Tulum and surrounding area

All right, then.  Where were we?

When last I left you, fair reader, we were about to embark on our 11 hour overnighter from Palenque to Tulum.  That really turned out to be a bitch of a bus ride.  The bus we took wasn't quite as nice as the previous one.  Being 6'3", I have the unfortunate problem of being about exactly one inch too tall to fit comfortably into most plane seats (can I get an 'amen', tall people?).  This bus was no different.  My knees were exactly one inch too long to fit well into the space between the seat and the seat in front of me.  No matter how I contorted my body, I simply couldn't get comfortable.  Leann slept like a baby.  I felt like crying like a baby.  Oh, well.  I stayed up most of the night, watching folks periodically get on and off and witnessing a couple Mexican officials check the bus during the night at stops at random, darkened, unknown cities.  Shortly after the sun rose, we rolled into Tulum, a coast town in the Yucutan peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo.

Tulum, Tulum.  Now, I feel like a broken record here, but this town is flat-out amazing.  Well, I guess the town itself is relatively benign, but the people (as per usual.....hell yeah, Mexican folk) and the beaches are incredible.  The beach is comprised of soft sand.  Now, when I say soft sand I don't just mean "yeah, yeah it's pretty soft."  I mean crazy soft.  Soft like bunny fur.  Soft like ground up baby bottoms.  Uh, that's a little disgusting but you get the picture.  The sand is made from mostly limestone and is not only soft but refuses to get hot.  Ever.  It can be a million degrees outside and the sand is completely bearable in bare feet.  The water is the color of the clearest turquoise stone you've ever seen.  One can walk out into the water for a good 50-75 feet, as the slope of the sand is incredibly gradual until the coral reef is reached.

We had a general game plan for the area, thanks in large part to our wonderful friend Kate Ater and her copious notes on the region that she left for us before we all departed Oaxaca.  Ok, so we wanted significant beach time (check), to see Chichen Itza (check), go to Coba (check), swim in a cenote (check), and avoid renting any more cars (negative....we broke down and rented another car that's done us just fine, thank you very much).

I can't remember the order in which we did everything, so I'll just rattle off what I do remember of the spots that we went to.

I'd also like to give a quick and enthusiastic thumbs-up to the hotel we established as our home base:  Posada Luna del Sur.  The owners, Marty and Sara, are a very nice Canadian couple who've run the hotel for about two and a half years.  The place, especially in comparison to our bargain shopper spots so far, is excellent.  It's air conditioned, clean, king-sized bed, and even a fridge.  It's in the town of Tulum, which is not right on the beach.  There are plenty of lodging spots on the beach but the beach stretch in Tulum doesn't have electrical infrastructure.  That means that either the hotel must supply its own power to allow its patrons power 24/7 (which translates to incredibly expensive digs with moderate amenities) or it shuts power down completely for the majority of the day.  On top of that, the showers are saltwater.  Yeah, swimming in the beach and trying to shower the salt off with, uh, more saltwater.  Negatory.

Coba -  So this is a set of ruins just about 45 minutes away from our home spot in Tulum.  Not the most expansive or visually striking of all the ruins but it has its own charm.  The ruins have elements of other civilizations from Guatemala, making them unique in the Yucatan area.  There is a beehive-shaped pyramid totally unlike any other we've seen.  So, yeah.  Cool ruins and a cool site.  But that's not what made this a memorable trip.  It was pouring rain (cats and dogs, yo!) and we sheltered ourselves under a small canopy trying to wait the rain out.  After some time, we figured "screw it" and rented a couple bikes to cruise around the site.  Yes, you can ride bicycles through the whole place.  We threw on our rain gear and started cruising.  It was SO fun.  Splashing through puddles, we made our way from temple to temple, from the juego de pelota court (ancient Mayan 'ball game' court) to the huge pyramid at the end of the trek.  This pyramid was a behemoth....the largest in the Yucatan, if I remember correctly.  We climbed up the 17 bazillion stairs to the top and enjoyed a view that stretched for miles and miles.  I have some pictures that I'll post later.  The trek down was slightly perilous and fairly amusing, as I got to watch Leann scoot down on her butt, holding the rope attached down the middle of the stairs.  The stairs themselves weren't perilous but the mind-fuck of looking down and imagining toppling down to your death was enough to make the majority of visitors take the descent very slowly.  Great, great times.

