Our May 2001 vacation at the Riu Palace Hotel in...

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

We bought a tour package for a day trip to Tulum and Xel-Ha on Sightseeing Tours.  The Allegro Hotel in Playacar has pretty good prices for these trips.  Below are some underwater pictures at Xel-Ha, and a couple pictures of the Mayan ruins at Tulum.  The water was warm and clear and there were lots of fish to see.  The ruins were neat to see too. Many people seem to want to go on these tours on their own, but I found that having a guide who explained things was very helpful for our first visit, and was worth the cost of the tour.  The air conditioned bus and free water bottles and snacks were a bonus too!

We spent most of our time by the beach, usually in the abundant shade provided by the palm trees planted there.  There is a small bar by the beach where you can pick up your pina colada and then get a beach chair and do exciting things like read books.  I however was interested in taming the high seas on a Hobie Cat, which I managed to sail without once tipping over.  Hurray!  The water there is a beautiful deep turquois color, which blends into a deep cobalt blue the farther out you go. Diane also discovered that painting ceramics on the beach with other artists was highly relaxing.  Welcome to Group Therapy on the Beach.

The Riu Palace Hotel grounds are magnificent -- and are kept spotless by the friendly staff.  All of the hotel staff will greet you with "Hola!" or "Buenos Dias!" whenever you pass by.  There is always food being served somewhere on the hotel property, so you never go hungry.  The dinner buffets are especially nice, and the buffet selection is different each night.  I was impressed on our first night when they offered roast duck at the buffet!  Tropical fruits are always present, and my favorites were papaya, mango, some other one I can't pronounce or spell -- but the chef called it "tuna".  And the rumors are correct -- they do have the best coconut ice cream on the planet.  I don't know where they get it from, but it beats all that I have had -- smooth and creamy.  Mmm... I tried making some of my own when I got home, with heavy cream and whole milk and coconut cream, but it still didn't taste the same.  Ben & Jerry's ought to visit Mexico and bring back the recipe!  ;-)

We met some great people while we were there at the Riu Palace.  One of which was our waiter, Luis.  He would always seem to have time to chat with us at dinner and he really made sure that we enjoyed our meals there.  He even taught me how to say the Spanish tongue-twister "Parangaricutirimicuaro" "El rey de Parangaricutirimicuaro estaba parangaricutirimicuando si lo sabes desparangaricutirimicuar seras un buen desparangaricutirimicuador." Say that one! I even got inspired to look up a web page of Spanish Tongue-twisters!

...and we met some very nice and lively people from Detroit, MI -- and they allowed us to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with them!  We had a great evening of toasts and food -- just watch out for the skewered fish, right Pete?!  ;-)

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