Carolyn's adventures : Playa del Carmen

Our first whole day in Playa del Carmen involved a trip out to Tulum, another Mayan site. As we headed out there We heard about all the big resorts that have been built, the workers villages and the distorting effect on their lives and the balance of community. Also, much of the money that is earned does not go to the community, but out of the country because of foreign investment. In the past, because access was difficult, transportation costs were high, but despite transportation improvements, there is still price fixing, probably because of the perceived wealth in the resorts. Here people come to spend time, not really in Mexico but in an enclave. Not my scene at all. We paid 100 pesos for a grotty coffee, about £4.

The ruins were interesting but full of tourists, who looked like they were just taking a day off sunbathing, mostly ill clad for walking and posing ridiculously for their photos, after all the other stunning things we have scene, this was not the best, although the cliff top site was quite spectacular.

This was followed by a visit to a cenote, a spring of clear blue water where we could swim, and I did. It was glorious, there were turtles sitting in the rocks around and little fishes brushing past. I had a chill in a hammock before we returned.

We stopped off at Wal-Mart for a bit of shopping and said farewell to our driver. I picked up cinnamon sticks, chillie and some stationery to take to Cuba. Then we dropped it off at the hotel so we could get lunch, returning to 100% Natural. Then we did a bit more exploring, found some little galleries and went to the bank.

We deliberated over a tour for tomorrow then had a bit of time out. I had my legs defuzzed for about 20$ and later we met up for a drink. The place was heaving, loud music and lots of restaurants are on every street and people encouraging you into their establishment. We went into the shopping mall where a group were singing and found a little tapas bar.

On our way back we saw a taxi driver and enquired about a trip to a cenote. He was very helpful, so we have him booked for tomorrow, much more flexible and cheaper than an organised tour, and we don' want to be organised any more!

Well I received a couple of Whattsapp messages and he arrived at the appointed time and place. We drove out towards Tulum and turned off down a track where there were signs to various cenotes and other Mayan facilities, however when we arrived the place he had taken us didn't offer what we were looking for. We could only go on an organised tour through tunnels which was quite expensive and couldn't stay after the one hour. He explained that the water was very cold anyway. However we did see some flowering orchids!

It appears there are hundred of these sites and for this one access had been restricted to protect it, the nearby one was also going to be expensive, so he took us back to one called the Cenote Azul. This turned out to be just right with a number of pools to swim in with an entrance fee of 100 pesos, it had somewhere to change, 5 pesos and a little kiosk selling various refreshments.

We spent several hours there relaxing and got chatting to an English couple from Suffolk. There were quite well travelled and knew Cuba very well so I picked up a few tips. They were also interested in my Nicaraguan project and took my information. They had managed to get a local bus there, something we had been unable to find out about, which made our fare look pretty expensive, but we had had a comfortable journey and had no problem about getting back. I was in charge of the valuables, so wore Julie'splastic wallet under my costume. She very unkindly said it looked liked had a colostomy bag, but it did have a blue cord round my neck and better than losing our phones and money.

We returned to the hotel before 4pm and after organising myself for tomorrow's departure I went for a cup of tea then had a further walk along the beach in the other direction. There were a lot of toasting bodies, some very loud chaps, drinking and playing music on a ghetto blaster and a lot of expensive hotels and apartments that could really have been anywhere in the world.