We were so
happy to get off our bus into the fresh morning ocean air at Tulum, and we set
out straight away to find a hostel (we should’ve used the bathroom first as we
hadn’t braved the bus one!) Turns out
that Tulum is quite expensive and touristy and it took an hour of hiking up and
down the main strip in town with our backpacks before we finally settled on
Casa del Sol, which cost more than we wanted to pay, but at that point we needed
to put our backpacks down and also use
their toilet, so the decision was made!
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The Grand Cenote's crystal clear waters |
After
dumping our bags we hired two bikes and rode to the nearby ‘Grand Cenote’
(stopping en route at a supermarket for some much needed caffeine). The cenote was really tranquil, with
refreshing, crystal clear water, lots of underground caverns to explore and
little fish that nibbled your toes. It
was the nicest and the much needed thing after our grubby bus ride.
From there
we rode down to the beach where we walked along the expensive waterfront hotels
and found a place without too much of a rip for a quick swim as it was getting
late and we had to have the bikes back by dusk.
Unfortunately, as the case so often is, riding back worked up enough
sweat that we needed another swim after we returned the bikes….
Tulum ruins right on the beach |
In town we
found a cheap taqueria for dinner and strolled the streets with our guava ice blocks
before crashing back at the hotel as our sleepless bus trip caught up with us. Nevertheless, our alarm was again set early so
we could be amongst the first to visit the Tulum ruins the next day.
It’s the
location of the Tulum ruins that probably sets them apart from the other Mayan
sites. Situated right next to ocean, the
site has amazing views and a completely different feel about it compared with
the others that we visited. Again it was
worth the early morning, even though the site is small and only takes an hour
and a half to explore, by 10am the crowds were arriving. It’s hard to get a close look at most of the
structures as they are all roped off, but this doesn’t matter too much as it’s
the overall site that is impressive (along with a lot of amazing birds that we
spotted while waiting for the tourists to move out of our photos….)
Tulum ruins |
After
heading back to our hostel to collect our backpacks we boarded another Collectivo
for the short ride to the touristy destination of Playa del Carmen. We surprised ourselves and within a couple of
minutes found a great, clean hotel for cheaper than anything we’d researched on
the net – Posada Papagoya. By the
afternoon we were strolling along white sandy beaches gazing out over crystal
clear blue water that invited us for a refreshing swim, and admiring
unaffordable hotels packed full of other tourists. We found a cheap taqueria along the back
streets for dinner and then headed back to the water front for some cocktails
and night life.
The picturesque Playa del Carmen beach |
It seemed
that 5 months of constant travel finally caught up with us and we decided that
since we had a great hotel in a nice location we’d settle in for 2 days,
somewhat of a record for us to stay in one place for. So we spent the next couple of days relaxing
on the beach, swimming, eating and pretending to be normal tourists. It was much needed but also a little strange
to stop after being on the move so constantly.
Nevertheless the days passed too quickly and before we knew it we were
catching another Collectivo bound for Isla Mujeres where we planned to belatedly
celebrate Dave’s 31st birthday….
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