A Change of Location, Playa

I awaken the following morning to the hustle and bustle of movement in my room again and the shower running. Sticking my earbuds in I do my morning ten minute meditation while laying in bed, relaxed and calm, I find after about three to four days I start to get into a groove and rhythm while travelling. I break my meditation and out of bed to a quick dip in the pool over to Coffee Time, my go to breakfast place grab an Americano and crepes this morning. Today is travel day, so I scroll my App’s looking for a suitable hostel in the Playa de Carmen area while I wait on breakfast. I find a couple on 5th Ave, no thanks I don’t mind fun, but with the seven days I plan on staying there I’d rather be a little out of downtown and close to some friends who are flying in for a short five day stay. I find one called Tropical 20 and it’s a ten minute walk to my friends and about twenty to the downtown tourist area and $25 a night, with a 15% discount for booking a week, nice, booked.

I return back to my room to pack up have a quick shower and make sure I’m checked out by 11:00 a.m. With no real rush to leave I join some of my new friends who have gathered around the pool area again, drop my backpack and join in the conversation. Even after meeting new people for a day or two good-byes are never fun, but eventually the time comes for me to make my way down to the bus terminal and head to my next destination. The ADO terminal in downtown Cancun is a main hub and usually very busy, you can get to almost anywhere in Mexico from there, I feel it’s a better transit system than back home. In my broken Spanish I ask for a ticket to Playa de Carmen and get my ticket for the next bus at 2 p.m. it’s 120 Peso, so ten bucks, cheap. These buses aren’t like the city bus, air conditioned and comfortable seats it’s a smooth ride to get into the city, where the bus station is right on 5th Ave and spits you right out to the waiting “salespeople” trying to sell you any kind of junk they can. My advice, don’t make eye contact and walk with a purpose and even then I’m asked to but weed or coke about ten times, crazy. I take a quick right turn and make my way further away from the chaos and then crowds eventually thin out as I head towards my lodging, although anywhere in Mexico I’ve found it’s never really “not busy” with taxis and other forms of transit constantly rush about, it’s lively and hectic.

Fifteen minutes down the road I find my hostel, I look,”oh, man”, I think “this place is on a second floor, I sure hope the AC works well as the temperature today is well about 30 degrees Celsius. A friendly host greets me at the reception desk takes my info and shows me my bunk. Now this hostel was a little different, no dorm room just one big room with what I’d guess would be 30 to 40 bunks in one big space, most single spaces, but a few double bunks also in the room. A lounge space with big pillows to sit on while reading or working on the computer, along with a spot to sit for those working on the road and this hostel was equipped with a small kitchen, handy for those staying the long term or on the budget. I was in a lower bunk and these ones you had to crawl into and all off them made of wood, so a little stuffy when the AC was turned off at 9 a.m., but otherwise the mattress was comfy and it had a feeling off more privacy. The bathroom’s were co-ed with plenty of showers and toilets and kept very clean, one of the cleanest I’ve encounter and the toilets all had seats, something that’s not always there in many places in Mexico and I have no idea why???

After getting settled and having a rest, taking some time to journal and catch up on some reading my tummy started to rumble and I decided to head out in search of some food. If you’ve never stayed in Playa, it’s a lively, busy place and I quickly found some cheap taco’s 20 peso each, $1.75 and ended up downtown. In the main plaza there was a crowd and they were gathered there to watch some live, outdoor MMA fighting. It was pretty cool to watch this live with the beach and the ocean I the background and I hung out for a couple hours taking in the atmosphere and I’m also a fight fan. As my first night in Playa comes to an end I take a stroll on the beach as the sun starts to set, I’m at the end of day four on my trip and settled into life down here and with seventeen more to go it’s just beginning. The water breaks across my feet and I remind myself to be mindful in the moment and stop for the moment to capture one of those mental pictures I so often talk about. The sound of the surf, warm breeze on my face and the smell of something delicious cooking in the not too far distance, all my sense are dialled in. After that brief pause to take it in, my nose leads me to that smell, a street cart and I grab myself a bedtime Torta and feast on it while I make my way back to the hostel. Looking forward to an earlier night after three late nights in a row, I pick up some water and snacks as well, when I get up the stairs to my home for the next seven days they buzz me in and after cleaning up I dive into my cubby. Some may feel claustrophobic I find it cozy and with the AC on I grab my journal and begin to write catching up on the days missed at the beginning of my journey. With that finished I grab my book and read until my eyes tell me it’s time for rest, I look at my watch and see it’s 11:00 p.m. and even with at least twenty people sleeping in this big space it’s so quiet that as soon as I switch off my reading lamp the next thing I remember in waking the next morning around 8 a.m. and completely refreshed.

I have friends arriving today for a five day stay, but before they show up I have plenty of time to go and check out a breakfast place my Swedish friend told me about. Packed up with what I need I head out for the 25 minute walk to this small little gem, I grab some breakfast tacos and a fresh fruit drink to accompany my coffee. I sit to eat it’s near an overpass, ya garbage lines the street, but under the overpass is beautiful street art bringing life to the concrete under it and litter around it, just like in life, if you look hard enough you’ll see it’s beauty, just look a little harder and it is there. Be willing to go find it!