Fire Round the World

Yosemite: Hiking Half Dome (AKA The Most Terrifying Hike of My Life)

Half Dome is one of the most famous hikes in Yosemite National Park, and after seeing it for ourselves this is hardly surprising. In fact, it’s such a sought after hike that a permit is required to summit it. These permits are available only through a lottery system and you can read about our experience with that here. It can be tough winning permits for this, but if you are not able to win one in the advance lottery there are other options:

Option #1: Apply for the last minute lottery that takes place two days prior to the day you’re wanting to hike. You have to apply for it online by 1:00pm PST. So if you’re looking to hike on Sunday, you need to apply that Friday morning before it by 1:00pm PST. You’ll be notified later that night or first thing Saturday morning if you win or not.

Option #2: Hike the trail up until you almost reach the end where the check point is for permits. Then wait and hope that a passing group will have an extra spot available on their permit that you can join. I read online about this working for people and we met people on the trail that day who had done just that. They said it’s not uncommon to find groups of hikers who had someone drop out of their group last minute so they have an extra slot to fill.

Option #3: Start late enough in the morning that the ranger at the check point will be gone by the time you get there. Even though we had won our permits, we started a bit later in the morning than usual and by the time we arrived at the check point at 11:30ish am, the ranger was gone. We heard from other hikers that he had only stayed until 10:30 or 11:00am. After that anyone was free to hike the rest of the way up.

I’m not sure that any options are guaranteed without a permit, so that is still the safest route to go. But it’s nice to know there could be alternatives available as well. If you do win the permit, make sure to bring a printed copy of it with you along with a photo ID of the person who is listed as the leader. This is what the ranger will check.

Campgrounds are also extremely difficult to come by so you can also read about that adventure of reserving one here. Once you have one, be prepared for the rangers to check your ID upon check in. We stayed at the Upper Pines campground which is one of the closest to the trailhead for the Mist Trail which we were taking to Half Dome. We hiked out of the campground down the road and around following the map- however realized later on we could have just hiked through the trees out the side of the campground and would have cut our time in half to reach the trail head. While there is also a parking spot near the trailhead, be sure to be there early before the lot fills up with cars. At 6:00am there were still spaces there but it was about the same amount of time for us to just walk to the trailhead from our campsite than to drive to the parking lot and walk from there.

We set out from our campground around 6:00am for the hike which is estimated to take from 10-12 hours to complete. The shuttles start running at 7:00am so if you wait until then you can take the shuttle to the Happy Isles stop and then walk the additional 5 minutes to the trailhead from there. We didn’t want to wait that long and it was probably about 1 mile from our campsite to the trailhead to start.

Though everyone uses the same trailhead to start, there comes a point where you need to decide whether to take the Mist Trail to the top of John Muir trail. Both trails meet up later on but the Mist trail is approximately 1 mile shorter and much steeper with lots of stairs. John Muir trail is longer but not as steep. We chose the shorter route via Mist Trail but I’ve heard rumors that John Muir is actually faster because it doesn’t have as many stairs to climb.

We did pass both Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls while hiking the Mist Trail and I’m so glad we got to see them both, especially Nevada Falls. I’m not sure if you’d get to see those via the John Muir trail and if not I’d recommend keeping to the Mist Trail. It was tough, but we still made it. I was also surprised to see a few actually bathrooms along the way with porta potty type seats and actual toilet paper. One thing the trail does lack is water. There are fountains to fill up at the base of Vernal Falls but this is very shortly after starting the trail so we were still pretty full with what we had packed. There are no other water fountains along the way, but we were glad we had a water filter with us as we used this for filling up at a river later on. We had packed 2 liters of water each and were glad to have more than that, I’d estimate closer to 2.5 or 3 is what we each used in the end. Keep in mind you’re hiking in very dry California!

The trail itself was not as bad as I was expecting. Once we passed both falls, there were not nearly as many stairs after that. And though it starts out paved at the beginning, the rest of the trail is mostly dirt after that. Since some in our party were sick, we were going very slow along the way and taking lots of breaks, but the trail was all around in very good condition and anyone in decent shape should be able to complete it without a problem. We brought hiking poles and I found them VERY helpful to have along the whole way.

You can hike almost the whole way before reaching the ranger check point which is at the base of Sub Dome. This is where I started to get scared. In order to reach Half Dome, you have to make it up Sub Dome first and the way up is via a lot of steep, big, stairs carved into the rock. The views are spectacular along the way, but I was VERY scared the whole time and couldn’t really look around without freaking out. It’s so steep and I felt like I was just going to fall off down the whole dome! While people advise that Angel’s Landing is very steep and many people find it too much to complete, I was not nervous at all while doing our hike there. This one was a whole different story for me.

I was so thankful to reach the top of Sub Dome which was very wide and flat. And the views made it absolutely worth it, they were just incredible! It reminded me a lot of Angel’s Landing in Zion with the complete panoramas. Then a whole new terror set in as I gazed at the cables in front of us to summit Half Dome. Once you summit Sub Dome it’s only about a 3 minute walk from there to the cables and I was dreading it the whole way. Everyone else was leaving their backpacks on the top of Sub Dome in order to do the cables so we dumped our stuff and headed over to the base.

