My blogs have been compromised

Dear readers,

My paid domain webiste http://www.jesieblogjourney.com together with the gmail account has been taken over by someone without my permission. The hijacker who took over after December 2008 is trying to put up the paid domain for sale.

The hijacker (thief) has also diabled all links that I tried to access that is connected to the stolen webiste as well as this blog. I can't post from my personal computer. It gives me "Oops! this link appears to be broken."

All readers who have blogger accounts cannot be accessed by me from my computer at this point in time until there is a resolution.

If anyone knows how to how to resolve this or report it to the relevant authority please help me before this blog is also hijacked.

Next Travel Post Coming Soon

Hi Readers,

I have been away and not been able to blog for a while. I am getting organized and will start posting on my travel again.

Thank you for your patience.

Sacred Cenote in Chichen Itza

After a refeshing swim at the clear water at Cenote Ikil, let's visit another cenote which is located in Chichen Itza in Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

Cenotes or sinkholes are formed when the limestone karst caved downward and the ceiling collapsed by the moving underground water below. The ceremonial or sacred well in Chichen Itza was used in times of drought to sacrifice human beings to appease the Mayan Chac or god of fertility, agriculture, thunder, and rain. Below are three pictures of the Cenote of Sacrifice filled with green water. They are taken from different angles.



In 1904, Edward H Thompson, an American archeologist dredged the Cenote of Sacrifice and discovered these precious gold and jade objects and human bones, wooden objects, textiles, copal incense, ceramics, shells and other artifacts can probably be found at the museum in Harvard University today.

Cenote Ikil near Chichen Itza, Mexico

The Yucatan Peninsular in Mexico is largely made up of limestone landscape with no rivers. The land is not fertile and the Mayan farmers burn and slash the trees to grow their crops. When the limestone collapsed, a sinkhole or cenote is formed. There are numerous sinkholes and the one I visited is called Ikil which means "Sacred Blue Cenote" which is located approximately 10 minutes drive from Chichen Itza. If you want to know more about the formation of cenotes, etc., click here.

Here is the picture of the sinkhole from the top surface looking down. It is almost round. According to our tour guide the surface to the water level is around 90 feet deep. The window or opening facing me as I strecthed my neck out to take this picture, is a lookout compartment from around mid level.


I am now half way down. The following picture is taken from that window looking down into the sinkhole.


Here I am proceeding down the steps to the bottom level. The stairway was beautifully lit up.


Here I am right at the bottom of the steps. Oh it's so crowded with people and birds flying all over. This is the view from the bottom to the top surface.


There were many people taller than me crowding to look or getting ready to swim in the "well." I could get only a small portion of it.


Look at all these people getting ready to swim. I am not a great swimmer so I pass on the swimming. Guess how deep the water is?


My husband took a picture of swimmers enjoying themselves in the refreshing cool water, a contrast with the hot weather outside.


Well, according to our tour guide, the water is more than 120 feet deep. I would not recommend anyone to swim if you are not a good swimmer.

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Night Shows at Hotel, Cancun

After each day's activities, it would be great to relax and enjoy some great music. As for the best night entertainment spots in Cancun, Terence recommended Coco bongo so did the hotel agents. However, our vacation coincided with the spring break. The college students flocked popular night entertainment spots. Here you go, just showing you the picture. Click here if you want more information and listen to the music at Coco Bongo.


Every night, the hotel resort we stayed had a show time from 9:00pm through 10:00pm. During the pre-show and post-show time, we could request for our favorite songs. The audience could dance as they wish. We took this picture because we felt that one of the local artists looks like Obama. Do you think he resembles Obama too?




Not all the night show pictures turned out. White seems to stand out more clearly and I am sharing a few of them here.
This is supposed to be the music flashbacks of the 1980s reflecting Cher.


These are the 1990s music flashbacks.... Michael Jackson! His actions, and hair style resembles Jackson except he is shorter and darker.



Below are some Cabaret photos. Enjoy.




I would recommend you take a video camera with you so that you can take better pictures and those in motion. I'm not rich enough to own one.

Horseback Riding in Mexico

We are now at Loma Bonita horseback riding ranch waiting for our guide to take us to the horses. There is a souvenir shop at the ranch but I did not go in.


The following 2 pictures are our guide and some horses at the ranch.



