First really bad trip report..Chapter 1

[needavacation]

Okay guys, let me just tell you. We have been to Mexico several times since July of 2002 and I have never written one trip report. Yes, this sux as I have always taken advantage of forums such as this and then have never given back to the community. Therefore, I felt a need to share this time.

With that being said, this will probably be the worst trip report you will ever read so please don't feel obligated to do so. I say worst trip report as we went to Tulum on December 30th and returned to the states on January 6th and I have a bad memory so I will have to give an overall summary on days that I can't seem to remember. I have a few pictures in a camera that have not been developed yet so I will try to make myself find the camera and get them developed as I did take pics of the room. The whole picture thing is kind of funny now as I am a photographer. It is what I do. So maybe I should just start with day 1. I am starting day one as the day before we actually leave as I think you guys need to know what my husband deals with on a daily basis and how our trip actually starts out.

This trip was planned at least three months in advance and miracle above miracles we do actually remember to get passports as this will be the first time they have been required of us. For some reason, me being me I guess, when the day arrives for us to leave, I am not packed. Not only am I not packed, I have not packed for our children who will be staying at my in-laws while we are gone. SO there starts the frenzy. I pack for my children, am late meeting my inlaws by at least an hour which leaves me late..well just late. I have to meet them an hour away which means two hours of my day is spent in traveling. I had pushed our meeting time back by two hours....

As I said, I am a photographer but have never brought my good camera and lenses with me for fear of them getting messed up/stolen/left behind. However, the last time we were in Mexico I was so angry at myself for not bringing my camera as I missed some shots that I could not get with the point and shoot. Therefore, I was determined to bring my camera much to my husbands dismay...for the above stated reasons. SO I had to get it insured in case anything happened. I arrived at the insurance office at 4:48 and they close at 5. Whew..insurance obtained in the nick of time. (Insurance cost me $180...I felt it would be worth it). I tell you all of this so you will get the irony of my life a little later in the story. Hey, I did remember to go get cash earlier in the day so that was a good thing on my part.

Okay it is now 5pm. My wonderful husband has been working hard all day to tie up loose ends to be able to leave. My job was simply get us ready so we could leave for the airport. At 5:30 he calls me...he is home...I am not. I am in TJ Maxx shopping for luggage and flip flops. I think he originally wanted to leave at 6...hmmm. I have to go to three stores total to find flip flops for him...we live in Arkansas. Not happening this time of year. I finally find some brown ladies flip flops that he can wear. Good thing he has a skinny foot and they are brown and some ladies have big feet.

I arrive home at 7. No bags packed as I just purchased them. I purchased new bags as I was determined to do just carry-ons and wanted to find one with locks. He is vaccuuming the house because i didn't earlier...what the hell have I been doing all day and haven't I been waiting for this trip forever??? I assure him I can pack in no time. Of course one of the suitcases has a zipper broken because I never thought to check it. I give him the broken zipper one. We have learned to pack very light so that helps. We leave for the airport finally at 8 only to come back to the house before getting out of our subdivision as I realize I forgot our sunglasses. We then stop at Walgreens as I had forgotten something else...batteries I think.

We have a 2.5 hour drive to the airport in the rain. My poor husband is driving as I have managed to stress myself into a headache. He probably has one too but is kind enough not to mention it. It is a pretty quiet drive. :) What is funny is I didn't realize he was upset with me until later in the evening when he asked what I had done with my day???

We arrive in Memphis as our direct flight leaves in the am. In Memphis, we always miss the turn to the airport and went 20 minutes out of our way. We had already gotten a little lost, probably another 20 minutes, as I caused us to miss another turn and had to stop for directions. We both are needing a beer. My husband is needing a valium. It is after 11 pm. We arrive at the Radisson. We always stay here stay because it is by the airport and they have free parking...or use to anyway...

I will begin Day 2 if you guys wish. If not, I will not be offended. As I said, this will be a poor trip report.

[james]

it may turn out to be a bad trip report, but your paragraphs are very well formed!

[archrunnergirl]

yep, definitely need more. Hopefully it's been long enough that you can have a laugh (at least a small one)?

