I have to mention my journey back to Mexico. Because, it was ridiculous. It didn{t have to be, but was.
I got a midnight bus from the city Chetmal, close to the Mex boarder. I was really hungry but the same dairy options food was all that was available. I am addicted to these salted chips they have, so I got a huge pack (way overpriced). Anyways, i got on my cheap bus as I watched all the other tourists load onto ADO with a TV, toilet and A-C.. I had spent all my spare pesos (remember I was just coming from Belize) on that damn taxi from the boarder.
The good news was that my cheap MAYAB bus had a backseat. So I actually slept better laid out than I had on any other of the 20-odd buses I had taken so far. The driver woke me up because originally my plan was to head back to Tulum. Knowing that the hostel was crap here, I changed my mind as I was leaving the bus. The bus had ran away quick-smart though. it was about 3am though, so I waited for a twice as expensive ADO to take me the extra hour and a half. The lady was all ¨The bus you were on was going to Playa del Carmen^^as I have found Mexicans do often. It is like, thanks for that information now, but as the bus has pulled away it is not too useful. I am still not on the bus and also now, I am a LITTLE pissed off.
Anyways, I got to Playa del Carmen at about 4.30am. I did not know the address of my hostel, which I didn{t think would matter because we had showed up to EVERY OTHER CITY OR TOWN in this country (and Belize) with addresses, and NEVER had to pull them out. This mistake would proove fatal.
JUST JOSHING - no one died. But part of my spirit did.
To cut a long story short (I feel I have told this already, but It may have just been to friends), I found a guy who claimed he knew my hostel.. the taxi drivers did not, but this guy had a bike with a little carriage on the front for either people or baggage. He said he would take me there. Great.
First however, he had to take other people somewhere else. That was okay, I was willing to sit on the bench. There was not much to see at this hour, but I was sitting on a bench in a street by a church leading to the ocean. Turns out this street during the day is full of food stalls, and the church is the only in this part of town so people CRAM into it everyday as they are surrounded by tourists (the bus station is on the main tourist drag, opposite McDonalds).
The man returned after about 20 minutes. This time my patience (that rarely exists) was a lot thinner as he passed with other people{s things... ¡Que pasa? I asked (what happened?), but he assured me he would be back soon.
Before this he was trying to convince me that my hostel, on 20th Street, was expensive and had a bad location. He was trying to sell another hotel, where comission lies I guess, but I wasn{t budging. It made me not really like him though. At 4am, I don{t want problems.
I waited 30 minutes more, but he didn{t return. I would not have waited 5 minutes normally, particularly after he passed me the 2nd time, but my bags were heavy and I was sick of lugging them around. Enough joints and muscles had felt enough pain.
SIDE NOTE: Have I mentioned my bags? I lugged a suitcase (on wheels, although in Mexico with the roads, this sometimes is not an advantage) of 25kg, and a carry-on of 15kg... this was purely books. For school, Mother. I also have my school satchel which carries my camera. For a bag from Thailand, it is doing well.
Well, I set off, with my information that my hostel was on 20th street. Unfortunately, parallel to the big main tourist street I started at, 5 (which was parallel to the sea, after that was Calle 10, then 15, then 20), was a beast of a street. So there I was, with my heavyass bags, in the dark walking this street for a long time - sweating, I may add. I was in shorts but with a jersey for the buses AC. I only encountered party-ers on their way home and taxi drivers. Many stopped, many were questioned about my hostel. None knew it.
I was confused about this because I found it on HostelWorld, a website that is a very valuable resource, as the highest rated. But people must use the address to get there, not the name. Unfortunately, I had the wrong information necessary.
About an hour after starting off I was at the other bus station in the other side of the centre, asked people in the station, taxi drivers and street vendors setting up their stalls... but alas, no one knew. It is annoying to be in a place with 100 billion different accomodations because there are always some with the same name... my hostel was Hostel Rio Playa (aka Hostel River, Beach) and people were telling me of Hotel Rio, Hotel Playa.. most people also did not know what a hostel was... I was basically calling it a cheap hotel.
I had realised that I had reached the end of the tourist district. I took the road towards the sea thinking, I will just go to the first hostel I see. I walked right into the main party district where town was still pumping. If you have ever had little sleep, you will know that lights and sounds are not what you want to hear. So, I asked another taxi driver about the hostel, apparently on calle 20... explaining I had walked all of calle 20. He informed me that there is also Avenue 20.. fabulous! So It could be there...
I was on Avenue 14 so it did not seem like much of a stretch. I hightailed over to avenue 20, by this time I had seen most of the city. I could tell the sun was going to rise. This SUV pulled over offering me a ride to my hostel, but that turned into - ´you should come to this afterparty with us^ which turned into Hasta la Vista from me.
