Better Late Than Never

[CalgaryDerek]

Day 1: September 11, 2010

First, let me apologize for taking so long to get this going. Since getting back, things have been EXTREMELY busy! However, I promised a few people here I would post a report, and post I will .

This year, Westjet has more nonstop flights to Cancun, and since I booked earlier, the price was right. Why go anywhere else when you can get nonstop for under $300? What could make this even better? I nice late start – 10:00 am! The flight went smooth, and I was on the 6:30 to Playa. I decided to walk to the hotel, and since I was falling asleep on the bus, I figured I´d stay in for the night. I met Wolfgang, the hotel owner, and his employee, Arturo. Wolfgang offered me a beer, which of course lead to two, and that was pretty much enough to set me in sleep mode.

Day 2: September 12, 2010

The first night, I tried to use just the fan instead of the AC, which was a mistake, because the fan could not keep up. So, I wound up waking up really early and catching my first sunrise.

I went to a little hole in the wall for breakfast, and then walked up to Mega to get some drinks to put in my fridge. For $35 a night, I have a similar setup to what we had at Mom´s last year, but a little smaller. The room has two single beds, a table and a kitchenette all in one big room with a large bathroom off to the side.



After walking back to the hotel, I decided to go back to the room for a siesta. After that, I decided to head for PGs Sandbox. It looked totally dead, so I headed for the bucket. Rocky had ANOTHER bike stolen, but the regulars at the bucket helped him get a new one. Apparently, a Mexican man ordered a beer, drank half and left with Rocky´s bike! It´s another mountain bike type, but doesn´t look quite as fancy as the one he had last year. The staff at the bucket told him that as long as it was low season, he could bring it inside.

So we drank and we talked, and we talked and we drank, and when I finally got up, I realized my best bet was to head for home. Rocky told me a good place to buy tacos, but I missed the sign, and by that time, I really didn´t care if I ate or not! So it was another early night.

[CalgaryDerek]

Day 3: September 13, 2010


This morning, I headed for the beach after breakfast, and I think I may have sunburns in a couple of places, because this time of the year, the sun is HOT! I think the heat was getting to this guy already .



I took a walk around the beach area between 10th and Constituyentes to see how different the beach looked now, and then settle down with a cold one (or three).



Looks like they're builiding a dock.


I decided to try a different place today, but it was pricey, so I won´t be going back. There wasn’t much signage, but it was between 8th and 10th. The areas around Bad Boys seem to be the best price-wise, and the waiters in those bars always remember me, and are always good to me.

I left the beach about 3:30, and decided I should head for the Internet Café and email my father to let him know everything was going well and check on him. Then, it was back to the bucket. I sat at there and shot the bull over a few and then headed for the hotel.[/font]

[CalgaryDerek]

Day 4: September 14, 2010


Tuesday, the weather was so-so, and I was pretty burnt anyway. I went for breakfast, and then headef for Juarez to find sandals and a new wallet. I paid $20 for the wallet and $40 for the sandals. I’m not sure the sandals were a good buy yet, as they seem looser now than when I bought them.

It was starting to look like rain, so I headed for Wal Mart to pick up smokes and stuff. It was a warm rain, but I figured a siesta was in order anyway. Besides the fact it was raining, I was getting tired from all the walking, and I wanted to stay up late that night so I’d sleep in Wednesday and be alive for the party. When I woke up, it was still raining, and at one point started to pour REALLY hard. I found a good action movie on the tube and settled in with some munchies and a drink.

[Thor Henning]

You are not late compared to me. My Trip Report has just started.

Love your report so far.

[caramba]

Where did you stay, Derek?

[Doggiemom]

Originally Posted by caramba

Where did you stay, Derek?

Yes where did you stay?! Oh and better late than never! I love reading trip reports!

[bigdogmom]

Those sunrise pics are awesome, Derek!

[CalgaryDerek]

Originally Posted by caramba

Where did you stay, Derek?

Sorry folks. Forgot to mention the name of the hotel. It's Steffens Casa Blanca, a reccommendation from Rob MacKay. It's "no frills" but it was all I needed .

[CalgaryDerek]

More to come folks! I've been debating where to post my pictures since Mickey$oft decided to kill their Spaces service without telling anyone, The pics above are currently on SmugMug, but I'm moving them to PhotoBucket, and will update the links before I go too much further, since my trial will expire next week.

[LucyE]

Loved your sunrise pictures.... can't wait for the rest of the resport.

