MEXICO: Playa Del Carmen

My return has been met with the unpleasant event I have dreaded since November 9th. The January 20th inauguration of a dangerously unqualified person with the temperament of a recalcitrant child.

Thankfully, I didn’t plunge into a prolonged depression, but merely chose a week of silent mourning and reflection after the foul deed was consummated. In the week following his swearing in, he did not disappoint in that he took some of the most breathtaking steps backward of any human being to take the oath of office. Many peoples rights or benefits have been violated or taken away already.

In fact his behavior has been so alarming and at odds with the Constitution, I am ever more confident that he will be out of office in six months to a year. People are fighting back in the United States and all over the world in unprecedented numbers which should hopefully result in him becoming unpresidented in short order. I really think he’s toast, given the depth of his conflicts of interest and flouting of the Constitution.

The U.S.A. is just another plaything with which to line his pockets, and something to slake his unquenchable ego. When the lion’s share of the population makes fun of him, and things don’t got go his way, hell just cast it all aside like the toy of a spoiled child, and find somebody else’s lives to ruin. He’ll blame the press and the rigged system, and go back to doing what he does best. Lying, bullying the weak, grabbing vaginas, trotting out his trophy wife and cheating people out of their money.

He has gone on and on about how angry the world is and what a disaster it has become. What he doesn’t seem to get is that he has made it that way, and is now in the process of making it worse with his hate speech, fear mongering and truly un-American behavior.

In my post following the election, I installed pictures of him as a ridiculous clown, but I realized a week ago that I really needed to show him as a dangerous one. Trevor Noah used this on his show the other night, but I had already thought of it the week before.

THE NEW JOKER

TRUMP PIÑATA – Now a bestseller South of the Border. I have informed them that the tie needs to be down to the crotch, the hands a tad smaller, and the face more decrepit and jowly. Hopefully when I return in October they will have implemented the changes.

THE WORLD’S GREATEST TRUMP TROLL DOLL – $25.00 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…/trump-troll-doll-sculpture-by-chuck-williams

As it turns out, I’ve been letting our CONmander in Chief live rent free in my head, and mess with my outlook and mental health. He’s already ruining the planet with his outrageous, regressive environmental policies, and frankly he has more than enough properties to live in without taking up residence in my skull. The silly thing is that I know better than to fall into this trap. I read a book a long time ago that liberated me from letting anything or anyone get my goat.

The book was “A Guide to Rational Living” by Albert Ellis, PH. D.   Basically the premise is that “you” make yourself angry, upset, afraid, anxious etc. And this is usually preceded by irrational thoughts. If you learn to dispute these thoughts and quash them at the outset, and eventually you gain dominion over your feelings. No longer will you live a life where you are constantly reacting to the outside world at the expense of your peace of mind. You are now in charge, but don’t worry you won’t turn into Spock from Star Trek. You will just be freed of a lot of unnecessary emotional baggage.

Unfortunately I have strayed a long ways off of the path laid out by Albert Ellis, and will make sure and give it another read. It’s absolutely essential in this day and age. For those unfamiliar with Dr. Ellis, he was recognized as one of the most important people in the field of psychiatry, second only to Dr. Jung. He managed to beat out Sigmund Freud.

In fact, Albert Ellis was originally a Freudian psychiatrist until he realized very few people were improving from the treatments. He decided to use some concepts from the Greek philosopher Epictetus as the foundation of his own treatment modality which came to be what is now known as Cognitive Psychology.

It is one of the few approaches shown to be effective in extensive clinical trials. Many of your favorite pop psychologists culled their materials from Dr. Ellis’ extensive work. At the time of his death in 2007 Albert Ellis had written or cowritten 80 books and 1200 articles. He was a bit of a womanizer, but was a dedicated and brilliant man with a salty vocabulary who will be sorely missed. What he left behind should assuage the suffering of millions.

A little scuba diving to cleanse the spirit of the political fiasco back at home. Can’t wait to order my Trump troll doll. It makes his threat to humanity seem altogether less terrifying, and at the same time spotlights the pathetic little troll that he is.

I’ve made my point now. The blog will now become a Trump free zone after this posting. Even though he is hell bent on wrecking the planet, I see no reason for him to continue soiling my precious travelogue. I didn’t live through almost sixty years on this planet just to spend my final days wrestling with a dung beetle. Hopefully I can adhere to this declaration.

 

 

        JASON VACATIONS IN PLAYA

Jason arrived just in the nick of time before I became fully engulfed in Trump hermit syndrome as the result of a number of spates of people trying to cheat me out of my money. The last straw was a collection agency trying to hit me up for a $1,100 three year old debt that I had paid at the time of service. It was nice to engage with the human race once again, and see Playa anew through someone else’s eyes. He also got me out of Dodge for a bit when we visited a couple of Mayan sites that were new to me.

We also indulged in a number of local cenotés which are deep natural, wells, caves or sinkholes. The water is very clear, and they all have different personalities. Cenoté Azul was out in the open and had considerable marine life to keep things interesting.

                                                               TULUM

TULUM – The only Mayan ruins by the ocean. It was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya between 1200 and 1450AD.

TEMPLE OF THE GOD OF THE WIND – It was blowing so hard that snorkeling was out.

 

TEMPLE OF THE WIND

 

 

 

 

 

EL CASTILLO

 

EL CASTILLO

 

 

LAST LOOK AT TULUM

 

 

If you’re daring, climb the ladder to the crow’s nest for cocktails.

We certainly had a wonderful lunch of tender Mayan grouper cooked in banana leaves with an incredible, savory sauce. The plan was to snorkel off of the beach on the coral reefs, but it was so rough that the conditions would have been terrible.

Plan B – It was getting later in the day so we headed back toward Playa and stopped at the Cenoté Azul which was a good move. It was cool and refreshing, and the copious quantities of fish kept things interesting.

 

                                              COBA

COBA – The next day we headed back towards Tulum, and then went inland 27 miles to the Coba ruins. The population was estimated to have been around 50,000, and it was built between 500 and 900AD.

 

 

JASON

If you’re going to do a selfie, at least make the composition interesting. Jason actually adds something here. He lends scale to the image. The stone tunnel frames the subject nicely, and renders them both equally important to the shot. Thus you end up with a selfie with a little verve and panache, and not just another obnoxious attempt to rationalize taking a picture of yourself in front of something important.

 

 

 

 

 

NATURE WHIPS UP AN ABSTRACT

 

COBA STELLA

 

 

 

 

NOHOCH MUL PYRAMID – It is 138ft. in height and is the tallest pyramid on the Yucatan peninsula.

Slightly taller than Chichen-Itza, but you’re allowed to climb this one.

Jason ascends the pyramid with commendable alacrity.

It gets a little more challenging the closer you get.

TEMPLE AT THE TOP

 

Not something you want to trip on going down.

After descending the pyramid, we hopped on a pedicab back to the entrance, having put in our 4k of walking. Next stop lunch at Xaibe just a quarter mile from the Coba entrance. We dined on a traditional pork dish wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in the ground. So  tender. Fantastic!

COBA STELLA

The last pyramid, although small was beautifully designed and excellently restored.

 

 

                                    Choo-Ha Cenoté

The descent into the cenoté was a good 100-150 feet.

You get the full caving effect in this one, complete with stalactites.

I would have loved to get pictures of the other two, but going up and down the stairs twice on two additional cenotés would have destroyed me.

ZERO ZERO – Jason’s favorite restaurant for shady tree ambience and a relaxing Havana cigar. I visited after he left, and proceeded changed the name of the street on which it’s located to Calle Jason.