Tulum and Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

When I think of Mexico, I think of tequila, tacos, mariachi band, Cenotes cavern and cave diving and Mayan ruins. I don't dive so my mission traveling to Cancun a couple of months ago was all about food : guacamole day and night, catching up with Syera in Club Med Cancun, drinks at 5th Avenue and day trips to Isla Mujerez, Cozumel and Tulum where I had sooo much fun exploring the islands and fell in love with Mexican blue skies and culture. From driving the buggy car to wearing sombrero and stuffing myself with seafood tacos, from crazy-sign on Club Med's dance floor to photo shooting at Cozumel like supermodels...oh boy, it was a week well-spent celebrating love and life with my beloved ones.  

How to get to Playa Del Carmen from Cancun Airport :

Once you passed thru the baggage carrousel and customs, you will find the bus company stands 'ADO'. It costs you 10 USD/one way from the airport to downtown Playa Del Carmen located at 5th Avenue ( 30 - 45 min drive )

How to get to Tulum from Playa Del Carmen :

The easiest way : from Playa Del Carmen bus station, take ADO bus to Tulum ( 4 USD/one way ) Schedule : Playa Del Carmen - Tulum 

Where to stay in Playa Del Carmen :

We rent an apartment at El Eijido area for $400 per month ( 10 minutes drive from 5th Ave ) but if you're thinking to stay nearby 5th Avenue, they have maaaany accommodations from hostels, guest houses, to of course hotels at different price ranges. Expect the area is really crowded by both tourist and local people, but it's walking distance to the port if you want to go to Cozumel.  

Where to eat ? 

We love the street food where you can find  real good tacos, burritos, all kinds of Mexican food you name it. $1 for a huge burrito.

I remember the night before I turned 26 last June I told myself I wanted to see my travel pictures on the magazines. I used to write a lot when I was in high school and being incredibly lucky to travel, I feel like I want to write more, write better so I can contribute something useful to my readers. Perhaps through my photos and stories people would dream and find ways to travel, just like I was once a girl who spent hours admiring photography - did not know how to get there but sometimes you just have to believe. Keep putting one foot in front of the other... 

So after 4 months writing and editing, contacted more than 20 editors, been through a lot of rejections - I'm so happy that my articles made it to Go Girl Magazines ID, Grazia ID, Nylon Singapore and Female Magz ID, also travel websites like TheHoneyCombers.com and Trip101.com. As much as I love exploring places and creating stories through photography, but there's nothing like seeing my pictures printed on magazines and my friends would call me only to say they got the copies and look forward to seeing what's next for Gyscha. To be honest, I'm not sure yet, it's been a wonderful journey full of surprises. I want to go further, get involved on exciting projects, make dreams come true and meet more interesting people. Never ending wishlists. 

Accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith in your journey.

Cozumel, Mexico

Flashing back to one day trip to Cozumel, Mexico we did last month only to see my girl Syera.
Cozumel an island in the Caribbean sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, just opposite Playa Del Carmen for many years has been the cruise line favorite stops. With more than 200 restaurants, hotels, dive operations and souvenir shops on the island - no wonder tourism comprises the majority of Cozumel's economy. But what's the best way way to enjoy Cozumel, especially if you only have couple of hours in the island ? I'd suggest you to rent a car and drive around the island with drinks and tacos break in between. We didn't have any maps with us, just drive randomly along the coast line. Trust me, spontaneous trips are the best !

Feel free to scroll down for souvenirs from Cozumel. It was a day well spent driving around the island with a car we rent for $30. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, you know things just can't go wrong when you have  Mexican food, coconut water, and good company ( thanks to our awesome photographer for capturing our happiness ). Something about the blue sky, sun, the car, we had lots of laughs and conversations about good old days in Malaysia just make me happy every time I see these pictures, even though in the evening just before we caught the ferry back to Playa Del Carmen we found out the guys in the gas station charged us twice for a small amount of gasoline, ended up paying $70...story of my life. In the next couple of days, I'll be writing more about our Mexico adventure.

How to get to Cozumel from Playa Del Carmen ?
The ferry terminal in Playa Del Carmen located conveniently right in downtown Playa Del Carmen, near the main square or Plaza Playacar. With ferry schedules leaves every hour start from 6 am to 9 pm to Cozumel, the same thing from 7 am to 10 pm from Cozumel to Playa Del Carmen - the tickets cost $10.50 / one way for adults and about $7 for kids.

Also visit Postcards From Playa Del Carmen

Postcards from Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Canon G16 apparently makes traveling more fun. For the past few years I took photos a lot using smart phone and my pocket camera, I thought it was very easy and convenient...you just have to snap, edit and upload but as I visited more places I fell in love with photography and somehow curious how to take photos like what those guys did at NatGeo magazines, focus at the back or front, perfect angle and brightness, etc. Nowadays Instagram is a great apps to stalk on talented photographers, I can literally spend hours just starring at beautiful photos from some of my favorite photographers and bloggers, like Jamie beck from AnnStreetStudio.com , Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Russel James, Mario Sorrenti, I truly admire them for every little details and ideas you can find on their amazing works. Then as I learn and explore photography deeper, little did I know they have changed the way I travel. Instead of rushing from one place to another, I like to take my time exploring a new place and train my eyes to find the unique details, capture everything that will remind me about that place and make short video too. It's fun to be a visual story teller. Canon G16 is my first proper camera I got last December, I absolutely love the size and it looks chic. I was thinking about to get one of the DSLR cameras but I realized it's very important for me to travel light, after doing a lot of research about camera I've finally found Canon G16  actually does an excellent job too like DSLR cameras - especially for a beginner like me,  the camera is super easy to use. Oh well, still learning and exploring, here's some photos I took from my previous trip in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico Iast January. 5th Avenue in Playa is a great place to stay, eat, shop, party, people-watching - basically you can find everything you need from the beach, cafe, good tacos, souvenirs for family at home, coffee shops, hotels, ferry terminal to Cozumel, even Adeo bus terminal that will take you to other cities or Cancun airport. While some people prefer to stay in Cancun or Tulum because it's quiet, I personally like the location of 5th Avenue Playa Del Carmen - yes it can be super crowded, but nothing can go wrong as long as I can have my favorite guacamole and tequila. In the next few days I'll post more about Tulum, cenotes, Playa del Carmen and Isla Mujerez. 

Also read Cozumel, Mexico