Our Mexican Adventure

It has been two weeks since five twentysomethings descended on our home in Playa del Carmen, and we believe we have finally recovered enough to speak publicly about it. Thank you all for your understanding in our time of distress. We needed some private time to deal with our feelings. We appreciate your patience.

Phew! We feel so much better now. We can finally discuss the events of that week.

Woohoo! It was off the chain! John’s brothers Tim and Dan, Dan’s girlfriend Amanda, Amanda’s cousin Natalie, and Tim’s friend Rafael (aka Raf, Rafa) joined us for a week of beach bumming, drinking, sand castle building, bar-hopping, snorkeling, drinking games, cenote exploration, and last, but not least, DRINKING in lovely Playa del Carmen.

For some reason, though, the exact events of last week are a bit fuzzy. As luck would have it, Tim has written up a detailed trip report.

This is Playa del Carmen as experienced by Tim, a single 27-year old guy from Chicago. Enjoy.

Tim’s Playa del Carmen Trip Report

Disclaimer: You may recall from Train Kept a Rollin’ that we had already been partying for a good 2 weeks before the youngins arrived. We had every intention of resting up before their arrival, but, alas, we were already a bit exhausted when everyone arrived. Yes, that’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it.

You might remember that our “road to nowhere” trip a month back literally led to nowhere as our little Honda Civic just couldn’t make the final 10 miles to Punta Allen. We were determined to eventually complete the trip. A couple of days ago, we grabbed a rental jeep, our friend Antonio, and lots of water and some sandwiches (just in case), and headed down the Boca Paila road once again. Although the shocks in the jeep were not quite as good as our Honda’s, making for some sore backs, the extra ground clearance allowed us to quicken our pace. We made a quick stop at the tourist information center to show Antonio the amazing view from the scary lookout tower and another stop to cool off in the ocean. But this trip was more about making it to our final destination rather than the road itself. We made it to Punta Allen in about 3 1/2 hours.

Punta Allen is a tiny fishing community 75 miles south of Playa del Carmen. It is a quiet and charming town, known for its fresh seafood, particularly lobster. The main “strip”, their version of Playa’s 5th Avenue, is just a sandy path lined with palm trees, cabañas and seafood restaurants. We only had about 2 hours in town before we had to head back home. Those pot holes are much more difficult to avoid when it’s dark! We went for a quick swim and snorkel. Antonio found a manta ray! He was just a few feet off shore, and we were all able to just walk right up to him for a closer look. Cool!

We lunched at Muelle Viejo, where Antonio had a very large whole fried fish, Libby opted for a much smaller fish fillet and John lucked out with the chicken fajitas option. In a fishing village such as Punta Allen, you expect to eat very fresh seafood. Unfortunately, Antonio, whose family runs a seafood restaurant in Veracruz, determined that our fish had been frozen. Lesson learned. Don’t assume. Always ask. Libby’s fish left much to be desired, but her sample of Antonio’s snapper was muy rico (very tasty). Next time, she’ll get the whole fish. Maybe she can convince them to cut off that nasty fish head before they serve it to her.

After lunch, we took a walk around town. That didn’t take long. So we decided to drive to the very end of the peninsula to see the lighthouse. Okay, we thought the road was bad before. Now, we were on a rocky one-lane road with the jungle closing in around our open-air jeep. Kinda cool, kinda creepy. As it was getting late, we chose to turn around as soon as we had enough room to do so. No lighthouse. Maybe next time.

The ride down to Punta Allen was fun and exciting, so we definitely recommend it to the adventurous traveler. Make sure to start with a full tank of gas (no gas station after Tulum), bring plenty of water and some snacks. There are only 3 spots between Tulum and Punta Allen where you MIGHT be able to purchase food or drinks. The road can be unpredictable. If there’s been a lot of rain, the dirt road may well be impassable. If your car breaks down, it could be hours or even longer before you get help. Don’t expect your cell phone to work. The day we went, there was a construction crew laying down new dirt on the road. (Guess the old dirt just wasn’t up to the job anymore.) The crews held us up both on the way down and the way back home.

We’d like to spend more time in Punta Allen, so the next time we head down that way we’ll hopefully be spending the night in a cabaña on the beach.

View our Punta Allen pictures here.

Holy Crap!

After living in Playa del Carmen for over 5 months, we finally received our first piece of mail from the United States. This envelope was mailed from Madison, WI on March 2 and arrived here on April 22! Congratulations to Paul and Emma on the birth of their second son, Alex.

