Playa Del Carmen

When we arrived in Playa it was early evening. We didn't understand the directions we were given to the hotel so we wandered for awhile. We eventually met up with my mom and dad. Once we made it to 5th Ave I knew I would love Playa Del Carmen. It had such a quaint feeling. All the restaurants and shops were right there on 5th. The restaurants were all open to the street with tables that spilled out.

We went and dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then went for a walk on the beach. The sand and the water was beautiful. We saw a lot of butts hanging out of swimsuits. We also ordered a quesadilla to hold us over until dinner.

We ate dinner at a very authentic Mexican joint. It seemed to be where the locals went. It was delicious. We also went to a shop that sold Mayan sipping chocolate. I had never had it before. It is thicker and richer than chocolate milk but thinner and less sweet than a chocolate syrup. We went to dessert at a different restaurant. It was a beautiful evening.

The next morning we woke up really early to take a bus to Chichen-Itza. It is a few hours inland from Playa. Unfortunately we drove in a lot of circles picking people up. It felt like we were on the bus forever. We made a bathroom stop at a Mayan tourist gift shop. A man got on the bus who told us about the Mayan calender.

When we arrived at the ruins we separated into groups. The English and french were together. Our guide walked with us to different ruins and told us about what they knew of the history of the site. I have been to Chichen-Itza before but Brandon, Ryan, Nena, Jim, and Cathy had not been. It is an amazing place. It boggles my mind how much effort it would take to restore a site like this. After the guided tour we had almost an hour to walk around. It wasn't nearly enough time. We didn't get to see everything we wanted to see. If we have the chance to do it again I think we'll rent a car and go first thing in the morning.

After Chichen-Itza we went to lunch. It was buffet style. They had some brief entertainment of some Mayan traditional dances.

Then we went to a fresh water sink hole. (Cenote) I have never seen anything like it. There was a tree whose roots went all the way down to the water. You could see the sky through a hole above. We didn't know about this part of the tour so none of us brought bathing suits. Brandon and Ryan also found a car with a sweet paint job.

After the cenote we went to an old Mayan town that had one of the oldest Catholic churches. When the Spaniards came they built this church on top of the Mayan place of worship and used stones from the original Mayan temple to build the church. There was a park right across the street that was kind-of like the center square in town. Children and disabled adults were begging at the church. I had no money but a number of the kids were hanging around me.

It was a long bus ride back to the hotel. We did have an amazing dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was some of the best Italian food that I've ever had.

Saturday morning I went and had a massage. My mom and Cathy had both been to this place earlier in the week. They both had a massage from the same guy and thought it was the best ever. My dad made me an appointment with the same guy. When we arrived he told me to go and change. Then I heard him walk in and start a massage with someone else. I had this chick that wasn't very good. I can't complain because I had a massage but it was frustrating because it didn't feel like one. I had a very fresh cup of fruit for breakfast. Yummy! Then we went to hotel to shower and pack. Then we all met up at Senior Frogs for a quick lunch before we caught a bus back to the airport. Senior Frogs had such a great location.
Our experience going back home was the exact opposite of our experience getting to Cancun. We caught a direct flight on Delta from Cancun to LAX. We had seats in first class. it was very pleasant. I finished reading my book, ate dinner, watched a movie and then we were almost home. It was a very quick trip but I am so glad that we went. Brandon and I don't usually have the same days off so it was nice to be able to get away together.