11-01-2011
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#31 (permalink) |
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way into it
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 248
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Wow!! What a trip report indeed....
Some negative things you observed and experienced.... 1) Terrible weather and lack of proper rain gear 2) leaky room 3) leaking store (not that comfortable to shop in) 4) humidity first day of trip (rather uncomfortable) 5) blisters on feet 6) watching a poor dog suffer and spending a lot of time trying to help her 7) terrible margaritas from a place that normally serves good ones 8) dodgy looking meat while shopping at mega 9) overpriced drinks and bad service 10) rude girl in blue bikini Ok am I missing anything here?  But seriously, I respect the fact that after ALL that you guys still have a positive attitude for the most part  I hate when foreigners go to other countries and continuously compare those countries to their own. We all know those types of tourists right? Anyway, you and your husband are good people and I wish you all only the best of luck and happiness in your future travels. I enjoyed reading your trip report as well. |
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11-01-2011
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#32 (permalink) |
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beachaholic
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: High River, AB, Canada
Posts: 279
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[quote=caramba;1833375]Still loving this report- keep it coming!
We agree that you cannot miss Pollo Bronco and Mixic when in Tulum.... Where can we find Pollo Bronco and Mixic in Tulum? Are they on the main street?? Thanks -will have to try the Pollo and go to Mixic next time we're in Tulum |
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11-01-2011
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#33 (permalink) | |
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reposado
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,200
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Quote:
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11-01-2011
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#34 (permalink) | |
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reposado
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,200
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[quote=DeeGee;1833469]
Quote:
Oh goodness, Caramba? Anyone? I'm directionally challenged! They ARE both on the main street. If heading into Tulum from Playa, Pollo Bronco is on the left and Mixic is on the right. Mixic is just next to a wall of glass bottles. They aren't too far apart, is this vague enough for you? hang in there, I'm sure someone can give better directions.
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11-01-2011
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#35 (permalink) | |
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añejo
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 6,641
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Quote:
 They are both pretty easy to spot. 
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11-02-2011
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#36 (permalink) |
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reposado
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,200
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Day 5:
We haven’t been to the beach enough and we had a big day yesterday, so if the weather cooperates we’re going to the beach today. Aventura Mexicana offers passes to Kool so you at least get free chairs & an umbrella. But first we need some breakfast so we’re off to Tropical Café. They have good food and our waiter was fantastic! Great people watching spot. I think we’ve eaten here every trip too. Russ’ Chaya and my O.J.   We get our beach towels and passes and head off to Kool. I have my book to read and we get settle in & order up some beer.  Our view.    We just relaxed and talked, it was great!   We haven’t forgotten about Playa Maya and we have to make sure to get there in time today! Before we cave and buy food at Kool we decide to pry ourselves out of our loungers and head over. We’re the only ones there again but we are in luck this time! We have to start with drinks and nachos. They have REALLY good nachos!  Then of course coconut shrimp and I think it’s the Playa Maya burger.   We had a lovely view and we’re too stuffed to move anyway.    Speaking of nachos, I just remembered: one of the really rainy nights, against our better judgement we ducked into Karen’s on 5th. We just needed somewhere to get out of the rain & they had some decent sounding music & a really nice grill area in front for the smell to bring you in. The margaritas were good so we decide to order some nachos – I can’t speak for the rest of the food but I couldn’t even finish one nacho, I’m not kidding. They were beyond gross. They shouldn’t even be allowed to call them nachos. I’m serious, don’t do it. We waddle around for a bit and head back to the room for a little siesta.   I don’t think Russ had a very easy time getting me up from my nap, I was still full and tired. But it’s rib night at Manne’s and we have to go! I feel better once I get up and we start walking. We had a little trouble remembering where it was but we were determined. The place is PACKED! Great to see that because we love their food and after meeting Manne and talking to Susie on the forum a bit, they are two of the nicest people I’ve ever talked to. Just kind, sweet people.  The margaritas are good and large!  We sat outside & shared a rib plate with German potatoes. It was absolutely delicious! Manne even came out to chat with us and thank us for coming even though it was SO busy. He also came back out at the end of our meal to thank us again. Just a delightful man with a contagious smile and laugh. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to meet Susie in person, she wasn’t there that night. We were really full and tired and we went back to the hotel and sat out by the pool and drank a few beers. We chatted with a diver from Australia & his 2 friends for a while and then called it a night.
