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[personal profile] frobzwiththingz
[livejournal.com profile] klingonlandlady and i got back recently from Cancun, Mexico. This was a corporate
junket; the company i work for, having managed to survive the Tech Implosion (not unscathed - there were 3 or 4 layoffs over a period of 2 years, one of them slicing off 1/3 of the company in one shot), but now back into profitability, and deciding some perks were needed to boost the morale of the Engineering division, brought the entire engineering department to Cancun for 4 days, thus allowing them to escape the winter and its' well known effects, mild as they are for the staff in Alameda CA, but severe for those folk in Calgary, Ottowa, and Nashua NH, where seasonal affective disorder, irritability, and horrendous run-on sentences are typical results.

We were encouraged to add on some extra time on either side of the company paid period, and i did so, adding 3 days to the end of the trip. Everything we had heard from folk who had been to the area indicated that the Cancun area would be rather inundated with SpringBreak folk, and the place we would really want to go for a less developed look and less noise factor would be Cozumel, an island off the coast not to far away from Cancun. So we arranged for a place to stay there after the official company shindig was over.

It turned out, however, that the hotel in Cancun, the Marriot Casa Magna, was several miles out of the big party zone, and boasted very nice architecture, and was right on a stretch of beach that provided a full 180 degree view of crystal clear carribean. With NOTHING out there but water and horizon, and no noise whatsoever from the road out front. It was pretty much damned near perfect.

There was the mandatory 2 hour meeting on saturday, pretty much only held to satisfy the IRS,
and a couple of mixer receptions to get to know the folk you've been working with via conference call but have never actually met. (true to form, none of the folk i met looked anything like the mental picture i had constructed in absentia.) It was neat to finaly meet the Calgary folk; they are quite nice. I might have convinced a few of them to go to Burning Man.

Several tourist excursions were sponsored by the company; [livejournal.com profile] klingonlandlady and i went to Chichen Itza. This was interesting, though it was far enough away from Cancun that too much time was spent in transit, and not enough time was really available to explore the ruins. Still, it was neat to see the pyramids, and see the field where the Mayan chiefs used to play that weird game where you try to get the ball through that stone ring that is 2 stories up the side wall. I first saw that ring in a black-and-white photo in an SRA (Scholastic Reading Achievement, remember those?) in (i think)*second grade*. I had just read the section on the Mayan civilization collapses in Jared Diamonds' new book _Collapse_, so that also added a bit to the experience.

The rest of the time was just spent relaxing on the beach, with occasional beach volleyball, discovering that Tequila can actually taste good, and trying out restaurants. And a very quick tour of Cozumel. *Very* quick.

On Monday the 17th, at the end of the official company event, we hopped on a bus down to Playa del Carmen, where we caught the ferry to Cozumel. Off the ferry, grab a taxi, and down to the hotel we had booked for 3 days/nights on Cozumel. When we got there, we discovered that the island was nothing like what we expected; the entire inland side was very built up, had no beach, and was full of marinas where big honking cruise ships docked. There were 3 of them directly across from the section of shore next to our hotel. And this side of the island was where all of the hotels seemed to be. Oh, and there was plenty of road noise. Yuck! After about an hour of deliberation, we decided to head right back to the Marriot, where we had everything we were after for this vacation. A day mostly wasted in travel, but we really weren't going to be happy if we stayed on Cozumel.

We hung out back in Cancun, tried more restaurants, and finally got in a bit of snorkelling once the ocean calmed down on Thursday. The ocean was very rough almost the whole week, which was fun to play in but made snorkelling impossible. (the coast guard had the reef tours shut down for most of the time)

Then it was back home thursday afternoon, to another weekend of aerials training, and the Winter That Never Ends.

Date: 2005-03-24 05:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jim-p.livejournal.com
You hiring? :) Last company-paid junket I was on was to Wilmington, NC...

Date: 2005-03-24 06:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] whitebird.livejournal.com
Huh.

I don't recall hearing that you ever make it out to Alameda, but if you do, look me up and we can go hunting for nuclear wessels. (Or you can trounce me at Go.)

Cancun sounds awfully nice!

Date: 2005-03-24 12:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rmd.livejournal.com
sounds like a good break from the weather. bummer about cozumel.

one of my brothers has been to mexico several times and raves about chichen itza.


wow, i just looked up pics of the Marriott Casa Magna. that's gorgeous.

Date: 2005-03-24 04:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] klingonlandlady.livejournal.com
We were also charmed by the next-door hotel, the Gran Melia Cancun, that had a 6-story atrium with jungle vines hanging all the way down. Both were lovely and restful, with a great beach.

Date: 2005-03-25 02:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starphire.livejournal.com
I LOVE this picture/icon! Want Want Want...

Date: 2005-03-25 04:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] klingonlandlady.livejournal.com
Ooh, thanks! That was taken at dawn on the Playa, and photoshopped with a paisley fabric. Might make a nice painting, too, though :)

Date: 2005-03-24 01:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moominmolly.livejournal.com
Wow, that sounds *fabulous*!

Date: 2005-03-25 02:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starphire.livejournal.com
Too bad about the Cozumel experience...Isla Mujeres is much closer, smaller, and less built-up, if you're ever that way again. I think the only real draw I ever noted about Cozumel is the scuba diving, which isn't even that great anymore.
I've still not been to Chichen Itza, though I've seen plenty of other less-developed ruins in the Yucatan. I'd mostly be interested in the equinox snake-up-the-stairs experience, but it sounds like the crowds then are enough to ruin it for me but quick anyway.
I do like the area - friends used to own a house across the road from the beach north of Cancun city, which was a great base for exploring the area on the cheap.
Yay for corporate junkets intended to boost morale.
Also, tequila was always vile to me until I got a taste for Tres Hermanos - so much smoother than the usual swill, yet still tequila-y tasting.

Date: 2005-03-25 04:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] klingonlandlady.livejournal.com
I still like Tikal, which (at least when i visited) was in the middle of a big jungle, lots of birds and animals, and a huge site itself.

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