Beachscape Kin Ha Villas & Suites, Cancún

Predictably, our hotel was quite a long way along the Cancún beachfront "strip", but although having gained an hour it didn't seem as dark.  We said our "thank you and goodbye" to the driver who was very good, although he drove faster than we thought was perhaps sensible at times, we feel that was purely because Arturo's inability to time manage put him under pressure to get us to our next destination.   To Arturo, I'm afraid, we said nothing - the first time since Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Guide 3.

The hotel was huge, with lots of different wings and whilst we had all been in nearby rooms everywhere else, the group was now split up over 150+ rooms.  Unfortunately we were put in an annex off the car park and as soon as we walked into the building it was dreadful and the room on the second floor was just a hideous, dark, square box and although we were only going to be there for one night, I was not prepared to accept the room.  So, with apologies to Ian who never likes me making a fuss, I went straight back to reception and complained - the result of which was we were moved to a suite in one of the main blocks.  It didn't have a sea view but at least it was ground floor, light and airy and felt like it actually belonged to the hotel.  I also was able to arrange a late check out so we didn't have to leave the room until 1400 (instead of 1100) - full marks to the receptionist.

We briefly considered venturing out for dinner but in the end decided to eat in the beachside bar where we both enjoyed delicious burger and chips and a decent bottle of wine at a reasonable price.  I think we're both more than ready to go home tomorrow.

Breakfast was served in quite a small restaurant given the number of rooms in the hotel; we were lucky and got a table straight away but others were told to either wait outside or come back in xx minutes.  The food was cooked to order and was delicious, we were just conscious of not staying too long at the table.  

It was only just after 0900 when we headed past the huge pool to the beach.

It was beautiful with plenty of loungers/umbrellas to choose from.  

And, more importantly, crystal clear, warm water.  

We had a swim and then I left Ian lazing whilst I went for a walk along the beach, carrying just my small lens.

Walking round the headland at the end I came to pelicans which were a little far away for my small lens.

So I headed back to the room to pick up the other camera/lens.

And retraced my steps along the shoreline.  

Great Tailed Grackles f. and m.

That's better, the birds are much closer now, except the wretched pelicans have flown!

Although it was still quite early in the day, the coconut man was already touting for business.

He certainly has the easier job than his mate, who has to harvest them.

I kept on walking further round the headland and found one before too long.  But got photo bombed by a passing jet ski.

It seemed like the pelican thought the gulls were its chicks.

We spent a very pleasant morning sitting in the sun and then swimming to cool off.  We tried the pool which was also lovely, but not as good as the Caribbean.  I noticed some Germany ladies standing around chatting as they are prone to do and they were peering at something in the water.  By this time the camera gear was back in the room so I used my phone and just hoped I didn't drop it.

We had an pleasant lunch on the beach, this is the starter which is the predictable corn nachos (black and normal colours) plus a spicy dip which I was surprised was to Ian's taste.

In view of the complete c*ck up that Mexcellence had made of our arrival collection and because Ian and I were the only ones taking the BA flight (the others were on Aero Mexico and had to go via Mexico City - we'd be landing a good 6 hours before them!) I'd messaged them a couple of days ago to confirm what time they'd be collecting us for our 1835 flight.  They'd responded in a timely manner advising 1500 which was then revised to 1430 in view of local roadworks, which was absolutely fine with us.   This morning apparently none of the other 4 leaving had heard anything so I passed on contact details and suggested they get in touch.  They were given a 1445 pick up time which seemed a little daft, surely we could all gave gone together.   We were all waiting in reception at 1430 when a minibus arrived, however when the driver showed me his paperwork - it said collection time 1430 for the group of 4 and 1545 collection time for us!   Fortunately there was room for him to take all of us at the same time, although we were delayed by dropping them off at T3 before he drove us on to T4.  At the end of the day it was not a problem but could have been - there seems to be a lack of attention to detail regarding these individual transfers.

Check-in was only just opening when we arrived and before long we were sitting in a small lounge which was perfectly OK and certainly not the dump I'd read about online.  Unfortunately they'd run out of champagne glasses so we had to drink out of tumblers until they'd done some washing up - I've done worse.  The BA staff were lovely as always and somehow the time passed by fairly quickly and Don was waiting at Gatwick to meet us.

The tour was long and tiring but we're both glad we did it.  We met some lovely people and one complete **** and as we've said many times before there's always one - it's just a shame we found her so early into the trip.

Unfortunately it's taken me almost two months to finish this blog so no doubt I've forgotten lots of interesting facts, figures and events.  With 42 posts it's also probably the longest so I'm quite sure I'll have contradicted myself over time. 

Maya Ball Game (Pitz in Classic Mayan/Pok-A-Tok in English)

I think way back at the start of the tour, when we were in the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, I took a shot of the rules of the ball game, but that was so long ago and we've learnt a lot more about it, and its importance to the Mayan since then.

There are over a thousand Pok-A-Tok pitches scattered across Mesoamerica, the largest of which is at Chichén Itzá and measuring 168mx70m it's apparently bigger than a football pitch.

The game was occasionally played for the enjoyment of the players and the spectators  – especially the rulers who always had a special seat built for them.  However most of the time the games became a religious spectacle filled with ritual importance, because it was a sport played to please the gods.  The games were sometimes played in a style that re-created the battles from Maya myths and legends and so these games would often be “rigged” so that the team playing the winners of the battle would also be the winners of the Pok-A-Tok game.  The team deemed to lose would sometimes be made up of captives or prisoners who would be killed as a sacrifice at the end of the game.

