No traffic at that hour of course, it took only twenty minutes or so to get to the airport from their house. It was only a local flight so no need to get there too early. We already had our boarding passes, and we didn't have any bags to check. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 6:10am.
Everything happened exactly as it was supposed to, and the next thing you know, we're arriving in Cancun at 9:05am. Because it was a local flight, there was no customs or immigration to go through, and no bags to pick up, and we ended up outside the terminal.
Problem was, we wanted to stay in the terminal.
Lindsey and the kids weren't scheduled to arrive until around 4:00pm, so we had quite a few hours to waste. We were trying to make our way to the departure area to get back inside when I saw a guy standing there with a sign with my name on it!
I knew immediately that it was our car rental guy. The thing is, I had requested pickup at 4:00pm. But because they had also asked for our flight number, they missed the 4:00pm request and instead were ready to pick us up based on the flight time. We discussed it, and decided to go ahead with the car rental right away.
Their shuttle picked us up, and brought us to the off site office location. We were given a new Renault with only 28,000 kms on it. A really basic car, but it will do for our needs. The guy in the office gave us a recommendation for a local non touristy place to go for breakfast.
I had huevos rancheros divorciado.
And Ruth had huevos con chorizo.
From there, we decided to go to a beachfront park near the Cancun hotel zone and go for a walk.
It was a really nice little park, and very quiet.
It's a dog friendly park, and has water bowls beside the benches.
We saw a big iguana sitting on a wall.
We also saw a big (maybe 3") scorpion making his way along the wall.
It was a pretty nice day!
Looking towards the hotel zone.
We went for a long walk, and then decided to drive down to the hotel zone just for something to do. We got down to that area, and it was super busy and we couldn't find a parking spot. So we simply turned around and went back to the quiet park. We found a parking spot in the shade and had a nap and wasted the last couple of hours away until Lindsey and the kids were scheduled to arrive.
Then we headed to the airport to pick them up. Their flight was actually a bit early, and they were through immigration quickly.
There they are!
Cameron, Lindsey, and Sadie.
Then, what should have been a forty five minute drive turned into an hour and a half drive from Cancun airport to Playa del Carmen where we had our condo rental for a week. Just due to really heavy traffic.
So we're getting close to the condo, and stopped at a red light when Cameron decides to say hello to a couple of young guys in the truck next to us. They have a box of pizza and motion to Cameron asking if he wants the two leftover pieces. It was totally hilarious. So Cameron rolls down the window and they're trying to pass this pizza box over, but it's too far and he can't reach it. Next thing you know, a guy on a motorcycle comes through between us, and passes the pizza box over to Cameron. It was so funny. We were all laughing!
Cameron, eating his pizza.
I had been having a conversation with the guy we rented the condo from on booking.com, but the communication had stopped. We got to the right location, but still hadn't heard back regarding how to collect the keys. I had a number to call, but there was no answer. So we sat and waited because there was nothing else we could do. While we were waiting, Cameron was trying to keep himself busy and had found a coconut that he was trying to open up.
Somehow, he managed to break it open.
He drank the coconut juice.
I tried calling again, and this time someone answered. Sure enough, a guy showed up ten minutes later to bring us to our condo and give us the keys.
It's definitely a comfortable enough place.
One room has a three bed bunkbed setup, so that's where Lindsey and the kids slept.
We had the master bedroom.
It'll do.
Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, three air conditioners, and a decently equipped kitchen. For $499 USD ($720 CAD) for the week. Not bad.
We are quite far (maybe 4.5 kms) from the beach, but we have a swimming pool. Or at least, we're supposed to. It's empty and having some work done, but we're told it will be ready "in a couple of days". I will believe it when I see it, but so far that's my only complaint. The pool was one of the reasons we rented this place. Anyhow, we'll see what happens.
Out for fajitas for dinner.
Ruth, Sadie, Lindsey, Cameron, Kevin.
Great to be with them again, and we've got a pretty full week planned for their short time here!
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Sure looks like you are having dinner at El Fogon (one of the three locations) in that last photo!? If so, that was one of our favorite places to eat in Playa. Not fancy, but yummy. We always got the chicken alambres.
ReplyDeleteIs your condo on the other side of the highway or the beach side? Since it's that far from the beach, I am wondering. Great price on it, but it's nice to be able to walk to the beach. Both places we lived in Playa were on the beach side, one about 6 blocks from the beach, and the second just a couple blocks (between 5th and 10th Aves). Noisy but convenient!
Yes, we were but we didn't search it out intentionally we just happened to come across it. This is a newer one so there are now four El Fogons in Playa del Carmen. We went back there last night and had the fajitas again because they were so good the first night. We looked at the chicken alambres that you mentioned but we can't have them because they are done with flour tortillas and not corn ones.
DeleteOur condo is on the other side of the highway in a very Mexican neighbourhood, which we really like, plus the price is much cheaper than if we were on the beach side of the highway. We don"t mind driving down to the beach area because we don't plan on being down there everyday anyways. Where we are located, it is super quite both during the day and at night.
Wow, quiet in Mexico would be something new to us - that's wonderful. We never had a car so chose to live in Centro for easy walkability. We did ride our bikes to some of the local neighborhoods on the west side of the highway on occasion, though, but they seemed very packed in as well, so we didn't know how much quieter they would be. Glad you found a good spot!
ReplyDeleteWe always had corn tortillas with the alambres. They are served on the side, so we just ordered them "con tortillas de maize, por favor". No problemo! They were less expensive than fajitas, as I recall, and actually more authentic for Mexico I think.
We are well away from any busy roads so yes, it has been super quiet, it really is lovely. We can understand the need for living close to centro but it is also very walkable here for almost everything you need except for the beach, having said that if it were just Kevin and I we would probably walk to the beach from here.
DeleteThe fajitas have been great to share between us and they have been delicious. If we go back we will ask about the alambres and getting the corn tortillas. We know that corn tortillas are tortillas de maiz because I always ask first to make sure the tortillas are maiz and not harina.