Tulum to Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico    December 19, 2023

I was awake at 5 but put off getting up until 6.  Even then, I pretty much was sure to be alone in the kitchen except not today.  The tall skinny black guy from my room showed up with a cup, asking me if I was making coffee.  I was but not for him.  Last night he went on a rant about liking really hot water when he showers and this was only mildly warm- it was very acceptable.  I told him “Welcome to Mexico” and  he said he has been living here for 25 years!  Oh, I thought, you should be used to it by now!  Anyway, I prepared my coffee pot and once the water had boiled, I filled his cup and asked him if he had some instant.  No he said, do you have some to share?  I said nothing, filled my pot and walked out of the room.  He is so abrasive I couldn’t stand him.  He showed up again when I was in the kitchen making my second pot and when I’m talking pot, I mean about 10 ounces.  The only person twice and it had to be him but this time we talked a bit.  He has lived all over Mexico and won’t go back to the U.S. because all they want to do is put him in jail “being a black man you know”.  Frick I thought, here we go again.  This man has the biggest chip on his shoulder and last I checked, you don’t get put in jail for being a good citizen.  I was glad to leave him behind!

I didn’t think I could go to yoga at 9 for an hour and walk 20 minutes to the bus depot for my 10:20 departure.  I considered the idea that the bus might be late but no, we backed out of our stall at 10:20 sharp!

The drive was about an hour and 15 minutes-

on pretty decent highway but with a few topes of course.

As soon as we arrived in Playa and I left the bus depot, everything felt good!  The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the sidewalks were wide and Playa just gave me a really good feeling.  I found my Air BNB in no time-

I was upgraded from a main floor room to one on the second floor with a lot more light.  Because of the humidity they weren’t able to paint my original room and I think it may smell musty according to some reviews.  I love my room-

and the location is excellent.  I’m a 10 minute walk to 3 big grocery stores and a 30 second walk to 10th Avenue which is a busy street filled with shops.  The next street over is 5th which is all pedestrian friendly.  

I was starving so found a good burger place.  My antojitos were-

which were pretty tasteless but at the same time they brought 3 bottles of condiments.  Yesterday they did the same thing so I started putting the stuff on the chips.  It took me a few tries until I realized one of the bottles held ketchup and they were probably meant for my burger.  I had a good laugh over that one and hoped the waiter hadn’t been watching this crazy woman putting flavoured mayo and ketchup on her chips!  

After lupper I went exploring.  I stopped at Tracey and Wayne Schwartz’s place - Tammey Heinemann’s sister but they weren’t home.  I’ve made contact and I’ll go there tomorrow at 10.

While walking along, a street just became very tree filled-

and then it turned into the beach-

The waves were crashing in and it seemed like maybe the tide was coming in-

People were laying in the bushes to be in the shade.  It looks like it might be a place to hang out this week.  

For awhile I’ve been looking for a macrame tree of life-

I should have bought one in Valladolid because she wanted 250 pesos and in Tulum and along 5th Avenue they wanted 800 pesos!  Quite a difference!  Anyway I veered away from the tourist trap street and got one for 250.  Good deal and lucky! It’s about 2 feet long and a foot wide.  If it doesn’t fit somewhere at my condo it’ll look perfect at the lake.  A vendor saw my necklace-

and said he sold the same ones.  I told him I got it at Chichén Itzá and when I told him I paid 120 pesos, his eyes got big and he said I got a good deal.  I think I did too considering it’s obsidian.  We used to have contests on the truck about who could get the best exchange rate from the street vendors when we were changing money and I always won. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing but I do like to barter and get a good deal, but I know that no one will sell something without making at least a little bit. 

Looking forward to tomorrow!