Arrive in Cancun - September 12, 2014

September 12th (Friday)  

1 PM - left office with the swiss watch presented by Deposco to all employees and the Deposco T-Shirt. Wore both on the flight.

Had to do paper check in as Amey does not have a paid ticket.

2..5 hours flight.

Immigration customs clearance documents on the flight provided at the last moment and just then Niya wants to go to the bathroom. I had to take her and we ended up being the last to exit from the flight. 

Immigration clearance - Checked the passports and passed the comment that the visa is about to expire. I told her that that is one of the reasons for the trip. She did not seem to care but she and her co-worker engaged in quite some conversation after that in spanish.

Customs clearance was as easy as the breeze. 

Once outside, we were to get into a shuttle arranged by the Mayan Palace to take us there. We came out and a group of white uniformed staff pulled us into their section. He verified my boarding pass email print. He was looking at my watch over and over and finally appreciated it and I noticed that his watch had a similar big dial as well. He then got to know that I am an RCI member and that he will sell tickets to Chichen Itza , Isla Mujeres at a promotion price if we listen to a promotion presentation by a ‘Royal group’ hotel.

       He also mentioned that once I reach Mayan Palace, they are going to ask me if someone at the airport haggled me into any tours and that I should not let them know as that will interfere with the commission he gets. I was not yet sold on this but Divya found the deal attractive and I finally decided to take it. So I used the ATM at the airport and saw pesos for the first time and gave some of it to the marketeer whose name I forgot.

 In hind sight, his performance was quite impressive as he had nothing to do with the Mayan Palace shuttle and was just a broker. Unfortunately I don't have his name with me as sometime mid-last week, a light dawned on me that I should refer to people by their names as opposed to the guide, the driver etc. It is much more personal to look at it like that on one hand and on the other hand, it is more accurate to say Orlando explained the Coba ruins in a much nicer fashion than Willy spoke about Chichen Itza.

        Next, I worked with Hertz car rental agency and wanted to rent a car and use that for the entire week. But the two potential package offers that the marketeer had sold us meant that we are not going to be able to use the car all that much and there is no practical way to use the car on days 1,3,6and 7. So I just let that problem net my brains into indecision. Divya also expressed concern over being able to find the hotel this late at night and in a new country. So, the Hertz lady whose patience had been tested kept the dissonance to her facial expressions saving my ears. 

http://cnatatlanta.blogspot.com/2014/09/grand-mayan-promotion-getting-rental.html