Well that was a bit of a marathon travel day!

We got up at 3:30am Wednesday morning. Then we had to do a one hour drive from Playa del Carmen to the Cancun airport in order to get there early enough for Lindsey and the kids to get their 8:00am flight to Montreal.

We said our goodbyes, then headed to a nearby beach parking lot where we had a snooze for a couple of hours in the car!

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One last day at the beach!

We relaxed for much of the morning, then headed to the touristy southern end of Playa del Carmen. There's an upscale area called Playacar where there are some small Mayan ruins that are actually part of the residential complex there, and we remembered from our last visit to this area that there were a lot of iguanas hanging out on the rocks in the sun.

Akumal, Mexico

Ruth found out that there is a Sunday tianguis (traditional market) here in Playa del Carmen. I was skeptical, since it's such a touristy area, but when we arrived I was pleasantly surprised. It was much like the tianguis that we have been to in non touristy areas, and there were very few other gringos.

Busy day with lots of photos!

A highlight for many visitors to the Playa del Carmen area is the fabulous Xcaret theme park. 

Xcaret is part water park, part zoo, part cultural exhibition. There is a lot do see there, in fact you can't see it all in one day. And it's all very well done.

It's also VERY expensive!

Beach photos

 Just a few beach photos today!

Coba ruins and cenote swimming

We were up early, and on the road by 9:00am. We had an hour and forty minute drive to the Coba ruins, and there was heavy traffic getting out of Playa del Carmen. In fact, it was heavy all the way to Tulum.

It's unbelievable how much this area has developed since the first time we were here in 2003. In fact, even since we were here in 2018 it seems a lot busier. Especially the Tulum area.

Off to the beach!

The kids were looking forward to going to the beach, so we set off just after 10:00am to drive down to the central tourist area of Playa del Carmen.

The entire central area is pay parking on the street, and you have to pay at a machine and then leave the slip of paper on your dash that displays the time that your parking expires.

I saw a guy standing there with a sign with my name on it!

Up at 4:15am Tuesday morning along with Paco and Oti who were so nice to take us to the airport at that ungodly hour. 

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.

Bus trip to Toluca, and visit to Metepec

Boy, it doesn't take long to get a day behind when we're busy. 

Monday was travel day! We took the bus from El Arco on Monday afternoon, for the hour and a half or so bus ride to the city of Toluca where we were met by friends Paco and Oti.

Next stop, Playa del Carmen!

We headed back into town yesterday to try and do something with Ruth's shoes. Also, Sunday is market day in Valle de Bravo, and while we didn't need anything because we won't be here for the next week, we always enjoy wandering around the market.

So anyhow, we made it to the place we bought Ruth's shoes... and the door was locked. They took our money and ran!

It actually arrived!

Despite the fact that I thought we had a rooftop solar panel setup sufficient for our needs, we still wanted a portable panel for the times when we might want Igor to be set up in the shade, and yet still be able to have electricity coming from a panel that is set up in the sun. 

Or, for when we have a cloudy day and need an extra boost.

Sometimes it's just not worth trying to be cheap

Once again, our attempt to be frugal has backfired.

Ruth had wanted a pair of walking shoes. She didn't want anything fancy, just something to wear when she wasn't wearing her hiking boots or sandals.

Crazy stuff!

Thursday afternoon we went for a walk along the road north of here that follows the shoreline towards Colorines. 

There is a big gated community on the hill and we wondered if they would let us in to go for a walk around.

A trip into town

We needed to do some more grocery shopping, plus we hadn't yet wandered around town. So we hopped into a collectivo taxi that runs by the roadway out front to take us into the center of Valle de Bravo. 

The cost is 25 pesos ($1.75 CAD, $1.25 USD) per person one way.