Chichen Itza -  The self-proclaimed "new 7th wonder of the world" is perhaps the most well-preserved archaeological site in the region.  We had now visited multiple incredible archaeological sites and were a little skeptical about the presumed Disneyland-esque elements sure to be present at the area's most famous site.  Sure enough, there were throngs of vendors selling everything from Hard Rock Cafe Chichen Itza t-shirts to carved wooden masks and small idols.  However, the reputation of Chichen Itza is well earned.  The site is incredibly well-preserved and the engravings on the walls were crystal clear.  The ball court is 100% intact and carries an impressive echo (clapping carries for like 150 meters from one side to the other).  Everything from the Warrior Temple to the Thousand Columns to the other temples there were in fantastic shape.  And Chichen Itza is BIG.  We have some more solid pictures to share, including pretty sharp ones of skull carvings (if I do say so myself) and even those of jaguar and eagle depictions.

Dos Ojos cenote -  A cenote is an underground pool of natural water.  The Dos Ojos cenote is comprised of two pools, connected underground by an underwater channel.  Scuba divers can swim the connecting route but we just did the snorkel tour.  Snorkeling around this cenote is like visiting another planet.  Stalactites and stalagmites abound.  Oh, and there are bats everywhere.  Tons of bats.  At first it just looks like some of the roof of the cave is a little squirmy until you realize that the movement are little fruit bats gathered in clusters.  Cool, cool.

The weather has been a little overly rainy during our stint here.  There was a tropical storm that swept through just prior to our visit (Tropical Storm Arlene or something like that) and the remnants were still slightly present while we were here.  We tried to take advantage of the sunny stretches and immediately hit the beach.  We'd intended to snorkel in a lagoon but were thwarted by a couple stormy days.  C'est la vie.

Yesterday, our last full day in Mexico, we spent the whole day on the beach, soaking in sunshine that lasted about 99% of the day, and wallowing on the Tulum beaches like happy pigs in slop (I'm not calling you a pig, dear, just mentioning that we were incredibly happy and content).  We ate and drank and swam and read and lived like a happy, vacationing couple instead of running around like determined chicken tourists with our heads cut off.  We decided that we'd give one last shot at seeing some sea turtles in Akumal as they make their way up the beach to lay eggs.

Holy f'n crap.  The turtles.  We saw them!  We saw TONS of them!  We watched mama turtles come up the beach and dig huge holes with their massive flippers (these suckers are HUGE...must have been several hundred pounds a piece).  It was amazing, like being in a nature documentary or something.  The turtles and their eggs are protected by Mexican law and there were a few groups, perhaps volunteer, that watched over the egg-laying ritual and marked the spots on the beach where the turtles had decided to do their business.  It was beautiful.  We headed home about 11:00 or so after watching multiple turtles in various stages of their efforts all over the beach.  We went to sleep contentedly, which leads me to.....

Today we leave Mexico.  Noooooooo!!!!!!!!  Well, I guess it's not all that bad, as our next stop is Costa Rica, where we plan to do some combination of beach, cloud forest, and volcanoes.  However, Mexico has treated us so well that it's tough to leave.  I freakin' love this country.  We'll be back!  We're hopping a bus to Cancun in a couple hours to prepare for our 6:00 pm flight to San Jose, Costa Rica where we arrive late, will crash at a budget hotel, and then plod on to the Pacific coast side of the country.  A little excitement combined with a vague sense of loss at leaving Mexico.  But the show must go on!

Check back with you all in a few days, hopefully with more cool adventures under our belt.  This trip kicks ass.