"do's and don'ts" are always helpful...

Sorry to hear about your troubles, though! I hope it doesn't deter you from making another trip down.

Cheers!

[TnTWalter]

needavacation...you sound like me....

I am so ultra organized...planning planning planning...and then when it gets time to go...I've forgotten to print things I've planned to print for weeks, haven't packed kids, realize I have to have new shoes...whatever.

Love it!!

Bring it on.

:beerchug:

[minniemex]

Ok, loving the first day!! I have a tendency to procrastinate but you win the crown, hands down!! LOL :beerchug:

Please continue with your report.

[letele]

Yup, keep going! :)

[beachreader]

Is it OK that I'm laughing here? Your writing is great, I feel like I'm reading Erma Bombeck or something. Thanks!

I really hope you can get some pictures to go with, but for now, I'm happy just reading. :)

[Obsessed]

Loving it!! We definitely want to hear more!!! Where are you from in Arkansas...I'm guessing either Little Rock or Hot Springs if you were at a TJ Maxx!!! I grew up in Camden....:beerchug:

[Toni]

Yes, please keep it coming, believe me we have all been there!! Either over organized or last minute. Is there ever a right way? Hurry and post , it is starting out to be a great report!! :o

[idunk2]

Please continue. I would love to hear the whole story. I was told some great advice about packing a long time ago. you need to pack half the clothes and twice the money you planned on bringing.

I am looking forward to the rest of the report.

[Dorlee]

Please keep going! You're doing a great job and I like your writing style!

Thanks.

[HAWKEYE]

Please keep going! You're doing a great job and I like your writing style!

Thanks.
Ditto that!
Craig.;)

[lazydog]

Oh, I was so hoping this trip report was going to continue!

[Jana]

Also enjoying your humerous writing style and would love to read the next installment!

Jana

[Lynnette]

I'm needing a Tulum fix, and more of your report. :)

[needavacation]

I was really waiting until I get some pictures to post but I was worried that, if I didn't get back to this, I never would. So we leave Memphis at 10:20 on our non-stop flight via Northwest. The luggage that I worked so hard to find the day before proved to be unnecessary. You see, I had worked very hard to try to do carry-ons and worked very hard to find enough 3oz bottles and get everything packed that I needed including my 4 twilight novels that took up quite a bit of space. I was so proud that I got everything in two carry ons and my camera bag and we were good to go. However, being blonde, I didn't realize that all of your 3oz bottles had to fit in ONE quart size bag as I had about 5!!

So we checked our luggage afterall. Time and energy wasted. It's okay. We will be there soon and have beer and a beach. I was glad to get off the plane as there was a rather large guy sitting behind me who didn't mind putting his leg into my back the entire time. I'm okay. I have started reading the Twilight series and I know that very soon I won't have to deal with very many people and I will have a cold beer in hand.

We arrive and go through customs without any difficulty. I am a little sad even by some of the changes in the airport. Seems like everything changes a little bit more every time we come. I remember when we would get off on the onto the tarmac and have to be shuttled to the airport. Yes, it was a pain, but it added to the ambiance of the trip. Now even the bathrooms are done in marble and glass. My husband just rolls his eyes at me and tells me that it's nice and air conditioned and to get over it. I do seem to be the only one that has a problem with it.

We claim our luggage and decide to go ahead and do a money exchange. We haven't been to Tulum before and are not world travelers so we play it safe and exchange for the week and will learn more of Tulum as the week goes. I'm sure we received the worst exchange rate ever. We pass the piranhas in the airport and find our shuttle without any difficulty, grab a couple of beers and are on our way.

Once again, it appears that I have managed to screw up. Scott thinks that we are using Best Day. In the past we have always used Cancun Valet. Somewhere in the back of my mind I have a fleeting memory of an email he sent to me telling me to use Best Day. Okay, whatever, we have a ride. We had decided not to get a rental, as this was our first trip and we have been a little sheltered just going to Isla. I didn't want the stress and we didn't plan on going very much after we arrived.

