Month in Mexico: Part 6

AHHHHHH... I did absolutely no work for the past two days except to search for a car. I never wanted a car all these years but the minute Rob left Purdue, I realized how much we used his (I owe you more gas money bud.) Also, someone please tell me that peanut butter is excellent for me cos I just ate 2 giant spoonfuls of it.

Anyywaayy, I had just come back to Cancun and my plan was to go to this island called Isla Holbox (pronounced hobosh). I bought the ticket to this town called "Chiquilla" from where one takes the ferry to Holbox. Now under normal circumstances, me being super absent-minded and missing buses is almost normal. In this case however, I must have stood erect right next to the guy checking tickets, for some 30 mins. I asked him about the bus diligently at 10 min intervals and he kept pointing to me that it wasn't 1.45 pm as shown on the ticket yet. I then went to him exactly at 1.45 pm and he told me the bus hadn't arrived. I then went back at 1.48 pm dot and somehow he tells me that I missed the bus. I have no freaking clue how this miracle happened. I went back seething to the ticket lady, asking her to gimme a ticket for the next bus, and she said the dreaded word, "manana" which means tomorrow essentially. I was so crazy mad. I am embarrassed to admit that I lost my temper and yelled, "Does no one in this godforsaken bus company speak English?". The minute I said that, I realized how I was acting like the exact same douchebags that I cannot stand. I was in their country, they didn't need to know how to speak English, I should be speaking Spanish. I had no idea what to freakin do and then I remembered that this guy I had met in San Cristobal, Gary, mentioned he was staying in Playa del Carmen (beach town, an hour away from Cancun). So I decided to head out to Playa and chill with Gary instead of fretting in Cancun.

This is how it looked pretty much as I stepped out of the hostel

I dunno who said this to me, but it describes most accurately how I feel about Playa. If Playa had been the first place I visited,  I would have loved it. But after Tulum and Zipolite, I was spoiled. It was a typical touristy beach with tonnnnsss of American college kids. The hostel was a block from the beach which was nice but it was a party town going overboard trying to compete with Cancun. The hostel had a rooftop bar with a pool which I thought was pretty nice if you want a crazy night out.

Roof bar at the hostel

 Also, the hostel was surrounded by different bars all playing different music, so you really needed to be in the party spirit to enjoy this place. I started off my stint in Playa by just going to the beach and swimming around. After Zipolite's crazy waters, it was nice to be in the ocean without the very real fear of being swept off. Then Gary and I hit Walmart to see if they had backpacks. I would soon need to reclaim my luggage from the hostel in Cancun and I needed something to put it in. They didn't have backpacks but we did grab some sushi to eat on the hostel roof. The funniest thing happened at the hostel. I bumped into Ben and Marek from San Cristobal. Ben and Marek, early twenties, super chilled out, budding musicians and the coupliest straight guys you'll meet. People around them are always awww-ing at how they talk about each other and finish each other's sentences. I also met another Aussie called Clare when we were trying to figure where the hostel hides the stoves. I remember my first impression of Clare in her geeky glasses was of someone who was all intellectual and serious. (She's gonna be a doctor, so I bet she's still intellectual, but farrrr from serious). I also met Chris and Charlie in our dorm. They were really sweet English siblings. Something about Charlie was so serene and quiet. We all decided to chill together drinking for a "quiet" night out since it was our last night in Playa n all. I remember using all my  powers of persuasion to convince Ben and Marek for "just one drink". And then.. we found this club which had unlimited free alcohol for the girls and a foam party. Yep you can guess how the story goes. What's totally surprising to me is that Clare (who was still recovering from a foam party the last night) and Ben and Marek (who I had to totally coerce into coming out) were the ones who actually agreed to stay for the foam party!  It was such an awesome blast! The drinks were a joke but there was music and dance and tons of foam. Thankfully Clare was our resident foam party expert and she warned me, but who knew that one gets totaalllyy drenched with the foam. Like mouse in the rain drenched! I also lost my absolute favorite silver quicksilver flip flops in the foam :( After chilling there for a while, Clare had peaced out and Marek was busy flirting with this hot Russian chick, so Ben and I headed back to the hostel. I have absolutely no idea whose idea it was, but the next thing I remember, we were chilling on the beach. The beach was completely empty, conversation obviously seems interesting after alcohol and it was soooo perfect. I also somehow thought that it would be a great idea to swim with my dress on and everything. Actually, it was a great idea, no regrets.  This was finally Playa how I wanted it. Quiet still water on a deserted beach. And I'll add the next bit so that I'm not skipping the embarrassing parts. There was a boat in the water and I was all cocky, challenging Ben to race to it. I frantically swam and he casually waded to the boat and reached before me. Once at the boat, he easily got into the boat and it took me some 4 attempts before I gave up. It doesn't sound that bad, but imagine him waiting on the boat and me struggling to get on. Ugh I hate fit people! I don't think he cared but gosh I was soooo embarassed. I remember when I was hanging off the edge of a speed boat a few days later, the biggest reason I was afraid to fall off was that I was sure I wouldn't be able to get back in. Anyway, it was almost sunrise when we decided to head back. I remember thinking it must be some 3 am but it was almost freakin 6 am when we reached the hostel. It was one heck of a perfect night!

The beach was more crowded than this. 

The next day, I was up by 8 am like some crazy person and I was feeling awful that I had been lugging my sneakers all over Mexico without using them a single day. So, I apparently thought that going running hungover with 2 hours of sleep is a great idea. IT'S NOT! I felt like my whole body was stomped upon by elves in those two hours of sleeping. I just walked around the city trying to get in bits of running but it was the worst attempt to run in my whole life. I came back to a huge spread of breakfast at the hostel. They even had marble cake!! But I felt too sick and had to pass on the best breakfast that I had seen in Mexico. And I'm not sure if the stories so far conveyed this, but breakfast served at a hostel was a really big deal to me.  Anywhooo, Clare was supposed to start her Spanish classes that morning, and she managed to convince her instructor (while wearing her free drinks wristband) that she had a family problem and she'll start next week. And this is how, Clare, Ben, Marek and me decided to travel together as set off to my original destination, the gorgeous island of Isla Holbox!

P.S. I have no idea why I don't have a single pic of ANYTHING I did in Playa so I Googled some images that looks closest to Playa as I saw it.