Cheapo dad’s trip report on Allure of the Seas sailing December 14, 2014

[harryfat1]

We are here

 

 

 

Interesting sign – guess it must be muddy at times

 

 

 

One thing frequently mentioned about San Gervasio is the mosquitoes. Not taking any chances, I bought the most potent repellent from home (highest recommended on Amazon) with 98+% DEET. So everyone got sprayed while we waited for the tour group to gather. You see the mosquitos around the grassy areas by the ruins.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Repel-Insect-Repellent-Spray-Bottle/dp/B004H89KFC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422631723&sr=8-1&keywords=mosquito+repellent&pebp=1422631725080&peasin=B004H89KFC

[harryfat1]

Workers on the roof

 

 

View from other side – note the sky is gray and no sun at all

 

 

Entrance fee on each of our tickets says 48 pesos so keep that in mind if you want to come here on your own, but we didn’t have to pay extra as it’s included in the tour price. Here is our tour gathering at the first spot. Also note there are many tours happening as well from the groups you see on the right and the left of us

 

 

I need to clean my camera lens

 

 

So as Patty was explaining about the Mayan site and the history itself, as before, my ADHA sets in and I tuned out and started to take pictures of the area instead. I more or less heard the similar background info from the previous Chichen Itza trip so I have some idea on what she was saying. This entire site is a worship place for goddess Ix Chel – for fertility/child birth.

 

Many parts of the ruins have been damaged throughout the years with people in the past using dynamites to blow up things thinking there are gold underneath the ruins. So you will see many broken parts from previous greedy people

 

[harryfat1]

In case anyone here has sharp Eagle eyes, what is different about this picture? Hard to really see

 

 

You have this lazy bugger on the top corner of the roof getting a tan/keeping warm

 

 

 

 

 

Here is different picture of another local resident

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

Hey, another local resident running for cover at the sight of tourists – the peasants are coming, the peasants are coming. Hide the female and little ones as they are cannibals.

 

 

The arch is probably the best remaining structure of the place

 

 

[harryfat1]

The old Mayan pathway connecting various structures in the compound

 

 

The two bracket area we were told to be burial grounds

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Many of the thatched roof areas are protected and you are not allowed to walk around inside it

 

 

 

 

Hey, mini Stonehenge

 

 

Family pic – we helped one couple take a picture of them and they returned the favor. Good to at least communicate with fellow travelers for simple task as taking pictures. Selfie sticks are useful at times but still good at ask people

 

 

[harryfat1]

Taking the road of least resistance – either walking the old Mayan route on the right or the modern day route – which would you take?

 

 

Time to head back. There are other parts of the Mayan ruins that they didn’t show us during the tour but those are further away and we are only on the basic tour. If seeing this stuff is important to you, come on your own time and wander around all you want

 

 

Back at the gift shop/eating place. The tour guide said every day, they have a random drawing of numbers for everyone in various buses and make sure to check the board to see if the number on the board matches the number on our shirts. If so, the lucky winner can win a big coconut booze drink - Coco Loco. Hey, look, it’s the number 3 and 26. Remember we were first ones on the bus so we were 1 to 6. Hey, we won. We won. Another lucky spot.

 

 

Guess who won?

 

 

Yeap, the youngest one who can’t drink alcohol wins the alcoholic prize. WTH?

 

So they gave him a Popsicle instead. I almost feel like I got ripped off as that is worth substantially less than a Coco Loco. Not that I am drinker or anything but in retrospect, I should have switched tags with my son and claim the big prize and buy him a Popsicle on the side so he doesn’t feel like he lost out. But then I would need to buy my older son on also and then cheapo dad don’t feel so good in having to pay overpriced vendor meals at gift shops…

[harryfat1]

So as with all tours, this is the obligatory gift shop/food/rest rooms break time.

 

 

 

Check out these guys in the back area

 

 

 

 

I made the mistake of taking this picture with the lady in the front enjoying the hammock. After that for the next 5 minutes, she kept trying to tell us to go in and buy something from the store

 

[harryfat1]

 

The younger one is still smiling over his prize winning

 

 

OK, time to get back to the bus for phase 2 of the tour

 

 

Many other bus tours are here. Per cruise tt, there were 6 ships in port that day for around 23,000 passengers in Cozumel so I expect to see bus load after bus load of people coming through here and other hot spots all day long.

