January 13, 2009
Two days before our departure we received an e-mail from Air Canada informing us that our time of departure had changed. We were leaving one hour earlier with United Airlines. So we got up at 4.00 am instead of 5.00 and went to Ottawa airport for our 7.00 am departure flight. We got in the plane and had to wait one hour for de-icing the plane. So much for our earlier departure…
We also received an e-mail from Natasha, our contact in Mexico, informing us that the house that we had rented from Jan. 5 to Feb. 14 was double booked until Jan. 15… so we would have to stay in the house adjacent to the one we originally reserved. This house has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen… and belongs to the landlord´s father, and we would not be charged for it. Well we know why… it is very old, we mean very very old, still has the original mattresses, i.e. probably 40 years old, the water pressure is very poor, there are about 10 different colours-style of ceremic tiles in the house, and in every room, the paint is peeling off the walls. We should be moving to the other house this Thursday. Looking forward to it.
We arrived in Cancun on Monday, and took a local bus to have a look at all the hotels around Cancun. What a zoo, one hotel after another, and that went on for 26 kms. They are all HUGE, however they looked empty. We walked alot around town, and ate very well. In Cancun itself there is not much to see.
We stayed 2 nights in a hotel downtown (right across from the Bus station). Very convenient. Wednesday afternoon we took the UNO Bus to Merida, (4 ½ hrs) first class bus, excellent service. It was better than a First Class seat via Air, with A LOT OF LEG ROOM, reclining seats (almost horizontal), free soft drinks/water and movie (unfortunately Spanish). A driver was waiting for us at the bus station and drove us to our house in Chixculub.
Chixculub is a very poor and dirty little town, however the people are wonderful. It is very safe to take the local bus and walk around. We did our grocery at the Wall-Mart in Progresso, very convenient. (smaller version of the Canadian Wall-Mart).
Progresso is a very well organized town, with lots of shops, restaurants, cafes, etc. It takes 10 minutes to go to Progresso by local bus at a cost of Cdn $0.50/trip. The buses are very very old, and very very dirty but they go by every 5 minutes or so, and there is no strike…
Our friends will join us on Jan. 18 and they will be driving a rental car which means that we will be able to visit the surrounding area.
David and Lucille
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