vacation

Did you know that there are pyramids in Mexico?

 

That’s right! You don’t have to travel all the way to Egypt to see the ones there, even though that is on the to do list. The Mayans built some right in Mexico where they resided hundreds of years ago.

 

This is not a history lesson but I did take a walk down history. It was always a dream of mine to one day see the pyramids so when I learned in my art history class that they were as close as Mexico that dream was put on my immediate to do list. This is about how one dream came true from a series of unfortunate events.

 

I went to Cozumel, Mexico for a quick get away mainly for a peace of mind and for the beach! I really missed the beach! I packed two carry on bags because I was not paying that $25 extra for checked luggage through Delta Airlines, I mean they don’t even believe in the first checked bag flying for free!!

 

I arrived at Cozumel Airport on a Sunday and chatted with a tour guide who got me to do a tour of a new hotel with breakfast included on the main land. With his persuasion and my stubbornness, I was able to score a pretty awesome deal. He included in this tour a round trip ferry ride to the main land, breakfast, and tour of the hotel, tickets to Tulum Ruins and a free tour of the Tequila Factory for $40 USD; Score!! My Monday was planned and even though I wasn’t happy that I had to wake up early while on vacation, I just rolled with it.

I woke up early enough to eat breakfast at my all-inclusive hotel, Hotel Cozumel and Resort, (I booked it on Groupon) because I was not risking my stomach ripping me in half midway through the 30-minute ferry ride. I met the tour guide at the pier and I was off by my lonesome to explore the main land of Mexico.

 

After getting to the hotel and having a mimosa while I wait on the authentic Mexican breakfast and hotel tour, I was called to the front desk, given my extra deals and sent on my way to my next stop, apparently I didn’t fit the credentials to get the food or the tour, luckily I had already eaten breakfast so this wasn’t a big deal.

 

I was taken to Playa Del Carmen downtown area where I had to find my way to my second stop. Not knowing as much Spanish didn’t prove to be detrimental since almost every other person there spoke English, so in no time I was in a queue to get on a bus to see my first Mayan ruins.

 

 

$70 Pesos and I was permitted entrance to see what remained of the beautiful architecture of a lost civilization in the ruins of Tulum. I was in awe, although ruined by time, the village that I saw didn’t look primitive but it had a sophisticated feel to it, there was a functioning village there hundreds of years ago and everyone in that village had a role to play that benefited their survival. I walked around and tried to imagine what life was like back then, a simple life compared to now.

I got a text from Ricardo (tour guide) who informed me that I would be refunded my $40 that I had paid, that meant that everything that was added to the hotel and breakfast as a bonus was now free, I didn’t spend a dollar out of pocket for my first day in Mexico! How crazy is that?

 

On my adventure in Tulum I learned that we weren’t very far from Chichén Itzá, the pyramid that we discussed in art history class and the same one that I vowed to go to, I immediately asked Ricardo for details on getting there and again being the awesome person that he is hooked me up but dropping the price from $99 USD to $60 USD. Since he had $40 to refund me, I told him that I’d put the $20 if he got me on a tour that was going there and just like that I was booked for the next day to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

 

The tour had an early start because I had to be on the first ferry leaving the Island, which was at 7 am, so yet again I was up before the sun on vacation but this time I’d see the sunrise from the Caribbean sea. I was off on another adventure.

The tour bus stopped in a small village where they sold authentic obsidian and painted your birthday in Mayan letters, the best part was we got to swim in an underground cave!

I, unfortunately, was not informed that the tour would make this stop so I didn’t bring a bathing suit to enjoy the water but that did not stop me from getting in, I bought a t-shirt from the store, because they had no type of swim wear available, and I went in the water in my new shirt and my underwear.

 

The water was so calming that everyone swimming around me completely disappeared and I was alone in that cave looking up at the exquisite stalactite. The experience was filled with bliss; I had found what I was looking for on my solo trip, happiness.

 

After lunch, we were on our way to see the main objective of the tour, the Chichén Itzá pyramid.

The emotions that went through my body the moment I set eyes on that beautiful structure are too many to fully explain in detail. I was standing right in front of a pyramid!! I made it!! I was so close that I could touch it, but of course we weren’t allowed to touch it because people like to vandalize and leave their “I wuz ere” marks on ancient art so the Mexican government closed it off to tourist to preserve it, but besides that I was looking at one of the Seven Wonders of the World in person.

 

I ended up having my dream of seeing a pyramid in Mexico come true because my plans for the previous day had fallen through, things happen a certain way for a reason. Everything worked out to give me one of the best moments in my life.

 

Make a list of goals and I guarantee you that your mind and the universe will work together in order for you to achieve that goal, it certainly did it for me before I realized it was happening.

 

When an opportunity presents itself, jump on it and enjoy the ride!