Playa Del Carmen, Day 1

After a sleepless night of flying from Vegas via Mexico we arrived into Playa Del Carmen at 10am. 
I had organised for the guy who we rented the AirBnB apartment off to provide transfers from Cancun to Playa. About a 45min drive away. He was very kind and drove very fast. 130km ph when the speed limit was 90km… 

Anyway we get to the apartment which we were super excited about only for him to run around saying this is broken, door is something bla bla it’s all very safe, then leave. A Mexican whirlwind and three very tired and confused girls.

We were so exhausted we all fell straight asleep for 1.5hours. Upon waking up we realised that the apartment really wasn’t what it was like in the pictures. It’s old and worn and it smells. The most worrying of all, was the doors. The back sliding door had previously been broken by guests and he had made a makeshift door… It didn’t reach the roof at one part and had a big crack down the window. You could shake it around easily and it was hard to shut again once we opened it. The front door, we could barely shut and then it was really difficult to lock once you got it shut. It was also in an average area and we did not feel safe. The view was superb and just like the brochure – at least there was one thing.

We got up and walked around, the streets are bustling, hawkers trying to get you into their stores or see their wares. There’s music and colour, a great atmosphere. Oh and it’s bloody hot. Soooo humid. Sweat dripping from errywherrrr. 

We found a fantastic place to eat. Right by the pier to Cozumel, called xxx. I ordered ceviche (my FAVE!!) with a beer. We shared guac which was made fresh at our table – delicious. The ceviche was amazing. I had a mix of fish, octopus and shrimp with tomato, onion and HEAPS of lime. Perfect. The best part about the restaurant though was the fun and hilarious staff. They had great energy and loved making fun of us. One even danced me back to our table and sat on my lap as we sorted the bill. They were great company. 

In the meantime we are all contemplating moving but don’t know what to do as a refund isn’t an option with a cancellation on our booking. We book two days worth of tours which was an incredibly painful experience with a highly inexperienced / very slow guy booking our tours in the searing heat. We were all grumpy again after it. I almost wished I smoked so I could join the girls in some stress relief. Thank goodness we found a pool (‘party’ – there was a DJ) to laze by and swim in to refresh ourselves for a few hours! 

Right across the road we found a lovely hostel so went in to see what the private rooms were like. For only $60USD per night we could book a lovely, clean, inviting room with everything we needed in the centre of town. We decided to think about moving. 

We walked back slowly, Lauren visited Starbucks for a coffee. Nikita and I discussed the situation and decided we felt really uncomfortable at the other place so we would move immediately. Ran the idea past Lauren and she was in. One hitch, a storm had blown in. The sky turned dark, the heavens opened and it pissed down. Thunder cracked and lightening lit up the sky. We just stood there under the umbrellas outside Starbucks watching it. 

Back at the apartment we took photos and called AirBnB. They were wonderful and really understood our situation and started the process to investigate. A few emails later and we were refunded in full. Big thanks to them. Love a good industry disrupter and even more so, one that fixes a bad situation efficiently. 

We raced through the streets (rain had stopped) with our luggage, zig zagging around the tourists. Checked in at the hostel and lay down in our lovely, air conditioned, clean and safe room. We all felt a hell of a lot better after a shower and knowing we were out of the other apartment. 

Fresh and clean we wandered the streets again, this time with fresh eyes and a lot more happy! We found a nice place for dinner where the waiters have definitely been taught to try to up sell our meals. Kinda funny when their English isn’t that great. We shared ceviche (this will be almost all I eat in Mexico, I find it hard to order anything else) and I opted for two entrees so I could try two dishes. We had GIANT margaritas made fresh at our table and had some more fun with the waiter. By then it was 11pm and time for a well deserved sleep. What a day!