Our flight was almost uneventful. It was only eventful because we ordered drinks on the plane and didn't get charged for them. Thank you once again to Southwest for being the most awesome airlines in the universe!
We ended up in Playa for the night. We just weren't up to boarding the bus for Merida when the sun was still shining and it was nice and warm. We found a great place to spend the night just a few steps from Quinta Avenida. We were right in the middle of the action, but it was very quiet once we closed the door to our second story hacienda-type room. We didn't have any hot water but who cared. Especially when guests got a 50% discount off the price of breakfast.
Friday night we found a nice sports bar and got to watch the astros win. Then we had a late dinner at the Oasis. It is our go to place in Playa. They specialize in Pervuvian food and Terry had shrimp. I had fish something or other and I still don't know what was on it, but it was heavenly.
Would you believe it if I said we got up Saturday morning and walked around a bit, but never went one block over to the beach? I can't believe we went through playa and never went to the beach, but we will go back for that. No worries!
We couldn't make the 10:30 bus but we were there in plenty of time for the 11:30. It was quite full and Terry and I had to book aisle seats across from each other. We settled in for the 5 hour trip to Merida which meant it wasn't the short, directo route but went through Tulum and also stopped in Valladolid. Between Tulum and the cut-off to Coba, we heard a loud pop and the bus driver pulled over and walked around the bus. When he hopped back in the driver's seat he turned on the flashers and drove a little slower to the cut-off...about 5 miles away. We stopped there and were told we had a flat tire and were waiting for somebody to fix it. Sit back and relax! Now the bus was nice and appeared to be very new...it wasn't because we were on a chicken bus. Thirty minutes turned into an hour which turned into two hours. But, you just have to be patient. There is no alternative and there is nothing you can do about it. The mostly Mexicans on the bus were all very patient and were quite content to continue watching movie after movie. The young guy next to me received several phone calls from his chica waiting for him in Merida. He was going home to Merida, but that's about all I know about his story. Several of the guys on the bus got off and helped the tire changing guy and the bus driver. The bus driver had taken off his starched white shirt and red tie and got down. But he wasn't going to get down and get dirty. My first American reaction is to get impatient, but I have learned from the Mexicans - their way of dealing with things is so much better for the blood pressure and heart rate.
We eventually made it to Valladolid and on to Merida. It was over two hours later than what was scheduled but who is counting? Of course when we got here, Mari had turned on the refrigerator and stocked it with cold beer. We were mirador bound and life was good once again!
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| This was breakfast yesterday morning in Santa Ana Park...salbutes and a tamal w/ pumpkin sauce...washed down with a little jugo de chaya |