Next big piece of advice for here: BRING GLOVES WITH GOOD GRIP. You’ll need it in order to hang on to the cables along the way up. We had picked up some gardening gloves to use and they worked out just fine. There was also a giant pile of used gloves at the base of the cables from past hikers and they were free for taking. It’s not recommended to dump your gloves there when you’re done as that creates garbage that the rangers need to clean up, but it was nice for anyone who had not brought gloves with them.

The cables are up from about mid-May to mid-October and there are also wooden planks spread about every 10 feet along the way. I’m not sure how long the cables stretch along for because I made it up maybe 10 planks and then completely burst into tears I was so petrified. The route the cables follow is so incredibly steep and it involves quite a bit of upper body strength to pull yourself up every step of the way. The planks are there to rest on, but other than that there’s nothing keeping you from falling down the whole way. I was so absolutely terrified I couldn’t move up or down and just stood there, frozen, crying. Finally I had to turn around and go back to the base and I made it slowly, crying the entire way.

When I reached the bottom I immediately felt better. I could barely even watch the people go up the cables, I was so scared just looking at them. But from what I gather it takes about 45 minutes to get up them because there are a lot of other people going along the same way and everyone goes pretty slow. There’s only one route for those going up and down so you also have to take turns and let others pass you who are going the opposite direction. Heading down was much faster, taking only about 15 minutes, described as a “controlled slide”. Basically meaning your feet don’t have much traction on the way down so you just slide the whole way and use the cables to help control your speed.

While some love doing the cables, I have no regrets about not completing them. I’m convinced I may be having nightmares for weeks about them as I’ve never experienced that kind of fear before. I’ve heard the view from the top is pretty comparable to the view from Sub Dome and I was very satisfied with the view we had there. Keep in mind there tend to be a lot of wildfires in California so it was a bit smoking when we summited which interfered with the view slightly but we were still able to see quite a bit.

Pablo's view of the cables from the top of Half Dome — View of the cables from the top of Half Dome

Going slow and with all our breaks, we reached the top of Sub Dome at 12:30pm, 6 1/2 hours after we had started the hike. We knew sunset was around 7:20pm so I really wanted to make sure we were back at our campsite before then. We started our descent back down and were surprised to find a lot more people on the return trip. There were many who had hiked to see the falls that day so it was pretty crowded at times. We made it back to our campsite at 6:45pm, close to 13 hours after we had started. While my legs weren’t too sore, my feet were in a whole lot of pain from all the downhill steps coming back. Going down was actually much harder on my body than going up as the stairs and rocks were just continually very hard. But we made it in the end and lived to tell the story!

I might advise to start a little earlier in the morning, but really it was not all that bad with our given timeline. We had a bit of hiking in the morning when it was still dark, but really not too much at all. Even at 6:00am we could see the sun starting to appear. We started out with a few layers as it was pretty chilly in the morning, but it warmed up very quickly. I had quick dry pants, wool socks, a tank top, long sleeve shirt and fleece jacket along with a buff. It was perfect for the beginning of the hike and I wore the long sleeve shirt for quite a while. By the time we got close to the top I had switched to just the tank top and very early on I had zipped off the bottom of the pants into shorts. The one thing I did not pack that I would highly suggest is a pair of sunglasses. It’s VERY bright on top of Sub Dome and I was glad to have sunscreen but wished I had sunglasses as well. One bonus: no bugs along the way!

Peru Final Spending for 2 weeks

We went wayyyyyyyy over budget for our Peru trip! Though it still doesn’t look too bad in comparison to what the trip is actually worth, I was pretty disappointed. Our breakdown is below, and here’s what went wrong for us:

I did not anticipate how many places require payment in cash only. For some of the cheaper hotels we found, we simply did not have any option to use our credit card, and therefore use points. We simply had to pay in cash
We were not planning on hiring porters to carry our backpacks for the Inca Trail. But the trail was so tough and so strenuous we quickly changed our minds on that. Best extra $63 we spent!
The conditions of Iquitos were a lot worse than we were expecting. The city is so poor that our guide on the Inca Trail strongly urged us not to eat any street food while there of we would be sick for sure. Normally we keep our food costs down with street food and shopping at markets. But in Iquitos we stuck to restaurants instead. It was a pretty easy decision after we observed people washing the food to sell on the streets in the filthy rivers with garbage floating all around. Probably another good decision on our part, but it did have consequences of upping our food costs.

