Tulum

With nothing else to keep us entertained in Flores, we headed straight up to MEXICO (!!) via shuttle bus that took us through Belize, the plan being that we’d do the north of Mexico first – the states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo – before heading south and then up to Mexico City, instead of doing a weird loop around the country.

In the end, the shuttle bus through Belize probably wasn’t the best idea. Firstly, it ended up costing us a lot of money: we had to pay an exit tax that is illegally charged by the immigration officials at the Guatemalan border. We tried to get out of it by asking for a receipt, but they just said that they weren’t able to print one at the time and that it was ‘on the computer so it was all good’ – whatever – apparently you should just out rightly say that the tax is illegal and they’ll wave you through without you having to pay a cent, but I didn’t fancy a stint in a Guatemalan prison for questioning their authority to charge us the tax. If I thought parting with what exchanges to pretty much nothing in AUD was annoying, next we had to pay USD 30 (gulp!!) to exit Belize, though we’d been in the country only a matter of hours as we drove through, without even sticking a toe out of the van. The things that tour operators don’t tell you! The other problem was that it ended up taking us four hours longer than expected – the Guatemalan travel agency having  lied to us once again. In the interests of time, we were keen for a direct bus to Mexico. They told us that it would take 6 hours to get to Chetumal (the border town of Belize and Mexico) – it actually took nine. Then they told us that the bus was direct and would not bypass Belize City – the guy even pointed at the map and (following an imaginary line and not a road now that I think back) drew where we would drive – but, surprise surprise, it went through and stopped in Belize City. Grrrrrrrrr.

To top a generally frustrating day that we thought would be reasonably cheap, and reasonably short travel wise, when we arrived in Chetumal Mexico there was no ATM in site. With not a Mexican Peso to our names, we missed the direct bus to Tulum and had to be driven all the way to the local bus station to get money and to book tickets. The next bus to Tulum was a 3 hour wait away, with total bus time to Tulum being another 4 hours. The wait did give me a chance to have my first taste of real Mexican food (of bus station quality) – tacos and a huge pineapple juice that we prayed was not made with tap water, for the grand total of $4 (which is quite pricey really for these parts), but it also meant that the saga continued long into the night.

So, if you’re doing the maths, by the time we arrived in Tulum is was pushing 1 am (we’d left Flores at 7am). Luckily for us, our hostel was only one block from the bus station. Unfortunately for us, it was also the most disgustingly dirty place we have stayed in to date – the sheets were soiled, the bathroom stunk like a man’s bathroom and well, it was just feral and to top it off – as if I couldn’t hate this place anymore, there were only cold showers. Being 1 am and having been on the move since 7 am we were too exhausted to complain until morning, when the receptionist just all our sheets back and gave us a weird awkward laugh. We got our moneys worth in the end by pigging out on the free, all you can eat, breakfast of eggs, pancakes and toast and then we got the hell out of there. We pretty much needed to roll ourselves out of there we were so full.

We had never really intended on staying in the centre of Tulum – there really being nothing of interest there, the town itself is dirty and it’s stinking hot - we were there for the beach. So after escaping from our filthy hostel, we jumped in a cab and headed to the only place we knew along the beach (thanks to ‘Angel’ who had given us its card as we left the terminal) - ‘Playa Papaya’ (Papaya Beach).

The place was beautiful, though a bit on the pricey side at $20 a night for the poor little backpacker (Europe is going to be BADDD!). But for that you got your own private cabana out of the many that were scattered amongst the palm trees, perched right upon the sand; the fresh ocean breeze blowing through the open windows (and salting everything that you own). We could have got a cabana with a sand floor for a bit less, but flash backs of San Blas and sand through everything convinced us to spend that AUD5 extra to get one with a real floor.

 
Our cabana and our view…

We spent our days lounging on huge white deck chairs on the sand. When we got hungry, we wandered up to the restaurant where we feasted on tacos made with chicken, pineapple and cheese and at night, when we got thirsty, we drank cocktails as we sat on swings in the open bar. Luckily for us, our escapades were made a bit cheaper after we befriended the bartender who offered us free tequila shots, weird blue cocktails and whatever his newest ‘invention’ was, including chunky mango mojitos (which were weird - too chunky).

It being turtle egg laying season, one night we decided to try our luck at finding a turtle doing just that. It was only about 11pm so we weren’t that hopeful (they normally come out of the water much later at night than that), but not 30 metres up the beach we stumbled across weird tractor tyre like marks in the sand, though the impressions appeared magically out of the water and continued straight up the beach. Feeling lucky, in the moonlight, we followed the tracks up the sand to a giant form that looked nothing more than a big rock - a ginormous rock at that – it was over a metre wide and more than a metre long. We were still convinced it was a rock until a slow kick of her feet to shift some sand gave her away. We spent the next half an hour sitting not 2 metres from her as she finished laying her eggs and burying them in the sand (me a bit scared that she might discover us and attack to which Claire just said “I think we’ll have time to get away…’). When she was done, we wandered back down to the waters edge with her and watched her wade into the crashing waves and swim away. I wish I could have been there in baby turtle hatching season so I could have helped them make it down to the water!

Turtle tracks up the beach in the morning

We took half a day off lounging around on deck chairs in the sun (and wind – the wind was insane) and walked 3 kms up the road to the Tulum ruins. Though the site is relatively small in comparison to the ones we’ve seen, it was incredibly beautiful – perched on a cliff face that is lapped by the bluest blue water you’ve ever seen.

           
The ruins at Tulum