We snuck out of our dorm room's at 4.45am, so we didn't wake the other people in our tour group & set off at a brisk pace, walking to HM hotel, which is now about 10 blocks away.
When we arrived it was 4.55am. We were 20 minutes early! We sat down out the front & waited ..... & waited.
By 5.20am, neither Tom or I wanted to acknowledge the thought that it's happened again, but it was getting increasingly harder & harder to ignore.
Tom went into the HM hotel reception & used the reception phone 3 times between the times of 5.20am & 5.50am. It was the same as yesterday, no answer on either contact number. Why bother giving an 'emergency' contact number if you fail to answer it ?
We tried again at 6am & finally got through. The receptionist at the HM hotel was the same man we saw yesterday. He was very sympathetic towards our cause & was happy to translate for us when we couldn't communicate with the person on the phone. Unfortunately, the result was no resolution & no tour. The offered us a later one today but at an extra charge or to re-schedule again for tomorrow which wouldn't work because we are leaving. Interestingly, they tried to say that they came past & we weren't waiting, so they left. It's absolutely ridiculous!
Luckily, hotel staff saw us sitting there & did not see a tour van. They were bloody lying! The receptionist actually said this tot he person he was talking to on the phone, to no avail.
Tom told the guy to hang up.
We were absolutely gutted & so disappointed in this company.
We walked home, but it felt more like angry stomping, discussing how we would articulate the complaint email & refund demand. We were both so angry & definitely a bit sad. Despite already seeing 3 ruins, Chichen Itza would have been special & another world wonder to cross off the list. As Tom said, it's a good excuse to come back.
The other guys on the tour group were going to see the Tulum ruins today & swim in a cenote. Thankfully there was room to tag along & we have Suzie's full support in demanding a refund for the Chichen Itza tour, she was just as angry as we were & even offered to ring them & yell at them in Spanish. We Are going to have a good day & see another ruin, even if tis not the one we intended to see.
When we arrived it was 4.55am. We were 20 minutes early! We sat down out the front & waited ..... & waited.
By 5.20am, neither Tom or I wanted to acknowledge the thought that it's happened again, but it was getting increasingly harder & harder to ignore.
Tom went into the HM hotel reception & used the reception phone 3 times between the times of 5.20am & 5.50am. It was the same as yesterday, no answer on either contact number. Why bother giving an 'emergency' contact number if you fail to answer it ?
We tried again at 6am & finally got through. The receptionist at the HM hotel was the same man we saw yesterday. He was very sympathetic towards our cause & was happy to translate for us when we couldn't communicate with the person on the phone. Unfortunately, the result was no resolution & no tour. The offered us a later one today but at an extra charge or to re-schedule again for tomorrow which wouldn't work because we are leaving. Interestingly, they tried to say that they came past & we weren't waiting, so they left. It's absolutely ridiculous!
Luckily, hotel staff saw us sitting there & did not see a tour van. They were bloody lying! The receptionist actually said this tot he person he was talking to on the phone, to no avail.
Tom told the guy to hang up.
We were absolutely gutted & so disappointed in this company.
We walked home, but it felt more like angry stomping, discussing how we would articulate the complaint email & refund demand. We were both so angry & definitely a bit sad. Despite already seeing 3 ruins, Chichen Itza would have been special & another world wonder to cross off the list. As Tom said, it's a good excuse to come back.
The other guys on the tour group were going to see the Tulum ruins today & swim in a cenote. Thankfully there was room to tag along & we have Suzie's full support in demanding a refund for the Chichen Itza tour, she was just as angry as we were & even offered to ring them & yell at them in Spanish. We Are going to have a good day & see another ruin, even if tis not the one we intended to see.
We all squished into a mini van to drive the hour to the Tulum ruins.
I'm glad we did something today & it wasn't wasted, we did know about this day trip & probably would have done it today, anyway, if Chichen Itza had worked out the first day.
When we arrived and unloaded out of the mini van, there was a police officer forcing a Mexican man onto the ground & hand-cufffing his arms behind his back. The man was crying & screaming.
We had no idea what had happened & when we asked Suzie, she said that he was extremely intoxicated & had been asked to move away, but refused.
I felt sorry for the poor drunk man, who was blubbering & cruing away in Spanish. Other police promptly arrived & he was lifted into the back of a police ute & driven away.
Tulum ruin's is a 13th century Mayan archaeological site that is very unique for being one of the last Mayan cities built, having a walled structure, a trading post along the Caribbean sea coast line & even remained inhabited for approximately 70 years after the Spanish conquest. Tulum is named after the Yucatan Mayan word for fence or wall. It's very picturesque sitting on the edge of the cliff & facing out towards the sea. A picture of Tulum is actually the profile picture for the trip we are about to go on, if you were to look on the G adventures website. We recognised it as soon as we saw it!