Item	Miles/Points used	Dollars Spent	Details	Actual Value	Date Booked
LAN Flights	36,000 AA Miles	$40.30 for taxes on two tickets $70 charge for booking 2 tickets on phone ($35 each)	Use Barclay Card Points- 7,000 points for booking over the phone $40.30 had to be paid ($20.15 in taxes for each ticket doesn’t meet minimum Barclay requirement of $25).	$1,480
AA Flights	105,000 miles	$148.88 Taxes	15,000 Barclay Card Points to cancel out cost	$2,880 in Economy $3,814 in First
Inca Trail Trek		$770 Paid via Western Union and cash		$770.00
CITI AAdvantage Executive Card		$250	Received 100,000 miles after spending $10,000 in first 3 months.	$250.00
Amazon Expedition	23,400 Barclay points	$243.00 $0 spent in cash due to refund	Spent on Barclaycard via paypal	$243.00	1/8/15
Iquitos Hotel (3 nights)		$56.00	Used Expedia deal for $100 off- no minimum cost, 3 days stay minimum. Used Discover card Breakfast and airport transfer included	$156.00	2/10/15
2 nights Cusco hotel		$100.00 (costs 10% more with cc)	Booked through Oscar’s Friend	$100.00	7/12/15
Maras Salt Mines		$38 100 soles for private taxi 10 soles each to enter		$38.00	Asked a taxi driver to take us that morning
Food Spending		237.13		$237.13
Tips for porters and guide on Inca Trail		$89		$89.00
Extra porter to carry our bags for 2 days		$63 (100 soles per day)		$63.00
Earlier train back to Cuzco	2,800 Barclay Points	$28.00 (Used Barclay Card)		$28.00
Bus Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes		$24.00 ($12 each)		$24.00
ATM Withdrawls		$710.32	Food, local transport, souvenirs	$710.32
TOTAL		$2,596.63		$7,535.45

Parasailing and Top 6 Cancun Tips

During our weekend trip to Cancun, we spent most all day Saturday on our whale shark excursion, but we did have time for a few others things while there as well. Here are our top tricks and tips to share:

Buses in Cancun are great.

Public transportation in Cancun is actually really good. From the airport to get into the city you can take the ADO bus for around $5. There are kiosks in the airport where you can purchase tickets and the ride is around 30 minutes. You may have to wait 20 minutes for the bus, but they run very punctually and we never had a problem. They were also very comfortable, nice and air conditioned similar to a coach bus in the U.S.

Once you arrive at the main bus terminal you can ask locals about where to catch the R1 bus to the city center (the R2 bus may work as well). These are big buses and run every 5 minutes constantly. You can catch them right near the main bus station, just ask a passerby where to go- or just keep your eyes open you’ll probably see them coming by right away. Each local bus ride is 10.5 pesos, so less than a dollar. The ride to get to the downtown area from the main bus station is about 15-20 minutes depending on where you’re going. Don’t think you’re going to get a fancy coach style bus for the local lines though, these are much simpler.

Our Hotel: The Ramada Inn Cancun City

This hotel was ok. It was within a 10 minute walk from the main bus station which was a huge selling point for me. This meant we could save money on needing to catch taxis everywhere. However, it’s located in “downtown” Cancun which is NOT the main hotel zone (Zona Hotelera). This meant it was not near the beach and it would have been nice to be closer to that. I had read that the hotel had its own private beach area and a free shuttle that will take you there as well. However, upon arrival we learned that this shuttle only went once in the morning and once in the afternoon. And you had to make reservations each morning for it, there was no reservations ahead of time. This didn’t match up with our plans at all so instead we got directions and hopped on a bus there. Sadly we never actually found the hotel’s beach area. We went up and down the area multiple times where they said it would be and we asked multiple people for directions as well but could never locate it. This was really disappointing and to add to that we learned afterwards it closes early afternoon each day anyway.

We took a taxi from the bus station to the hotel upon arrival just since we were tired, hot and sweaty and didn’t know exactly where we were going. It cost us $5 for a 2 minute taxi ride and we quickly figured out the route to walk to the bus station after that.

The hotel did not include breakfast for us (another downside in my book) but there were plenty of restaurants located all around it. The other main advantage is how closely it was located to Mercado 28!! It was closer to walk there than the bus station in fact, less than 10 minutes. Which leads me to talk about that next

Mercado 28 is fun

I’m sure it’s a bit of a tourist trap but I still loved it. One of my favorite parts or our foreign travels is eating in the open air markets wherever we go. Mercado 28 is the biggest market in Cancun and it definitely lived up to its reputation- it just went on and on. We found some great souvenirs here and they’re supposed to be cheaper than buying souvenirs in the hotel zone. We also had some great food included fresh strawberry drinks that were absolutely delicious in the intense heat. I would definitely go back here again and it was nice that it was so close to the hotel so we could walk here for meals.

Our Parasailing Adventure

I used some of our Chase points to book a parasailing excursion through the Chase Portal as well. The reservation then gave us contact information for “Cancun Vacation Experts” who we needed to contact to set up our exact time. I emailed them and was told I needed to call them the day before our parasailing excursion or even the morning of. We did and were able to get a hold of them without a problem. They gave us directions on how to find their location as we needed to go through a hotel and to the beach behind. We found the hotel and the front desk pointed us through their doors towards the beach behind. Our reservation was for 10:00am and they had asked us to arrive 20 minutes prior to that. However, they did not actually show up for us to go until around 10:30 or so. This was frustrating and I was glad I didn’t schedule it for later in the day which could have cut it close for our flight.

