Vaya Con Bergfrey

Hola Todos,

Bergie and I just returned from our honeymoon in the Mexico's beautiful Yucatan Peninsula, and I thought now would be a good time to start working toward one of my many '08 resolutions and update the blog by telling you all about the trip. To check out our pics from the trip, view our Flickr page.

Whenever Bergie and I go on a trip, it is always a go, go, go kind of affair, with us constantly on the move, trying to do as much as possible. It is usually great, but we are also always exhausted after the vacation. This time, we wanted to do something a little more on the chill side. So, we decided a week on the beach might just do the trick. Of course, to spare as many people as possible from seeing me in all my flabby hairiness, we picked a location that is about as secluded as we could possibly get - Xcalak, Mexico. Our friends, Angela and Keith Watson, spent their honeymoon there, it they convinced us it was exactly what we were looking for. So, we booked our trip. The plan was one night in Cancun (so as to avoid driving through Mexico in the dark), and then we would quickly escape the crowds of tourists and head south for 5 days in Xcalak and 2 days in Tulum.

We got into Cancun at 4:00 and picked up our car, which was a tiny little beater that barely ran, was full of dents and scratches, lacked power steering, and sounded like it could fall to pieces at any moment. That's what going "economico" gets you. But, the car drove, which was all we needed, so we hopped in and headed off to our hotel in Cancun.

When we arrived at our hotel, the guy at the desk liked Bergie because she spoke Spanish to him, so he upgraded us to an oceanview suite. It was gorgeous - way more room than we needed, but the view was fantastic. We promptly hit the town in Cancun, which is exactly what you'd expect it to be - hotels and theme restaurants in every direction. We had fun walking around, people watching, and grabbing dinner, but one night in Cancun made us feel all the more strongly that our plan to get the hell out of there was a good one. So, we got up at around 7 in the morning and hit the road to Xcalak.

The trek from Cancun to our bed and breakfast in Xcalak would take us 6 hours, and when driving through Mexico, one has a lot of things to watch out for. We were warned to watch out for the Policia - supposedly they like to scam tourists and look specifically for rental cars to pull them over. Luckily for us, we never had a run in with them. Then we were warned of Topes, which are these killer speed bumps that occur every so often, and if you're not paying attention, can totally wreck your car. We negotiated those as well. Gas station scams are pretty common too, and I did witness this one first hand. In Mexico, you cannot fill your own tank. An attendant fills it for you. And it is these attendants who are shifty as all get out. During one of my fill-ups, I pulled up to the pump, jumped out of the car before the guy could start pumping (so I could make sure he set the meter to zero), and I watched him real closely to make sure everything was legit. Then, when I payed, I gave him a twenty and a one. He took the money and then, with some pretty snazzy sleight of hand, shuffled my twenty away and tried to claim I only gave him two ones. I called bullshit and got a little loud about it, and he didn't push the issue, but I guess that crap works on a lot of tourists. Shady!

Anyway, when we made it down to Xcalak, it started pouring rain. We only had 5 more miles to go, but that five miles proved to be the hairiest part of the entire drive, as it required us to travel the worst road I've ever driven over. The imbedded picture fails to truly capture the freakiness of this ride, but it's all I got. I can't believe our little car ever made it through, but after an hour of negotiating the deepest puddles of all time, we finally arrived in paradise.

Our hotel was called Sin Duda, which is Spanish for Without a Doubt. And Sin Duda was definitely without a doubt the perfect place for our honeymoon. With just a few other guests in our hotel, we essentially had an entire beach and coral reef to ourselves. The Villa was this amazing house designed by the owners. It is powered by solar energy, and they get their shower water by collecting the rain. During the day, you look out upon white sand beaches and clear blue waters. At night, the stars shine bright, and you can sit upon the Sin Duda rooftop drinking down Margo-Ritas (named after Margo, one of the owners). Sin Duda is run by some really great people - Margo, Robert, Jaime, and Jennifer all made our stay fantastic. Compared to what you might find in those all-inclusive resorts, this place is pretty much no-frills, but what it lacks in ammenities, it makes up for in charm. Nothing illustrates this point more than the fact that the best way to get food in Xcalak is to wait for the grocery trucks that arrive on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Locals drive up to the hotel and sell you fresh frood from the back of their pick-ups.

We spent most of our time at Sin Duda either relaxing on the beach or snorkeling. We saw all sorts of amazing reef fish. And one day we went fishing with some locals. Bergie caught a pretty decent yellow tail snapper, and I caught a barracuda. For me, that was one of the highlights of the trip. We were trolling along, and all of a sudden, I could see something following my bait. And Bam! It hit my hook, and that mofo pulled hard. Baracuda fight great at first, but they give in pretty quickly, and I was able to haul him up to the boat after five minutes or so. The guide stabbed the fish with this very sharp hook thing to pull him into the boat, and when we got the fish aboard, the same guide took a thick stick and beat the fish in the head 8-10 times until it stopped flopping about. Barracuda have very sharp teeth, so the beating was pretty much necessary so he could safely remove the hook. We took our barracuda back to Sin Duda, cleaned it, fileted it, and made some delicious ceviche out of it - very, very cool.

After our five days at Sin Duda, we reluctantly packed up the car and headed north to Tulum - another beach town a little more than half way between Xcalak and Cancun. Here we stayed in a more average hotel - still nothing fancy, but it did have hot water, air conditioning, and TV, which I must admit that after 5 days without any of those was quite nice. Tulum is a cool little town, though. Great little restaurants and shops line the streets, and the beaches are gorgeous. Tulum also has some of Mexico's better ruins. And they have Cenotes, which are underwater caves. We took in all of it, and had a great time doing it. Of course, we traded the peace and tranquility of Xcalak for the hustle and bustle of the city, and we were woken up each morning by the sounds of Mexico - roosters crowing, dogs barking, and taxis honking.

And that was the trip. It truly was a perfect honeymoon. We're already thinking about when we can go back to Sin Duda. It would be great to take a few friends with us. If anyone is interested, let me know.

Also, I know there has been quite a lag between my last post and this one, so here is a quick synopsis of everything else between then and now. In October, we rode the Tour De Tucson - an 81-mile trek around the city. The first 60 miles weren't so bad. The last twenty sucked ass. In early November, I went to Vegas with my friends Ron and Michael - good times. I lost a ton of money though. Juggy came down for my b-day in November. That was awesome. We went biking and hiking and had all sorts of good times. Bergie finished her first semester at the U of A. It was a painful one, and we still aren't sure what is in store for next year, but she was able to get a new TA job for winter semester, so we are both hopeful next semester will be a little less painful. Bergie's buddy Delphine visited for a few days, and it was good for Bergie to have a girlfriend to play with. Then Bergie's entire family came for Christmas, which was a lot of fun. I basically played golf with Yves every day while everyone else did the tourist scene in Tucson. Bergie and I celebrated New Years quietly at home. Our resolutions include learn new skills, meet more people, get in shape (as always), and keep up with the blog.

And that is that. Hope all is well with everyone, and Happy 2008.

Love,

The Godfreys