Cancun, Mexico
Cancun was set-up by the Mexican government to be a magnet for tourist from around the world. Downtown is called the Golden Mile by the locals because of all the shops and the hotels are placed in a special "hotel zone". We stayed at the Imperial Les Perlas which is the first hotel in the zone. It was nice at that end because most of the crowds and college parties were further into the hotel zone and we could walk down to that area but we could also leave it behind. The view from our balcony was great! We could see all the activities going on by the pool and we could look out into the gulf and daydream about the sailboat parked by the hotel all weekend. It was really nice!
We took a walk along the beach on our first evening there and caught the sunset just as the sky turned a fantastic purple color. At sunrise the next morning, Bonnie was up early to catch it. I was still asleep. But this is my new favorite sunrise picture.
Cancun is still recovering from hurricane Wilma which destroyed about 80% of the hotel zone. Cancun is the third largest source of income for Mexico so after the damage was assessed, the government spent millions of dollars (or pesos) on rebuilding projects. The beaches, for example, had been completely wash away in some places and the government had sand pumped in from the ocean and had the beaches restored in less than six months. We could see the damage around town but it never impeded our experience.
Since tourism is such a big part of their business there are many deals to be had. Bonnie and I signed up to hear a sales-pitch on timeshares just so we could get free tickets for a tour of Chichen Itza. The tour would've cost about $100 for the both of us but instead we got the tour for free, plus we got a free breakfast and access to the swanky private beaches on the day of the sales-pitch. On the day of the sales-pitch we were given a ride to one of the nicer hotels in the zone and met with Felix -- our salesman. Felix was a very nice guy and showed us the really nice timeshares that were available. It's nice to have a Jacuzzi in your bedroom, I guess, but I'm a believer in the idea that your hotel room should only be used for napping (or passing out, whichever!). Also, Felix took us on one of the 45' yachts available as a timeshare owner. They were pretty nice complete with polished wood trim. One thing we should mention is that we snuck back onto the nice beach two days later with the idea that if anyone asked, we'd say that "Felix said we could use the beach today!"
At one point Felix offered to take our picture but didn't know the camera was set to video.
Roll your mouse over the square to hear Felix make a joke!