Although I was terrified at first, it was a lot of fun and something I’d recommend to anyone. Our parasailing wasn’t the traditional kind where you were strapped in with your feet dangling- instead we sat the whole time in a little seating contraption and there was nothing strapping us in. That caused a whole different kind of nervousness for me but as long we didn’t move around much I felt ok. The one benefit is that we were allowed to spend time at the hotel’s beach area before and after our time out parasailing. They had some nice umbrellas and beach chairs and it was quieter and move private which was nice.

Cancun is not cheap

Many people think of Mexico as a cheap destination and although its definitely not as pricy as Europe, it’s still not as cheap as one may think. Most restaurant prices were very similar to costs at restaurants here in the U.S. On top of that, while the buses are cheap any actual activities are so pricy! Our whale shark excursion was close to $200 per person if we had paid for it and parasailing would have been around $50 each! It’s really tough for me to think either of those activities was worth quite that much but it honestly just seems that any activity you’re going to do is going to be overpriced. That’s just the reality.

Other Beaches

Sadly we didn’t get as much beach time on this trip as we would’ve liked. Since we never actually found the beach area for the hotel we visited a public beach instead, Playa Tortugas. This was not a super picturesque touristy area, instead it was full of locals there. Restaurants there have tables right on the beach and it was fun to each close to the water though again the food was expensive. We enjoyed spending some time relaxing there but Isla Mujeres Playa Norte was far more gorgeous. Next time I would do some research ahead of time on which beaches in Cancun are the best to see.

In closing:

Use buses to get around Cancun, way cheaper than taxis!
Be prepared for food to still be expensive in Mexico. If you really want to save money take a trip to Chedraui (the local grocery store) to stock up on some things and aim for Mercado 28 or another market.
The hotel zone has lots of beach access which is super convenient. But the downtown area can be cheaper
Tulum Ave is the main strip in Cancun.
If you find an awesome beach there, let me know!

Peru Itinerary

Hard to believe in just one week we’ll be heading out on our adventure to Peru! I started planning this trip almost as soon as we got back from Europe last year. Now 11 months later we’re finally going!

We’ve been preparing for our travels by stocking up on some hiking equipment and training for the Inca Trail which is going to be killer. I’m planning to share all our packing tips when we get back so we can see what was really useful and what we could have done without. Stay tuned for more details there, for now here is our itinerary for our 2 weeks in Peru.

Day 1	Fly to Lima
Day 2	Fly to Cuzco Pisac Market or San Pedro market
Day 3	Tour Cuzco Tour Moray Salineras de Maras
Day 4	Hike Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Day 5	Hike Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Day 6	Hike Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Day 7	Hike Inca Trail and arrive to Machu Picchu Stay in Cuzco this night
Day 8	Fly Cuzco to Iquitos
Day 9	Tour Iquitos Amazon Animal Orphanage and Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm Acobia-Dwazoo Manatee Center
Day 10	Tour Iquitos Isla de los monos and Belen Market
Day 11	Amazon Jungle Trek Overnight in jungle
Day 12	Amazon Jungle Trek Overnight in jungle
Day 13	Return from Jungle Tour and fly to Lima
Day 14	Fly home

Interview: Paula Vogler (Mom!)

This is the next interview in a series I’ll be posting from time to time with various other travelers and budget savvy individuals. If you’re interested in sharing your story with me, or know of someone who would be great for me to talk to, let me know!

My mom is the person I have to thank for being infected with this crazy travel blog. She orchestrated all our family travels growing up and made sure that there were a LOT of trips! So of course I thought it was only right to get some of her expertise on my blog as well 🙂

About Paula

Been in Massachusetts since I was 12 years old. I like to play soccer, read, travel and plan trips. I’m a freelance reporter so that gives me time to do the things I enjoy like researching places I’ve never been.

Where did your love of travel come from?

I grew up in a military family where my dad took us on vacations that involved skiing in foreign countries or taking cruises in foreign countries. It wasn’t until I set off with a husband and three kids in a minivan to explore this country that I really saw how much there was to see. And it was fun to do it with our family.

What has been your top travel adventure so far?

Tough one. I really like Utah and all the national parks there because it looks so different from East coast stuff. Last year we did Washington and Oregon and that was beautiful too.

How would you describe your travel style?

Finding a place I want to go and then looking for ways to visit in the cheapest way possible!

What is your craziest travel story?

I don’t think I can pick one, each trip has had its own fun and craziness associated with it. Some would call us crazy for spending 4 weeks driving coast to coast in a minivan with our three kids but we all had a blast.

What are your top tips for saving money while traveling?

Play the credit card games. There are so many that have miles for free airfares or points for free hotels but just make sure to pay off the credit card in full each month. Many hotels now offer breakfast so buy some lunch fixings wherever you go and you’ll only have to pay for dinner. If you’re renting a car, check out the prices early early in the morning you are getting ready to leave because chances are you can find a deal to save you some money if you book last minute; I saved $150 once by canceling a car reservation and booking a new one at 4:30 a.m. before we left for the airport. Booking ahead on sites like Rental Car Momma means there’s free cancellation.

What is the biggest challenge when it comes to travel or planning for a trip?

Trying to figure out where I want to go. We’ve been to all 50 states as a family, over half of the states twice and I’m just amazed at how much is out there that I still haven’t seen.