Our driver spoke very little english. Normally this would not have been a problem. I think he managed maybe 5 words. The funny thing is, a few years back...probably 4 or 5 at this time, I had insisted on purchasing the Rosetta Stone Spanish edition on the way home from Mexico via the sky mall thing. I was so excited and was going to be fluent in Spanish before or next trip. I actually lost the software for a couple of years in the abyss of my office and just recently found it. I have now completed lesson 8 of chapter one out of 10 chapters with 10 lessons per chapter. Not a lot of help. I can say el perro is blanco. (my husband is tickled as it was another brilliant $350 activity of mine that has not been completed). Needless to say, it was a quiet trip to Tulum and took about an hour and a half. Not really sure. We don't wear watches normally so sure as heck not going to while on vacation.

I know that this will most likely bore you. I said a bad trip report. I guess I need to clarify. We had a great trip, this is just bad reporting. Anyway, I feel like I need to let you know that our first trip to Mexico was the dreaded Cancun. We hated everything about it and thought it was a bust trip until we found Isla Mujeres. It really was our little paradise. We stayed on that Island from 2002-2007 about 8 times that I can remember. Each time the island changed. The last time I cried and said we had to find a new spot. However, there were a lot of things that we truly loved. One of those being Hildago and the convenience of being able to walk everywhere. Needless to say, my expectations were high for Tulum.

Arriving in Tulum, was a little chaotic as we didn't know where the hotel was. Okay, aside from the travel arrangements, my CPA ultra organized husband usually makes all of the other decisions. He researches the forums, looks at the reports on trip advisor etc. This year, due to how busy he is at work, he leaves it up to me. I knew he wanted to stay in the cabanas at Copal. I was not sure that I could handle that much nature. Our only agreement on me reserving a room is that he would not gripe at me if I chose somewhere really bad. Hmmm...never again. First of all, I was worried because we were coming in high season and last December we were unable to find accommodations and didn't get to come. I was not going to let that happen this year. So I jumped. A little quickly I might add.

I booked us at El Pariaso. The communication from the beginning was excellent. Of course, as soon as I book, Scott begins to do his research that he did not have time to do before. Are you sure it is on the beach? yada yada ya... He finds the website except the pictures do not match the pictures that I saw on the website. The pictures that he shows me are a lot nicer than the pictures that I looked at. Well, it seems to be that there are two hotels with the same name. Ours just happens to have "beach club" after it. So we get to Tulum and our driver takes us to the first El pariaso. It looks very nice and I know it is not the one I booked. I have a hard time telling our driver that this is not our hotel. However, I was wishing that it was because it did look nice and right on the beach. We assure him that it is not and off we go...in the wrong direction. My intuition tells me that we are going the wrong way but it is hard to communicate this to the driver. We are a little frustrated, out of beer and my balloon slowly starts to lose air.

After about 30 minutes, we find our room. We are dropped off with our rolling luggage into a sand parking lot full of cars Thank God we packed light. Finally a guy points us in the direction of check in which is in the opposite direction of our room and over sand dunes and about 150-200 yards away from the room. Check in was without a problem. She gave us ourt key and then pointed to our room. We then climbed the sand dunes again and finally arrived at our room.

We had room number one which was the farthest on the left. It is a very good thing as my balloon is about half out of air at this time. Our room had one neighbor on the right. There are a total of 10 rooms all in a line and all connected. The rooms are "on the beach" but face the parking lot where everyone comes every day to have access to the beach. So we were within walking distance to the beach but you could not look out your room and see the beach except for just a little teasing view. It is okay. It is not what I had in mind. ( I did take pictures of the room and surroundings and will do my best to post them as soon as I get them developed.)

The room is fine. Very plain but very clean. There is no air conditioning which we will not need anyway. There is a ceiling fan and another standing fan. We use the ceiling fan a couple of times while we are there but could have really done without. We have nice little folded animal towels with rose petals on the bed. A very nice touch.

We begin to unpack and I grab my camera that I insured just for this trip and am ready to start snapping away. As soon as I turn it on, the batteries are dead. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Of course, I didn't bring the charger. It is sitting in the floorboard of my car where, I assume, everyone keeps their battery charger. Yes, $180 dollars down the tubes and, yes, I have carried that dang camera around all day. Wonder how many cervazas that would have purchased.