I was so tired, not from sleep at this point, but my legs and arms.. so I decided to watch the sunrise. It was a mission to the beach, as it has proved many times in Mexico, although it is close - there are hotels and residences blocking the way. But I got there, among the tourists (like me who like sunsets and rises), runners (unlike me) and people still in party gears.
I can say that I was the first person in the ocean that day. It was so nice.
That was when the photo up the top of the page was taken. I didn{t set it up, the boy was jumping from the wharf where my bags were left, onto the sand. He jumped into my shot, I was going to pull away but realised it was cool.
Anyways, with this refreshment I was back on track to find this place. Now with light on my side, more people about to help and a new determination to find this bloody hostel - I was off and racing. I was not stopping with my bags to ensure people could pass me on the sidewalk without having to step onto the road, smiling as they passed. I was charging through with a don{t mess with me, thanking them after they jumped onto the road out of the way of the mad woman lugging 50kg (more or less). Also, my toenail was still at the height of pain... so I limped this whole way in my crocs too. I was such a pathetic sight I am actually suprised more people did not stop to help me.
I walked the whole of Avenue 20 which went from Laundromats and apartments just outside of the centre, to barrios-neighbourhoods of local people. Half way up the Avenue I found something that would be hard to part with many hours later - a shopping trolley. Turns out I was one road over from the main highway with the WALMART and Supermarket. It was frustration that lifted up and threw my bags into that trolley. Past all the homes and meat shops and stares from people, I met the end of the street. Not cool. But onto that highway I went, having a break to by some bandages and cream from my toe.
At this stage it was about 8am. So this has actually been a longer time than I make it out to be.. there were also stops along the way on vaious benches/sidewalks.
I headed back towards town in the hopes of finding an internet cafe that was open. I was on calle 10 (parallel with 20 and 5, for those trying to visualise.. I know the roadmap of Playa del Carmen VERY well now) when I asked a traffic cop (eating a sandwhich) for the nearest internet cafe I did not realise that this cop may have just been the ONLY person who could have told me the location of the hostel, alas - he was standing RIGHT outside it.
So I wandered for a little bit looking for an internet cafe that was open, to find the address of the hostel that I had just been talking to a cop outside. I also recieved an email from my parents saying there was a letter from the school as I had failed to fax in signed pages that proove I have been at school (some rule to do with being a student in Aus), which I was not in the mood for (as they threaten to fail you etc) as it panicked me. But also I logged into Facebook where waiting for me where lots of Birthday messages, which I appreciated.
I found the address and walked over two streets to find me back with my friend the traffic cop (he had finished his sandwhich). Here, I ended up at the hostel, told the guy at the desk I had been looking for it for hours... got offered the free breakfast which I gratefully accepted, probably taking more than my fair share of cereal (bad decision due to the milk here, it hadn{t even been refridgerated) toast with jam (which is what they feed you at every hostel in Mexico) and the fresh fruit. Then I slept.
When I woke up again at 4pm I went in search of a meal, I found Vegetarian Fajitas (which after 3 months here, had never found), so excited and hungry I was willing to pay $120, about $13.50 NZ, which is now 1st equal for the most expensive meal I have had here (the other being the $120 peso buffet we were forced into buying on the tour in Oaxaca).
Fajitas, actual mexican ones, are similar to veges and chicken done in a wok with a tomato sauce, then served with tortillas, salsas and sometimes refried beans. They were delicious. Huge too, so it was my lunch the next day. I will never forget that meal and from here on out my life mission is to try and recreate it.
I really liked PLaya del Carmen, it has a beautiful big beach then a no-car tourist drag where there are the largest ammount of tourist shops and restaurants I have seen all together. Baskin Robbins, Starbucks and Hagen Daaz all appear on every block of it too. Cuban cigar shops litter the streets all these things together create an American Tourists dream. Everything is in US prices.
One thing that annoyed me was that the tourists there were very irritated by the Mexican people{s attempts to make a sale. Instead of saying No, gracias or No, thank you like what happens here in Puerto Vallarta and at Markets, people just blatently ignore them. I think I was sensitive to this because of how much changes this part of the country has gone through to cater for these, majority American, tourists. They plead with them to look there way, but the response is ignored or a rude response. When I say No gracias, I say it firm but friendly, no one feels ill feelings towards me! Success.
I stayed here 2 days and 2 nights, sleeping for most of the time! I had a very high bunk which was good because I was close to the fan, once I got up there I didn´t have the energy to come back down. I made it down to go to the bus station, which due to my long arrival experience I thought was going to be far... turns out it is 4 streets over... small blocks.
The drive to Cancun was very supped-up highways... I felt like I was driving into Las Vegas (apart from the fact it was green), seeing the huge hotels in the distance. I suspected Cancun to be a cross between Las Vegas and Gold Coast... in some ways it was, but it was actually different to how I expected.....
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