Welcome to Miami Beach, Mexico, otherwise known as Playa del Carmen. Even though I’ve been in North America all along, the Yucatan and, in particular, here in Playa del Carmen, feels very, well, American, as in, United States of America. As in, McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, malls, wide palm tree-lined boulevards, chain stores, people speaking English and asking for payment in American dollars, loud tourists and louder music. If not for the speed bumps and the police presence, you’d never know you were in Mexico.
There appears to be very little that’s authentic about Playa del Carmen. It wouldn’t have been my first (or second, or twelfth) choice of destination. But everywhere else on the itinerary was someplace I wanted to see, and geographically, this was the most logical endpoint before
flying home. So life’s a compromise, I suppose. And hey, there are worse things in the world than ending my trip with a couple of days on a beach.
But first…
All is quiet on New Year’s Day
We departed Merida at the luxuriously late hour of 10am this morning, after wheedling with Milton a bit. Actually, he was feeling a bit rough this morning after last night’s party. We dragged our bags (and in some cases, hangovers) to a pair of private vans and rolled out.
Merida on New Year’s Day is quiet. The shops were mostly closed and the roads were pretty clear. We made good time to our lunch stop, the cenote of Yokdzonot. Unlike yesterday’s cenotes, this one was large but open to the sky. Some people went for a swim, especially the people who were too sick to go to the cenotes yesterday. Gao took a kayak ride. We all had some lunch at the onsite restaurant, at which we were the only customers. It was pretty low key.
Chicken Schnitzel
After lunch, we headed to the famous iconic Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza (aka “chicken schnitzel”). The large sun pyramid is the one you’ve probably seen in all the guidebooks of Mexico. Chichen Itza has been named as one of the seven wonders of the world. The amazingly well preserved structures gave archaeologists a ton of knowledge about ancient Mayan civilization, from their calendar to their sporting events to their religious ceremonies.
As I’m sure you can imagine, a site this well known is going to be crowded. Indeed, Chichen Itza was packed with tour groups in a dozen languages. The annoying jaguar noisemakers were back, and added to that was the sound of people clapping to hear the echoes. The entire site was very Disney-esque, especially compared to all the other ruins we’ve seen this trip. It was very hot — well over 30 degrees — and noisy and you can’t climb any of the ruins.
For all these reasons, in all honesty, I found Chichen Itza to be a bit of a letdown. It didn’t quite match the impressiveness of Teotihuacan, the majesty of Palenque or the serenity of Yaxchilan. But that’s okay. It’s like the Mona Lisa of Mexico: Even if you know there are much more impressive paintings in the Louvre, no trip is complete without seeing it.
We followed the onsite archaeological guide around for about 45 minutes, and then had some free time to wander. Some people went to see the cenote on site; others souvenir-shopped from the ubiquitous vendors (“almost free!”) and still others took creative photos of the ruins. But I was hot and tired, and so a few of us found the shady side of the main pyramid and just lay on the grass and stared at the clouds. As lie-on-the-grass settings go, this has got to be the most impressive.
To the beach!
We headed east and arrived at Playa del Carmen around 7:30 after a trip down a toll road so new that Google Maps shows it as a dirt trail. Immediately I could smell the salty sea air and hear the thumping music.
We passed the main shopping street and spotted the likes of Haagen-Dazs, Forever 21 and Starbucks, but also a chocolate shop and a coffee place, so I’m all set.
Our hotel is somewhat annoyingly situated in the centre of the town’s never-ending nightlife, bars and restaurants and tacky souvenir shops everywhere. But hey, it’s only a few blocks from the beach. My plans involve a parasol, a beach chair and pink drinks with umbrellas in them. Eat your heart out, minus-20 dwelling fellow Montrealers.
We went out for dinner — Jelle and I ended up getting sushi of all things, given the wide variety of options and the lack of authenticity of the Mexican food anyway. It was good, if eye-wateringly expensive compared to everywhere else in Mexico. Then some people set out to embrace the nightlife to make up for the illness-tinged festivities last night. Not being twenty-two anymore, I went back to the hotel and called it night, and tried gamely to fall asleep despite the loud thumping music.
Only two days left now! Hard to believe this trip’s almost over.