__________________
 FunShine & RussTX 2009 Playa Trip Report FunShine & RussTX 2008 Playa Trip Report |
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11-03-2011
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#37 (permalink) |
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reposado
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,200
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Another passage from “On Mexican Time”:
Two days ago when we arrived here by bus (Mexico City) our taxi driver at the north terminal was so upset at having gotten a fare to the city center at rush hour that he took a tire iron out and banged on his trunk in rage….by the time we’d passed through the shanty neighborhoods leading downtown, this temperamental taxista, belly bursting from his shirt, was laughing and talking as if we were the best of friends. My city’s jodido, ****ed, he said, pointing to the red, green and white flags and decorations still up in the Zocalo from the fiestas patrias. Our government is a sack of mierda. …always screwing us. And you know what? --- pounding his chest, tears welling --- I am proud to be Mexican. Mexico’s contemporary identity seems unformed at times, half in shadow, as if constrained by a past that paradoxically feeds it – leaving Mexicans inwardly rich, functionally vague. Their revolutions, more symbol than substance, failed to bind society in a meaningful civil contract. Police and army are seen as predators, not protectors, the government as corrupt custodian of privilege. Twenty million people need work. Fifteen million are hungry in a country of ninety million with rich farmlands, abundant natural resources. Milk and even corn, that most indigenous of staples, has to be supplemented by imports. The Catholic church…unites Mexicans more than the state. |
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11-03-2011
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#38 (permalink) |
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reposado
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,200
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I'm skipping ahead but we thought this was really funny and probably misunderstood - but we were hoping someone could explain what this means at the very bottom of our cuenta - I mean, I know what gringos means...
What does "C2 PAR GRINGOS" mean???  Edit: sorry, in Photobucket it shows the photo upright... Last edited by FunShine; 11-03-2011 at 09:50 AM.. |
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11-03-2011
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#39 (permalink) | |
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life=playa
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 776
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11-03-2011
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#41 (permalink) | |
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life=playa
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 776
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Quote:
I never said that But it might be their way of keeping track of how much of there business is local and how much is from tourism????
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11-03-2011
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#42 (permalink) |
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reposado
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,200
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Day 6:
Today we decide to go to Puerto Morelos. I’ll be honest, I would like to go but don’t really want to go today. But it’s our last full day and it’s pretty outside so we’re gonna give it a shot. We knew it was good for snorkeling but didn’t know a lot else about the spot. We gather our gear and walk to the collectivo stand and take that to the highway drop off point. We aren’t sure how long the road is from the highway to the beach but we think we can just walk it. My advice, don’t do this, it’s a pretty long walk!!!  It’s a really nice day, the water looks beautiful.   We’re pretty hungry so we go to the most obvious place, Pelicanos. I think we saw on the Mapchick Map (which are AMAZING!) that it was pretty good so we give it a shot. We order a shrimp cocktail, club sandwich and some drinks. It didn’t list what was on the club sandwich on the menu but we figured it’s a pretty standard sandwich and couldn’t vary much from place to place. WRONG. This sandwich had some kind of lunchmeat, I forget but I think it was ham but that’s where the familiar items stopped. There was some VERY weird brownish colored sauce, something that was pink / purple in color but wasn’t onions, (we still have no idea what it was) and fried egg. There was no cheese, no bacon, no lettuce or tomato that I can recall. It was completely inedible in my opinion, Russ thought it extremely weird but still ate it, I don’t know how. Back on the beach.    I’m kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I really really didn’t feel like snorkeling. I just didn’t. It was a 2 hour deal, I’ve only been snorkeling once and to be honest, it kind of scares me. I offered many times to entertain myself while Russ went, and I sincerely meant it – but he said he really didn’t want to go without me, that it just wouldn’t be very fun. So I feel bad, we walk around the town a bit but there really isn’t much there for us to do otherwise. We don’t even know where to get a ride back to the highway. We sit on a bench at the zocalo. There are some kids playing on the playground waiting for the bus. As we’re sitting there, a man that was sitting across the street comes over and asks us if everything is ok. We tell him everything’s fine and ask him if he knows where we can catch a collectivo. He’s very nice and explains we can catch a collectivo or a bus right here and they will both