I must say that today I feel SOOOOO much better than I did the last two days. I'm still having digesting issues and unfortunately I think that will probably be with me for a while. Also, sadly for Stanley, he seems to be having some of the same ghastly issues I have been having, but in a lesser degree... or at least he's a much stronger sick person than I am. He's such a trooper - he really is amazing!!! Anyway, after having a day of feeling pretty good, Stanley and I thought we'd brave some dinner and we did a pretty good job of eating the milder foods, but tonight, in the room, I am suffering again from terrible stomach cramps and pains and having frequent and painful visits to the bathroom. I dont know if I've caught a parasite (because the nausea and aches are gone, but the runs are still here in full force), or if this is just a case of simple travelers diarrhea, but I'm hoping that it will start getting better soon - at least before I have to take the plane home. Please???
Anyway, today, Stanley and I went our separate ways... I to the spa for a hot stone massage, and he to downtown Cancun for some authentic local flavors. We both slept in and then enjoyed a light breakfast. My massage was scheduled for 11:00am and so at 10:30am I walked down to the lobby to catch the "Lobby to Lobby" bus. The bus came about 5 minutes after I got there, and dropped me off first at the Golf and Spa lobby which is a palapa or cabana on the outskirts of the golf course. Next, I waited for the golf cart to come pick me up to take me to the spa building which is on the other side of the golf course. The golf course here is gorgeous! Dad, if you're reading this... you should come here to play golf! It is a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus "to satisfy every type of player, surrounded by natural mangroves with a perfect ecological balance without distorting the flora and fauna"... yes, that is a direct quote from our "welcome pack" of the resort :) I am not a golfer, but looking at this course made me want to play a few rounds! Anyway, past the golf course is the spa and inside and upstairs it is a spa haven. The lighting is dim, it smells like aromatherapy, there is soft and pretty music playing in the background and the sounds of water trickling everywhere. It was heavenly. I checked in, they took me to the locker room where I changed into a large comfy robe and sandals, then followed my masseuse to my massage room where I disrobed and laid on a warm table. This was an 80 minute massage - a whole 20 minutes longer than my first hot stone massage at Xscape a couple weeks ago. Yes! She rubbed me down with oils, filled the room with a lovely citrus aromatherapy, and massaged me with hot stones and it was AWESOME!!! It seriously is my new favorite form of massage and I wish I could get one every week. At 12:30pm my appointment sadly came to an end and I caught the golf cart back to my lobby (Nizuc). By then, Stanley had embarked on his own daytime adventure. Shortly after I left for my massage, he caught another bus - the Shopping Tour bus from our hotel to the hotel strip in Cancun - straight into the shopping tourism district.
This is Stanley writing now:
So, Cancun is a wholly artificial tourist mecca created by the Mexican government in the 1970s. Unlike other cities in the Yucatan -such as Merida or Valladolid which both have history going back to the Spanish Conquista of the 1500s- Cancun is expressly for tourism, fun and play. Think of the Orlando-Kissimmee Tourism Metroplex in Florida. The site was chosen due to easy air access from the US, the stunning undeveloped beaches and water and the proximity of several natural sites and ruins from the Mayan era. I really wasn't headed off to any old-town Cancun or cool villagescape.
OK this is a sidenote- As I write this there is a wedding party going on in the pagoda, plaza thing at the resort out of our room window. The music is so damn loud (with the windows closed) that I can scarcely think. Cancun is not the place for a quiet vacation. And further I question the wisdom of getting married in Cancun in the first place. I suppose if you don't want your less well off or aged friends and relatives to attend, it would be the ideal choice. Keep those grandparents and frat brothers at home, please. Hoo-Raa! Now the DJ is playing that song "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me...." Totally apropos for a wedding, yes? Yes! Get that cheating started early- it is Cancun, after all, plenty of hot chicks available. Hmm.
Back to it. I cram into a bus with 50 other sunburned overweight Norteamericanos for the shuttle service first to "Wet 'n WIld" Cancun (no I'm not making that up) then on through a series of other resort properties operated by the Palace line. I stay in for the final stop in the shopping district near "Cancun Center" which refers to the convention center not the center of town. Downtown "old" (as in 33 years old) Cancun is 20 minutes ahead via public bus full of local Mexicans and me- finally I feel like I'm in a foreign country - not at the Epcot Center.
I get near Mercado 28 and look around. The architecture looks like anything you'd find in newer neighborhoods in Southern Europe only much dirtier and less well maintained. The shops are invariably full of the typical tourist kitsch and it takes a while to find any of the authentic Mexican handicrafts; cool onyx sculpture, the brightly colored pottery and weaving and such. Though I really don't want any I just want to look at it. That's hard- if you go into a shop or linger at a stand too long, you're meat and the shopkeepers will begin to hound you for a sale. I return to the Cancun Center (non-center).
After wandering all over this locale, I find a little cantina tucked down a side street well of the beaten track. The beaten track consists of the main road with all the traffic. The foot traffic is largely made up of meaty, much-too-scantily-clad, middle aged Gringos speaking loudly to each other or into cell phones or both, some of these are smoking (non-Cuban) Cuban Cigars and acting all bad-ass (shudder). There are also the smattering of college kids, drunk or drinking or looking for drugs to buy (readily available, I was approached three times). Notably absent are travelers like me, the Independent types, backpackers (not hippies) if you will. I saw four or five of these my fellow compatriots out at Chichen Itza when we were there but emphatically NOT here in 'Old' Cancun.
Back to my alleyway Cantina. No gringos inside, menu in Spanish. Just local guys (all men) having lunch. Ah. I had Enchiladas Verdes and really big XX Beer. Nice. I moseyed back out to the swag shops and haggled for a carved wooden mask depicting the Mayan Deity for medicine and a carved bone Mayan Calendar. Cancun Hotel strip is as follows: Hotels, Restaurants/Bars/Snack Places, High End Boutique Shopping, Rental and 'Adventure' Agencies, Swag Shops and that's about it.
I enjoyed the experience, mostly on an ironic and anthropological level :)
Michele here:
After I got back to the room from my massage, I sat on the balcony and read the rest of my Cormac Macarthy book - No Country For Old Men - and relaxed in the room. A little while later I took my camera and walked around the resort to capture some photos, then met Stanley back at the room. That's when we decided to go get some dinner and it's been downhill from there!
Tomorrow - our second try at Tulum/Xel-Ha. Wish us luck!!!
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