Day of arrival + Playa del Carmen

The first few weeks of the year flew by really quickly. Who would have thought that the day of departure would come so fast.

Wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning, drink the last good German coffee (made by Mama) and then off to the airport.

Check-in and co. went quickly, but then I wasted a lot of time with my mom, so it became tight again (as always). I just managed to make it to the gate for the 'last call' and we could start :)

The flight lasted the whole day, almost 12 hours, but it was still quite pleasant. The only downside was that I should have pre-ordered vegetarian food, there was spaghetti bolognese and later sausages with potato salad, so I was a bit hungry but thanks to a pretzel and 2 protein bars that I still had with me, I survived. Arrived in Cancun at around 2.45 pm (local time), we had to wait for about 45 minutes for our parking position, but immigration went smoothly and there were no problems. I was a bit concerned because officially you need an exit ticket from Mexico, but luckily I wasn't asked for it afterwards.

The luggage situation was not so good again, the first suitcases came after half an hour, my backpack after an hour. (But hey, at least it was there). At 5.45 pm I finally sat on the bus to Playa del Carmen. (I read that it's not worth driving to Cancun.) Arrived at the bus station in Playa del Carmen, an American stood in front of me with his mouth wide open: 'Are you seriously carrying all that?' Ehm yes, I asked myself the same question. So I finally treated myself to a taxi to the hostel, the 20 minutes of walking really didn't have to be after the long day.

After taking care of everything at the hostel, I went on a search for something to eat. 'Something small' turned into a huge portion of enchiladas filled with vegetables and a ton of cheese on top, which I couldn't even come close to finishing, because here they always bring you nachos with spicy sauce beforehand. (I didn't know that before). After that, I was mega tired and just went to bed. Luckily, my 4-bed dorm was empty, a little peace and quiet was very welcome in the beginning.

February 21, 2018

After a rather unusual but very rich breakfast cooked by a 200 kilo Mexican, I checked out the town and the beach. As expected, Playa del Carmen is way too touristy and inauthentic for my taste. There's Starbucks, lots of souvenir shops, and everyone speaks English. But if you walk a few kilometers further along the beach, you can find some nice spots.

I found something to eat just around the corner from the hostel, a woman who cooked directly from her house and set up a small bar. She had a regular and a vegan option :) Spaghetti with spinach and mushrooms, and as with everything, rice and 'frijoles' (bean mush, but tasty)

The evening was rather relaxed. There were nice people on the rooftop terrace with a bar and a pool. Since I was still pretty tired and unfortunately also very sunburned, I went to bed quite early.

February 22, 2018

Actually, I wanted to leave today. But the idea of putting on my way too heavy backpack with my sunburn, including under my armpits, was unimaginable, so I decided to have a lazy day at the hostel. I had lunch with a German (yes, we are everywhere), David, whom I met yesterday. We walked around a bit and otherwise planned a bit about what to do next. I'm still waiting for some responses from places where I applied for a volunteer position.