TRIP REPORT (of sorts): Part 2 of 2(repost from

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<b>: SOUTH AKUMAL (5): Stayed at the Seven Seas #4. Very nice facility w/ a pool and great beach. Only negative was the</b>
<b>: constant sewer smell in the bathroom. Extremely nice caretaker said he knew about it and needed to fix it. We would stay</b>
<b>: there again if the problem was corrected. We could not believe how beautiful the beach and Caribbean were, and looked</b>
<b>: forward to exploring the other beaches along the coast.</b>
<b>: LESSON #4- Before booking a place, always ask if there is a sewage smell in the bathroom.</b>
<b>: TULUM: Easy trip from SA and, again, thanks to the tips on here and in tour books, we were able to avoid the tour bus</b>
<b>: crowds by going early. They were arriving as we were leaving. Prices in shops beyond ridiculous.</b>

<b>: [Special Note at this point- Different Strokes For Different Folks. No offense. No harm, no foul.]</b>

<b>: PLAYA DEL CARMEN: Two visits. Um, despite all the great bars and restaurants, not our kind of place. This must have</b>
<b>: been a truly great little town before Burger King, Senor Frog’s, etc., moved in. Plus, I don’t much enjoy having an 8.8</b>
<b>: pesos/$1 exchange rate forced on me, or being shortchanged 100 pesos on a restaurant bill. My wife and I have spent 33</b>
<b>: years visiting many, many places in Mexico, and have never felt like we were surrounded by vultures. Until PDC. Another</b>
<b>: thing, one that shocked us, was the prices merchants wanted for their wares. Something we paid 8 pesos for in Valladolid</b>
<b>: they wanted 80 pesos for in PDC (and $25 in Cancun!). Or something we could buy in Tijuana for $1-2 they wanted $25 in</b>
<b>: PDC. Hard to bargain under those circumstances. Impossible, actually. (Do people actually pay those prices?) Amazing</b>
<b>: beaches. Beautiful water. Can’t wait to explore other beaches along the coast.</b>
<b>: LESSON #5- Where there are tourists there are no bargains.</b>
<b>: COZUMEL: Wife had no interest in taking the ferry over. Did we miss anything, other than being able to say we’ve been to</b>
<b>: Cozumel?</b>
<b>: GAS STATIONS: Ready to tip 4-5 pesos, but the attendants tried to shortchange us at every single one on the entire trip.</b>
<b>: Only other time this happened was on a 6-week trip we took all over N & Central Mexico about 8 years ago when the only</b>
<b>: gas stations that didn’t try to shortchange us were the ones in the cities and towns. No big deal.</b>
<b>: ROADS: Very, very well maintained. A few with potholes, but nothing like previous roads we’ve traveled (ask me about the</b>
<b>: road from Guadalajara-Tequila-Tepic). But I think they sometimes overdo it with the topes. The ones on the Coba-Tulum</b>
<b>: road that weren’t marked are a real thrill.</b>
<b>: LESSON #6- Watch out for the topes. And then watch out for even more topes.</b>
<b>: CASA CENOTE RESTAURANT: Great location. Great beach. Overpriced, overrated. Food I ordered was not fit for human</b>
<b>: consumption. My fault.</b>
<b>: LESSON # 7- Never, ever order a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich 33,749 miles from Philadelphia, even if you’re dying for one</b>
<b>: after eating Mexican/Mayan food for almost two weeks straight.</b>
<b>: LESSON #8: If they don’t have decent Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches in L.A., only a fool would think they’d have ‘em in</b>
<b>: Mexico.</b>
<b>: LOL HA RESTAURANT: Great location. Great beach (what one could see of it in the dark = not much). VG food. A tad</b>
<b>: overpriced. </b>
<b>: WEATHER: 5 minutes of rain the entire trip. A couple of days were a tad on the hot side, but I don’t think we could have had</b>
<b>: a nicer two weeks.</b>
<b>: CENOTES: Great. Made note to visit the ones we missed next time.</b>



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