A few posts ago I talked about how the beginning of my [vacation in the Riviera Maya](https://bocabit.com/personal/cronicas-de-un-viaje-a-la-riviera-maya.php “Riviera Maya” had been), but now it is the turn of the vacation itself, which at the end of the day is what may be interesting to people who are thinking of going to Mexican lands.
The Hotel
In Mexico we stayed at the Bahía Príncipe Complex. A 5-star hotel that was about an hour and twenty minutes from the Cancun airport. Despite being a considerable distance, it is not long because the main road is a long straight road with two or three lanes paved with concrete, where you cannot go faster than 80km/h. Apparently, this road, when it rained, turned into a skating rink, and this was demonstrated by an accident we saw one of the days.
The Bahía Príncipe Complex is made up of 3 hotels: Akumal, Tulum and Coba, and we had Coba, which was the furthest from the beach (5 minutes on the little trains that ran through the complex) but had the advantage that all the rooms were new, spacious and had a bathtub with hydromassage :).
The people at the hotel were very friendly at all times, and in terms of facilities it is excellent, because it is gigantic: it has swimming pools everywhere, bars, restaurants, etc. Recommended 100%.
But if we went to the Riviera Maya and not to other places like Punta Cana, it is because we did not want to spend the day inside the hotel, but rather go out and see some more places, so we booked some excursions. We knew that the excursions were more expensive if they were booked at the hotel, but since we had just arrived and did not know anything, we decided to do it anyway, since, in any case, the price was not too far from what we had looked at on the internet with the agencies in Playa del Carmen (I think the difference was 30 euros or so).
Excursions
We decided to hire 2 excursions, each of which took us to two different places.
Tulum and Xel-Ha
The first one we went to included Tulum and Xel-Ha. Tulum were ruins next to the sea, of what apparently had been a fortified religious city, and which curiously was located in the only place on the coast where there was a small cliff, ideal as a defensive fortification.
It was impressive to think about the age of these buildings, since most of them were preserved in perfect condition. In addition, the views of the beach and the cliff were very beautiful, as you could see in the post I wrote when I returned.
For its part, Xel-Ha is a kind of artificial cove where you can swim, dive and see fish. They provide you with fins, goggles, a tube (this tube is disposable, no one uses it except you), and a life jacket. The depth of the cove varies between 2 and 4 meters, so it is advisable to take the latter if we do not want to get tired of swimming.
Chichen Itza and Ek Balam
You probably already know Chichén Itzá, as it is one of the new 7 wonders of the world, and it is nothing more than a Mayan “temple” made up of several buildings, among which the enormous pyramid dedicated to the god Kukulcán stands out. However, you can see more things in Chichén Itzá, such as a sacrificial altar, a wall on which the decapitated heads of those sacrificed were placed, the temple of the 1000 columns or the largest ball field of the Mayan culture (which, it must be said, is impressive).
In addition, Chichén Itzá is the perfect place to buy souvenirs, since it is where everything is sold the cheapest and they also accept haggling.
- How much does that figure cost? - Two hundred pesos - I’ll give you two. - But it’s worth two hundred… - Two!
They even asked me if I was Catalan (xD). I really liked this excursion, but some people thought it was a place too focused on tourism. For colorful tastes, but it is an essential place to go.
Regarding Ek Balam, it will appeal to those who found Chichén Izá too commercial since it is in the middle of the jungle (literally) and are much less exploited ruins. They are not as spectacular as the previous ones, but they give an impression of greater realism. Furthermore, in Ek Balam you can climb the tallest building of all: the acropolis, at a height of no more nor less than 31 meters by some damn steep steps and with nowhere to hold on. We went up raining and stormy, and I almost got dizzy when I looked down from the top. I found it very dangerous, and not at all suitable if you are traveling with small children or suffer from vertigo.
Playa del Carmen
The tourist town that was closest to the Hotel was called Playa del Carmen. It is about 45 minutes or so and we decided to go in some vans that were at the entrance of the hotel, since they were cheap (35 pesos = 3.5 dollars = 3 euros) and seemed safe.
I didn’t like Playa del Carmen too much, since the “tourist” area was more like an open-air shopping center, with its Pull and Bear, Bershka, Starbucks (blessed vanilla frapuccino), etc. All full of shops and sellers hunting for customers with the most effective tactics, such as:
- Are you Spanish? - Yes. - Come with me, the joints are over.
Pretty? Not much Overwhelming? For me yes. There comes a time when you get tired of people calling you every now and then and you just pretend you don’t hear what they’re saying.
Conclusions
I have really enjoyed the Riviera Maya, and in particular the Bahía Príncipe Hotel surprised me in every aspect, including the hospitality of the employees. If I had the opportunity I would not hesitate to return, but there are so many places to go… Of course, I have learned several things:
-Mexicans have a strange accent.
- If they put drugs in your suitcase at the airport it’s because you’re an asshole or a trafficker.
- It is good to carry photocopies of your identity documents with you and leave the originals in the room safe.
- Mexicans hate Rebelde and identify with Cantinflas.
- American coffee is fucking shit.
And next year, if I’m lucky, I’ll write another chronicle from somewhere else. :)
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