DAY 28
Week 4
PLAYA DEL CARMEN (Quintana Roo, MEX)
Thursday April 11th, 2019
TODAYS MILEAGE – 5 miles / 8 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 15,773 miles / 25,384 kilometres
Today marks the penultimate day of the Mexico leg of this trip as I jet off to Havana, Cuba midday tomorrow. Apart from the usual end of trip group dinner, we all had the day to head off to all points of the tourist map on our “Pat Malone’s”.
I went on a bit of a 200 Peso taxi town tour for a couple of hours, before grabbing a bite to eat at Finley's Burger & Fries for lunch and heading back to my hotel room for an arvo of paying bills (yeah … yeah, I know I’m adulting while on holidays), finalising Cancun & Havana transfers and some Netflix chill out.
We all trundled off in a hired bus at 7PM and headed to Carboncitos, to be wined and dined on a travellers last supper where email addresses, auf wiedersehen’s and travellers takes on Mexico were exchanged.
Speaking of perceptions – what did I think of Play del Carmen or Mexico?
I have to admit, I really didn’t get any of the vibe or buzz that others reckon Playa del Carmen is known for, other than it’s JAFTT – Just Another Farqin’ Tourist Trap. A major caveat to that statement is that I thoroughly loved the artists market that sprung up and lined 5th Avenue during the latter part of the evening.
As for the country - let me just put it out there to start with: we travelled over 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) by road and admittedly we were nowhere near the states bordering the US, in which the drug cartels and people smugglers seemingly operate unencumbered by law enforcement, but not once were we robbed, assaulted, accosted, threatened or ill at ease – even with my 4AM morning walkabout's.
A couple of interesting observations I found:
- The Mexican diet consists of huge amount of carbs & starch laden ingredients
- Mexican food is not inherently spicy – you add the amount and level you want
- Salsa to us westerners is not the same for Mexicans; it’s not a diced tomato affair, it’s the accompanying sauces you add yourself
- >Street food is fine – eat where it’s popular with the locals. My gastric issues were from a restaurant that had plenty of positive online feedback
- The further you head south into Mexico, the more fruit and vegetables you will see on your plate
- >As much as I wanted to like Mezcal, it’s not as smooth on the taste as people rave about
- I’m head and shoulders taller the most of the Mexicans, same-same as most Asian countries I’ve visited as well
- The locals who I’ve interacted with were hardworking, honest and funny people who are genuine in trying to help, even with our limited knowledge of each other’s languages
- The only weapons I witnessed were in the hands of the Federale’s and State/Local law enforcement, who seemed to have a presence on every street corner
It’d be fair to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed the trip, even while not feeling 100% for the last couple of days. I'll be visiting again ... hopefully sooner rather than later.
A fair amount of the trip success goes to the “Lithiunian Legend” our G Adventures CEO - Irmante “Jumanji” Sungailaite, who was fun, knowledgeable, patient and great peeps. At times their job is like herding mercury with a toothpick and I for one certainly appreciate all the hard work and effort that often goes unheralded and I thank Jumanji for being her good self. 