take us to the highway. We chat for a few minutes and it turns out he does snorkeling tours during the day and then teaches English in Cancun at night. He asks if we want to go snorkeling? We sadly tell him no, not today but thank you. He was so nice and helpful. The bus gets there and there was a boy who got on too. I think he was the only boy and all the girls must have been teasing him about something. He gets back off the bus for something, gets back on and just as the bus pulls away he leans out the window and gives all the girls the bird. It was hilarious. We get to the highway and we’re standing at the side of the road (Russ wearing his Longhorns hat) and an OU fan is going by in a white van and leans out, does the upside down Longhorns sign and yells out, “It’s even funny in Mexico!” We laughed and thought, “and you’re still obnoxious in Mexico too, weird!” I still feel bad to this day about kind of ruining Russ’ chance to go snorkeling. I’m sorry babe. We took what was more of a bus than a collectivo back to Playa – it was really comfortable and nice. I love the collectivos, the ADO’s and the buses there. We only took 1 taxi ride the whole time we were there and walked or took one of the modes I mentioned the rest of the time. We get back to Playa and we’re determined not to make this day a bust. We decide to go to Zenzi. At first we were just sitting towards the back but as soon as we realized you get a free lounger for spending only $100 pesos we were like, “what the hell are we waiting for?!” We get a couple of comfy loungers & settle in. From the back.    We shared a really good sandwich and drank some beer – we had a great time! We like Zenzi, I actually think it’s our favorite beach club – they have good loungers, good food & service and access to a clean bathroom and even a shower. On my way back to my chair I had the pleasure of running into Snappysammy and his dog Eddie! It’s been 2 years since I met Steve so I certainly didn’t expect him to remember me, but I definitely wanted to say hello at least. The beach was lovely and we just relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather.      ***Note: All the sudden I just realized I mixed up my days and forgot to put in about our dinner at Yaxche – I think I have Wed / Thur. dinners mixed up – Wed was rib night so that was Manne’s. Thursday was Yaxche. We’ve eaten at Yaxche before and loved it and we definitely weren’t disappointed this time either. Everything is delicious and it’s different than any other place we’ve eaten. The new location is beautiful and we sat upstairs. Great service too. We can’t leave Playa without eating at El Fogon. So tonight was the night. We moseyed on over and of course everything was yummy.    We walk all the way to the zocalo after dinner and decide to buy our ADO tickets to the airport for the next day to make sure we can get seats. After that we’re still pretty full and decide to go ahead and go back to the room. We watch some TV while I carefully wrap and pack all the fragile items I bought. I’m glad I did, it took a while and would’ve been difficult to do in the morning. I miss my animals and miss my home but of course I’m really sad our trip is over too. We have a little time to at least go eat tomorrow before we leave so one more installment coming up! |
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11-04-2011
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#44 (permalink) |
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reposado
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,200
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Day 7:
Our last day in Playa. We actually slept in a lot later than we intended to and we had to hustle a little to get ready & finish packing! We left our bags at hotel reception right at 11:00 check out time so that we could go eat & kill some time before it was time to get on the ADO. We started realizing we should have gotten an hour earlier ADO ticket, worrying we hadn’t left ourselves enough time to get through the airport. We have a last delicious meal at Carboncitos and then decide to try and exchange our ADO tickets for an earlier one. They were really nice about it and it was no problem to exchange them! We got a cab to the ADO station and it was a smooth trip to the airport. A few pictures before the bus left:   Last look at the beach:    The lovely fruit ladies:     Funniest line from a vendor after we weren’t going for his wares: “Wanna powder your nose, make you feel like Charlie Sheen?!” A really cute mermaid that’s made from a coconut! Got it from Pachamama:  Two other really fun items I got from Pachamama:   The ADO dropped us off at the airport but we (and many others) had to take a free airport shuttle to get to the correct departure terminal. It’s too far to walk, you really want the shuttle. We got to the ticket counter only to be told that our flight was an hour late and there was pretty much no chance we would be able to make our connecting flight. They had no availability on any other airlines to put us on. If we didn’t make our flight we would have to spend the night in a hotel in Dallas. Actually if we didn’t make our flight we would have had to eat the cost of a rental car and drive almost 4 hours to get home, but thankfully that didn’t happen. The plane left about 15 minutes earlier than it was going to and made up about 15 minutes in the air. We (and many others) we scrambling to get through immigration, get our bags, go through customs, drop off bags to get them on the next plane, and we slid into our departure gate with less than 5 minutes to spare before boarding. Piece of cake. We had such a wonderful time, Mexico is very special to us and the experiences we have and the memories we make there are treasured. Thanks for reading my report! |
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