How are you able to prioritize traveling?

You consciously have to make it a priority and make it a part of life just like working, paying bills, taking care of your health, etc. I think people need to choose it as a priority. It doesn’t have to be a huge trip, there is usually plenty to see within short drives of where you live. Once we are back from a trip I’m usually always dreaming of where I’d like to go next.

What advice do you have for those wanting to travel, but a bit short on money?

Use all that’s at your fingertips to make it happen. Save money toward a trip, use the loyalty programs out there to get free hotels or flights, read things like this blog, and read things on travel websites that have suggestions. Couch surf if you are willing to have people stay in your home so you don’t have to pay for hotel rooms. Or camp; it’s very inexpensive. You’d be surprised how affordable a trip can be. Call me, I’ll help you plan a trip!

How do you save money for travel?

Each paycheck put a little bit of money aside, $50, $100 or $200. It adds up and not eating out as much, going to the movies, or buying those new clothes is worth it for an adventure away somewhere.

What’s your advice for family travel?

Little kids, leave early in the morning, 4:30 or 5:00 a.m., so the kids can still sleep a little in the car. Then stop at 8:00, change out of their pjs and have breakfast. End the day early around 4:00 and stay at a place with a pool so the kids can have fun. Older kids, plan fun for them and not just museums, shopping, and stuff like that. On one trip I planned a day specifically around each kid’s interest and that was a hit.

What have you found most helpful in planning your trips?

I like the website Trip Advisor for ideas and recommendations as well as AAA or Road Trippers for route planning. Google is my friend when I want to find more information about places; the internet is a wonderful thing.

Where’s your next trip going to be?

Western Canada. I’ve always wanted to drive the Icefields Parkway and visit Banff National Park in Alberta.

If you could have your dream destination trip, where would you go?

Australia! I would so love to spend a month there and see all the wildlife and natural beauty.

Final words of wisdom?

Don’t say someday you’ll travel, do it now, even it it’s day trips here or there. Taking a vacation is important, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg, just get out there and see the amazing things waiting for you.

Grand Cayman Islands

Grand Cayman was another stop on our cruise and I thought this one was much more beautiful than Jamaica. The island definitely looked a bit wealthier, but even just the water was clearer and such a beautiful blue against the white sand beaches. 7 Mile Beach is the famous beach to visit here, but we decided instead to spend our day in port on an excursion to Sting Ray City- the top attraction on Grand Cayman.

Again we booked the excursion through a private tour company separate from the ship. Acquarius Sea Tours was the company we used I had read great reviews of them online and we were very pleased with the experience. The boat was nice and the captain and assistant were great as well. They met us right by the information kiosk at the dock and there were several other guests from our cruise who had also booked the excursion. Captain Mario was a bit late in arriving (around 10 minutes) but he showed up no problem.

On board Captain Mario's Boat — On board Captain Mario’s Boat

The cost was $50 per person and included a lunch snack of a couple slices of pizza and some fruit punch. This was a good inclusion too as we were pretty hungry at that point. One other bonus was that they captain made sure to swim around with all the guests and snap photos of them snorkeling and holding the star fish and sting rays. While normally companies charge for these, access to the photos was free! I simply emailed them afterwards and they sent me the link to their drop box with our photos. A nice perk. If you don’t book this excursion ahead of time there will still be plenty of local agents looking to snag your business upon arrival. They all go to the same place, however we saw a variety of boats transporting the passengers there- from nice yacht styles to literally a simple boat packed full of people looking like sardines in a can. I was very glad we had booked ours ahead of time.

Another thing that attracted me to our tour was that it made three stops: one to snorkel, one at the sting ray city sand bar, and another at star fish point beach. I really wanted to see the star fish (though this was slightly disappointing in the end)! We had no problem making the tour time as long as we got off the ship as soon as it arrived. We told the tour guides what time it was leaving and they made sure to have us back in time as well.

Our first stop was to snorkel and the water was so clear and calm it was great visibility. The boat ride out to the snorkel part took a lot longer than I was expecting, probably around 45 minutes to an hour. That on top of the 15-20 minute bus ride to the dock as well meant you’re definitely looking at some travel time in order to see the sites. Nevertheless we enjoyed our snorkeling for about 45 minutes and the boat provided all the snorkel gear we needed which was in great shape.

From there we headed next to Star Fish Point which is a a very shallow beach area where star fish congregate. I had read that the numbers of starfish are down much more than they have been in the past and this was definitely true. The star fish were huge, bright red and beautiful! But the ocean floor wasn’t quite covered with them like I was hoping. We only spent about 15 minutes at this stop.