We head to the beachbar. It was fine. I ordered a a margarita and Scott ordered a cervaza. We also ordered the quacamole. It was a disappointment and actually looked like the stuff you buy here in the states that is located by the sour cream in the grocery store.

At this point in time. I am trying very hard to look at the bright side of things but I am disappointed. It is not Tulum to blame but just the stress of finding the room and then not staying in a beachview room, crappy margarita and worse quacamole. Looking back on this, I should have a done a few shots of tequila and the report on this day might have been a little different. Yep, at this point, the air in the balloon is almost entirely gone.

That night we go next door to La Vita E Bella to eat. We find this is where we spend our days for the week that we are there. It was located about 200 yards down the beach. That night we ordered excellent quacalome, a lobster pizza which was decent and montejo's. The pizza was probably good I just have trouble with things on pizza that don't really belong there.
We retire for the night listening to the tent people next door having a party. Holy smokes, what have I done! The balloon is gone. Now suddenly everything hits. I have left my children for a total of 9 days. My youngest begging me not to go, I have manged to not have access to my camera, and our hotel is probably the least desirable to stay in. And, we have no beer in the room as we have no cooler and ....thank God, I have Twilight. It is enough to distract me from any more negative thoughts. I stay up reading until 3:30am as do the tent people....

[TnTWalter]

I feel your pain. Hoping it gets better for you!!
:beerchug:

[beachreader]

I feel your pain too! My heart is breaking for you, I really hope it gets better really quickly, thanks for letting us know you had a great trip so I don't worry too much! :)

[Jana]

Oh needavacation! At least it sounds like you still have your sense of humour - I hope things got better!! Your descriptions of you and your husband are hilarious. :)

[minniemex]

I agree with Beachreader ~ thanks for letting us know it does get better!! I was really getting worried!! When I read about your camera my heart just sank!! :(

[katea07]

This is a great report needavacation! Your writing style is hilarious. I too, was confused by the many El Paraiso hotels on the beach :)

On my 6AM flight down to Cancun (and after waking up at 4:15AM and having a mini tiff with my fiance prior to getting to the airport), board the plane and I sit next to a guy who sniffled and cleared his throat once every 45 seconds. I thought I was going to strangle him. I can feel your pain about a knee in your lower back for an entire flight:)

[needavacation]

Thanks everyone for your encouragement on this report. I have decided that I sound like Eeyore and need to lighten up a bit. :)

Obsessed. you are right. We live in Conway and have the best TJ Maxx!

Minniemex. We ended up having a wonderful trip. As for the camera, it was honestly not a surprise for either one of us. Just kind of ironic I suppose. I bring most of my stress on myself so we have learned to just laugh. But now, i will have to bring it again. Good thing the insurance was for a year!!

[gern]

This is very entertaining, but be assured we are entertained "with you, not at you". If it was bad, go with it...you'll feel better.

[Dorlee]

Needavacation,

I am loving your report. I love the balloon metaphor. I know that feeling so well. Sounds like it gets better though. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks again!

[itsjustme]

:beerchug: to a great start (writing) to your trip report. Can't wait to read about the good times which I'm sure will be coming soon.

[needavacation]

Okay, I have been away from here so long that I need to be banned for starting a trip report three months after the fact and then waiting over another month to continue to post. In my defense, I was waiting on pictures. Funny thing, as you have read earlier, I forgot my batteries to my pro camera and we ended up getting a disposable point n shoot. So I thought I was doing sooo good to go get those pictures put on a disc so I could then post to the site; however, I now can't find the disc of pictures. Hopefully they will show up in the future, if not, I really do apologize but I PROMISE to be more organized for our next trip.

