Note: Video from yesterday’s foolishness finally uploaded…will update yesterday’s post, but here it is if you want to watch it — it’s pretty shaky :D.
Got about 3 hours of sleep last night before having to wake up for the first world wonder excursion that was a freebie for the world cruise (with platinum status from going on a couple cruises). Travel was whopping journey from Cozumel all the way to Chichén Itzá then to a lunch buffet and then back. Total time ~ 12.5 hrs, so a very long day. Thankfully, I got a couple long naps in on the bus, while also pulling double duty and having my laptop start processing some photos (downloading, photo merging panoramics, etc.)
The Journey
First, we were placed into groups to board the ferry / buses. Our group ended up being fairly small compared to the other groups (which was fine by me). Getting off the ship was fairly quick, and then the long walk down to the port.
We were greeted by some signs that we were definitely now in Mexico, including flying the flag on the ship. Then we took the ferry over to Playa del Carmen, where we walked through the shopping center and through a couple streets to get to our bus.
The bus ride itself was long, and not much to see other than jungle around on all sides (or so I assume…I promptly passed out on the 2.5 hour drive…and was in and out of consciousness). Our tour guide Victor was great and told us all about Mayan culture and what we would be seeing. I had heard some of this on a past tour in Cozumel, but it was a nice reminder, and always enriching.
Chichén Itzá
I assumed that the world wonder would be like other tourist spots I’ve been to in the past, with hundreds or thousands of people crammed together, but I was pleasantly surprised. Everything flowed fairly well, and there was a ton of space to see the ruins.
We only stuck to the main square, and I think there’s a TON of acreage to see in future trips that we could have continued walking if we had time. Most of the tour was tightly controlled (we had to stay in a group), and I would’ve rather have had the opportunity to wander on my own, but it was a good teaser. Our other tour guide Jonny (sp?) told us all about each spot and was really knowledgeable and great as well.
Finally, at the end we had about 10 minutes of free time, which I promptly used to go around to the backside where there were no people at all.
Grabbed a couple selfies as well for kicks…
Lunch at Mayaland Hotel
We gathered back up, and went back to the bus to a nice fresh, clean towel to freshen up, then took the bus next to Mayaland Hotel where we were greeted with popsicles and margaritas. I chose watermelon, and it was delish, with what must’ve been real watermelon cause the seeds were stll in the popsicle.
Lunch was great, lots of local cuisine, and really enjoyed the pork and fish in particular.
As I sat down to eat, I heard a yell, and saw some folks coming out of a bush, so naturally, I grabbed my camera and went over to investigate. Turned out that there were mayan warriors coming to join our lunch and did a ritual / show of sorts. Was pretty lengthy and they were awesome…a mixture of power, awe, beauty and ferocity.
Didn’t end up watching the whole thing, cause I was in the other room and needed to scarf down some food before getting back on the bus…was sweating again, not just from the humidity and squatting and moving around for shots, but then had some real great meat sweats (#worthit).
Transportation Back
Nothing too exciting, mostly edited photos on the way back to the ferry, then ferry back to the ship…by this point it had started to lightly rain (or what I would consider light).
Some great scenes from the ferry as we made it back though.
Early Run
Since I was already gross from the all the humidity and oppressive sun, now coupled with the rain and ocean spray from the ferry, I decided to run early and get my nightly run in before dinner.
The upside to this as well as not having to shower twice, was that I started running while we were still in port, and while we took off, so I FINALLY got my loop-de-loop route on water that I had imagined in my head when I first started running on cruise boats. I made it the full lap before the boat had sufficiently gained speed!
Also a fun route that wasn’t just a straight line, but you can see the macro and micro views of the run. (And yes, I know my phones running low on battery).
Run itself was only ok. It was still pretty humid and because of the rain the track was puddles everywhere and had very little traction, but I got it in before dinner.
Food
Food was probably the best so far (I’m starting to sound like a broken record). Had the asian bun tacos — they were so good, I got an order to go for a midnight snack. Then for entree, they actually had an off menu catfish with salsa and rice because we were in Mexico — and let me tell you, it was ah-mazing. Finally in honor of Nate, I got double creme brûlée and a blueberry cobbler. Delish all around.
Vibe Check
3 parts joy
2 part sadness (1 for the mayan people, 1 because of lack of sleep)
Have a bunch of GoPro footage, but will play with it tomorrow (hopefully it loads overnight)
Matti 
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