YATRA GEETHAM- Cancun (Concluding Part)

YATRA GEETHAM (Mexico) – 12

Cancún (Concluding Part)

Telugu Original : Dr K.Geeta 

English Translation: V.Vijaya Kumar

The very next day was our return journey. By that day, all the sightseeing and adventure tours we had planned in Cancún had wrapped up just as intended. Until then, we had explored everywhere outside, but hadn’t really experienced the charms within our resort. So, we dedicated that day entirely to it. Besides, despite staying right along the coastline, we hadn’t even taken a few steps across the sand.

Before daybreak, Satya and I set out for a stroll along the beach. From the resort, we walked left, returned, and then headed right. The morning air was lukewarm and delightfully refreshing. At home, the two of us go for walks together every day, yet this morning carried a rare magic. I have always loved that hazy, soft light before dawn, just before the sun’s first rays break through a clouded sky. Adding to that, the sea waves leaped skyward as if eager to listen to the pristine morning melodies, while creamy foam chased our footsteps along the shore.

Leaving our footprints side by side in the white sand, delighting in each moment, adding a small sand spire of our own to a sandcastle someone had built along the way, and reminiscing over long-forgotten conversations, we walked until the first beams of morning light broke out and the sun’s rays shimmered brightly.

Near another resort to the left of ours, someone was leveling the entire beach using a tractor reminiscent of the ones back home in our village. Having never seen such a thing in America, I spoke with him and took two or three photos. He explained that they level the resort’s beachfront daily to set up for weddings and pre-booked beach parties.

Returning to our room, we woke the children, got them ready, finished breakfast, and headed to the in-resort photography studio for a photo shoot we had reserved the previous day.

A quick word about the resort points: staying at the resort earns you complimentary points, which can be redeemed for discounts at on-site gift shops, the photo studio, massage centers, and similar spots. However, each facility only permits a designated number of points, detailed on a card provided to guests. I had already redeemed discounts across several spots; remaining on my list for the day were the gift shop and photo studio.

In America, hiring a professional photographer for family portraits is quite a luxury. With our points, the photoshoot itself was free, though each individual photo had to be purchased. Having dressed up in special outfits, our excitement to be photographed far outweighed any concern over the details.

For nearly an hour and a half, the photographer captured us across picturesque spots around the resort and along the beach, letting us play and pose naturally. The pictures turned out so breathtaking that we couldn’t bear to leave a single one behind. Though we opted only for digital copies of all 110 photos, the bill came to a thousand dollars. Even so, beautiful life memories remain priceless.

At the gift shop, I picked up a silver bracelet using some complimentary points, and by combining the remaining discount points with another two hundred dollars, I bought a Mexican gemstone fashion jewelry set. While knowing these points are simply an incentive to draw people in, curiosity and the desire to experience everything new led me there anyway. Buying hats and T-shirts of their choice for the kids sent their joy through the roof—they began running and leaping around the room. It struck me how delightful the world would be if everyone could find contentment in small joys just like children do.

We spent the afternoon exploring all fifteen floors of the resort, discovering its highlights, and in the evening, headed down to the infinity pool on the grounds to unwind with a swim.

After nightfall, we stepped out onto the balcony. Directly ahead over the ocean, the luminous Kartika full moon cast beams of radiant moonlight across the rolling waves, surging upward into the sky in a magnificent spectacle. A gentle, balmy sea breeze brushed softly against us, soothing the day’s weariness. The children, exhausted from the day’s excitement, drifted off to sleep right in our laps. Filling our eyes with the endless expanse of sea and sky, we sat conversing late into the night.

Among all our recent travels, this was by far the most peaceful and enchanting journey. Though we departed the following day, Cancún felt like a retreat that captivated our hearts, holding onto them as if forever awaiting our return.

*****

(to be continued)