[CalgaryDerek]

Ok. I'm getting back into the mode again. This week's been crazy! I've re-linked my photos to Photobucket, and made them into clickable thumbnails that will open the larger images in a separate window. Smugmug gave me the choice of sizes to share, but Photobucket gives me either a clickable thumbnail or the original image in its original size. Since I always take 'em big, and wanted to use Photobucket to archive my photos as originally taken, I didn't want to send the full pics to everyone, knowing some might be on slower links, etc.

Now, where was I?

[CalgaryDerek]

Day 5: September 15, 2010


The Beer Bucket was having a pot luck, so I went to Wal Mart and bought two cans of Frijoles Refrito (Refried beans) and two big bags of Doritos to contribute. There were lots of people, and it was a good time. It was a little tight for pictures unfortunately. Then it was time to wander down th the square at City Hall. It was PACKED! I got a few people shots from farther out where I could actually get to without pushing into the crowd, and was still aways back. I figured that was far enough. I had been told that the big speech happened at midnight, and my legs were getting stiff from standing all evening, so I figured I had time to go back to the hotel and put on my street shoes. I got there just after 11pm and heard the loudspeakers and the crowd repeating what had been said. So, I opened my window and caught the rest of it from there. It turned out that this was an excellent place to watch the fireworks. They were firing them off from both sides of City Hall, and I got a great view of both sides! I went back down for a short while to walk around the square and check out the events, but the pictures weren’t turning out the way I’d hoped, so I decided to call it a night. I fell aleep listening to the sounds of the fiesta!

[CalgaryDerek]

Day 6: September 16, 2010


I think we were seeing the tail end of a tropical storm that hit South of us. So far today, the rain is more on than off, so I was looking for indoor activities. I went for breakfast, and then headed for an Internet café to send an email to Dad. I was getting worried, because I still hadn’t heard from him. There was still lots of activity around the square, as most locals had the day off, and there was still much to celebrate.





The weather didn’t get any better, but I was still planning on heading for Bad Boys that night, because they were having their own Independence Day party. After emailing you, I went back to the hotel for a siesta. When I woke the first time, it was pouring rain, so I fell back to sleep. When I woke again, it was a clear night, but too late to bother with Bad Boys. Oh well! Like the old saying goes, you snooze, you loose J.

[CalgaryDerek]

Day 7: September 17, 2010


Friday I was up early again, so I decided to go enjoy another sunrise.




It was super-hot again, so I went back to the beach, even though my shoulders and upper body were still burnt and most of it hadn´t started peeling yet. I kept my shoulders covered and enjoyed the afternoon.

These shots should give yoiu an idea of just how wide the beach is now. I think I took it in front of Bad Boys, which is my usual beach hang-out these days. To give it some perspective, I would usually sit in the front corner of the chairs, which I think was about where the water started in early January before the reclamation project. Enlarge them to really get a good look.



Day 8: September 18, 2010

Another beautiful day in Playadise! You would think I'd get bored of the beach, but by that time, I had already heard there had been a dusting of snow back home!

I think Armando took this for me.



After sitting down there all afternoon, and then walking back to the hotel, I was ready for a nap again! I woke up and did a little bar'hopping before retiring for the night. The Nasty Bastards were playing without JJ that night, but they still sounded great!




A Few Soggy Days, 2010

[font=Verdana][size=3]The next few days were a very mixed bag weather-wise, and I spent most of them wandering around neiborhoods and just generally seeing different parts of PDC. I didn't take my camera along, because although my bag has a water-resistant cover, I didn't think it would be enough to handle the kinds of downpours I'd seen there. It was, after all, only made from fabric. If I go down during that season again, I think I'll take either a waterproof camera, or a cheapo that I don't nind getting wet. The SLR I've been carrying down there for the past few years is a beautiful camera, but between the body and the lenses, there's just too much money at risk to take chances with. I'm also considering an IPhone purchase in the near future, which has a built-in 5-megapixel camera. That would be good enough for places where the SLR is too bulky or times when I don't want to take a chance on weather. The worst part about not taking a camera along is that is what helps clarify the fuzz that is my memory, and thus, the details of the next few days are a litle spotty.

Day 13: September 23, 2010

[font=Verdana][size=3]The weather on this day was still a little spotty, but the sun was out for the most part, and I was running out of tanning days, so it was time to once again head for the beach.



I had to take a picture of this picture of Captain Dave, as it made me think he was still watching over this wonderful place he'd built. RIP Captain Dave!



