10 day in Mexico - Day 9 & 10 Cancun and Mexico City

Day 9 - it's basically the last day of our vacation. Last day in Cancun, going back to Mexico City today(spend 1 night) before we fly back the next day.

but before we checked out we still have until 12pm to relax in this wonderful hotel

morning dipped in the jacuzzi

one last swim in the Gulf of Mexico, going to missed this beautiful turquoise beach

after we have worked up an appetite, time to hit the buffet table for breakfast...YUM!

maybe just one last time before we head to the airport

from our hotel we took the taxi to the Cancun Airport. Cost $450pesos  ($22.40USD)

YEAH! super expensive for a 20 minutes drive, (it was the same distance when we took a taxi from the Cancun central to our hotel and that cost us just $250(even then i bitch about the price) ! Taxi and also the ADO bus from and to airport in Cancun is always expensive compare to other zones. Well it is the official going rate, (their rates are Zones base).

At the Cancun airport be prepare to pay everything from souvenir to water at a premium price. The price is much higher in Cancun airport compare to Mexico City airport. The cheapest water we could find is a really small bottle 300ml is $25 pesos ($1.20USD) and the regular small bottle at $50 pesos ($2.50USD) whereas Mexico City airport you can find $20pesos ($1USD) for a big bottle of water. And NO they don't have water refill stations in their airport!

Even Starbucks cost more in Cancun airport.

by the time we reached Mexico City it was night time and we checked in to our hotel near the airport with a FREE shuttle at Gate 4, Terminal 1. Had some bread for dinner and called it a night

Day 10 - going home

our flight was at noon so we had a nice breakfast in the airport and fly back home! The End.

Overall our first trip to Mexico was really great although we lost one of our phone (pickpocket) curse you thief(s). Mexico has rich culture, friendly people and their delicious food makes our trip memorable.

My Mexico itinerary combining Mexico city and Yucatan Peninsula was a great idea because this 2 cities are really really different. In Mexico City we got to experience more the local lifestyle, their beautiful fresh local food and also culture and history, wheres Yucatan Peninsula it's more cater to tourists where we dine at a tourist kind of restaurants and bars and fancy hotels(well maybe if i could stayed longer there and speak Spanish i would have had a different experience). However we did enjoy our day trips to ancient Maya cities and cenote in the Yucatan, they are the best! An this is my Mexico experience! 

till my next adventure!

~ adios~

10 day in Mexico - Day 8 Tulum and Cancun, Yucatan Peninsula

Day 8 today we have half day in Tulum before we move on to Cancun and we are going to Tulum ruins. A must visit in Tulum is Tulum ruins!

Woke up early as usual and borrowed bicycles from our hotel (FREE) and set out at 7:40am. It's about 30 minutes bicycle ride to Tulum ruins from our hotel. We were hoping to reach the ruins about 10 minutes past 8am (the ruins opens at 8am) but we got lost and missed the turn

end up somewhere far away and no ruins (curse you printed map you suck!)

after asking few locals

finally we got the right direction. Turn left on the roundabout (and there was no effing round about in the map) anyway move on

after wasting extra 20 minutes getting lost we finally reached the ruins at 8:30am. A little behind schedule but we'll manage

Entrance fee for Tulum ruins is $70pesos/pax ($3.50USD)

not sure what animals are these

Tulum was built in the late 13th century, served as major seaport for Coba trading mainly in turquoise and jade. Tulum was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya. When the Spanish came and diseases appear to have resulted in high fatalities, disrupting the society and eventually causing the city to be abandoned

The House of Cenote, a temple or houses near water source (eg: well or alter inside caves) an important characteristic of the Mayan village of the east coast.

This house was built on the limestone directly over the hole that form the cenote. Bones were found, so maybe it was also used as a crypt. There is always bones!

The Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula faced serious problem with drinking water, as there are almost no rivers or bodies of water on the surface.

This city was also known as Zama (dawn) because in one of the region where dawn first breaks in Mexico

out for a nice morning suntan

Temple of the Descending God

Palace of the Great Lord, home of the Great Lord and his family lived

the Temple of Stela

Temple of the Wind God

El Castillo

access to the beach, if only we had time for a quick dip in the ocean

so beautiful

Most civilizations of Mesoamerica have an old belief in power of "Ceiba" tree. Mixtec, Aztec, Maya and other cultures consider this tree sacred. The Ceiba is a gigantic Tree of Life in Maya religion

Young Ceiba trees have large thorny spines protruding from the trunk to discourage wild rodents damaging the tree's trunk. I guess this is consider a young Ceiba tree. The thorns really the same as durian fruit.

And that is Tulum ruins! Thank god we were early, when were left there were lines of tour buses.

By 9:45am we were finished and cycled back to the hotel. This time we didn't get lost we manage to get back in just 30 minutes

We still had time for a quick shower, bag packed and breakfast before we checked out at 11am!

lugging my heavy backpack to Tulum ADO bus station

bus ticket from Tulum to Cancun central is $170Pesos/ pax ($8.40USD). Price is different for Cancun airport and Cancun central, the bus ticket to Airport is much more expensive at about $252pesos. pax ($12.40USD)

Our Cancun bus was on time (12pm) and we reached Cancun a little over 2pm. In Yucatan, don't think there is Uber, so we took taxi to our hotel in the Hotel Zone in Cancun. Cost $250pesos ($12.50USD) for a 20-25minutes drive

perfect timing to checked in to our hotel in Cancun! 

Time to relax and chill by the beach. Enough of carrying heavy backpack, rushing here and there!

welcome to Cancun

gorgeous beach

dinner at the hotel restaurant

romantic evening walk by the beach

today we had the most relaxing day in our whole Mexico vacation, well despite the morning rush to Tulum ruins. Time to say good night and sweet dreams! ~

Next day we are going back! 

~ hasta mañana ~