We were given instruction on how to control the horses. We were then divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced horse riders. The warning is never go near a horse' hind legs for it may kick and hurt you. Always get up a horse on its left side.

Each horse has a name. This is a picture of a couple of horses on its way through the mangrove path to the ocean. We are now on a 2-hour horse back ride.

Now we are all at the beach. Notice that the horses like to walk in a single line, one following the other. We were warned that some horses like the beach and in the event that our horse gets down to the sand, we have to get off from its back. One horse did that and a couple of others started digging into the sand.


The horses that do not like to go into the ocean were tied to the poles/fence.


The horses which would take us for a swim had the saddles removed from them. Notice the bare backs of these horses.


I am guiding my horse into the water. It wasn't easy to ride on a bare horse back. And it isn't too difficult either if you concentrate and be on your guard.


Here we go for a swim. I clamped my legs and feet tight to the horse body and held tight to its mane. I was ready to be in a position to clamp my body against the horse if the waves get too rough. A guy on the first batch fell off from his horse and he had to swim while his horse happily abandoned him. The rancher had to go after it. I didn't want it to happen to me.


Oh, oh, the waves worked against us and my horse didn't like it too much. It nearly threw me off. But I repositioned myself securely after having glided off a little from its bare back.


After the swim, we rode our horses back to the ranch. It was very hot. Lunch was ready by the time we reached the ranch. A mother and daughter whom we met at lunch shared that they have been to Hawaii for horseback riding as well but they think that Mexico has better value for money because there are more activities offered at a cheaper price and most hotel resorts are inclusive of food. They shared that their family paid US$90 for a meal in Hawaii. They also shared something that puzzled me that they saw some dogs in Mexico that were tied on the roofs in the hot sun because there was no place to keep the dogs.

After lunch, our tour bus took us back to our hotel about an hour's drive away. It was a great horse riding adventure and I think the swimming part was the most thrilling.

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Romantic Dinner in Cancun

My husband had a happy secret on our Cancun, Mexico trip for my birthday. He said we would be doing something very different that evening. I waited till that day came and he told me that we had to enter the building below.

Are we going for the underwater world? I looked at the souvenirs as he took care of the paperwork. Then he came with a band to put on my wrist. He led me to face the lagoon. I asked whether we were going on any of the private yachts. He wanted me to make a wild guess. I had no idea. I asked whether we would be having a dinner on a yacht, boat or cruise ship. He said sort of.



Then came the announcement that we would be boarding M.V. Columbus, on a Lobster Dinner Cruise and couples were to walk romantically to board the ship. My husband offered to carry me to the ship but I refused. He told the guys that I piggyback on him around the house at home and was shy to let him carry me in public. Finally we are boarding.

Each lady was given a flower onboard. As we got onto the cruise vessel, we were served cocktail with some alcohol. My husband whispered in my ear that Nyquil taste better as both of us do not like alcohol. The servers were puzzled why we took only a few sips each while all the others had refills.

After a few sips, my face turned pink and my eyes did not feel good. I goofed and placed the flower on my hair while my husband took this picture. The ship is made of solid teak. I love the wood.


A couple from Wales, UK took a picture of my husband and I. I cropped to show just myself as this is my personal blog.

We cruised on the lagoon and met Cancun Queen. The tourist onboard Cancun Queen waved to us and we, them.

We exchanged conversation with other tourists and watched the sunset. The clouds hid the sun and we could not get any nice pictures.

Daniel played the sax and entertained us with romantic music. He did a very good job.

Hmm, I smell lobsters. Yes, I then saw lobsters being grilled onboard and took these pictures. I love lobsters.


Goody, it's dinner time!. The boat anchored and stopped moving. All of us adjourned to the lower deck where we were seated romatically by candle lights and were served with wine and lobsters. My husband and I had water instead of wine. Are we ripped off the price we paid?

After dinner we continued with the cruise. A few couples were picked to share their love story. A couple was married for 42 years and he shared their success in marriage is to treat his wife like a friend. Another couple said they were not married but was engaged while dining about half an hour before the interview. They had to dance and a special number was played for them.

I still don't know how much the dinner cruise cost. My husband said if I knew the cost, I would probably think it is too expensive and might not enjoy the dinner and cruise. I guess that was the most expensive dinner I have ever had in my entire life. However, I can easily check the price on the internet.

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