Unfortunately, we are still waiting for a Christmas card sent in December and a wedding invitation sent in February…

We’ve been on the party train for almost two weeks now! It all began with Playa’s Tequila Festival. Representatives of tequila companies from the Mexican state of Jalisco (where most tequila is made) arrived anxious to win over new customers by offering free samples. It worked! After quite a few samples, we bought a bottle of El Destilador Anejo, an oh-so-smooth special edition. Unfortunately, this tequila is very difficult to find, but if you ever come across it, snag it! When we needed a break from the tequila, the lovely Sol girls were there to entertain … or at least to stand around looking pretty.

The next stop on our party train was the opening night of Playa del Carmen’s first (and, some hope, last) Cancun-esque nightclub. Bali was set to open at 10pm, and drinks for VIP card-holders were free until midnight! We were so there! Only one problem. This is Mexico. Since when does anything happen on time?! At 9:30pm, the stairs to Bali were being painted. Oops! At 10pm, the rumor was they would open at 10:30. At 10:30, a Bali employee was overheard describing the inside of Bali as chaotic with scaffolding still up. New rumor — 11:30 opening time. What about our free drinks?! We took in the rumors and watched the gathering crowd from DJs, a comfy bar just 2 doors down and a regular hangout for us. Around 11:30, as promised, they started letting in the restless crowd. And guess what, free drinks all night! The beer was warm, but the cocktails were strong. And the crowds were … um … crowded. Bali has a capacity of 1,200 or so, and we’re quite sure they were at capacity that night.

What’s next? It’s got to be someone’s birthday, right? Sure enough, our friends Antonio from Veracruz, Mexico and Julie from Montreal, Canada share a birthday. What else was there to do but throw a party? We started with drinks at DJs, enjoyed dinner with 30 or so friends at Sol Food, and danced the night away at Blue Parrot. After yet another late night, a rest would do us good. Oh wait, it’s Kat’s birthday too! Off we go to a cool, but pricey bar whose name escapes us to celebrate. Finished off at DJs (where else?).

Next, we had an opportunity to party with some American tourists. Our friends Catherine and Brian from Chicago were getting married at Dreams Tulum on April 8th. They wanted to have a pre-wedding celebration in Playa the night before (because Playa rules). So, we organized a pub crawl. Between a late arrival time and guests turning into pumpkins after midnight, we only had a little more than 3 hours to crawl. But a fun time seemed to be had by all at DJ’s, Beer Bucket and Blue Parrot. Glowing reviews of Playa del Carmen were heard all around. What else?

The next day, it was off to Tulum for the main event. Catherine and Brian had a beautiful wedding on the beach, followed by champagne and hors d’oeuvres and later a lovely dinner of surf ‘n turf and fish. After dinner, guests engaged in the limbo and some drunken variation of a hat dance. The partying went on late into the night, and at some point, we eventually crashed in our friends’ hotel room. New Hecho en Mexico dress for Libby, $30. New linen pants for John, $80. Listening to Catherine and her girl friends belt out Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, priceless.

And finally, we commenced our party circuit with tonight’s pool party sponsored by some French Canadian friends who are soon returning home for the summer. We had to say goodbye to our friend Julie tonight, but were happy to learn that Veronica has a few more weeks than she expected.

Tomorrow (oh wait, it’s already tomorrow!), we get a nice respite from all this partying. We’ll need it! This weekend, five 20-somethings, including John’s brothers Tim & Dan, will be arriving for a one-week stay. Party on!

New Photos
Tequila Festival
Bali Nightclub
Playa Pub Crawl
Catherine & Brian’s Wedding

Our cat, Mindy, has become quite the watchcat here in Mexico. She often sits on a plastic chair on our balcony patrolling the neighborhood. We leave the balcony door open when we’re home so that she can come and go as she pleases.

A couple of weeks ago, we heard a growl coming from our balcony area. Strange, Mindy doesn’t growl. We looked over to find that a small black cat had made its way into our apartment. Mindy started hissing and chased her off in a flash. To get to our apartment, the black cat had to squeeze through our building’s gate, walk up the stairs to the 2nd floor, jump over our balcony wall and then saunter in through our balcony door. We were pretty sure that the cat was an outdoor cat recently adopted by our friends, Steve & Sara, who live across the way. They confirmed that this cat does, in fact, like to growl.

A few days ago, Mindy started meowing and staring intently at the wall. She then started jumping at the wall desparately trying to get at something out of her reach. So, we went to take a look. A cockroach! Make that a flying cockroach! Although Libby is usually on bug duty, this was a little too much for her. Those long antennae are freaky! John machoed up and took care of the offending bug. Since we leave our balcony door open, we do occasionally get some big bugs like moths, but this was our first cockroach. Mindy is always helpful enough to point them out to us.

Good girl, Mindy!