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Back to the Holidays
When Lucia agreed to return to Mexico as part of the retirement plan, she set herself the goal of showing her boys her country. Which brings us to the holidays in December, Victor was out of school; I’m retired and Lucia 
Our tradition for years, while we were living in Canada, was to travel to Coatepec; meet up with Lucia’s parent’s and drive or fly to Puerto Escondido in the state of Oaxaca. This is where Lucia’s extended family gathered each year. On one occasion there were close to 40 of us scattered about the town; meeting on the beach or in Cafecito.
I enjoyed these trips so much that I would return to Canada and immediate start planning for the next year. They became one of the main motivators, aside from a decent salary, to continue performing the tedious duties of my day-to-day job.
Over the last few years, it has been more difficult to determine if the family was going to gather in Puerto Escondido or some other destination, or gather at all. This time around, Lucia’s grandmother was not well (she is closing in on 100) and her three daughters (closing in on 100 themselves) all decided to stay close by and look after their mother. Their children all went off and did their own thing. We decided it was time to take one of those trips that Lucia had been promising.
Coatepec to Playa del Carmen and back again
We had some friends from Hamilton, Ontario, that moved to Playa del Carmen. They were the family of one of Victor’s former classmates. At one point, we were sure that this classmate was our future daughter-in-law. When in school, the children were inseparable. To the teacher, together, they were a terror, apart they were manageable. The teacher retired early before she knew they were both headed to Mexico! So our destination was easy to decide.
There are 31 states in Mexico. I know this because I just finished looking it up. On this trip we travelled through five of them: Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. Three of them were new to me: Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatan. We live in the state of Veracruz, and a couple of years ago I flew out of Cancún, in the state of Quintana Roo. A word of advise, never go to the Cancún airport hungry. I paid $30 CAN for two eggs, two strips of bacon and a coffee. I am still traumatized 3 years later.
Our goal was to spend three days getting to Playa del Carmen, visit with our friends over the holiday and start our return January 1. Lucia did all the driving, cause truth be told, I don’t drive. My job was to keep Victor entertained. Six to eight hours a day on the road is tough on anyone, let alone a seven year old, and don’t forget the father that has to provide the entertainment when the cellphone battery dies. Victor as usual, turned out to be a great traveler.
Our biggest challenge was accommodations. The trick was to find places that had fridges. We had brought our cooler and filled it with specific foods that Victor eats. He doesn’t eat a large variety of things and what he does eat requires refrigeration. So Lucia searched for places that had a semblance of a kitchen. This suited my plan to be able to at least cook breakfast in an effort to cut down on eating costs.
Our first stop was Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco. We stayed in a hotel, Real de Tabasco Suites, Lucia had found the hotel through one of the booking sites. Instead of booking online, where booking fees would be applicable, we opted to show up with our fingers crossed. There was a room at $30 US and it had a fridge. Yay! For those of us who preferred local food, the street outside the hotel came alive with various taco shops in the late afternoon.
A good night’s sleep and showers and we were onto our next destination – an accommodation in the city of Campeche, the capital of the state of Campeche. Lucia has a thing for the capitals! This place, Lucia found through AirBnB. When we finally succeeded in locating the place, we found ourselves standing in front of an old building, painted a brownish orange and sitting behind a large iron gate that had seen better days.
The owner had forgotten to send the access details so we stood for a while outside the house, while trying to get in touch with the owner to find out how to get in. Dusk was fast approaching. Victor was happy to scale the fence and once on the other side, he discovered the door on the iron gate opened. All you had to do was push hard.
We passed through the door of the gate and tired to open the door to the house. The house appeared abandoned. There was a code pad on the door, which Victor tried every combination he could think of until the lock shut down. Meanwhile, Lucia was trying to get in touch with the owner who did finally answer (it was Christmas Eve). He reset the lock from afar and in short order, we found ourselves in a magnificent mansion. It reminded me of a building used in movies where the main characters need to survive the night. It was wonderfully beautiful with long corridors, winding staircases and creaking floors without any sign of life.
Our Christmas Eve dinner was at a pricey Brazilian meat restaurant. It was located on the boardwalk within walking distance of our accommodation. The view of the sea was wonderful as was the distance we needed to walk, but the food, not as good as similar restaurants in Xalapa which were also half the price (without the view)!
After a not so sound sleep, the neighbors were celebrating Christmas Eve with a lot of loud music until 4 in the morning, we were up at 7 and on the road again.
