Life's a Beach | Expat Life in Playa del Carmen

In an effort to not wear everyone out, we kept Day 4 of our itinerary was fairly low key. After a late breakfast across the street at Don Mucho, we reserved our luxury accommodations for one more night and then drove 60 kilometers south to the waterfalls of Aguas Azules.

Breakfast at Don Mucho

Cool fountain in the jungle that allegedly purifies the water as it circulates. Must do more research on this one....j

The road twisted and turned through tiny villages set into the sides of the mountains, reminding us very much of the area around Xela in Guatemala. At various points along the way, the townspeople set up makeshift roadblocks across the narrow road, some in an effort to slow down the tourists and tempt them with bananas, corn and tamales for sale. Others pulled up ropes across the way to extort money out of the drivers before allowing them to pass. We found that moving ahead, slowly but surely, would force them to eventually drop the rope and allow us to pass. Many times, those holding the rope were very small children, the parents seated comfortably nearby. These roads are narrow, with no forgiving shoulder and these children that rush out at the cars could easily be killed if two cars happened to pass at the same time. After awhile, it kind of pissed me off.

Over an hour later, we arrived at Aguas Azules and parked with hundreds of other visitors and dozens of tour buses. Vendors and small restaurants are set up everywhere, selling everything from delicious “raspadas” to steamed corn and fresh hot empanadas. Of course, the handcraft stalls were everywhere doing a brisk business with the crowds that had come to see these magnificent falls.

The colors of the Palenque Maya

 
Aguas Azules

Tarzan.....

....and Jane

Unfortunately, because of the rains over the past few days, the Aguas Azules were less than azul, the sediment stirred up in the water turning the pools a sort of greenish brown. We climbed all the way to the top of the stairs, our legs still sore from the ruins at Palenque, to the last swimming hole. The kids and I stripped down to our suits and slowly inched into the ice cold mountain water. This was way much colder than the cenote water we are accustomed to but refreshing after the hike up. The kids took turns on the road swing all the while shivering and shaking and turning various shades of blue and purple.

Brrrrr. Cold little monkeys.

After drying off and warming up a bit, we headed back down, stopping along the way to sample the empanadas and fresh fruit. Birdie had a hankering for corn so we found her an “elotero” and I enjoyed a sweet mango “raspada”. It was nearly 4:30 when we left so we decided to leave Misol Ha for tomorrow as this same treacherous road would then bring us to San Cristobal de las Casas.

Fresh mango raspadas. How I have been in Mexico for almost 6 years without trying these?!!

We arrived back into Palenque and drove into centro to check out the town a bit. I had been advised that downtown Palenque was not much to look at and we found that to be pretty much true. As good fortune would have it, that afternoon, they were setting up for the annual Arts and Culture Festival to be held later in the evening. We found a table in a nice looking restaurant which overlooked the zocalo, so there we sat and sipped a few cocktails and watched the activity below.  Once the stage was completed and the vendors had finished opening their stalls, we wandered through, enjoying the music and admiring the regional crafts and specialty foods.

More churros

Sweet and boozie, not sure exactly what they are...anyone?

The marimba, popular here as in Guatemala

Vendors

Mezcal

When the children had had their fill of churros and ice cream, we returned to our jungle retreat at El Panchan, tucked them into bed and stayed up to enjoy a few more cocktails and the fire show at Don Mucho. It may not be the most luxurious place in the world but they sure do know how to keep their guests well fed and entertained. A few tequilas later, we poured ourselves into bed, dreading the long drive ahead of us tomorrow.