Playa del Carmen

There's not a lot to write about the first couple of days in PlayaCar, without losing our faithful readers (thanks Mums!) through boredom or jealously. Suffice to say, our time at the "all inclusive" resort involved lying on the beach or by the pool, following overweight Americans around the buffet loop, getting a bit sun burnt, a few margaritas, mojitos (made by bartenders Jesus and Angel), cervezas (beers), etc. While working at the numerous resorts is a thankless task for low-paid Mexicans, tourism is basically the only industry here on the Yucatan Peninsula. Around 70% of the numerous hotels are owned by the Spanish, and there are a huge number of them enjoying the fruits of their "second conquest" as the locals call it.

We had one day away from the largesse of the resort, where we took a tour of the Tulum Mayan village, about an hour along the coast. The Mayans were there more for the kai moana than the view, but as you can see from the photos it is beautiful. The Mayans never ventured over the horizon or discovered that wind could power their boats, but they did manage to devise a series of fire-powered light houses to guide their canoes through the gap in the reef and safely to shore.

Just outside the wall of the city was a flea market - inevitable in these sort of places. Aside from all the cheap pseudo-mexican tat, there was an iguana breeder, who also happened to be a talented photograph salesman. With one hand he flung the iguana (now named Iggy Pop as we can't remember its actual name) over my shoulder and the other extracted 50 mexican pesos from my hand. It was surprisingly heavy, soft, and docile.

Internet access in these parts isn't great, so we've been a bit out of the loop on various things. Following the RWC has been particularly difficult though we did manage to catch the AB/Argentina game with a couple of Welsh people in a quiet resort bar.