Monthly Archives: December 2020

Guadalajara

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Instead of flying from Cancun to Puerto Vallarta we decided instead to stop in Guadalajara for 2 nights. I’ve always wanted to explore the capital of Jalisco state as I heard the architecture was very Spanish and the food and nightlife was good. I was not disappointed – Guadalajara is a fantastic city. The only downside was that due to COVID restrictions there were no open restaurants after 7pm so we did room service for the first night (at the Westin) and UberEats for the second night. UberEats works super well in Mexico – no problems at all.

The Guadalajara cathedral and the main square on a beautiful December afternoon

Guadalajara contains so many churches and cathedrals that I have lost count. The architecture is quite stunning and reminds me more of a European city than a Mexican one. Most of the museums were closed but the churches remained open. I do not know if this was because it was a Sunday and a service had just finished or they are starting to reopen them for tourists. Either way it worked well for us.

An example of an art gallery.

As we walked down one of the main streets we found an open art gallery. After the usual temperature check and hand sanitizer we were let in. The building itself is pretty neat and they had an exposition on the second floor regarding refugees coming from Guatemala and trying to get into the US. It was quite moving.

Mirador de Huentitán

If you ride one of the rapid bus lines to the Northern end you can see Huentitán which is a state park. There is a lookout here and a nice area to picnic as well as a few food stalls. The bus is super easy to use. You pay to get into the bus terminal through turnstiles and then you board the bus. When you exit the bus you go back though the turnstiles. The buses are separated from traffic so they never get stuck in traffic jams.

An LGBT cow on along Chapultepec

Chapultepec is an area with a lot of restaurants and bars. It’s also somewhat famous for LGBT culture. Due to COVID all the bars were closed in Guadalajara but there were some interesting artwork like this cow in front of a small restaurant.

Cancun

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For 2 nights over Christmas we decided to spend some time at the Marriott Resort Cancun. We took a private shuttle from Playa Del Carman to the Cancun hotel zone. This is the easiest way to do it, but also the most expensive. We used Canada Transfers and they were very professional and on time.

The Cancun hotel zone is a purpose built area for tourism. It’s a long 7 shape that is out off the coast that contains lots of hotels, restaurants, and resorts. Over all I can honestly say that Cancun is quite a bit more expensive than Playa del Carmen. This is probably the proximity to the airport.

The beach in front of the Marriott. The JW Marriott is on the left.

The beachfront is very pretty here and all the hotels have little pieces of private beach that you can use to relax on their chairs and they will bring you food and drink. The ocean here is a bit rough. You can swim in it but there are lots of waves to contend with. I find it fun to get washed out to sea but it’s not especially good for calm swimming. However the hotel had a huge pool as well which was good for swimming.

Prosecco at the JW Marriott

One advantages of staying at the Marriott is that you can go to the bars and restaurants of not only the Marriott but also the JW next door. This glass of Prosecco was from the lobby bar in the JW. It’s a lovely bar but you certainly pay for it. All of the prices were fairly expensive from beer and wine to water. You can, of course, take a short walk to a 7-11 and buy stuff there to bring back to your room.

Due to COVID-19 it was required to serve food with alcohol so we got mixed nuts along with the drinks. Of course he added that to the bill 🙂

The view towards Cancun downtown

The views were pretty amazing from all around the hotel you could see either the ocean or the lagoon as you looked out towards Cancun downtown. Our room was supposed to have a resort view, but it was actually a partial ocean view.

View from the room just after sunrise on Boxing Day.

We did not do especially much over Christmas. Just went swimming and ate at the restaurants. It was pretty quiet and relaxing. Overall of the 3 destinations – Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum I would say that Playa del Carmen is a good mix of nice places to eat, beach time, nice hotels, and price. Tulum is cheaper and more rustic. Cancun is more expensive and American like.

Chichen Itza

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So this would probably be the most common tour for first time visitors to the Cancun / Playa Del Carmen / Tulum area. Most tours start by picking people up at their hotel and then they drive them to a Cenote and a some kind of buffet lunch and finally they get some time to see Chichen Itza.

We did this kind of tour – it makes things easy – but to be honest, if I were to do this again, I would take a car and drive myself or take a car and driver. The drive is very simple. It’s on toll roads the whole way and if you do it yourself you don’t need to worry about the tour taking you to their friend’s centote with a story of how you are “supporting tribal people” or being sold crap that is “made locally” but is actually imported from China.

Nethertheless the actual Cenote that we went to was actually pretty neat. It was probably the widest one I have been to in my time in Mexico and the water was refreshing as usual. In this one lifejackets were mandatory (read – cash grab) so you had to pay for one. It’s not expensive but we felt we were being nickel and dimed the whole day.

The view from the top of the cenote. No jumping in from this height.

How COVID has changed things a bit

To get into Chichen Itza involves a line even if you are already on a guided tour. You don’t really save any time even if you have bought tickets in advance. However, the fun part of this line was that they were using a cheap camera and an AI algorithm to identify people’s faces and take their temperature with an infrared camera. You can see the results as you walk though it.

Pretty cool, eh?

Once you get through that line and actually enter, Chichen Itza is very cool. With a tour you only get about 90 minutes to see the site. It’s enough to see it but I feel most people would find it more relaxed if they had additional time.

The main pyramid

The main pyramid on the site is very impressive. At two times of the year you can see the sun cast a shadow on the pyramid that looks like a snake running (slithering?) up the side of the pyramid. The whole thing is very impressive.

The main square in Valladolid

Valladolid

On the way back you get a brief (maybe 15 minute) stop in Valladolid. This place deserves at least a couple days and if you had your own wheels you can stop here for as long as you like. Most of the buildings here were build by the Spanish and are really lovely to see.

Conclusion

I never usually recommend or pass criticism on companies on this blog. I usually write Tripadvisor reviews (which I have done here) – however I feel a bit compelled with this one.

This tour was booked by USA Transfers. They however, do not actually run the tour. They outsource to Mayab Travel. You should remember that name (Mayab Travel) as a company to avoid. The whole thing was very rushed and they were more focused on selling booze than on telling anybody about the history of the Mayan people. They actually started to sell alcohol around 9am. I was actually shocked that some people took them up on this offer (although maybe I should not be).

There were several stops at the tour guides “friend’s” shop to buy souvenirs or to procure more alcohol. This just served to waste time which could have been spent seeing the thing we paid for – Chichen Itza.

On top of this, the buffet lunch seemed to be of very low quality and several people got sick on the bus on the way back to Playa del Carmen. Vomiting on a coach is never a fun thing to do and I cannot really give a positive review to any tour that gives people food poisoning.

So in conclusion – Chichen Itza is certainly worth seeing – but before you buy a tour be certain of what your experience will be like. And – even better – just go and do it by yourself. It’s an easy drive and will be so much more fulfulling.