The sport also played a political role and was frequently used as a way of solving disputes between rivals and sometimes offered an alternative to battle between warring towns.

Sacrificing a team for losing a ball game might seem a bit extreme, but killing the losing team was a regular occurrence and wasn’t just limited to teams of prisoners or captives.  Human sacrifice was an important part of the Maya way of life because they believed it pleased their gods, so in many games there would be a sacrificial killing from the losing team; sometimes this was just the captain, but if you were really unlucky, the whole team might be sacrificed.

And occasionally, just to mix it up a bit, some or all of the winning team might be sacrificed.

The rules varied depending on where in Mesoamerica you were and in what era the game was being played, but there were a few concrete rules that never really changed:

- two teams each with two to five players on each.

- players must keep the ball in the air without using their hands or their feet, which meant using  hips, knees, thighs, upper arms and elbows to keep the ball in the air.

- the ball must not touch the ground.

The balls were made from solid rubber (unlike balls used for sports like tennis or football today which have a rubber outer surface but are filled with air) which meant they were very heavy and very hard. The balls would vary in size, but the larger ones (approximately the size of a football) were only a little lighter than the weight of a bowling ball!  These balls could cause serious injury and sometimes even death if not handled correctly during the game and players would sometimes wear padding, called Yokes, to protect their limbs from injury.

Some games were based merely on keeping the ball in the air, with the team that drops the ball first losing.  Other games were won on points, with points gained by getting the ball past the opposing team and into the empty space at the back of the pitch behind them.

Later, stone rings were added onto the pitch; these were raised high above the ground and the aim was to get the ball through the ring.  This was considered such a challenge that if a player got the ball through one of the rings, it resulted in an instant win.

It was such a difficult sport that one game could often stretch out for days on end.

I haven't researched to see if it is considered remotely accurate, but I found this video on YouTube which seems to show how the game might have been played.

 

Tulum

The drive to Tulum took about 2 hours and we also crossed into a different time zone so lost a further hour and although Coco didn't bother to mention it to anyone, Ian and I knew from our own research and others noticed when their clever watches automatically updated.

The walk from the car park to the ruins took about 20 mins and was through some quite dense trees so these photos are pants, but the best I got.

Yucatán Jay

Not enough characteristics to begin to identify.

Easy peasy - Great Kiskadee

The ruins of Tulum, one of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites, are situated on 12m tall cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula overlooking the Caribbean Sea.   Obviously this isn't my shot as it's been taken with a drone, but for some strange reason although I must have walked past this fine pile of stones, I don't seem to have any photos of it whatsoever!

 

It was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya and achieved its greatest prominence between the 13th and 15th centuries. Maya continued to occupy Tulum for about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico, but the city was abandoned by the end of the 16th century.   

These are the few photos I did take.

Maybe this is a side view of El Castillo (the main bits are called this everywhere).

It was obviously only ever going to be a whistle stop visit as Coco walked us quickly along and gave only the briefest of explanations to a few of the buildings.  Unfortunately Mexico were playing Argentina in a World Cup match (they lost 2-0) and a lot of the visitors had the match playing very loudly on phones or radios which was rather disturbing.  I somehow managed to acquire a Klingon, the code Ian and I use for when someone is too close for comfort, and then the guy really started to freak me out.  I was taking a photo of something with my big lens and he just asked if I'd give him my camera so he could photograph me - "Urgh no thank you P*ss Off!" (main points here being the lens on the camera was not remotely suitable for portraits and it was worth ££££s).  He continued following me and when I stopped, he stopped and waited for me, it really was very unnerving.  Eventually he got the message when Ian shouted at him and he wandered off.

As usual the fauna held more interest for me than the piles of stones.  These iguanas are Black-Spiny Tailed Iguanas, native to Mexico and one of the 19 species found in the country but, unfortunately, they are probably the least attractive - not that this fact stopped me taking loads of photos.  Their colouring helps them blend superbly with the rocks and often you don't notice them at first glance.

Whilst they look so scary, we know from visiting Iguana Park in Guayaquil, Ecuador that they are vegetarians.

Do they behave like hamsters though, and stuff their cheeks with food?

Higo Chumbo (Prickly Pear), in flower rather than the fruiting.

This is a Tropical Mockingbird, I think.

By the time we finished here it was about 1430 and Arturo said there was no need to stop for lunch/drink and repeated we would be in Cancun around 1500 - still not seeming to have realised the time difference.  One or two of the group wanted to stop for a drink/loo break and so we sat around for half hour before hitting the road.

The lovely Trish, Pilates and dance teacher.

Fresh coconut juice

Shortly after leaving Tulum we hit traffic and it took us over 3 hours to reach Cancún during which time Arturo remained completely silent.  Whilst it was obvious we were stuck in traffic, it would have been good to know how far we were from the hotel etc.  We finally reached the hotel shortly after 1800 and he spoke for the first time and announced that we had arrived!

Sadly Arturo doesn't seem to understand the vast majority of questions asked of him and therefore his replies are, more often than not, complete nonsense.  He certainly knows about the archaeological sites we visited, but it's almost as if he's learnt the information parrot fashion and cannot converse fluently (unlike Francisco and Emilio).  He also seemed totally out of his depth regarding time/distance management and the needs of the group.  Interestingly he told me he was looking forward to going on holiday once he'd finished this tour; that he was going with his daughter to Alaska and that his dream was to become a farmer there.  Enough said.