Gran Bahia Principe Riviera Maya Akumal

... to crack your skull diving into a pond of well, skulls). Oh, lets not forget that the sun god needs something too, what can we give him? Blood! Lots of blood! Lets create a big old pyramid with a channel for said blood which trickles down from the top to the earth below, sun god will be like wow, how cool is that! The same advanced pyramid will also create a shadow of a snake which, over a period of several hours on the solstice ...

... on the menu. After that, it all went downhill. The mushroom risotto was very salty and contained no mushrooms. The ravioli was swimming in butter and was a mix of cheese and meat-filled ravioli. WHO DOES THAT!? The minestrone had raw celery in it that stuck in my teeth. The main course was ok. but he C******nay sauce had no C******nay in it, but lots of lumps. And the veggies were undercooked, which is surprising, considering they ...

... thirds(or fourths), it can be a rather classy experience. There was a nice selection of salads, vegetables, meats, pastas, and desserts, so the combinations are endless! We even had the house, albeit more grape juice than wine, but still, it had the alcohol in it. It was a pretty good meal, altogether. Afterward, Mario and I made our way to the bar, where we discovered the delicious Mayan coffee. Picture a lovely concoction of espresso, coffee ...

... and commercial) for the day, then went back for another party in the evening :) it was sweeeeeeet. Randomly met some awesome guys in Playa as well; they were environmental activists and so dedicated to their work even though they had to go through so much hardship to survive- pretty inspiring. Sunday was spent recovering, not surprisingly, and Monday we trekked into Tulum for some lunch at Charlie´s- this awesome, really cheap restaurant me and Kirsty love ...

We went to Yal-ku laguna, 20 minutes' walk from Akumal centre on a cloudy Sunday, where it was unsually quiet (for once we are grateful that the skies are not blue). As we entered the park, artistic sculptures luminated our path as we approached the lagunas, providing a Zen ambiance. Yal-Ku laguna is special because of ...

... caught a large, crayfish, lobster type crustacean with their bare hands from the ocean floor which they sliced open with a machete and then went in to town to buy garlic and supplies to cook it. People carry machetes and knives plus other tools for use in their everyday lives and it took a bit of getting used to because we kept thinking we were getting robbed. There was an incident with a guy and a machete which turned out to be a large metal set square. I saw a guy today ...

... including Sharoon and her husband. When happy hour ended we went back and ate at the main ABR restaurant. There were options and it filled us up - that's all that mattered on this trip. I think we ate grouper again this night. But that's okay. We had already done a "high-maintenance trip" to Hawaii within the last year with fine dining each evening, so this one was meant to be low key, and Akumal was perfect for it. We crashed, completely exhausted from all our adventures ...

... of the trip (NOT!) and Chris ordered a Sprite. She becomes quite tickled when she receives her Sprite in a glass bottle. Sometimes progress just ruins the special little memories you have from your childhood. Chris and her Sprite in a bottle One of the things you may notice on this stretch of beach, is the large multitudes of vacationers. I mean at one point there must have been about 6 other folks sharing a half mile ...

... it's that the local fishermen, instead of taking their boat out early, fishing all day, then selling the fish to the restaurants, now hire their boat and expertise out to tourists, who fish all day, then give the fish they catch to the fishermen to sell to restaurants. The fishermen get about $100 and beer to go out, and still get to sell the fish. I don't know what they make without the tourist trade, but I'm sure it's a lot less.

... with the sketchy guy to Cancún or stay on the bus and risk having to stay in Chetumal overnight? I knew the answer. And later that night I woke up when the bus stopped. He announced Tulum. I jumped off the sketchy "first class" bus and realized no one asked me to pay for the bus ride. I would've been stuck in Chetumal again had I not decided to take that risk. I think I've learned well.