We had been there exploring the ruins, maybe 4 minutes before we spotted our first iguana! I was super excited! I was even more excited for the second one we spotted which was much bigger & closer to the footpath, eating purple flowers.
I turned around from photographing the second guy & realised there was 8, of various sizes behind me. They would become a regular sighting & in any direction, looking at the ruins, you were guaranteed to see at least 3.
The ruins were quite small, a bit touristy, but very unique from being on the coast. It was a picture perfect day, though very hot. We spent an hour here before heading back to the Carpark.
On our way out we saw this very strange animal. It was a lemur, apparently a local one called Lucy, who was rescued after being injured & now lives here.
Our next stop was lunch in a restaurant on the beach side. Tom & I ate a pizza & burrito, with a few beers while digging our toe's into the soft sand under the table, which was exceptionally good!
I'm glad we did something today & it wasn't wasted, we did know about this day trip & probably would have done it today, anyway, if Chichen Itza had worked out the first day.
When we arrived and unloaded out of the mini van, there was a police officer forcing a Mexican man onto the ground & hand-cufffing his arms behind his back. The man was crying & screaming.
We had no idea what had happened & when we asked Suzie, she said that he was extremely intoxicated & had been asked to move away, but refused.
I felt sorry for the poor drunk man, who was blubbering & cruing away in Spanish. Other police promptly arrived & he was lifted into the back of a police ute & driven away.
Tulum ruin's is a 13th century Mayan archaeological site that is very unique for being one of the last Mayan cities built, having a walled structure, a trading post along the Caribbean sea coast line & even remained inhabited for approximately 70 years after the Spanish conquest. Tulum is named after the Yucatan Mayan word for fence or wall. It's very picturesque sitting on the edge of the cliff & facing out towards the sea. A picture of Tulum is actually the profile picture for the trip we are about to go on, if you were to look on the G adventures website. We recognised it as soon as we saw it!
We had been there exploring the ruins, maybe 4 minutes before we spotted our first iguana! I was super excited! I was even more excited for the second one we spotted which was much bigger & closer to the footpath, eating purple flowers.
I turned around from photographing the second guy & realised there was 8, of various sizes behind me. They would become a regular sighting & in any direction, looking at the ruins, you were guaranteed to see at least 3.
The ruins were quite small, a bit touristy, but very unique from being on the coast. It was a picture perfect day, though very hot. We spent an hour here before heading back to the Carpark.
On our way out we saw this very strange animal. It was a lemur, apparently a local one called Lucy, who was rescued after being injured & now lives here.
Our next stop was lunch in a restaurant on the beach side. Tom & I ate a pizza & burrito, with a few beers while digging our toe's into the soft sand under the table, which was exceptionally good!
Finally it was time to see a Cenote. We were meant to see a ritualistic one at Chichen Itza, at least we would see one today & be bale to go swimming.
Here's a fun fact; Cenote means big boobes in a Mayan dialect & therefore asking a local women if she can show you the Cenote's could get you into a lot of trouble!
Overall it was a really nice last day in Mexico & a good way to socialise with the other tour group members.
After we arrived back in Playa del Carmen, we went to the Wal-Mart to buy Tom more thongs & get some supplies to make dinner/lunch for tomorrow.
We cooked rice with burrito seasoning in the water, refried beans, avo, tomato, lettuce & cheese. We also lashed out & got a jalapeno mayonnaise & a habanero bbq sauce.
After dinner, we sat down & wrote the complaint email to the booking company. We thought we were calm & that the email was well written. Fingers crossed that there is no resistance & we can get a full refund.
After this we said goodnight & I read my book, unawares there was beers going on upstairs in Tom's room & a big night would proceed the beers.
- Alli
Here's a fun fact; Cenote means big boobes in a Mayan dialect & therefore asking a local women if she can show you the Cenote's could get you into a lot of trouble!
It was really something special. With gorgeous cave structures, crystal clear water, fish & lots of plants.
We could easily swim & see deep into the clear water, not actually realising how deep some of the cave & river channels went, until we saw 2 scuba divers way down below us. It was a really magical place & we spent a couple of hours here, Tom mostly with his head under water trying to find a pair of sunglasses that slipped off his head. He's gone through 2 pairs in 2 days!
Overall it was a really nice last day in Mexico & a good way to socialise with the other tour group members.
After we arrived back in Playa del Carmen, we went to the Wal-Mart to buy Tom more thongs & get some supplies to make dinner/lunch for tomorrow.
We cooked rice with burrito seasoning in the water, refried beans, avo, tomato, lettuce & cheese. We also lashed out & got a jalapeno mayonnaise & a habanero bbq sauce.
After dinner, we sat down & wrote the complaint email to the booking company. We thought we were calm & that the email was well written. Fingers crossed that there is no resistance & we can get a full refund.
After this we said goodnight & I read my book, unawares there was beers going on upstairs in Tom's room & a big night would proceed the beers.
- Alli
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