We managed to get to Playa del Carmen on the third day. This was a day earlier than our hotel reservation at the Hacienda Valentina where we went first to see if we could start our stay a day early. We entered through the front gates where we saw lots of people eating, drinking, and laughing. As we stepped through the gates, a dead silence set over the merrymaking with most eyes set upon us. I was overcome with the sense that we certainly did not belong. It turned out that the entire hotel had been booked by a single family to celebrate Christmas. There had to be at least 50 people milling around.
We got back into our car where Lucia searched AirBnB and found an alternative accommodation for the night. The next day we returned to the Hacienda Valentina where we spent the next few days of our stay in Playa del Carmen, minus the family. There was an outdoor kitchen shared by all the guests. There was also a swimming pool that we invited our friends from Hamilton to come and sit around while the children played in and out of the water.
On New Year’s Day, we packed up and pretty much repeated the three days in the car travel in reverse.
Some thoughts and observations
I wanted to drive down to Playa del Carmen. I was convinced it would be cheaper than flying down. Lucia thought that perhaps with hotels, gas, food, tolls etc. that it would be more expensive or the same. To make a final decision, we checked airfares, which during the holidays, were at a premium. We also checked Tollguru. The website provides, based on the information entered, the cost of gas and tolls. It appeared it would be a lot cheaper to drive. So we did thanks to Lucia’s willingness to sit behind the wheel for 8 hours a day for three days each way.
It should go without saying, but I will say it, you simply cannot get the same feel for a country flying over it versus driving through it.
My first trip to Mexico was around the turn of the century. I’ve always wanted to say that. It was an all expense paid trip for two to a resort in Cancún. The plane took off from Toronto, it flew through the skies and landed in Cancún. We got off the plane, were ushered into a bus, which drove down some roads, went though some large gates and dropped us in front of a long sprawling building. It was our hotel. For four days, people sat around a swimming pool eating, drinking and sleeping. I was, I believe the expression is, bored out of my tree. At the end of four days, we were ushered into a bus that drove to the airport where we boarded a plane back to Toronto. I don’t remember anything redeeming about the trip other than receiving the award and recognition that got me the trip in the first place. But I digress.
Avoiding tourist traps
What needs to be said is that Mexico, at least the five states we travelled through (in addition to a few other states I’ve been to), is spectacularly beautiful. The scenic beauty is hard to separate from the beauty, visually and spiritually, of the people that live there. The experience is much different when one stays away from the destinations that are geared towards tourists. A case in point, a single order of bacon and eggs for $30 CAN at the Cancun airport or breakfast for three at a historical hotel in Mérida, Yucatán for about $20 CAN, tip included. Lucia insisted on our needing to have breakfast in the capital of Yucatan. So we did. She is the boss Victor insists on reminding me.
I need to pause here and talk about this hotel a bit. Breakfast was served from 8 to 11. We were there on Christmas Day. Lucia told me it would be very expensive but what choice did we have. We went through the doors and entered a magnificent hallway with several tables with seating for four. We were the only customers. The waiter said opening on this day was an experiment. We sat down and ordered breakfast, chorizo and eggs. The waiter provided us with a bowl so Victor could have some of his yogurt.
When we finished eating and received the bill, 200 pesos or so, we were in shock at how inexpensive it was given the beauty of the hotel and the top notch service. We asked the waiter if they were open for dinner. We were sure that that was where they made money. But no, breakfast only. We asked more questions. We were curious about how they could actually make enough money to finance the beauty of the place. We found out that the hotel rooms were between $8,000-$13,000 pesos a night. Our curiosity answered. One day when we have that much money, we will need to stay.
Playa del Carmen, a tourist trap for sure
Playa del Carmen is certainly a tourist trap. Fortunately, our main objective was to visit with our friends from Hamilton. They knew where to go and where not to go. One of the places we spent time was at their house. They lived in a large gated neighborhood geared towards the comfort of foreigners. This included a shared park area where we sat around catching up while the children played. Later we went down to 5th avenue. This was a large pedestrian walkway that went on for miles and border the beach. Lots of cheesy trinkets, made in China, at inflated prices. The highlight was ending up at an area leading to the beach and watching a performance called, “Danza de los Voladores” which Lucia told me was native to Veracruz.
We also visited a couple of beaches in the area. Visiting the beach was something our friends did each weekend. They were nearby, inexpensive and relaxing. One of the nice things about the beaches was that the ocean in this area was calm. The children could play in the water without the constant fear that they may be swept away by the undercurrent. Though we still needed to be watchful given the daughter of our friend had received a metal detector for Christmas. And the treasure hunt was on, up and down the beach.