That evening, a couple of the staff from Bad Boys and I decided to go to the little bar on 2nd Street afer they got off work to say our goodbyes. Armando wasn't working the next day, and I knew I likely wouldn't get that far up the beach on my last morning. The bar is actually called Sofia's, but was originally introduced to us as "La Officina," which of course is the name that stuck!

[CalgaryDerek]

Day 14: September 24, 2010

[font=Verdana][size=3]This was my last full day in Playa, and I was wishing there was a big old rewind button in the sky. However, the sun was out, and I was set to make the best of the day. I decided that instead of just hanging around Bad Boys, I would walk up the beach to the North and see how things had changed since I had done that last. Since it had been almost two years, you can imagine what I saw! It was all built up as far as I got, which was around 40th St. I came to a point in the beach where the fence from a new development was right to the water, and I didn't feel like venturing in . One thing I did notice was that the beach reclamation project wasn't anywhere near as lasting as it was South of Constituyentes. I didn't get to Playacar to check out that area, but north of the new pier a lot of the beach had gone right back to where it had previously been, and in some places, I think it was even worse. There were spots where the beach chairs were almost touching what I can only describe as miniature cliffs that had eroded away into the sea.

Anyway, my plan was to walk up the top of the beach as far North as I could, and then walk back along the water. This was a great plan until I ran into a half-burried anchor rope and got sand in my lense. That kind of put the kibosh on the beach walk, but I had been out long enough anyway, and by the time I got up to 5th, I realized I was getting pretty tired. I walked back into town, hit an ATM, bought my bus ticket and paid my hotel bill. After that, I climbed the two flights of Mexican stairs one last time, at which point my legs were creaming UNCLE!!! A relaxing night in the room was in order, since the next day was travelling day, and I had to pack in the omrning.

After making my rounds of the room to be sure I had everything, I got packed and headed for a late breakfast. I headed for the bus at noon thinking it would be packed with everyone from the downtown depot, but I was in for a pleasant surprise. The bus from the main depot must have been completely full, because they sent an empty one to the old Playa depot! I had the whole front row to myself ! The line-up to check in went smoothly, and I had time for one last cigarette before heading through security.

NOTE ABOUT PASSPORTS: Up until this past March, Canadians travelling to Mexico without landing in the states were not required to carry a passport. That changed March first. I thought that since this was a US-driven initiative, and being the easy-going folks Mexicans are known to be, they might overlook things. I ran into two young girls who will tell you a very different story. One of them had lost her passport when they arrived in Cancun. She said she had it when she got on the bus, but it wasn't there when she got to her hotel. Sunwing refused to let her back on the plane! I'm sure they were eventually able to get back to Canada, but I bet they'll both guard their passports more closely next time they travel!

Anyway, the rest of my trip home went without a hitch, and the temperature in Calgary even cooperated to the extent that I didn't even bother changing out of my shorts in the airport as previously planned. I got off the plane in Calgary, where the luggage was offloaded quickly (or at least mine was) and I'm sure there were still people at the carosel while I blew through Customs. I was home by 11pm!

I have to give Westjet a bit of a plug here, because I've used them the last two years now, and really enjoyed the experience. They're no-frills, but even the larger airlines are pretty much the same these days. They only serve coffee, tea, juices and soft drinks, which they usually bring around twice during the flight. Sometimes, if they have time on their hands near the end of the flight, they'll come around with bottled water and serve up glasses of it. They have basic Bell TV channels, and if you want movies, you have to swipe your credit card in the scanner at the side of the seat-back tv. For food, they serve shortbread cookies that are OK and bits and bites that I wouldn't reccommend. If you want a sandwitch or other munchies, that's extra. Having said all that though, if you watch the seat sales, you can get a non-stop from most major airports in Canada to Cancun for the same price you'd pay for a "discount" clod-hopper on one of the US-based airlines. The staff are always friendly, and more than willingto do whatever they can to make your flight comfortable and enjoyable. My only beef with them is a policy they started the same month as my trip, which is that they now only accept credit cards for purchases. I guess I'm still old-school thinking that cash should carry more weight than plastic, but even with the credit crunch, our society still thinks differently. I guess that's just one more thing that makes me wish I could live in Mexico. Cash talks and plastic walks! However, I'll still be looking for their flights first when I go back next year.

Overall, I loved my trip to Playa! I don't know if I can get back before next year, and it'll probably be at Christmas, but I truly love it there, and will be back just as soon as life allows!