Playa Del Carmen - Party Capital of the Mayan Rivieira

After the quiet tranquil calm of Tulum we have headed up the coast to Playa, A bit like Blackpool but with out the pies or the Tower. There is a main Street, Avenida 5 down which tourists run the gauntlet of unrelenting tat sellers who try to drag you into their shops to "see their wares". If you don't mind the banter every step you take its fine; but when you are loaded down with all your worldly goods the last thing you feel the need to buy is a mexican hat or a mayan spinning top.

After the sixth or seventh of these sellers I thought seriously about asking if any of them required double glazing or understood the heat reflecting benefits of Argon over Nitrogen for interglazed spacing; but before I could work out my spiel we reached the turning for our Hostel.

There is no escaping the liveliness of Playa, there are Bars and restaurants to cater for every appetite and pocket. This is mexico catering for a market. The only salvation is that as you move West to some of the other parallel Avenidas peace and mexican normality return.

This is a very different and fun, party place to be, because of the prevalence of Cruise ships and nearby Cozumel a Scuba/Snorkelling centre.

We are catching the Ferry tomorrow for a visit.

There was a mini Friday fiesta when we arrived.... so take a look at this for a fin de semana start, taken from our first floor balconette. Looks from the angle that there is an element of cervesa distortion to the framing of the pictures, or perhaps the building wasn't straight.