I arrived back in the states 3/8/09 and started my next assignment 3/12/09. Many others returned to their assignments 3/9/09, so I guess I'm lucky!
Mexico was an odd grab bag.
The resort, Sandos of Caracol, was a pleasant place. The beach was eroded and they were fighting back the sea with artificial sand bars, which killed the waves and made the shore more reminiscent of a lake side, but it was still pretty.
The resort was really spread out, and didn't have many activities to promote people getting together. It was a place for established couples and groups of friends-- not singles like me. I still met some decent people- but completely because I randomly strike up conversations. I was respectful of other people's vacations and ate alone most nights. The buffets were nice and the included restaurants required reservations. I tagged on to 2 reservations (totally against the rules, but did it anyway). The best restaurant on the resort by far is La Riviera (Mediterranean) and the couple I was supposed to eat with had a minor disagreement prior to dinner and missed their (our) reservation. The staff realized I was stag AND abandoned- and were absolutely fabulous to me. The food blew the rest of the resort food out of the water.
The real wonder of the trip were the outings. My first outing, Tulum Adventure, occured the first full day I was there. It included a trip to Tulum ruins by the sea which was very beautiful. Finally a beach that looked like Mexico beaches are supposed to look!
After visiting Tulum we drove about an hour in a van down a few long dirt roads, through a locked gate, down some more dirt road. At this point, I was thinking the 10 of us were kidnapped. We turned the last bend in the road and parked next to the other tour buses. Whew. We then went on 3 mini-adventures. It wasn't exactly as advertised: The "repelling experience" was climbing up a tower and taking a rope down; the "snorkeling in the underground river" was snorkeling in a cave so small we couldn't all fit; but the zip line saved the day. Three zip lines, above the level of trees, 200 yards, 400 yards and 600 yards. It was pretty darn cool. After that, they finally fed us (ate at 6:30 am, they did not tell us to bring snacks, and lunch was at 2:30pm). The food was great- but I was pretty hungry so McDonalds would have been great at that point! I did miss the warning about the red salsa and spent about 5 minutes swishing water slowly in my mouth and wondering if the burn would EVER stop.
The next day, Friday, was my chill out day. Instead of carrying away a zen-like peace from the day, I discovered that laying on a beach is as boring as it was when I was a kid. With no waves and an adult point of view that prevented me from building a sandcastle, I was not feeling zen-like or peaceful. Just bored. I should have gone and played in the waves beyond the bags-- or at least built a sand castle! Next time I'm going to be a kid. I swear. I'll be filled with the zen-like peace of childhood. :-)
The final full day, Saturday, I hopped on a bus with about 30 other people from Core Medical and went to see Chichen Itza. I was worth the 3 hour bus ride and the money. Wow. Great tour. The tour guides were excellent- they gave us snacks and drinks on the bus and made us drink water when they anticipated dehydration. They were extremely knowledgeable about the site and the area. They were polite and personal. The ruins were outstanding. The entire trip was incredible because of this one day.
Chichen Itza was a focal point of the Mayan culture from around 200 AD to about 1000 AD with its hay-day in about 600 AD. They think. According to our guide, all but 3 pages of Mayan writing were collected and destroyed by the Catholic bishops. (I'm Catholic- but that action wasn't very cool. Okay, lots of stuff Catholic bishops have done, especially during that time, were not very cool.) Up until a few years ago, you could climb all over the ruins, which throughout time have been a religious site, a cattle ranch, and a tourist attraction. Now it's roped off and souvenir sellers have their stands anywhere there's shade.
The ruins are beautiful, and the further you walk, the more you see. I kept going and keeping an eye on my watch. The tour had taken about an hour and in my remaining hour I tried to see everything. Eventually I had only 15 minutes to retrace my path that had taken 45 minutes and I jogged with another girl from the bus to return. I was the last person on the bus, but the clock read 1:15 pm so I was officially on time.
Our next stop was a hacienda styled restaurant nestled next to a cenote. A cenote, by definition, is a sinkhole with exposed rocky edges filled with ground water. From the pool below, it felt like you were swimming in a pool at the bottom of a large rock bubble that had popped on top. Vines from the edge above trailed into the water where black catfish swam. The cenote we swam in was approximately 160 feet deep and was the size of an olympic swimming pool. People were jumping off a 30 foot platform-- I jumped off the halfway point (15 feet) and that was plenty high enough. It was like swimming in a secret paradise. I could have floated there forever. There was my zen. There was my peace.
My last day was Sunday and I woke, packed, ate breakfast, bought a few more souvenirs from the gift shop, had one last beer at 9am, and waited for my bus. I arrived back in Columbia, SC at midnight. Dad picked me up. Looking back, it was a good trip with moments of greatness. It was a reward for being loyal to Core Medical Group and it gave me opportunities to see things I'll probably never see again. Everything about traveling has been like that, and though there are the moments of loneliness, the journey overall is...unforgettable.
