Getting There

We had a two-leg flight, stopping in Charlotte, NC. A big airport with little traffic and a strong alcoholic theme running through it.

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Crown Paradise

An all-inclusive resort on the beach.

Many (at least four) pools.

A lot of other activities and amenities, including tennis courts, kids play areas (with mini-golf), artists at work, and shopping.

Views from the hotel room.

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At the Beach

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El Teatro

The nightly shows were the highlight of the week. We saw the Circus show (no pics), Grease, the Mexican variety show (no pics), Las Vegas, the Michael Jackson show, and the Christmas show (instead of Mamma Mia). First, Grease.

The Las Vegas had the single best act, the comedian Saeed Mohammaad Gonzalez. Should have taken a video of the act.

A picture with our favorite Cinnamon Bun girl.

Next, the Michael Jackson. The impersonator was terrific.

Finally, the Christmas show, and a picture of Frosty with the kids.

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Fine Dining

The hotel has several very nice restaurants. We tried three ... first, La Piazza (Italian ... note, pictures taken with cell phone :-)).

Second, Los Gallos ... Mexican food. When we entered, we were greeted by a waiter who had a neat tray-spinning trick.

The band obligingly performed our request.

and finally, Wayne's Boots , a steakhouse, where we were also treated to a rodeo show.

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Mercado 28

Went (by bus) a couple of times to El Centro and the large arts & crafts market there.

Some sights along the way as we walked through the city. Priya was feeling homesick, so we also visited Wal-Mart.

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Cenote Ik-Kil

En route to Chichen Itza, we stopped at the Ik-Kil Cenote. But not before we'd been checked for drugs.

Tequila on the way out.

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Chichen-Itza

A pre-Columbian site[note] built by the Mayans. A two(plus)-hour bus ride with non-stop chattering by our fearless guide, Tino. We stopped on the way for lunch.

The Holger Behr map at the right shows the layout of the various structures. First, El Castillo.

The first picture below is of the western-facing side which has been restored. The second picture, which is 90^o clockwise rotated (south-facing) shows partially-restored (but still ruined) steps.

At the eastern-facing side, the excavations show the previous layers of buildings and foundations that existed under the current outer covering of the temple.

We took a small detour towards the southern part, and saw a ruin that was apparently a school. Tough to tell, given Tino's ramblings.

We then went over to the western side where we saw the Temple of the Warriors ( Templo de los Guerreros) and the Group of a Thousand Columns (Mil Columnas). If you look closely at the middle of the temple (clear in the last of the group of 6 photographs below) you can see the statue of Chac Mool.

We then went over to the Eastern side, where we saw the Venus platform, the Jaguar temple, and the Tzompantli.

The next couple of pictures are of the Tzompantli. Apparently this is one of the finest examples known.

We next went over to the ballcourt for the Juego de Pelota.

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Snorkeling

We spent Thursday (23^rd) morning snorkeling. Taken by bus about 20 minutes south of the hotel, and then on a boat out to the ocean. We dived into the ocean, led by our guides, and spent an hour and a half swimming. It was just incredible: the water was clear, there were a large number of beautiful fish (although not as great as Hawaii), and the corals were spectacular. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to take the waterproof cover for the camera, so could not take any underwater photographs.

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Swimming with Dolphins

On Friday, we went to the Aquarium in Cancun. Meera finally got to swim with the dolphins! But before that, we saw some beautiful fish and other sea creatures, and M got to pet stingrays and sharks.

Next, Meera played with the stingrays and the sharks.We also saw some bigger and meaner sharks.

Finally, swimming with the dolphins.

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