Our last stop was the part I was most excited for: to actually see the sting rays! Basically all the tour companies have their designated times they can arrive to the sting ray sandbars and they all pull in and let the tourists pile off. So if you’re looking for a quiet moment with pure nature this won’t be it. But it was still fun to get out and be standing in shallow water in the middle of the ocean and sting rays swim all around you! We each got a turn to hold them and have them rub up on your back so you can feel how slimy they are. You also have the option of feeding them though they warn you to carefully hold the shrimp out for them. These guys have some very powerful suction with their mouths, way stronger than your household vacuum cleaner! Sometimes they can leave a small hickie type mark on your hand as a result. I very nervously fed them the shrimp anyway and was surprised at the bit of a pinch I felt when they snatched it, though it honestly didn’t hurt. One of the other ladies in the group started screaming and dropped the shrimp and it hit her hip. As she tried brushing it away she just kept rubbing the shrimp smell all over her and continued to freak out as all the sting rays came over to check it out. It was pretty funny but this stop was far far too short for my liking. No sooner had everyone in the group had their chance to feed the sting rays one time than we were quickly herded back onto the boat to get back in time for the cruise ship. It definitely felt like it was cut short, I would’ve liked more time to grab a snorkel and do some swimming with the creatures in the water.

So this was definitely a fun excursion that was much more worth the dollars spent. However, don’t get your expectations up too high for the number of star fish and know too that your time with the sting rays may not be a whole lot. I was a little disappointed with how long this tour took over all as we rushed back to make it in time for our ship and didn’t even have any time to check out the beach!

Final Cancun Spending

Here it is! Our final expenses from our Cancun trip for the July 4th weekend. A few notes:

1. The swimsuit purchase added to our total when an unnamed individual forgot his for our water activity focused weekend 🙂

2. Food in Mexico is not all that much cheaper than food in the U.S. especially at restaurants. You can save a little money by eating at markets and buying grocery store food but don’t expect it to be super discounted. We used grocery food for our breakfasts while there, ate at a few restaurants and ate at a market once.

3. Our budget would also be much lower if we hadn’t bought the souvenirs! But I included that cost here as well.

4. Cancun has an easy to use bus system that is really cheap. The buses pass by all the main hotels so you can definitely catch the ADO bus from the airport to the central station and then ask about which bus to take towards your hotel from there. Avenida Tulum is the main strip and bus R-1 passes there.

Item	Miles/Points used	Dollars Spent	Details	Actual Value	Date Booked
Flights to Cancun	34,720 miles16,306 Barclay points	~~$81.53 in fees each, $163.06 total (used Barclay points)~~$0 in the end!	Southwest, used companion pass	$1,489.06 with fees total	3/22/15
Swim with whale sharks	28,566 Chase	$0		$357.08	4/1/15
Parasailing	10,040 Chase points	$0		$125.52	5/24/15
Ramada Cancun City	12,606 Chase points		2 nights	$157.58	5/25/15
Airport parking		$19.50
2 roundtrip bus tickets from airport to Cancun central bus station		$20	($5/person/one way)65 pesos
Local bus transportation		$7.50	10 rides total, about 75 cents per ride10.5 pesos
One taxi ride		$5	From bus station to hotel- SUPER close we walked the rest of the time65 pesos
Swimsuit		$16
Souvenirs		$25
Food		$162.37	Food in Mexico is more expensive than you think!
TOTALS	102,238	$235.87		$2,365.11

What No One Tells You About Swimming With Whale Sharks

I got to check something else off my bucket list this past weekend that I have been really looking forward to- swimming with whale sharks off of Cancun, Mexico. I have been so excited for the experience, especially as we didn’t have to pay anything for it by using some of my Chase points. Saturday was finally the big day!

I didn’t feel nervous at all despite these creatures being so huge. I knew they just swim around all day eating plankton and really there was nothing to worry about. Seeing and swimming with them was guaranteed on the tour so I was pretty confident there would be no trouble in finding them either. Our tour guides from Eco Travel Mexico picked us up at our hotel at 7:40am and we were off on our way.

After a short 15 minute bus ride in the van we arrived at the port and were greeted by a nice breakfast spread of delicious fruits and pastries and some water, juice and coffee. We spent a few minutes enjoying the food before boarding the boat to head out to the sharks. The trip out was approximately an hour and we traveled at high speeds the whole time. We saw some flying fish along the way which are always fun as we bumped along through the water. It wasn’t hard to recognized where the whale sharks would be as there were already a few boats circling the one spot, literally out in the middle of the ocean. As we slowed down and got closer I could see the fins swimming through the water; it really looked like a horror movie was about to go down!

Once we slowed, there was a lot of frantic yelling around between the different crew members and this is where the surprises began setting in. Surprise number one: You can’t just get in the water and swim with the whale sharks. Only two people are allowed in the water from the boat at a time (this seemed like a rule for all boats, but I’m not positive). I had been happy that I’d booked a small group tour of only 10 people, but now this quickly seemed like a lot as we had to wait our turns. Definitely a disappointment that I wish we had known about ahead of time so that our expectations were more in check.

Surprise number two: Be ready to jump in the water RIGHT AWAY! We had no warning that they would need us to get in right at the perfect time when the boat was situated in front of the whale shark. This resulted in a lot of hectic scrambling as we’d be waiting and then all of a sudden the crew would yell GO! JUMP! GO! JUMP! Trying to get flippers over the side of the boat and into the water that quickly was stressful and very difficult to maneuver.

