A Brief Overview of What We Did in Cancun

We ate.
We drank.
We sat on the beach.

Life was good.

Seriously - we only spent five nights in Cancun, which is quite a famous "tourist city" in Mexico, and we had a great time. My mother flew in from Montreal, and she also seemed to enjoy the sun and the shopping.

Cancun is a created city - it was built specifically as a tourist resort, and for me it took some convincing that it was even in Mexico! Most tourists go to Cancun as part of an all-inclusive package from their travel agent. It can be a very convenient and cheap way to go. Brian and I (and therefore my mother) opted not to do that, as we wanted to be downtown rather than in the Hotel Zone (miles of hotels, side-by-side, fronting the main beaches), and to research and select our own hotel.

We finally decided to stay at the Radisson Hacienda hotel, which is a fairly nice hotel with friendly staff but overpriced drinks. Overall, we think it was the best choice, as we got to ride the local buses (with the local people, not the tourists!) and take the ferry over to Isla Mujeres, a small island just north of Cancun.

We absolutely loved Isla Mujeres (the Island of Women) - it was small enough to navigate easily, had plenty of nice restaurants and shops, and excellent (EXCELLENT) beaches. The short (and cheap) ferry ride over was an absolute pleasure,too. In fact, we went to Isla Mujeres on two separate days. (Pictures coming soon!)

We all took a day trip to the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, about 200km outside of Cancun. We had a guided tour of the ruins with, perhaps, the best guide in the country - a funny, intelligent man named Jaime Juarez (I think!!). He is (or was) a history professor, and his love for the ancient people and admiration for their art was very evident throughout the tour. (Pictures coming soon, too!).

And, of course, during all of these fun activities, we ate and drank! My mother had her first (and probably last) tequila as well as her first (and second and third...)margarita. She also successfully flew into Cancun, found our driver, made it to the hotel, and found the hotel bar all on her own - no small feat for never having been in a non-English speaking country alone before.

We all flew out of Cancun on July 16th - about 24 hours before the airport was closed and people were evacuated to shelters due to Huricane Emily. My mother flew to Ottawa to spend some time with my brother, while Brian and I flew to Knoxville to spend a week with Brian's family (more on the joys of East Tennessee coming soon.)