On December 10, we rode for a little over an hour from Cancún to Playa del Carmen where we rented a apartment for a month at 27,898 MXN (~1,783 CAD). Playa del Carmen is another tourist-infested beach city with not much else aside from beaches, spas, and shopping. As a result, we didn’t do much for our first few days aside from spending some time on 5th Avenue, the main pedestrian street that is filled with tourists and lined with numerous stores and overpriced restaurants.
I’m not finger-pointing at any one group, but I have a little rant about tourists from generally more developed countries. I’m not sure what it is about people who are privileged enough to afford vacations having the most unbelievable sense of entitlement, but there seems to be the ridiculous expectation that everything and everyone will be adjusted to meet their needs. Showing respect to the local people and culture appears to be out of the question. Would you like it if someone came to your home and behaved in such a way? No! Then why do it in someone else’s and think it’s acceptable? It’s no wonder that locals in many countries hate tourists.
We have come across a number of people that treat locals as if they’re stupid for not speaking fluent English (how about you learn some Spanish since you’re visiting a Spanish-speaking country?!), ignoring signs prohibiting access to certain areas (the signs are just for decoration, I guess), and being loud enough that aliens on Jupiter can hear them (not that anyone needs eardrums). I can write a book on things I have observed, but I don’t have the patience or the energy. I just have one word of advice for those of us who travel to other countries – BEHAVE (just like Mom taught us when we were kids).
Now that that’s out of my system, here’s a couple of pictures of 5th Avenue. We do plan to visit the beach and do some day trips, so stay tuned!
Playa del Carmen by Day
Playa del Carmen by Night