Surprise number three: If you don’t jump right away, you’ve pretty much missed your shot. These creatures don’t appear that they’re swimming fast at all, in fact they look like they’re going around at a leisurely speed. But in fact they’re next to impossible to catch up to! Once they’ve moved past you your chances of being able to swim alongside them are pretty much zero. This happened to me one time as there would people in front of me when the crew yelled to jump and I couldn’t get to the edge in time. When I finally made it there the whale shark was already passing by and I knew it would be too late to go. Once they go past you the crew immediately starts yelling at you to get back to the boat so that they can drive over to find another one for the next passengers to jump in the water with. Swimming with them really only lasts about 2 minutes each time for a total of about 3 times each.

Surprise number four: Be prepared to be VERY, VERY sea sick. Pablo and I don’t typically get very sea sick so I hadn’t been worried about it, but it was really bad. At least half the boat was throwing up over the sides into the water. We got into a routine of jumping in, swimming with the whale shark, getting back up onto the boat and then getting sick over the side. Repeat. Over and over again. But the waters out there are SOOOOOO rough. I felt sea sick right away though thankfully didn’t ever actually hurl over the side. There was no shame in it though as almost all the other passengers were also emptying their stomachs during our time out there. One trick we did learn: pour ice cold water over your head and neck when feeling nauseous. I’m not sure if it just shocks the system or what but it actually did help quite a bit and the crew had a huge cooler filled with icy water bottles for everyone to use.

Eventually we left and started the trip back to Cancun and things got much better once the boat started moving. I pretty much had a death look locked on the horizon for the whole time. We found out that we were going to be stopping at Isla Mujeres on the way back to feed some fish as well. I had been wanting to check out the island but didn’t think we’d have time to do it on this trip, so that was a nice surprise to have. We landed at Playa Norte which was absolutely beautiful, filled with a perfect beach area of pristine white sand. We fed the fish some crackers and there were huge schools swimming all around which was pretty cool. The excursion offered a seafood salad back on the boat but I was not feeling like putting anything into my stomach so declined the fruit they offered as well. Another couple on the boat actually opted to stay on the island and take the ferry back to Cancun later that after rather than return with us. I think that was one of the best decisions and now wish we had done the same! If you get the opportunity, I’d definitely take it as the island is just beautiful and it saves you a ferry fare one way (I believe it was around $20 per person round trip).

When we made it back to Cancun we wanted to head to the beach so we asked our driver if he’d drop us off at a nice beach instead of back at the hotel. They graciously agreed and dropped us off at Playa Tortuga along the way. (Read more about that in my post on about the city of Cancun). Overall the whale sharks were an incredible site to see as they creatures are just huge. Watching their gigantic mouths open was a treat. But we were also pretty miserable feeling sick the whole time so I definitely would not do it again. Was it worth it? Well we didn’t have to pay the nearly $200 per person but if we had I think I would have been VERY disappointed. You didn’t get nearly enough time in the water with them to warrant such a high price. However, we’re also learning that any and all of these cool experiences seem to have high price tags attached. It seems that everything cool to do is over priced and if you don’t do it you end up with just beach time instead. So I’d say this is in the ballpark of other high priced excursions we’ve done as well.

I was disappointed with the actual time and manner in which we were able to interact with the whale sharks as well. It was very similar to the rushed aspect of our time at Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman with the sting rays. I think we just got spoiled after visiting Akumal and the sea turtles there completely on our own without a tour. We had as much time with them as we wanted and there was no rush to leave. That’s truly an ideal experience and still tops my list as an all time favorite. These others were good as well just realize that the experience will be different and set your expectations accordingly. Swimming with whale sharks was a good once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope others are able to enjoy it as well.

Our Cancun budget: $0 spent

Our trip to Cancun is coming up in just a week and a half! Swimming with whale sharks has been on my bucket list and I’m so excited to check it off the list! While we’re there we’re also trying something else new: parasailing. This is something I’ve wanted to try for a while but it can be a bit expensive and I was a little scared as well! I’ve decided to conquer this fear and give it a try and use some points to do it for free along the way.

This will also be fun as it will be just about 3 years exactly since we were in the area for our honeymoon. Although we spent that in Playa del Carmen, we’re choosing to stick with Cancun this time. I chose our hotel based on pricing with points, reviews, and especially the fact that’s it near a bus stop and lots of affordable restaurants close by. This means we can walk and take the bus to get around so we don’t have to worry about a rental car at all which saves a lot. Stay tuned for photos coming in a couple weeks and check out our 100% free budget so far below!

Item	Miles/Points used	Dollars Spent	Details	Actual Value	Date Booked
Flights to Cancun	34,720 miles	$81.53 in fees each, $163.06 total (used Barclay points)	Southwest, used companion pass	$1,489.06 with fees total	3/22/15
Swim with whale sharks	28,566 Chase	$0	Ultimate Rewards, 20% discount on redemptions	$357.08	4/1/15
Parasailing	10,040 Chase points	$0	Ultimate Rewards, 20% discount on redemptions	$125.52	5/24/15
2 nights hotel: Ramada Cancun City	12,606 Chase points		Ultimate Rewards, 20% discount on redemptions	$157.58	5/25/15
TOTALS	85,932	$0.00		$2,129.24

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest, Hungary. This was the furthest east we made it on our European adventure and it took some extra travel time to make it- but it was so worth it!!! I would LOVE to travel back here again some day! One day just didn’t seem like enough with all this city had to offer. Not only was it one of my favorite destinations from our trip, it was also one of the more affordable areas- so much cheaper than Paris or Vienna or London. It may not be as glamorous as the other cities, but i thought it was full of excitement!