With all of that, I will continue my trip report in a combined form and hopefully provide some helpful information. Our first full day in Tulum begins with our awakening by a spanish baratone singing the Fiddler on the Roof. Okay, so it probably wasn't actually Fiddler on the roof as my sapnish is a little rusty, or virtually non-existent, but he was a happy older man right outside our window with a very loud voice and it was a lot earlier than we wold have liked. Somehow we went back to sleep for a few hours. I have to say that the tent people were actually the kite people as they ran the kite boarding school next door. For the most part they were not bothersome as far as noise except for a couple of nights. One of which was New Years Eve and that was to be expected. Actually one night they sang acappella to the drums around a campfire and it was actually relaxing entertainment. It was a little hard not to be envious of them as it seemed such a great life to have to be young and live on a beach and do work that you love to do.

ALso, to mention the noise at our hotel, Since the rooms are connected, you pretty much hear everyone come and go at all hours. On a few nights, the french people next door stayed outside on their porch talking and drinking and it was irritating none the less. There were a few nights that I had to actually close the windows to block out the noise. Either from the kite people or the french people next door.

As I have mentioned, we are very much beach slugs when we are on vacation. It is our desire to be lazy and let everyone else tell us of their adventures requiring any exertion to be up against gravity. We started the day back at our hotel reception to get extra towels to take to the beach. In our effort to pack light, we don't pack beach towels. We usually try to get them from the hotel. We have purchased them in town before and then just left them at the end of the week for whoever wanted them.

We then went to the El Pariaso beach restaurant in an effort to get breakfast. We sat down at a table with many waiters around and were basically ignored for ten minutes. After no response from anyone, we left disgruntled. Yes, we could have asked if they were closed, but I don't feel like asking for service when on vacation and when other patrons were obviously being served. THis was our last trip to the beach club. I have no pictures. Not alot to miss. The beach in front was pretty but also more crowded than where we ended up spending our days.

We went to have breakfast/brunch, as they were no longer serving breakfast, at la vita e bella. We ordered quacomole and chicken quesidallas and our cervezas and the day was better. We ate almost every breakfast/ brunch here. We had scrambled eggs and the other basics here when we got there in time. HOwever, other than getting drinks, we did not eat anything different here. Yep, slugs, takes too much energy to read the whole menu I guess. We found, that for the most part, the staff, although not overly friendly, gave good service and food arrived within a timely manner. We also tip well for good service and usually after certain people get used to that, it helps with our continued service throughout the week. This is a place that I really liked as far as beach location, restaurant and bar available and they did have some beach cabanas that looked to be private and right there on the beach. There were several times throughout the week that I had wished we had stayed there. I like to be able to look out and have the beach right there.

That night, we decided to venture into town and eat and get a few necessities. We never had any difficulty getting a cab for either direction and i think it was like $4. We were very happy with this mode of transportation. We went to Don Cafetos...what is that place called...geesh I am tired this morning. Anyway, service was excellent, peppers placed on the table, salsa, very hot for my taste and even for my husband. I enjoyed this as normally he can't get things hot enough and it was amusing for me to watch his eyes water.

I got the chicken enchiladas with mole. Okay, I don't like mole but thought my husband did...I just knew that it would grow on me after my few times of trying it. I still don't like and it, and come to find out, neither does my husband and he never has. I basically ruined some otherwise great chicken enchiladas. My husband got the fish veracruz and we enjoyed his meal as well. This was actually new years eve and I found myself slightly inebriated at 6:30 pm...funny but I'm thinking it might be hard for me to see the new year in.

We finally find a cooler and peanut m&ms, a staple for me, at the XOXO or something along those lines. It is a little sad that I can find peanut m&m's as it lets me know how much more commercialized my favorite parts of mexico are. Weird but they did not have ice there. We find ice across the street at a little liquor store. At this point, we are not aware of the large supermarket that is hugely present in town. duh. We are such gringos. Our taxi driver introduces us to the supermarket and this is where we return at various times through the week for ice, beer and whatever else we needed...ice and beer. We tried to find ice on the hotel road but was unable to do this. If anyone knows where to find ice closer to the hotels, please let me know as it will make our return trip a little easier this summer.

