Mexico

WARNING: PHOTOS NOT IN ORDER

Chichen Itza

Cenote near Chichen Itza

Justin and the yummy guacamole

Islas de Mujeres and the resident iguanas

Ziplining at Islas de Mujeres

View from our hotel

After my wacky feminist rant I thought I'd update people on what's gone down in the Bush house since our last post in what, July?!

August 17-21 Justin and I took our delayed honeymoon and went to Cancun, Mexico. We were both pretty excited as neither of us have been there (he's been to Cozumel, but only on a cruise, so not quite the same thing). It was quite an eye-opening experience for both of us! Walk a lot reminded us of the mission, but boy were we not ready for the sun (as pictures will attest). While neither of us were huge fans of Cancun itself, we really enjoyed our day trips to Isla de Mujeres (an island north of Cancun) and Chichen Itza. We also went snorkeling, but that's a story to share later on.

In total I would like to say we only spent 450 to get down there and rent the hotel room. Sam's had a special through SmartCircle and we had vouchers from Justin's trip to Rochester, so things were cheap in regards of travel. Part of the deal though, was to take a tour of the timeshare properties on the island, which took most of Tuesday, but we had no set plans, got a free buffet meal and tour out of it and saw some amazing views of the island. Below is the view from our hotel room. Even though the room wasn't very luxurious, we liked it and loved the view. We were right on the beach and it had a few really good restaurants and a spa (which we got vouchers for) in it.

Monday was spent travelling from Houston to Cancun, getting settled in and walking A LOT! My Chacos left crazy blisters on my feet because we didn't think we'd be walking that much. But it was almost better the next day. When we were checking into the hotel they offered us mojitos but we had to request they prepare them without liquor. They were great and I have to say, a non-alcoholic mojito is possibly my favorite specialty drink.

Tuesday we went on the tour with the timeshare people and saw some of the really nice hotels in the area. We felt bad telling the guy we were dirt-poor college students at the end, but he understood and we went our separate ways. For going on this tour though we were given a voucher for any of the really popular tours in the area. We chose the Chichen Itza tour since it's the most expensive. That evening involved walking around the area some more and playing at the beach.

Wednesday was the day of highs and lows! We had booked a "Jungle Tour" which included taking a two-seater speed boat through the lagoon and then going snorkeling once you got into the Caribbean waters. I was excited as I enjoy boats and had never been snorkeling. I was a bit apprehensive however because I feel weird swimming in water with other creatures besides humans (yeah, pretty pathetic, but I'm honest). This experience did not end that fear! The ride was fun and the water was beautiful. We bought a water-proof disposible camera to get pictures of the fish and such. However, the fish were HUGE (no, I'm not overexaggerating, they really were about the size of a human head) and it kind of freaked me out. I think the fish sensed this because more and more started swimming around me. I'll admit, I literally freaked out worse than I ever had. I was physically accosted on my mission, but it didn't mess with my mind as much as these fish! There were honestly about 3 dozen fish swimming around me in a circle brushing against me and after yelling Justin dragged me back to the boat. He went back to swim because he's okay swimming with crazy carnivorous fish.. This shook me up a bit and I vowed to never go snorkeling again. We'll see how that goes.

Later that day we took a ferry to Isla de Mujeres; quite possibly the most beautiful site on the entire trip. I honestly fell in love with the quiet island. Very few people used cars because it was so small, so the main forms of transportation are mopeds and golf carts. We rented our golf cart for 2 hours and drove around taking pictures of the AMAZING water and interesting things to do (see the zipliners in some of those pictures?) and see. At the southern tip of the island there is an area with lots of iguanas and an old Mayan temple. That was possibly my favorite site.

The only downside was the fact that I forgot to reapply sunscreen and ended up burning myself pretty bad which wasn't helped when Justin and I used our spa vouchers and got hour-long massages. It was really REALLY relaxing to get the massage. If my skin didn't feel on fire I think I would have fallen asleep. Justin enjoyed it as well, but since his feet are pretty ticklish, when the woman tried to massage his feet he'd start giggling and she'd stop.. Then start again and he'd start giggling again. It was really quite a fun little experience.

Thursday we used our voucher to go to Chichen Itza. My burn was really bad so my dear husband had to carry my bag the whole day (I'm such a lucky girl). It was really interesting to see all the ruins and learn more about their culture. We explored a lot and kind of stalked this one family from Québec because their tour was in French and we wanted to pretend we were cool and listen along. It was a beautiful trip up there and on the way back we opted for two detours; a cenote (a cave with a collapsed roof that filled with water so people can swim in it) and a meal at a tiny restaurant. Because the cenote waters visibly had fish I decided not to swim, but it was a gorgeous site. The restaurant had dancers and such that were really neat too. That night we ate at the nice restaurant in the hotel (it was called Frida after Frida Kahlo). OH MY GOODNESS was the food good!! We wanted to try real mexican guacamole, but it wasn't on the menu. But our waiter got us the hookup and the chef made quite possibly the best guacamole ever. Not just the best I've ever had; the best EVER! For dessert we got a fruit plate with this custard kind of thing. I discovered two new flavors I love- starfruit and rum. Yes, rum. It had a rum sauce and I decided that it's a good thing there's the Word of Wisdom or else I'd be addicted to rum.

Friday was kind of frustrating. We flew home that afternoon and had quite the hold up at the airport because Cancun is a tourist trap. They didn't tell me to keep a paper for immigration so I had thrown it away. However, to leave the country, you HAVE TO have it. If you don't have it, you have to pay $55 and get a new form. ALL FOR THE NAME OF A SURVEY! The woman at the ticket counter tried to argue with me that every country did that, but (and you'll have to forgive me) in a heated moment I snapped, "How many countries have you been to? Probably none than the US illegally. I KNOW I've been to more places than you and I've NEVER had to keep a form like that. This is the reason Mexico is considered a third world country. Your backwards systems to rob dumb tourists who come down here in the first place." I really shouldn't have said it, but it's true. In the eight countries I've travelled to I've never had to keep something like that. I won't describe what else happened after that as my attitude was not a pleasant one. But let's just say by the time we got on the plane I'm pretty sure that everyone in Mexico was glad to see me go.

Overall, we enjoyed the trip. It really was a lot of fun. Would we go there again? Maybe. But to be honest, I think I learned that I'm not really a "tropical destination" traveller; I'd rather have a crammed city with museums than a beach and psycho fish trying to get me. But hey, who else can say they spent less than $500 on their honeymoon and got to have all of those experiences?