Cancun & Playa del Carmen

On arrival and check in at Sydney airport I quickly learned that I got a complimentary upgrade due to some mix up with putting me into a group booking. Lovely! So I had a lovely window seat in Premium Economy and sat next to a nice old man who helped me find blankets and pillows and ignored me for the next of the flight. A Stilnox tablet after lunch and I was out for the majority of the flight and quickly arrived in Dallas/Fortworth, Texas. A quick transit through the airport and back to another gate and another plane due for Cancun, Mexico.

On arrival in Cancun I anticipated being met by a nice young Mexican, smartly dressed in uniform, holding a sign with my name. Ideally he would escort me to a nice car that would chauffeur me to the Hilton. Alas, my fantasy was just that, and there was no one holding a sign with my name on it, nor a sign for the Hilton. I stood around the waiting area for minute or so, obviously looking quite lost because I had plenty of Mexicans asking me if they were going where I was going. Eventually a man came walking around and I heard a version of my name being spoken, something like ‘Gover, Gover’. “Yes… Gower’ I said, he showed me to his van. Lesson 1: Don’t expect too much from Mexico.

I arrived at the Hilton and had my first Mexican meal. Chicken Fajitas and a Margarita! Nice! Life was good! The next day I decided to go to the nearest phone company where I could arrange a Mexican SIM card. Tel Cel was suggested as the phone company. AUS $14 got me a SIM card and AUS $40 got me 3GB/1 month of data. Pretty good really! They even set it all up for me and made sure it was in English and everything before I left the shop! Sweet! I was now connected to the world via Facebook. I spent the next couple of hours checking out the shops at the shopping centre La Isla, and had some lunch, Chicken Burrito and a Margarita – Yum!!

Cancun, is very touristy, specifically developed for the American tourist market. Not my cup of tea really, as I suspected, but I was ok to visit for a couple of days. Next stop Playa del Carmen, an hour South down the Yukatan Peninsula. I caught a cab into the centre of Cancun to the main bus station, then catching a bus to Playa. It was a fairly easy process, even with basic Spanish.

My first impression of Playa del Carmen is that again it was very touristy, and quite similar to Kuta, Bali. Perhaps it’s the proximity to the beach. I decided to be brave and chance it with a very local restaurant as I was starving and couldn’t be bothered to look for something decent. I quickly learned that they didn’t speak any English and also, I didn’t speak any Spanish, because everything I thought I was saying was promptly greeted by a blank stare! At least they were smiling.

That afternoon I succumbed to a climate change cold, and started to feel quite exhausted and stuffed in the sinuses. I took it pretty easy and didn’t do too much but hang out at the very cute little Hotel Colorado.

The next day I thought I would brave the heat and head to Walmart to get the last of my supplies before I head to the GVI base. On the way I detected an Australian accent and got talking to some Aussie guys. One of them lived in Playa running his own business and the other was traveling. Finding my supplies in Walmart I was waiting in the checkout and felt suddenly quite ill. I realized I was going to pass out and I put my head down to try and get some blood to it. Nope, that wasn’t enough, I had to sit down. So I did, right at the checkout. I almost lost consciousness and couldn’t talk. People around me were helping me and got me a cold drink and some smelling salts. Then a wheel chair! Drama! They wheeled me out of the checkout area and I managed to pay and get my supplies without speaking. They then wheeled me out and got me next to the ice machine and gave me some ice to cool me down. I eventually gathered enough strength and was able to walk out of there unassisted. Whoa! That wasn’t fun! I think it was a combination of my low blood pressure, the heat, my cold and exhaustion from preparing to leave Australia.

Later I met up with some other girls who were also staying at the Hotel Colorado, and who were also going on GVI expeditions. We decided to go and have dinner down on the main street of Playa Del Carmen and check out the local scene. Lots of men walking around with guitars wanting to sing to you for a tip. Street hawkers trying to lure you into their shops to spend much needed Pesos. Playa is very touristy and completely aimed at tourists, mainly American, on their annual summer break, catching a bit of sun. Plenty of diving operators and tour operators. We saw a man with two lion cubs, luring people in for photos then asking for a tip. I hate to think what the future is for those beautiful creatures. : ( Also a man with very cute little monkeys and iguanas.

We checked out a few touristy shops and headed back to the hotel. The GVI staff were going to meet us at the hotel at 7am to take us to the Marine Exhibition base camp.