The first thing I had been reading about in my Lonely Planet book was the potato pancakes they make in Budapest for all different meals. They sounded great to me so when we arrived the first evening and checked into our cheap hotel I had reserved with points, we dropped our bags and headed out in search of them. I’ve discovered that trying to find ANY of the recommended restaurants in Lonely Planet can prove to be very difficult! We thought we found where this place was located on the map and took the trolley in that direction. We got off at the correct stop- and were totally lost. There were a million streets in a million different directions! We set out down one and after walking a while realized we should have reached it by now. We stopped and pulled out our map again and thankfully a very nice Hungarian saw our distress. He informed us we were headed in completely the wrong direction and guided us back to the right way again. Moral of the story we eventually made it and the potato pancakes were indeed delicious! It just took a lot of effort to get there. We didn’t grab any photos of them but it was a small hole in the wall place and you paid per pancake- they had TONS of options both sweet and savory.

From there we walked in the direction of the Danube River so that we could get a nice view of the Parliament Building lit up at night and catch the subway home from that stop. It was easy to find this, just walk towards the river! Near this train stop there was also another one of the potato pancake restaurants. That one would’ve been much easier to locate, but oh well! We admired the views for a while and saw the Fisherman’s Bastion that we wanted to explore during the day. It was nice just walking around for a bit to relax and we felt completely safe the whole time.

The next day we headed to our top activity: the Szechenyi Bath! It was AMAZING! There are many of these bath houses to choose from in Budapest but Szechenyi is the most popular and well known. It’s beautiful and I was very happy we chose it as it had many outdoor pools to explore which ended up being my favorite. There are others famous for being a bit prettier on the inside, so it kind of depends on what you want. We also had an option to purchase our tickets with points so that made me want to visit this one as well.

We didn’t do any sort of fancy package that they offered, just the basic locker to store our stuff. Guys and girls lockers are separate so Pablo and I split up to ditch our things and then met up out by the pools. You don’t even need to take your shoes around with you from one bath to the next so it’s literally just hopping in and out of pools the whole time. Each pool is set at different temperatures so you can pick the ones that are most comfortable for you. You can also do hot and cold treatments jumping into freezing cold water and then into a really hot pool. Pablo tried this though I opted NOT to.

In addition to the indoor and outdoor pools, there are also saunas located throughout the facility. Again, Pablo gave these a try but I lasted all of 1 minute before I was pouring sweat and miserable. It can be a little confusing finding your way around the whole place as the maps didn’t always make the most sense to me. But it was a lot of fun to relax in the warm water after all our long days of walking and carrying our packs. We probably spent about 2 hours there and I could’ve stayed even longer enjoying the nice warm water!

One recommendation I would definitely pass along would be to go first thing in the morning when it opens. It was not very crowded at all but as time went by more and more people began filling it. While we were walking to the baths, it was literally down pouring on us. I was getting so upset and thinking we weren’t even going to be able to enjoy because of the rain. But weather changes quickly in Budapest apparently because by the time we had changed out clothes and headed outside to the baths the rain had stopped! Along the way we stopped at the Hero’s Square to check out the statues and sculptures. This was pretty close to the baths and was interesting to look at. There was no one else around at all, probably because we were up early.

Our day wasn’t over yet as we still had two more of my favorite things from the trip coming up! We headed to the Central Market Hall for lunch, a market that is all indoors but the different levels have different offerings from hot lunch food to groceries to souvenirs and household items. This is where we discovered langos, another Hungarian food I had read about trying. Basically it’s like a giant piece of fried dough, covered in garlic, cheese and sour cream. SOOOO DELICIOUS and so bad for you.This place was jam packed at lunch time and it was really hard to find anywhere to even sit and eat. But after standing for a bit a table opened up and we snagged it quickly. It was next to an elderly German guy who was on his own travel adventures and we had a nice time chatting as we ate.

After finishing up our food we bought some paprika (famous in Budapest) and headed to our last stop of the day: The Fisherman’s Bastion. This is right along the river, across the river from the Parliament Building. By this point in the afternoon not only had it stopped raining but the sun was out in FULL blast. It was soooo hot we did not feel like walking up to the Bastion at all as it was a bit of a hike up stairs. Instead we opted to grab the bus which we had to run to catch as we saw it driving by. But we made it and soon were on our way.

The Fisherman’s Bastion made it on my favorites list just because it was such a cool looking building. While we had seen many churches, palaces and castles up to this point, this was something entirely different. It was under some construction while we were there, but it was fun to explore it and listen to the street musicians playing around the area as well. We bought a handmade table runner from an elderly couple selling them in the shade on the stairs and some ice cream cones to try to cool off from the heat. We grabbed some fun photos and then headed out to catch our train to our next destination: Salzburg.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: