Xpujil - Playa del Carmen 315km (196mi) 

Tuesday 29 March 2005

We have Egg a la Mexicana for breakfast and hit the road by 8am. We make good progress until we are stopped at a military checkpoint. The car is searched and after a while we are clear to go.  We arrive at Tulum at around 11.30am, where we have lunch at Emilio's kitchen on the main road. Delicious chicken dish with lovely herbs. We then visit the temple complex of Tulum, which beautifully set on the coast line. The temples themselves are less impressive and relatively poor state, but the setting is unforgettable. .  After a  1½ hour visit under the blazing sun we continue to Playa del Carmen, where we stay at Hotel Kinbe. We have a suite on the 3rd floor. There is no elevator, so it is a bit of hard work to get to the room with our suit cases. We have a rest before we go out for a beer on the beach. We return the car , as we will have no use for it the coming days. We take a stroll on  Avenida 5 - also called La Quinta -  the traffic free shopping mall of Playa, where tourist shops are selling most usual and unsual souvenirs (like Cuban cigars). There are many restaurants too, with touts trying to seduce us to a meal. It obvious that Playa is geared to mass tourism, but in scale it is still acceptable and agreeable, especially compared to the clutter of Cancun's hotel zone. There is no high rise, it has a splendid beach and only one tourist strip. 

Later at night we eat out in a simple Mexican family restaurant, called Los Almendros on Av 10, a few steps away from the tourist maelstrom.  Av. 10, although just one block removed from the international tourist traps seems to be in another world entirely. This is where the Mexicans go to eat and shop. Later at night we visit the (gay) dance club, where we find a mixed crowd of Mexicans and foreigners, young and old.   

Weather: sunny, around 29ºC/85ºF

Woensdag 30 maart 2005

We sleep until about 8am and have breakfast across the street from our hotel. Today we head for the beach. We rent a sunbed and a parasol and Carlos takes care of us during the day at the  Pirate hotel and restaurant. It is partly cloudy with lots of sunny spells and the temperature is agreeably hot at 26ºC. A lovely see breeze makes it all the more nice. The sea water is nice too. Our attention is diverted regularly from our books towards men passing by. Around 3.30pm we call it a day and go back to the hotel for a shower. Later we have a walk up and down the avenues and do some shopping.  

We and the afternoon (or start the evening) with a cocktail on a side street of Av. 10 and 5.  .

Later that night we dine at the same place where had the cocktails. I am having a lovely fish with a name that I have trouble to reproduce here. It was shown to me, before it went into the frying pan, in a raw yet deadly state. The end result was very tasty indeed. 

After dinner we stroll along Avenida 5 to the Italian coffee joint Café Sasta, the only place in Playa serving good coffee.  .

Thursday 31 March 2005

We have breakfast again at La Conda across from our hotel. After breakfast we pack our baggage and wait for the Airport shuttle to pick us up. The drives shows up exactly at 10am and takes us to the Cancún aiport in about 40 minutes. The airport is very busy. There are long lines at the check in desks of all airlines and US Airways is no exception. It takes the better part of 50 minutes before are baggage is checked We go through security and customs after which we have snack while we are waiting for boarding. At 1.45pm we take off for Philadelphia. The flight is uneventful. 

At arrival in Philadelphia we have to clear customs and immigration (forms to fill out!!) claim our baggage and recheck it for Amsterdam. This time we have a good two hours before we can continue our journey. At least according to plan. The aircraft however is late coming in and we board we some delay.  Just before the aircraft wants to set into motion the internal power of the aircraft shuts down and the aircraft is being pulled back to the gate. Mechanics are called on board and fix the problem within 30 minutes. But we have lost our departure slot by now and are 25th in line for departure. That is when a passenger is getting medical problems. A doctor and a nurse are called for to assist. It turns out to be a serious case and the passenger has to leave the aircraft. Meanwhile a second passenger gets sick we are down two passengers. It is obvious that there baggage has to be unloaded before we can attempt a new departure. With more than 2½ hours of delay we finally take off. When we arrive at Amsterdam Dutch customs want to have a go at our luggage, but fortunately we have nothing illegal with us. We catch the train for Rotterdam which finally takes us home.