...Mexico 2010...

4th Dec. We arrived at Gatwick in plenty of time for our 12:40 flight but when we got to the gate we were told that the plane needed a spare part and that we should come back at 13:30. At 13:30 we were told there would be more information at 14:30. We had access to the Wentworth Lounge which made the wait a little more bearable. At 14:30 the lounge closed so we made our way to the gate only to see that the next announcement wasn't going to be made until 15:30. By 15:30 it was suddenly all systems go and they wanted to board the plane straight away. By 16:15 we were on the plane and things were looking more positive but that didn't last all that long. By 16:40 we were being told that the replacement part was also broken and that the flight had been cancelled until 11:00 the next day. BA put us (and John Prescott) up at the Hilton overnight... It wasn't the Banyan Tree!

Transfer to the Banyan Tree

5th Dec. Back to the airport and although a little later than planned we finally took off. Our luggage seemed to take an age to appear on the carousel at Cancun airport and we again found ourselves standing next to John Prescott (he was in town for the UN Climate Summit). Once outside things started to look up as a huge SUV rolled up to whisk us to the resort.

Our room

We had stayed at the Banyan Tree Resort in Mayacoba for our Mexico 2009 trip the previous year, just after the resort had opened. It's sad to say, but we were not planning on seeing any of Mexico this time, we just planned to spend the week relaxing. It wasn't long before we were making use of our villa's hot tub. We took our evening meal at the Saffron Restaurant, on a pontoon looking out over the water with Orion looking down through a clear sky.

Our room

The beach

6th Dec. Clearly feeling rather energetic at the beginning of the holiday we were in the gym by 8am and I managed 50 minutes on the cross trainer. I soon put the good work behind me and ate far too much at breakfast! It was then off to the beach to relax in the sun. Late that afternoon we stopped at the hotel bar for a drink then returned to our villa to make use of the hot tub. Even by 7pm I still wasn't feeling hungry so we decided to skip the evening meal.

Enjoying breakfast

7th Dec. By 7am I was on my way to the gym and put in a respectable 60 minutes on the cross trainer. I thought it would be good to follow this up with another session in the hot tub, occasionally jumping into the pool, which although probably being around 20 degrees felt closer to zero! Following breakfast it was back to the beach for a relax next to the pool. That evening we had dinner at the Sands restaurant. Even though the resort probably had twice as many staff as guests it still amazed me how they all seem to know your name, and can remember what drinks you ordered the previous day!

8th Dec. I was once again in the gym early and put in another 60 minutes on the cross trainer followed by more time in our hot tub & pool. After breakfast we sat next to the main hotel pool where we whiled away most of the day. Late that afternoon we had a Thai massage and by the time we were done it had gone dark. Once again we decided to skip our evening meal and stayed in watching 'The Mexican'.... it seemed rather apt.

Our Pavilion

9th Dec. I once again followed the same morning ritual, a 60 min gym session followed by our villa's hot tub and then breakfast. We spent the day at the villa. Later in the afternoon we had some light rain so it was a good excuse to make use of our pavilion. We stretched out on what must have been the largest sofa in the world, reading and watching American TV. We decided to order room service and once we finished eating, fell fast asleep on the sofa. We didn't even notice the maid coming for the turn down service and by 9pm simply woke up and had to transfer ourselves to our room.

Christmas tree

10th Dec. I decided to skip the gym this morning and instead did a few lengths in our pool. We spent the day sat next to the pool at the beach. As the sun started to set we went back to our villa and made use of the hot tub before having a Balinese massage! I think we only decided to have a second massage when I realised we had done the same last year... as it turned out they were 'buy one get one free' anyway so we felt a little less extravagant. I took a stroll around the resort and noticed that the hotel had got into the spirit of Christmas and decorated the Banyan Tree in the lobby. We fell asleep watching X-men.

11th Dec. Our last day in Mexico. With good intentions I went to the gym but found the cross trainers already taken. After giving up waiting I decided to go for a run around the resort. Ok, it may have only been about 1km but it's the first time I've run in a decade! After a plunge in the hot tub we went for breakfast and spent our last day around the pool at the beach. By 4:30 we were our way back to Cancun airport. Dawn French was on the same flight to Gatwick, I had to laugh when I noticed there was a Lenny Henry 'Comic Relief' insert with the free headset!