And.... here we go. The fifth and final part of my Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas' update. Cozumel, Mexico was the fourth and final port of our trip, day six of seven (the final day was a full day at sea back to Florida and was covered in my first post here) So Cozumel was our port but because Deka and I had picked an excursion to mainland Mexico (via Playa Del Carmen) we ended up spending maybe 15 minutes in Coz itself... oh well, maybe next time? We had more important things to do, like climb a Mayan Pyramid.
So lets go... Mexico!
The morning started off pretty crappy... Cool and rainy.. so we over ate at FABuffet and headed to the theater for our meetup. We had booked an excursion to Cobá for the day, something Deka had really wanted to do and I was down for an adventure.. But unlike the other days where we would just get off the boat and find our tour, today we had to meet on the ship and get some info and an ID sticker... woo?
Once getting off the ship in Cozumel we made our way onto this high-speed ferry to take us to mainland. The ride over was absolutely amazing... There was a storm off shore and the seas were incredibly rough... The ship rocked and rolled the whole hour even giving you airtime... By the time we reached Playa Del Carmen we'd seen at least 40 people get sick and some even filled their barffbags. I think I was the only one on the ship who truly enjoyed the ride over (Even Deka wasn't feeling it by the time we got off the ferry)
Yaayyy, Playa Del Carmen.
Running the gauntlet to our bus past all the shops... But there was occasional free WiFi I kept trying to get on.
The bus was a nice and we were giving bottled water and a snack as well as a history lesson on our way to Cobá
Puesto de control de policía para asegurarse de que no están robando artefactos
(no stealing artifacts)
Ah.... MEXICO
((that's raciest))
:( did.not.see.
But I did see this.....
Cobá! A pretty large Mayan City filled with buildings and pyramids...
(there are some 6,000 structures)
At first I was kinda bummed that it was foggy and raining while we were in the woods hiking down muddy paths and climbing on wet slippy stones... But it kinda added this mystical/adventurous feel.
Cobá was inhabited from 100BC to 1550
Pretty. Cobá has several temple pyramids in the Nohoch Mul group of structures.
(yeah, don't ask me to pronounce any of that...)
Ixmoja is the tallest pyramid in Cobá and on the whole Yucatán peninsula!
There have been very few moments in my life I would say were "jaw-dropping"... but the first time coming into view of Ixmoja was one of them.
((Oh.... and as you can see in the photo... you can climb to the top of it!))
So... I'm in Mexico... and its raining... and I'm about to climb 138 feet (120 steps) on a wet stone pyramid that was built hundreds of years ago.... AWESOME!
Yeah.... it was a work out but 100% worth it
Sadly, maybe due to rain... Only a handful of people from our group made the climb and of the few that did, not all even made it to the top.
The view from the top, nearly 140 feet up. Like I said before, I would have rather had a nice sunny day.... But the mist and haze made for some amazing views (that didn't transfer to photo as well... but in my memory was beautiful)
On top of the world
....Oh, and the stone I'm standing on is where the Mayans would cut the heart out of their living human sacrifices....
= FALL OFF PYRAMID // DEATH!!
So the climb up wasn't so bad... Not the easiest thing... but not hard either
The climb down.... well... it was slow going with a lot of side stepping and the help of the guide rope.
Ixmoja! Trip highlight for sure.
I'm so glad Deka picked this excursion.
At this point the rain had really picked up and most of our tour had run back to the bus leaving us to make our way back on our own... Even the tour guides had bailed (on bikes) as it was some 1.5KM back to the entrance....
Our bus tour guide... riding off on his bike.
He had a Boston Red Sox hat on... and a Walt Disney World poncho
((cant escape it))
Flowering Lilly
While duck-free, still nice.
Back on the bus we headed back to Playa Del Carmen but our tour included a lunch that would end up surprising everyone! And also that super fun ferry ride back to Coz awaited us!
WOOOOO!!! SPRING BREAK!!!!WWOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
So were riding in our massive tour bus down these little streets in Mexico and some are so narrow the bus has to make 3-point turns just to turn the corner.... And then we stop.
At Alux Restaurant.
Yeah.... its located in a cave underground!
Stairs lit by candle take you to the bar area and deeper into the cave a buffet was set up with a "traditional Mexican meal" although it seemed very toned down (I guess they think most tourists don't wanna try new things) so I was kinda let down but it was still really good.
CAVE BUFFET!
Super awesome location for a lunch on a day that was already great.. Mexico was the most expensive port for us but after all we did, it was worth it.
Oh, also...
I pee'd in a cave!
After lunch it was back onto the bus for the short ride over to the Playa Del Carmen Ferry dock for our boat back to Cozumel.
Random beach shot from Playa Del Carmen... and oh look, the suns trying to come out.
The boat back to Coz was still rather rough but not as bad as the way over. This time around the ferry even had free WiFi, yaayyy!
Oh hey, and look... we were in Cozumel at some point.. kinda.
I say I'd like to see Coz if I ever came back... But I'm sure I'd end up back on the mainland checking out more pyramids (Chichen Itza? Tulum?)
So yeah, that's it... We got back on the boat pretty much as soon as we got off the ferry and shortly after left Mexico. The next day was spent at sea heading back to the US and full of buffet's, rock climbing, ice skating, and unfunny comedians but soon enough I'd be back to having a working cellphone and an internet connection.
Woo, all five parts of my cruise are now up and maybe now I can get to posting some of the fairs I've gone to since. :D
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