air-conditioned ride, with few stops. The people are very friendly and probably as interested in practicing their English, as I am my Spanish.

As it was now starting to get dark, I am concerned that we would not be stopping at the bus stop, but end up in the middle of nowhere and have to walk miles. The passengers said that the bus would stop at the bus stop and we did.

Arriving in Tulum, I knew that our hotel would be only a few blocks from the bus stop because I had looked it up on a map. It was, but I couldn’t remember the exact address. I had emailed the owners a few times, so I wasn’t really concerned about finding it, but it was dark, starting to rain and Mark again started to fret. With very little back tracking we did manage to find the place.

It was every bit as wonderful as described in the information that I read online. Posada Luna del Sur, Parade of the Moon on the South. The owner was so very gracious and made us feel at home immediately. She put us in a better room for the night, because the next door neighbors were having a party with barbecue and load music. I told her it didn’t matter that much to me, and showed her my hearing aides, but she insisted. So we got a better, more expensive room for one night.

Mark’s Spanish has come in very handy, and they both chatted away, me understanding about 1/3. She and her husband are both gringos, but she grew up in Mexico. Her grandfather came from Russia. We were talking and she was very interested to find that my maiden name was Romick, because her sister had just married someone whose last name was Romicke. Very small world.

The room is wonderful, clean sheets, air-conditioning that works, lots of bottled water, a refrigerator for us Americans who insist that everything be chilled.

The towels at Posada Luna del Sur arranged at the foot of our bed

Janet, our hostess, directs us to the restaurants in town that she knows are safe to eat. After it stops raining, we walk downtown and have a wonderful, real, not Taco Bell dinner, (Though I had to put my foot down with Mark about eating at the Subway next door. I did not come all this way to eat fast-food.)

The Subway shop is really the only American commercialized shop that I find in Tulum. It is an eye-opener to see how the average Mexican lives.  Poverty level or below and no building code. The house around the corner was adding an addition, using framing from jungle trees, with the bark peeled off. Everything is either concrete or tile, because that is all that will last. But life and family is very much the same. As we walk home, Mark translates for me, the Grandma, yelling at her grand-daughter to come in, because it is late and she shouldn’t be out at such a time.

Street musicians in Tulum

Back at the hotel, we thankfully fall quickly asleep in our modern, air-conditioned room. Another good decision on my part – not to try one of the cabanas on the beach just yet.