Las Conquistadoras de Cancun

My best friend, Christina Wang Kloster, turned 40 on January 4, 2023. To mark the occasion, she invited her nearest and dearest female friends to celebrate this milestone birthday in style. I agreed to fly to her venue of choice, Cancun, during my winter break.

The main highlight of the trip was a two-hour bus ride from Cancun to the Yucatan Peninsula, which houses ancient Mayan ruins in a pre-Columbian city. These ruins, known as Chichen Itza, are one of the seven wonders of the modern world. There was a tour guide who lectured us on the architecture and the history of the bloodthirsty Native American preoccupation with knives and swords.

We traversed the sandy beaches and went to a drugstore, where we bought authentic Mexican salty snacks, and a swim shop, where I bought a pair of navy surf shorts. We also participated in a submarine excursion that involved being in a boat underwater and quickly getting dizzy and lightheaded while viewing the coral reefs.

We also went a bit loca (Spanish for crazy) ordering Mexican food, indulging in pork, shrimp, mojitos and margaritas, and a sweet pudding dessert known as flan. Christina and her friend Hao did a shot competition, the rules of which I didn’t pretend to fully understand.

Christina and Hao both spoke excellent Spanish, so they practiced ordering food and seeking directions in the native tongue. But the locals had a soft spot for us tourists because we tipped well!