Cancun Travelogue, Part Five

Oh mi dios de mierda.

The person who decided that August would be the best time to go to Cancun needs to be drawn, quartered and shot, and perhaps not in that order.

That's just frustration from coming in from the sun and the humidity on Day Five of the trip. This excursion has been amazing, unparalleled. Let's see, where to begin... Let's try Saturday night, where I left off.

Once I got in from the Cancun airport, caught up with Marty & Tom, and showered from the flights -- 11:00 pm or so -- we went to SeÒor Frogs and closed the place down at 3:00 am. From what I've seen this week, the experiences at Frogs, Carlos y Charlie's, and their ilk are about the same. We got accosted by the shot girl and had whatever sweet moderately alcoholic concoction poured down each of our gullets. Danced with a few girls who were on vacation -- the music was pretty damned good, and the DJ knew how to rotate the floor and still keep a good percentage there.

Walking back from Frogs and quite hungry, I'm ashamed to say that we stopped by Domino's Pizza and brought back a large pie. Thousands of miles from home, and we're eating pizza. So sorry. (Though, not as sorry as I was for going across the street from the hotel before the excursion and eating a Whopper con Queso.)

Slept until noon or so. I woke up first, put on a bit of sunscreen, and laid out for about 40 minutes -- trying to stave off the burn I knew was forthcoming. Back upstairs, collected the boys, and went for coffee. Once we did that, and figured out the plan for the day, we geared up for the beach. Spent about five hours cavorting on the best sand I've ever seen, and swam out quite a ways from the shore. (Yeah, the water was maybe seven or eight feet deep at the most, but it was amazing nevertheless. Neither M nor T swam out that far.)

Attempted to rent a couple of jet skis for an hour, but the wait was far too long. Gathered ourselves up and headed back to the hotel. Ate dinner at the same seafood restaurant M & T first arrived at on Saturday afternoon. The return trip was justified -- amazing food. I had a shrimp brochette dish that was heavenly.

Back to the hotel, slept for an hour, then off to the Coco Bongo.

I had seen a bit on E!'s 'Wild On' series about the Coco Bongo. (Yes, it's named after the club in 'The Mask.') Half dance club, half show bar, and all big-time fun. Words are escaping me on how much fun this was. Between the three of us, we've been to more nightclubs than we can remember. This one is easily in all of our Top Three we've ever been to.

It's not a chain, as far as I can tell. It would never fly in the States, since it's open bar all night long. That's part of the allure, and it's not just take a couple of sips and they bring your next drink. The drinks come as long as you want them to, and the service was excellent. We each had Cuban cigars (thanks, Marty!) that we were puffing on early on in the night. I looked down, and noticed that mine had gone out. As I was saying the words, "Damn, my cigar's gone out," there was Moises, our amazing waiter, re-lighting my cigar.

Really not kidding here - if you go to Cancun, you simply have to go to the Coco Bongo. You will lose your mind at how cool this place is.

Monday was the first of our three package outings, heading out to Cozymel via ferry to go snorkeling. I'll let Marty do most of the talking on this bit, because while I thought it was really cool, I fought the rented equipment for the entire first dive, and that soured the experience for me. The second dive went fine, but by the end of it I was feeling a little sick -- partially due to the hangover, partially due to the sea water I took in on the first dive -- so I sat out the third dive and rested on the boat.

After getting back to the shore, we had lunch at Kelley's. Seems that Kelley, a big ol' bear of an American, got to Cozymel 12 years ago with only $200 and the clothes on his back. He opened the restaurant this year, and said it was a helluva lot of work. We exchanged pleasantries for a while, then he went away to run some errands. I really wanted a picture with the four of us, but we only saw him as we were heading back to the ferry. This would end up being the only picture none of the Amigos were able to capture this trip -- the elusive Kelley.

Decided to keep things low-key Monday night, since we knew Tuesday was the all-day excursion to Chichen Itza.

More later. I need some cerveza to fuel my memories.

Oh, right now? Marty and Tom are in downtown Cancun, watching a bullfight. I had no desire to see any of that (not squeamish -- just not my cup of soup), so I opted to go back to the hotel, get the souvenirs for the people I promised 'em to, and start writing. Besides, I was getting whiny and cranky after four days of walking around, and my knee, after cooperating quite wonderfully all this time, is now making noise. I'm just amazed the liver hasn't joined in the chorus.

...

Well, fuck. Out of beer in the mini-fridge. I could go down to the corner store and grab a sixer, but I'll wait a bit for that. Coca-Cola in the meantime -- real Coke, with real sugar. Refresco.

Chichen Itza. We took a ton of photos, so I'll actually tell you to look for the pic pages for the travelogue on Tuesday. I'll post my pics on Friday, but there'll be photos from all three of us when Tom gets his film developed later this week. Trust me, they'll be worth the wait.

A couple of things briefly -- both Marty and I were regretting not bringing our iPods for the bus ride out to Chichen Itza, since the ride was over two hours each way, and there's really nothing between Cancun and Chichen Itza. Had we known it would be the same bus and crew each way, we would have.

Out of the three of us, I know and can speak the most Espanol, which isn't saying a lot, but it's still something. I guess I retained more of the stuff in Spanish class than I originally thought.

The 91 steps up the main pyramid at Chichen Itza are quite steep, as everyone will tell you. However, the upper deck at Reunion Arena and the third level at Comiskey Park are both as steep, and not nearly as rewarding. Just wait until you see those photos.

One more thing -- you get a real sense of the wisdom and synchronicity of the Mayan culture walking around the ruins. When you look at the harmony of the area, and how everything in the buildings had a sense of balance and purpose, you don't look at modern architecture in the same way. At least, I won't.

Alright, enough for now. I'm going to shower and get ready for tonight, before the boys get back from their gorefest. Tonight, it's the "booze cruise" -- a trip around to Isla Muerjes on the Carribean Carnival for five hours with all the food and booze we can ingest.

My flight out of Cancun back to Mexico City is at 7:30, so I'll be rudely waking myself up at 5:00 am. See you in a bit -- maybe in Mexico City, but more likely in Houston.

Comments

[rachelle]

dood! jonathan and his parents were in cozumel (and went to kelleys) the same time you were there!