Playa del Carmen

It is hot hot hot! I had a few hours sleep at the hotel last night but not enough to recover my sleep. The bar music didn't finish till 2am. I really hope the new hotel is better. I have been walking the streets for the past 4 hours and I am beyond knackered. I had to wait till 3pm to check in. I am having some down time and trying to cool off under the air conditioner unit.
First impressions of Mexico is hot, humid but the people are overall friendly. It is certainly a tourist mecca with hundreds of shops lining the main road. Just off it are the beaches which are like an ants nest of heaving bodies all vying for space on the sand. The locals are all vying for your attention, all wanting you to enter their shop. Hey chiquita! Hey lady, come over here and I will show you something you have never seen before... uh, no thanks. Also, kind of sounds like a proposition haha. The streets are clean and there is a heavy police presence on the streets which isnt so much intimadating as it is comforting.
I had fajitas for lunch. I was really looking forward to trying some mexican food and my first encounter was a bit of a let down. The handmade soft tacos were like eating stale taco and the sauce (I think itwas mole) was bland and kind of tasteless. The actual chicken and veg were nice but lacked flavour or spice. There is a lot of italian restaurants and icecream palours. Yum!
In the evening I met up with the Gadventures tour guide and group. The guide is called Chris and he is a very friendly person. This is his last tour before he moves to Chile. I also met up with my room mate Sophie. She is from the UK, but has travelled a lot due to her father's job in the military. She is easy to get on with and has a great sense of humour. I think I won't mind sharing a room with her.
As a group we headed down to the beach where we introduced ourselves and then we headed for a walk out to a little restaurant that sold Mexican food. It was very good eating. Earlier in the day I had watched people eating guacamole and I was all about that, so that first thing I ordered was that. Avadados must grow like weeds here. They will mash up two or three for a meal. They serve it with corn chips. It was the yummiest food of the day, followed up by the chicken quasadillas which were amazin.I don't know what kind of cheese they use but it is lovely - not greasy at all. Sort of like goat or buffalo cheese... dunno but I wasn't poorly after eating them which means more quasadellas with cheese for me!

What a looong day

Long day may be an understatement. It all begans with someone coughing in the flight lounge, while we are all waiting to board. There was a man who sounded like a he is trying to give birth to his lungs or maybe just the phlegm. Already I was praying... please done be beside me. He wasn't, not that that mattered. He was two rows back and I am fairly certain everyone up to business class could hear him. He coughed for the entire 14 hour flight and I am not exaggerating either. This hacking, back of your throat, fur-ball sound emanating from his throat every two seconds. Couldn't get more than twenty minutes or so before the sound crept into the sleep cycle and I was awake again. I have basically had a series of powernaps. Oh, and I was sat beside this larger man who feel asleep several times and leaned into my space so much at one point I was almost in the aisle. I pushed him back with a friendly elbow a few times.
We landed in Houston which was fine but security is not. The finger, thumb and eye scan business meant that most people failed the self check in bit. I saw exactly two people out of a good thousand of us who managed to get through the self-scanner. Everyone else, myself included, off the pens to be shunted along to the various lines. I finally got through and made it to my next gate with time to spare. I was already in the right terminal which is great but coming back, I am going to have to pick up my game and run if I am going to make my return flight!
Arrived in Cancun and my transfer wasn't there but some nice taxi drivers gave him a call and he was close by. They were very friendly and helpful. Can't fault them. When Carlos arrived, we loaded up the huge car they had sent and 45 minutes I arrived in Playa del Carmen... at the wrong hotel. Carlos was sure it was the right one but no, just because they both start with koox, one is koox paradise and one is koox studio. Another loop around and we arrived.
It is bustling and loud. I know because I am sitting on my bed and I can hear the rave music outside. Going to be a loooong night too.
To top of the day, I arrived and they have no record of my booking or paying etc. Despite having two emails (one only two days ago) saying I was booked... nope. Sorry. But lucky for me they had a room free. Bloody hell they should! It is my room.
At the moment, the people at the front desk can't tell if I have paid or not. I thought I but now I am wondering if they just took the reservation. I am sure I paid. I remember seeing the transaction, but maybe it wasn't finalised. Maybe they just took the credit card number but didn't charge it. I can't find the payment on my bank statements either. Will probably have to apologise to the man on the front counter tomorrow. I don't think I was being rude, but he seemed to take my adamant belief that I had a booking the wrong way. I am way too tired. I am going to sleep. Thankfully I still have my noise cancelling headphones.