DHARMA IN PLAYA, PART VIII
The Final Chapter: Peripheral Images


This statue of a Mayan yogi is in front of the Otam Shala.


The Happy Buddha is also there






The fountain below is located in a major intersection in Playa del Carmen. Although it's supposed to be Mayan, it always made me think of a Shiva Linga, with the pool as the Yoni.







On the way to catch the bus to the jungle, we passed by this hand-painted sign - irrefutable proof that Mexico is not India:







There were many interesting things to see on Fifth Avenue, Playa's main tourist strip







At dinnertime, groups of children carrying branches and pictures of the Virgen de Guadalupe would go from table to table, singing offkey songs until the managers shooed them away. (The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was celebrated on December 12). But we didn't see much evidence of the beloved patroness of the Americas on Fifth Avenue - apart from the children and this image in a bar:





It was easy to find our hotel each night - because it was next door to the biggest, brightest, reddest, most ambitious and innovative hotel/night club/restaurant/library/parking garage in the Americas, La Reina Roja (The Red Queen):



And, sadly, it was also the emptiest.