Playa del Carmen Trip Report
February 2005: Includes Tulum, Ruins, Beach, Collectivo, Restaurant and Nightlife Information.
PLAYA DEL CARMEN
FEBRUARY 20-FEBRUARY 28
February 23
We got up early and hopped on the collectivo to Tulum. The collectivo ride was 25 pesos. We walked the road to the entrance and there was a long line for tickets, but it didn't take too long. The entrance fee was about 33 pesos.We walked around the site and checked it all out. It's very hot there and after we left we hopped on the tram back to the highway thinking it would be free, but they charge 20 pesos for that.
I ran out of film at the ruins, because I thought the extra roll in my bag was unused, but it wasn't. We hopped in a cab and I asked the driver to take me downtown so I could buy a roll of film. We stopped at a drugstore, but they didn't have any film. Then he took me to a Kodak Shop, but there was a drugstore next to that with a Fuji sign. I like Fuji better-so I went in and looked at the film. Always check film, because a lot of those drugstores have old, expired film. The expiration date on the Fuji was 2.2005--but I figured it would be OK, since I would develop it soon.
Tulum Archaeological Zone
I got back in the cab and asked the driver to take us to the beach. Downtown Tulum isn't super close to the beach like Playa is, so I did not know if you could walk or how far it was. He asked me which beach I wanted to go to. I really don't know much about Tulum beaches, except they are supposed to be like mind-blowingly beautiful and you might see naked people. We told him to take us to a nice beach that had a beach bar and food. He asked us if we wanted to go to El Paraiso so we told him yes, because we really did not have a clue if El Paraiso was where we wanted to go.
Just as he pulled up to the beach it started raining, and raining pretty good it was. The driver said:
"Nice beach! Ten dollars".
We sat there looking at the downpour.
"Ten dollars, amigas."
We paid him and walked through the rain to the restaurant which was indoors, but not too exciting looking. There was a nice beach bar with a palapa roof, and it was packed with people waiting for the rain to stop. It also started getting cold outside and was windy. The sky didn't look good.
The people who were already wet continued to swim in the sea while one kid continued working on his sand castle. We just huddled under the palapa looking lost and wondering what to do. A few minutes later I stepped out from under the palapa to go check out the beach anyway, and I told Shar, "...you know...it's not even raining anymore". It just looked like it because the water was still running down off of the palapa.
The beach was gorgeous. Just beautiful. Miles of open, uncrowded sand and turqoise sea with whitecaps rolling in from the horizon. We ordered some beers and Shari got a burger. The sun was back out and the temperature was warm, again.
We were going to take a nice long walk exploring along the beach, but it was getting late. Oh, the film! Yes, when I went to put my new, old film into my camera I must have been having a Mojito flashback or something, because I thought the film looked screwy and that it was no good. So, I didn't take any pictures of Tulum and I was kind of bummed with that. Later when we got back to my room and to my film I had brought down, I realized the film looked just like the film I bought in Tulum. The film wasn't screwy but I was.
After the taxi driver had dropped us off in the rain and we were huddled under the palapa we started wondering if there would be taxis hanging out there when we wanted to leave or if we would have to ask somebody to call one for us. I recognized a young backpacking couple I had seen around Playa sitting at the bar in Tulum. I went to ask them if they knew of a place to purchase film and where to catch a taxi. They told me taxis usually come back down there where they dropped us off and hang out to take people back.
There was a taxi waiting up there when we left, and I told him to take us to Highway 307, but he kept saying he didn't understand. We told him to take us back to downtown Tulum. He asked if we wanted him to take us to Playa del Carmen, and I don't think we mentioned Playa del Carmen, so I don't know how he knew we were staying in Playa, unless he was looking at my Playa beach bag.
When we got to downtown Tulum, I told him to stop near the road which wasn't too far from the highway so we could walk to it after we looked around a few shops. He asked if we were going shopping and we said yes, so he wanted to take us to a better place up the road. We just went with it and when he stopped he pointed to the shops and across the street he pointed out the Tulum bus station. This guy was pretty intuitive.
The taxi fare back from the beach at El Paraiso to downtown was 35 pesos.
The collectivos pick people up right across the street from the bus station, so we took the collectivo back to Playa after a brief, but successful shopping excursion.
