The Marketing Budget

Today was much more like our typical tour. We were off to learn about, and admire what the ancients did without hydraulics. This is amongst my favorite things to do when on tour. When My Lovely Wife said "Mexico", Chichen Itza was the reason I wanted to come.

Since we endured the time-share breakfast two days ago, we're getting this tour free of charge. But things looked a little strange this morning. We stood out at the front of the hotel. I saw the fella from the activities booth also waiting. A van pulled up and motioned for My Lovely Wife and I to get in. But then the driver wanted a voucher. We didn't have one. I looked back at the fella from the booth who was making some sort of motion to the driver. I think they over-promised the amount of incentives they were allowed to give us for the time-share. The economics behind this are simple. They figure the cost of marketing the time-share are X many dollars per person. Those dollars can be used in any way to get the customer to sit through the hard-sell time-share breakfast. Whether the time-share is purchased or not, the marketing dollars are spent. I think they promised to spend too much on us. Probably the trip to Chichen Itza alone would have eaten the marketing money. But then I went diving yesterday at a considerable discount.

I think the fella from the activities booth was there to tell the driver to take us on the tour, and he'd figure out a way to settle up later. Do I feel in anyway wrong in taking this free excursion knowing those nice hard-sell time-share people spent too much on me? Are you kidding? They knew what they were doing. How they decide to pay for the marketing costs is not the customer's problem.

But now, the truly funny part. This was a Spanish-only tour. We were the only people aboard who didn't understand Spanish. I'm actually kind of used to this. Most of what is said in Vietnam is not in English. Yes, all of the tours we book there are English, but I have spent many days with many people who speak only the native language. I do expect this when traveling, and the feeling of not being able to easily communicate, and being illiterate is now comfortable. It's not like anything bad was going to happen. At the end of the day, we would be dropped at the front door of our hotel.

The driver did us the courtesy of repeating in English some of what he'd been saying in Spanish. It was the basic over-view of the area, some geography, what we'd see when we got to Chichen Itza, etc. There was a stop for a water closet mid-way. (This was a pay to use water closet. Don't expect free bathrooms outside the US. Even in Italy, the only free toilets were at the Vatican (which is technically another country).) After we arrived at Chichen Itza, the tour guide "loaned" us to an English speaking tour. Everything turned out fine. No one wanted an unhappy tourist.

As I expected, the pyramid and ball field were spectacular! The tour guide made a grand circle of the pyramid, explaining its function in Mayan culture, and then showed us the ball field. He made the Mayan out to be pretty blood-thirsty. I know it's real popular to talk about how peaceful everything was until the Europeans arrived, but this was a brutal society. Some one in the group asked what happened to the blood-thirsty Mayans. The guide smiled and said, "We're still here." The civilization fell, but like Rome, the people endure.

The guide also spoke about December 21, 2012, when many people think the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world. In the guide's view, we've all got it wrong. The world doesn't end, it starts again. What does that mean? Maybe it just means you get a new calendar just like we do every December 31st. But they are looking forward to December 21, 2012. The place it going to be packed with tourists bringing lots of dollars. (Come to think of it, I had been toying with showing up on that day. Just so I could have a front row seat for the apocalypse. I guess we'll do something else. Maybe buy a new calendar.)

I went full "Japanese Tourist Mode" with my small camera. I didn't bring the Bazooka on this more casual trip. Since the sun is extremely bright, I didn't need the Bazooka's superior lens.

What the Mayans did after dinner was what every other stone-age culture did. They looked at the stars. They understood what was happening in the sky and built many observatories. One still exists at Chichen Itza.

Everything I've written about so far today has happened in the morning. It needed to. It was really hot, like some parts of Asia. But the humidity is lower. We both went through a lot of water.

Once we had our fill of the antiquities, it was time for lunch. This was a grand buffet designed to appeal to people of many cultures. I usually am not in the mood to eat when I'm very over-heated. And it wasn't like I was starving to death back at the resort. I had a couple hot dogs, and a few cold sodas. That was fine. What's the point in eating if it's going to make you feel bad?

While waiting for the van, I saw several iguana. We were back with the Spanish speakers. The van's mid-point rest stop on the way back was at a little cave. There are about 8000 holes in the ground on the Yucatan peninsula. These lead to aquifers where you can swim. It was much cooler in the cave. My Lovely Wife stayed above ground and found a merchant selling coconuts. She was now in paradise. I schlepped all six of them to the van.

Our driver was going way too fast. On one curve I was concerned that the van would flip. We were pulled over and a speeding ticket was issued. Who hired Mario Andretti?

Later, I sat poolside making notes that would eventually become what you are reading. I got a minor sun burn on my feet. This meant that I was going to have to where socks and sandals the next day. If anyone asks why, I decided I would tell them I'm English.