oKay, our days progressed as normal slugs..la vita y bella, breakfast, beautiful beach and out to dinner at night. the second night we ate at a place right across from Don Cafetos..it was red...don't know the name. We actually had to wait in line as it was New Years Day. I, once again, ordered the chicken enchiladas with green sauce this time. The tortillas came on the side with the sauce on them. My dish was cold. Scott got the fajitas and they were yummy. Yes, he was probably tired of my eating off of his plate. The one other time we ate in town was at the blue place down from Don Cafetos. The beer was the coldest we had on the trip. I got some steak thing...can't really remember what Scott got but the food was mediocre at best. If I were to return to this place it would be for a cold beer only. We ended up in breakfast at zamas one day and it was yummy. banana pancakes and some kind of omelete with mexican spinach. We will definitely return to eat here in the future.
We also ate dinner at the mezzianine two times. Mainly for convenience as we could walk to it from our hotel and we loved the atmosphere. Except is was WINDY!! However, service was great, the other americans there were obnoxious but we overall enjoyed the experience. I have never eaten Thai food so really cant be a critic of it. We are always amazed that the most irritating people that we run into on our quite little beach vacations are the drunk americans. Oh well.

Okay, I am sure I am leaving something out. We had several conversations whether we would return to tulum. It offers everything we desire except the people watching that we love to do at night. On isla, that was our favorite thing to do. Walk down Hildago, eat, and have drinks and watch the people. As for Tulum, the beach is to die for and we loved the privacy...not of our rooms...but of the beach and overall feel. I love to go topless and it was private enough and not intrusive on the locals so that was a plus as well. There were no hagglers on the beach or in town. THis was sooo nice. We found that we could not have the best of both worlds or we just didn't know how to do it yet. We were not sure of our return.

However, as we were eating tamales in the airport...very yummy I might add, waiting for our return flight, we were already talking about when we would return and what we will do differently. Now, as it is April, we know our next trip will be very soon but we can not plan for it which might be a good thing. I will let my husband do the research on where to stay and we welcome any suggestions. I hope for our return in late June...yes, it will be hot and we expect that. But it will also be the low season. We desire to find a place that is private, a great beach, but within walking distance to a few places to eat and maybe some people watching....
I will try to post pictures if they are ever found..ironic at best...and will welcome any questions or suggestions you guys might have. Also, we did not prearrange our cell phone service and spent a fortune on text messages to our daughters in the states. we will do that differently as well.
Okay all, sorry for the delay and I hope you can pick through this long saga. Also, I am thinking I might have posted this in the wrong place. Hope it is found :)

[Dorlee]

Hey Needavacation,

Thanks for the great report. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband and I also like to hit the beach and go out to eat, and that's about it... That's what a vacation means to us. We don't care about tours, etc (not that we haven't enjoyed doing that on other trips).

I totally understand getting a perspective on the vacation while at the airport. Sometimes you don't realize how much you enjoy a place until you are away from it for a bit. I think it's the reason we keep coming back year after year.

Again, great report.

Thank you!

[beachreader]

Where did you get tamales at the airport? Which terminal? Now that I can't eat at the TGI Friday's at Terminal 2 anymore, I'm desperate to find good eats in Terminal 3. I've now tried Margaritaville twice, and it is absolutely terrible. Seriously. I'd try to sneak some local food in with me, but I don't think it'll make it through security.

[letele]

Thanks for finishing it up! I am glad you enjoyed it and that you're going back! Don't order any mole this time! ;)

[needavacation]

I can honestly say that I am not sure which terminal it was but we fly Northwest if that helps at all and it was still downstairs and I swear the place had tamales in its name. Yes, I know that is helpful but it's all I've got. I really do promise to pay more attention to details next time we go.

[minniemex]

Northwest does fly into Terminal 3.

[beachreader]

OK, that might be the place right before the escalators up to security in T3? Perfect, thanks. I will have to try them next time, since security doesn't take long at all anymore.

[needavacation]

That is exactly where it was. Right before the escalators on the right. I will actually be looking forward to eating there again after our next trip.

[beachreader]

Thanks! Nice to know there are tasty tamales waiting for me, rather than wandering around upstairs wondering what the heck I'm going to eat.

:eat-drink: