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Published: November 4th 2012
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I guess by booking 3 separate flights to bring us from the Netherlands to Mexico we were sort of asking for trouble.. So I can't complain too much about the delays and the hassle around it, given that we did arrive safely and well in Cancun, according to plan. Car rental proved to be the last barrier before we could really start our trip. As we wanted to be able to drive our rental car through Guatemala and Belize, our choice was limited to one company only (or to be more precise, 1 company using 3 different names). They had already warned us other car rental companies would tell us they did not exist, but that they would be waiting for us wit a shuttle bus to drive us over. Nothing too sketchy so far, until they tried charging us the agreed on rate, which was in USD, in Mexican pesos, against their self chosen exchange rate. Uhm, no! When we finally asked them to drive us back to the airport so we could find another car, they suddenly turned out to have one 'special' creditcard machine that could charge us directly in USD after all. Wow, what a miracle. We
drove off with our red volkswagen fox, only to return again 20 mins later as the button to open the windows had broken off. How promising.. Anyhow, that got repaired quickly and we could finally start our trip for real, headed to our first stop, Playa del Carmen..
Playa del Carmen is Cancun's little, less crazy, and more trendy sister. It's still quite the tourist hub, but all the restaurants, shops and bars are quite nice, and the touts don't go much further than saying 'hey honeymooners..!' (Apparently many people go on honeymoon here.. And probably the touts figure that if not, most couples would be flattered to appear so in love). The beaches are nice too, with many lounge style beach clubs dotted along the shore. We managed to get a good deal on a nice hotel thanks to low season rates, not directly at the beach, but only a 2 minute walk away (everything is walking distance here..), and with a very nice pool, bar and lounge area. But of course our busy plans did not allow us much time to linger in the hotel..
Our first sight to see was in Tulum, my very first
Mayan ruin. It has quite the dramatic location, on a rocky cliff overlooking the Caribbean. Apparently Tulum is a newer Mayan city state, created as the Mayan civilization had begun its decline, and people were leaving the larger cities to the south. We shared a guide with another couple, and I got my introduction to Mayan temples. What's definitely not unique to Mayan ruins only, but something I often forget, is the fact that many of these buildings used to be actually very colorful. The importance of the calendar and the sun, and the orientation of buildings accordingly, was cool to see. The fact that Tulum is that well known is not so much related to its size, or uniqueness of the buildings, but more because of the great views over the ocean. There is also a beach that's part of the site. Unfortunately we hadn't brought any bathing suits, but our guide tipped us off on his favorite snorkeling location nearby – Alkumel, or turtle beach. Best of all, it was near-shore snorkeling, so free!
So that was our plan for the next day. After we bought our gear at Walmart (cheaper than renting it several times), we
headed over for a day of snorkeling and other beach fun. As promised by our guide the day before, the turtles were indeed very easy to find, and they allowed us to come very close. Really cool! Unfortunately the straps of both our masks broke at some point, which ended our snorkeling adventure a bit early and later turned out to have saved Stephen's back.. He ended up with a sun burn that would have been much worse if it wouldn´t have been for us having to break off the snorkeling a bit earlier. For those that worry about Steve's back – it fortunately did not end up hurting too much. For those of you that worry more about the masks 😉 – thanks to the easy Walmart return policy we managed to exchange them for a slightly more expensive version from a better known brand, and are thus still equipped with functioning snorkeling gear!
Although dinner in Playa del Carmen was genuinely nice and affordable, we decided one night to venture out to Puerto Aventuras, a nearby harbour town, for dinner and some exploration. Surprisingly enough, this turned out to be some kind of gated community with hotels,
apartments, restaurants, and a few attractions (including some dolphins that gave away a free dinner show). It left us wondering why there would be a need for such a community in an area that was full with tourists, and as far as we could tell, safer than some of the cities in Europe or the US...
Overall we have had a couple of very nice days in Playa del Carmen, and I could easily imagine spending more time here. There are loads of cool things to do, although some of them feel a bit too touristy for my taste (including some of the cultural/eco parks with entree fees of over USD 50). The only weird thing is that it doesn't really feel like we are 'traveling' yet, more as if we are on a vacation and will need to go home in one or two weeks. Traveling or vacation may not sound very different to most of you, but for me there is a clear difference in attitude, budget, and planning between a two week vacation or a three month trip. I will spare you the details 😉. I am guessing this will change as soon as we leave
the prime holiday locations though..
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