So last week I went to Cancun, Mexico with one of my close friends, Z, and her family. Since her birthday was on the 4th and mine on the 19th of October, we ended up going to Mexico as part of both our birthday presents. I think this has been one of the best vacations I’ve ever been on; we did so many cool things and I was never bored throughout the whole trip, which sometimes happens to me while on holiday. What follows is a brief summary of this amazing vacation 🙂

Day 1: The day of our flight out of America started out similar to all other vacations; a long drive to the airport (for us; Z went with me in our car while the rest of her family went in another for a total of 2 hours), checking baggage, boarding the plane, etc. The flight time was about 4 hours, which is not bad compared to flying to Kazakhstan (it’s about 22 hours including layovers). Throughout the flight, I just chilled out and listened to music, snapping a couple of pictures. The entire journey to Cancun took up the entire day, including renting a car and checking into the hotel, unpacking and whatnot. We went to bed late and we were tired, but excited to go down to the beach in the morning.

Day 2: When we woke up, the first thing we wanted to do was obviously go to the beach, which was only a short walk away from our room. The balcony in the picture below faces one of the pools in the resort, and to the left is the way down to the beach. The hotel itself is very cozy and welcoming, which I love, rather than huge high-rise buildings. The other pool is in the courtyard through the little tunnel you can see in the photo on the lower left side. Anyway, the beach in this part of Cancun? It is literally the most beautiful thing. The sand is white and the water is clear and shades of turquoise, surrounded by palm trees and lounge chairs. Not to mention the fact that the water is basically bathwater, it’s so warm. It is the definition of paradise. Naturally, we spent the entire day at the beach. I have no regrets.

Day 3: The next day, we set off to Xel-Ha, which is basically a large aquatic theme park. Although there were many things to do, the most memorable for me was going snorkeling. I had never been snorkeling in a tropical location before this but I am so glad I did. You snorkel around a large bay, free to go wherever you like, teeming with fish, sting rays (yes, they were there and it was a little scary), and coral reefs. The bay is surrounded by trees and forests and it’s so much more beautiful than I expected. This was a full-day trip so we got home late (I say home but I mean the hotel; it felt like home, though, honestly), but it was definitely worth it.

Day 4: This day was also spent mainly at the beach. It was on this day, I believe, that we took notice of a certain boy who was sitting with his family a few lounge chairs away from us. Let’s just say he caught our eye, in a good way. Originally, we figured he looked about 15 or 16, but looking back, I think he could potentially have been a little younger than that. I’m not giving out real names but we decided to call him Pepsi Boy. This is because we saw him sitting outside on the balcony in a room 2 down from ours (in the picture above, he was in the building to the right). He looked very calm and chilled out and Z’s little sister pointed out that he was sipping what appeared to be either Coke or Pepsi, we couldn’t see that far (our eyesight is very bad, you see). So, we decided on Pepsi Boy, as “Coke Boy” didn’t sound good. I think this was the highlight of our day..

After this, we all went out to dinner at a gorgeous seaside restaurant. Although the mosquitos were very abundant and left me with horrific bites, the food was great (they burned the plantains, though..unfortunate). My favorite part has to be the view from our table. While we were eating, the sun was setting right in front of our eyes and the sky turned from blue to indigo to purple, and eventually the stars came out when it turned pitch black. I attached a picture below so you can pretend you were there, too.

*nothing spectacular and worth sharing really happened on day 5 so I’m skipping that*

Day 6: The most memorable part of day 6 for me was going out to dinner. Again, we saw the beautiful sunset and even though I got eaten by mosquitos, the food was insanely good. Z and I got virgin martinis (we are under 18, which is the drinking age in Mexico) which were very good, I have to say. The waiters all came out and sang a little happy birthday song for Z, which was really cute, and she even got to wear a cool sombrero (I really wish I got a picture; it was good blackmail material). The restaurant, called La Habichuela, is situated on the beachfront so naturally I needed to get some pictures, one of which is in the little photo gallery in the sidebar. Overall, I had a great time eating my last dinner in Cancun.

Day 7: Nothing lasts forever, just like this trip to Cancun. Day 7 was our last day and mainly consisted of packing up clothes and things, buying our last bits of souvenirs to bring back to our friends in America, and washing out bathing suits and flip flops of sand. Then, we headed to the airport and in about 4 hours (in addition to the check in and bag drop), we were landing in America. I got stopped at Customs because I have a Canadian passport, unlike Z and her family, which is a little unusual. The actual conversation I had with the TSA agent:

“Okay, so you’re from… Kazakhstan?” He butchered it but I wasn’t about to say anything.

“Yep” *shuffling of papers on his desk*

“…and you have a Canadian passport?” *he types stuff*

“Yes..”

“…but you live in the United States of America..”

“Yes, I do”

“…Ooookay!” *stamp stamp*

…And then he let me on my way. I am a complicated individual.

Anyway, here’s a final picture for you, the gorgeous view from the plane. This vacation was so much more than I expected and I am so grateful for having the opportunity to go with one of my closest friends. Z if you see this, thanks again 🙂

Thank you so so much for reading and I am so sorry that I haven’t posted in like, 2 weeks. School is taking a huge toll on me lately, what with tests and exams and hours of homework. I’m also planning on taking my permit test so I need to study for that, in addition to a bunch of other stuff going on in my life. I will do my best to post regularly, although I can’t make any promises! I’ll see you soon 🙂

Anna xx