Return to Playa del Carmen

I have written recently in the other blog about learning that I need to plan far ahead for birthdays and holidays, because I just get too busy, especially for Halloween through my birthday. I remember one year in particular where I was working in online retail, but there was a manufacturing issue that caused huge delays in shipments, and for all of December the phone did not stop ringing. We did not get caught up on email until well into February.

As you can imagine, I was exhausted all the time, and an American Express Travel insert for Mexico came with the papers and I so wanted to go there. Many of the spots looked good, but it was the underground river at Xcaret that really tugged at me, as well as Mayan ruins. Still, it seemed impossible to go.

The DC trip was sort of a life-changing thing in that I realized, hey, I can go to places. I'm an adult with a job. Since that was Tara's idea, it made since to suggest a cruise to her, and part of that cruise did involve swimming the underground river and a Mayan pyramid (Dzibilchaltun).

As great as that trip was, I wanted to see much more of Xcaret than we did, and I wanted to go to Tulum, and there was just a lot more to see. Also, at our landing spot in Playa del Carmen, it was so beautiful. It was quiet, white sand beach, with every type of small boat imaginable in the harbor, and enchanting cabanas, and I wanted to go back.

It took a while, but trying to decide how to commemorate my 40th birthday, suddenly I realized that was what I wanted to do. I was working again, we were starting to travel again, and I could finally go back. Much to my surprise, Julie and Maria were on board. That meant I was going to put it off a week, because depriving my mother of three of her children on the day when one of them turned 40 seemed too much, but then I did not have to find someone else to take, so it all worked out.

The trip had its ups and downs. I thought Julie and Maria would not like it that much because they don't like hot weather. (I'm not that big on hot weather either, but I can handle it better.) There was definite heat, and lots of humidity, but we survived. We got to see more of Xcaret, and went to both Tulum and Chichen Itza, and there was other cool stuff, which I shall cover over the next few Saturdays. There was also a downside.

Playa del Carmen is no longer that sleepy, peaceful little town. It's kind of easy to see how it happened. The tourism got stronger, and it boomed. There has been a lot of new construction, and clearly they tried to expand so that there were other types of industry. That went bust. There were so many empty office buildings, available for purchase or rental.

The downside is that everyone has to hustle. From the airport to the hotels to the attractions, everyone is trying to book you on other things, and there are always timeshare-type presentations, because most of the resorts are all-inclusive resorts. We want you to consider us, so come and we will feed you and give you a discount on your excursion, and you will listen to our pitch.

It is worse on the streets. There are people constantly calling to you. They will give you a massage, braid your hair, give you a once in a lifetime deal on jewelry, and I believe there are more corrupt experiences available as well. It's exhausting. It gives you some great service - we had the best taxi driver ever - but it wears you down to constantly be saying no, and constantly be asked, and also the realization of the desperation underneath it.

And you know, we are not rich, but to them, we are. We're vacationing in a foreign country, and honestly, they don't get that many people from the United States. Most people guessed we were Canadian, but most of the other tourists we were seeing were from Europe and Asia. The guest book at the Aviary had people from Belgium and Luxembourg and there was a huge tour group from Russia that we encountered on our way to Chichen Itza.

And they value the tourists. Quintana Roo was like the only Mexican state without a travel advisory on it while we were there. There is a strong (paramilitary) police presence, and we knew we were very safe the entire time. It was just also a little sad.

Some of the resorts around Tulum had kind of the old feel, like there might still be peace and quiet there, and Playa del Carmen is still quieter and safer from Cancun, as far as I can tell, but it was eye-opening, I guess.

Anyway, none of this is to say it was a bad trip, and it should be obvious after the next few posts that it was not, and that I am still willing to go back. (I still haven't seen all of Xcaret; there is just a lot to it.) I guess I just wish for a kinder and more prosperous world, for wherever I go. That part of me does not take vacations.