Another trap, that we did not go to, was the Akumal Monkey Sanctuary where the admission would have been five and a half thousand pesos ($250 CAN or so) for the three of us and this is the guaranteed lowest price according to the website. Don’t misunderstand me here, I love monkeys. In some circles they even say we are related to monkeys. How many times have you heard a parent call their child a little monkey? I grew up watching Tarzan and delighted every time Cheeta appeared. Heck the only books I read, over and over again, were Curious George. They were the first books I bought for Victor and read to him over and over again. But $250? Heck, the Toronto Zoo is only $100 for a family of three.
We visited Tulum, the Mayan ruins not far from Playa del Carmen. There was a long procession to get into the area of the ruins. Being a national site, the admission was very reasonable, and had I brough my NAPAM card (for those 60 and older), I would have gotten in for free. Having forgotten my card, I paid more than Lucia, who got a discount for being Mexican, and Victor who was free.
Using a local tour service can end up costing more than a visit to the Akumal Monkey Sanctuary but you get a lot more information.
Once inside the area of the ruins, visitors follow a pathway that keeps them from entering the ruins themselves. We had thought, like ruins that are near Mexico City, we would be able to climb the ruins. Lucia was very disappointed because when she was younger, much younger, she was able to walk among the ruins. Victor was bored and had no problem letting us know he was bored. And to be honest, which I like to be sometimes, I was bored too! Without a guided tour and someone explaining the importance of this pile of rocks or that pile of rocks, they were just piles of rocks. Though there was a beautiful view of the sea from one of the platforms built for visitors to the ruins.
New Years Eve in Playa del Carmen
We’ve never done much on New Years Eve. I don’t think in all the years we’ve been together, that we have stayed up and watched the clock strike 12 or the ball drop in the centre of Manhattan. Unlike my youth, we can’t even use the excuse of having drank too much before eight to avoid passing out! However, ever since Victor joined us, we are able to use his bedtime as an excuse for avoiding all that is associated with the bring in of the New Year.
This year, our friends from Hamilton wanted to meet at the municipal square in Playa del Carmen to go ice skating. Yes, you read right. Ice skating in a city near the southern tip of Mexico where the temperature was in the low 30s. Lucia, much more a sport than I or Victor, was all in. So that is how we found ourselves in a lineup to enter a tent where there was a skating rink offering free skates. Victor and I watched from the bleachers as Lucia donned some skates and made her way around the rink.
As Victor’s bedtime approached, we wished our friends a happy new year before heading back to our hotel. To our surprise, there was no wild party at the hotel and we were able to get a good night’s sleep before starting our trip back to Coatepec.
Return to Coatepec
On New Years Day, we began our return home. There were a couple of highlights on our return.
The first was that Lucia had managed to book an AirBnB which claimed to be run entirely by solar power. The accommodation, like the one in city of Campeche, was in an old house that had been restored. The family that owned the house live in it while renting out most of it to tourists and professionals needing a place to stay while in the city. Everything was indeed run by solar and worked until the next morning when Lucia needed an internet connection to teach her class at noon. We ended up leaving early in the morning to give us enough time to get to another city near by where Lucia gave her class from a restaurant located in a hotel.
The second thing of note, and perhaps one of the highlights of the trip, was the Yumka zoo. The Yumka zoo was recommended to Lucia by her aunt. Her aunt is a wise woman who has raised five children and catered to many more grandchildren. She knows children and she knows good when she finds it.
At the zoo we found the Capybara. This animal appeared in Victor’s vocabulary, and “needs” out of nowhere. At least for us, it was out of nowhere. Turns out all his friends knew about it; our relatives knew about it. Everyone knew about it except us. Once we knew about it, we were seeing it everywhere. Someone told us it first appeared on TikTok and became all the rage. There are Capybara hats, Capybara knapsacks, Capybara dolls, well you get the idea. A goldmine for all who make things, and a financial drain on all of us with children who knew about it.
The zoo itself has a wonderful collection of animals from around the world. The staff is laid back and friendly. When we were leaving, an employee thanked us for coming, and I do believe it was genuine. The admission for the three of us was less that $20 CAN, and included a train that took us through the large parts of the zoo. Victor even managed to purchase a Capybara pin of sorts for 30 pesos ($2.5 CAN).
Back in Coatepec
That’s it for now. We are back home in Coatepec now. We are planning our next trip. We think we might visit my sister-in-law out on the Pacific coast. We are also working on plans to build our house on our land. We just finished paying our taxes on our property for the entire year. The bill came in at just over 300 pesos or as my father mused, the cost of a burger and fries.
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