Mexican Holiday: Day 1 (Getting to the hotel)
Kevin makes it to Mexico in one piece!
Hola!
Feb. 18, 2007.
Made it to Mexico with no problems.
I got to the Saskatoon airport about 7:30am and was on the flight at 10:00 or so,. A direct flight from Saskatoon to Cancun. Got to Cancun about 3:30 in the afternoon.
Got off the flight, and got loaded onto airport buses. Was then taken to immigration and customs. I was travelling with only one carryon bag, so went through customs fast.
Outside the airport, I walked the gauntlet of timeshare hucksters and people offering to take you to the bus. Lots of people saying "Sunquest" who actually have nothing to do with the company. I walked past them all down to the buses. I ended up being the first person on the bus. Waited about half an hour for other passengers to arrive, then we were off.
I noticed a few things about the trip. First, is the speed bumps on the freeway. At every town you have to slow down to almost a dead stop to go over huge speed bumps. It's a great way to foil speeders, but does slow things down a lot. Especially with the big buses.
The other thing I remember is all the people walking on the roads. There are hardly any shoulders on the roads, but there are people all over walking on the roads, with little shops on the side of the road, etc. I'm surprised more people don't get hit.
Finally I got to the hotel. My hotel is the Gran Bahia Principe. It's about a 2 hour drive south of the Cancun airport. This is a huge all inclusive resort with three main hotels in one, Bahia Principe Tulum (where I was), Akumal, and Coba. If you are interested and have Google Earth, you can see Villla 37 (the one containing my room) at:
20°22'14.81"N, 87°19'49.11"W
Or, if you don't have Google Earth, you can check it out on Google Maps.
Here's a picture of my villa:
When I arrived, the whole familiy was there waiting for the bus. Nephews started driving me crazy with "Uncle Kevin ... Uncle Kevin" even before I got off the steps of the bus.
I identified my luggage at the curb, then Trevor (my brother) took me to the special Club Diamond checkin. We had the "Club Diamond" option. This gives us full access to the entire resort, including all beaches, restaurants, etc. This also provides us with free internet access (which is how I can do this blog) by visiting our own private lobby. Here's a picture of the club diamond staff.
After checking in and getting my stuff at my room, I went for supper at the great buffet, then hung out with the familiy in the bar while they waited for more buses tp arrive. Others in the wedding party (23 people in total) showed up throughout the evening.
After people showed up, we went to the "Hacienda Dona Isabel" to look around. This is a large outdoor stage and shopping complex just outside the Tulum lobby gate. Lots of cool knick-knacks to buy, a fellow doing spray-paint art, a nightclub, etc.
Then off too bed, to get rested for the wedding tomorrow.