 

 

So as we are pulling out, a limo drove in. Limo? Here? Yeap. Not the best focused picture but looks like some wealthy Asian family is here with a special limo driver to take them to the ruins. A regular taxi is not good enough. Good to have $$

 

[harryfat1]

So we now head over to the eastern side of the island. For those unfamiliar with the east side, it’s also called the “wild side” in that it’s much more rustic and most of the places do not have electricity and is known for bigger ocean surfs. As we made the turn south bound with the ocean on our left side, the sky has started to darken. Any sun we saw earlier today pretty much disappeared and the wind started to pick up as well.

 

The scenery along the ocean is really nice, even for a bad weather day. I can imagine how much nicer it would look if it was a totally blue sky day. Next time we are back in town, I will do the private taxi driver thing and have them drive us out here to see some of these sights up-close.

 

I love the sense of humor on many of the Mexican vendors I have encountered in my travel. If you an see the sign of this shack place by the road, it says “Mexican Target” with a red Target sign underneath it

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

OK, so we are here at the second stop of the tour. The place is called El Mirador. Gusty winds and heavy surf. The one thing we noticed with the gusty wind at the beach is that it picks up the sand on the ground so it’s as if you are in a mini sandstorm as you walk around the area.

 

I have read reviews of this place on Trip advisor and another cruiser from Disney cruiser came here on their ship sponsored tour (probably using the same local operators) and their stop was only 15 minutes. Sure enough, when the bus driver pulled up, we were told we only had 15 minutes at the place. As someone who likes to take pictures and wander around, 15 minutes is not enough.

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Other people taking pictures during the stop. We didn’t have time to wander over to that side of the beach

 

 

 

Hard to keep your eyes open with the wind and the sand flying around. Many of these pictures are just aim and shoot and pray they look ok

afterward as you can’t really judge the quality while there looking at the small screen in the outside environment

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

See the wind bending half of my son’s hat?

 

 

Mexican flag on top of the rock area. You can tell it’s windy by how horizontal the flag is

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

See the wind blowing my wife’s hair and the sand starting to cover my camera lens with some dots

 

 

 

 

You can chill out here in a hammock on a warm lazy day looking at the waves – but today is not one of those days

 

[harryfat1]

My kids thought the sand storm experience was fun/crazy. Note each has camcorder and camera taking pictures/photos? We should work for the Travel channel

 

 

 

Next couple pictures are more about the cloud covers as it’s getting darker with a pending storm coming

 

 

[harryfat1]

So we made it over to the side of the rock with the Mexican flag on it. I had read reviews form Trip advisor on the danger of those rocks and our tour guide on the bus also warned us against walking out there so we decided not to but I know my fearless wife really wanted to be up there at the flag area but I didn’t want to take any chances with this wind and wave

 

 

15 minutes’ up, time to start head back toward the bus

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

These people came here via taxi van. I imagine next time we are in town, we will do the same

 

 

 

I inquired about the football backpack. The dude wanted to rip me off at $35 – must think I was the rich limo tourist back at San Gervasio. No way. He went down to $20 as I walked back to the bus. Then when I went back to the pier, saw the same bag at $20 without need to bargain so make sure your know the price value of whatever you want to buy

 

 

[harryfat1]

So that ends the phase 2 of the tour. Off to phase 3. This last phase is “added” or “bonus” or “forced into”, depending on what your perspective is. The official tour only 2 parts at 3 hours. The actual tour has 3 parts and took 4 hours. So if you are aggressive and have 2 tours planned for the day, plan accordingly for the over runs in time. We have nothing planned afterward and so it didn’t matter to us.

 

The stop is a chocolate store outside of the Playa Mia water park area on the west side of the island – tame water compared to the east side. The west side is full of the man-made aquatic parks/all-inclusive resort types for tourists. I am not a big fan of these types of establishments as I prefer the more rustic/natural beauty but if you like them, then the west side of the island is for you.

 

 

 

The entire Playa Mia park area if you like this type of recreational facility

 

 

So we start with the tour guide giving us some basic background about the plants and beans

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Hey, wow, more plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

Remember the folks on island sleep in hammocks instead of bed