Whilst the place is good; it was made memorable seeing family and friends for an awesome destination wedding of Gina and Young.

Wedding festivities started on Friday evening, with the Mehendi night, Saturday evening was Vidhi (pre-wedding ceremony), Sunday afternoon was the the Wedding, and Monday evening was the Reception.

This was our first trip to Cancun, even though it’s in our backyard.

The family arrived in Cancun the afternoon of Thursday, June 6th. It was hot, hot, hot, and hummmmid!!!

Fortunately, it was a breeze going through immigration, and our luggage arrived without much delay.

The Moon Palace resort is just a 15 min ride from the airport. It is a huge, sprawling place – the road from the front gate to the resort facility is approx 1.5 to 2 miles long. There is a 27 hole golf course, yes 27 (and not 18), at the resort.

First take on the resort, very nice!; it’s very well maintained.

Wandering through the lobby after checking-in, we had multiple encounters with family members, most of whom we had not seen in years. It was a wonderful feeling to meet in-person after a very long time. I grew up with most of them in London, and some even earlier in Uganda, when I was still ambling around in my “sullies” (aka home-made shorts).

At dinner that first night, it was a roll-call on family who’s who, and time for re-connecting, rejuvenating old bonds, and kinship. I had this warm, endearing feeling that transcends through you.

Every evening (except on Monday evening) after dinner the family-at-large would meet at the lobby bar, and the conversation and laughter flowed as if we had never been apart.

Over time we all had kids, some of them are now married, and have kids of their own. It was heartwarming to see multiple generations, and especially to see our kids connect and re-connect with their cousins.

Mornings got little respite from the heat and humidity. We walked on the beach, from one end to the other, a round-trip of approx 3 miles. The beach was not what I had expected – seaweed everywhere, and water was dirty brown. During our stay, I only saw three brave souls taking a dip in the water.

Every day after breakfast, the meeting place was by the swimming pools, and there were many, catering to the very young and the rest. The pool was the place to keep the heat at bay and have fun.

Moon Palace houses three resorts, all a golf cart ride away, where one can use the facilities at any one of them. All of us were at Nizuc, the other resorts were Sunrise and The Grand. Sunrise had a number of restuarants, and at the Golf course or nearby there were additional restaurants.

We had perfect weather, or as perfect as one could wish for, for the wedding. Even when it rained one time, the downpour came well before the event.

All in all, we had an awesome time with family and friends in tow to see Gina and Young tie the knot, and am delirious with joy for Gina’s parents, my Mota Bapu and Mota Bhabhi-ji.

Till the next one!!!

After the wedding we stayed a few more days to spend time with my kids and grand kids. And one of those days we joined some of the family to visit Chichen Itza, and a cenote nearby. The excursion was organized by Kay Tours. We had a great time, and was very well orchestrated. On our way back to the hotel, we made an ad hoc stop at a road-side stall for fresh coconut water, and mangoes spiced up with chilly powder, salt, and lemon juice.