EL PARAISO, TULUM PHOTOS
I shot some photos with Shar's camera, but I don't have those, yet. For photos of the beach we were at see:
Aerial View
Beach Bar
View from Bar
I shot some photos with Shar's camera, but I don't have those, yet. For photos of the beach we were at see:
Beach Bar
View from Bar
When we got back to Playa we decided to walk down Juarez Avenue to the little grocery store located between 20th and 30th Avenue. Shari wanted to buy some coconut cream for Piña Coladas which we had found on 5th Avenue, but I told her we might find it cheaper at the grocery store. We picked up a six-pack of Superior beer for 30 pesos, which was much cheaper than buying it on 5th Avenue. It is a small, but nice little grocer and you can find any basic essentials you might need there.
I must have looked shady after my day in the sun in Tulum, because a security guard kept following me around to each and every aisle I was browsing and just standing at the end of the aisle watching me like a hawk. I smiled at him a few times, but he continued to follow me around.
When Shari caught up with me in the store, I told her about the security guard and waved at him, and he moved a few steps from the center of the aisle and continued to stare at me with his head peeking around the corner. It was pretty funny, although I felt a little-actually a lot, weird with this dude constantly watching me shop. He did back off when I went over to browse the feminine hygeine section.
We walked back to the hotel. After I got out of the shower I noticed a rather large bug crawling on the wastebasket. I was not pleased to see that intruder. I also didn't know how to kill it, since it was just sitting on the side of a plastic wastebasket.
When we were waiting for the people to check out of our room the first day there, I ended up talking to some of them. It was a family from Duluth, MN, and I asked them about the room. The lady told me it was fine. Then she said she saw a couple of roaches, but not too many.
"Roaches!?"
Her husband shrugged it off and said you see roaches in Mexico.
Her daughter said, "well, maybe not roaches."
I told them I had been to Mexico several times and know there are roaches in all tropical areas, but had been lucky enough not to see one, yet. (Unless that flying thing in our room last year was one, but I am not up-to-date on all variety of tropical roach).
We ended up dragging the wastebasket and our new pet out to the balcony, and it didn't move an inch. Shar didn't think it was a roach. I am not convinced, but it didn't scurry or move or anything. We think maybe the big trees over the balcony are a place they like to hang out?
We went back into the room and Shari found another one near the bathroom and I found one on its back near my bed. We killed those two, and I double checked to make sure all of my bags were zipped up.
I should have photographed them. I once thought a hotel room in Texas had huge roaches until a Texan co-worker pointed out the bugs I was freaking over were Junebugs. Still ugly, though.
That evening we each lay down for just a little while and took a short snooze. Later we headed over to Señor Frog's just before 8 PM to see if Shari's family who flew in from Michigan and Minnesota that day had arrived and gotten our email to meet us at the Frog.
We stayed until around 9:30 and didn't see them, so we headed back to the room and grabbed a couple of beers and sat on 5th Avenue people watching and listening to music. I guess it is not exactly legal to drink open beers on the streets, but as long as you are in control and not sloppy or loud the cops won't bother you. We walked past cops and they didn't give us a second look.
Maybe I should bring open beer to the grocery store.
We took a walk up to Constituyentes Avenue and walked down to the start of the new pier between the old Gran Porto Real and the new section they are working on across the street. The new section looks lovely. Somebody on the beach had told us there was something going on that night at the new beach club bar there. We could see people playing volleyball, but the bar was about a 5-minute walk North of the pier and we didn't feel like venturing down there.
We walked around town a little more and then went over to Tacos El Rey Restaurant across from the Mambo Cafe. They serve food very late. Maybe all night, I am not sure. We got there about midnight. I got some Deep Fried Cheese which was 33 pesos and a couple of Tacos al Pastor (the pork with a pineapple on the top you will see at the entrance to many of the small local restaurants around town). It was very tasty. Shari got flank steak with cheese and some guacamole and she said it was very good, too.
A guy who I've seen and talked to several times on my trips over the years saw us as he came out of Mambo Cafe. He came over and joined us for a while. He used to work at a shop across from El Sol del Caribe the first time I stayed there and used to see us on the balcony all the time and talk to us. Now he works for Mayan Palace trying to recruit people for the timeshare presentation. He gave us all the scoop on the way that all works.
I asked him what ever happened to Martin the snorkel guy that brought us on a trip my first year. We would see him around a lot on my second trip and then he just disappeared and I always wondered what happened to him. He said Martin got married and moved to Japan. I know a lot of the ladies who may have seen him around town might wonder where he is now, so that is the deal. And, no, I do not know Martin any better than the snorkel trip and speaking to him around Playa.
We went back to the room about 130 AM and didn't see any new critters and I didn't go look to see if La Cucaracha was still sitting on the wastebasket.
Yeah, yeah-I know. You see bugs in Mexico. And Florida. And in Iowa. Shari said it wasn't a cockroach.
She said it wasn't a cockroach.
