We had set our alarms early, but turns out the room service we'd ordered the night before was even earlier! We woke up when they knocked at the door with our breakfast. Not that I mind being woken up by food! :)
We ate breakfast, got our things together, and walked up to the lobby to meet our bus just after 7am. Time to go check out Tulum!
It took a little while to pick up a few people from a couple other resorts, then we were on our way. Compared to the 2+ hour drive to Chichen Itza the year before, the hour or so drive to Tulum flew by. Our guide gave us a little background info as we got closer, then it was time to explore a bit.
It took a little while to pick up a few people from a couple other resorts, then we were on our way. Compared to the 2+ hour drive to Chichen Itza the year before, the hour or so drive to Tulum flew by. Our guide gave us a little background info as we got closer, then it was time to explore a bit.
There were a couple coatis wandering around when we first got there. Our guide talked for a little while at the entrance, then we started to explore the ruins.
It was neat to see the ruins so close to the ocean. This was the Temple of the God of Wind.
Tulum is a lot smaller than Chichen Itza; you could see almost all of the ruins from a small hill off to the side.
There were a LOT of people there, so we spent a fair amount of time just trying to stay somewhere near our group. The tour was a lot more low key, information-wise, than the one we'd done in Chichen Itza, so I decided to spend my time enjoying the views.
This was the Great Palace; it was in the middle of the ruins.
It was also covered in iguanas. They were everywhere!
We wandered around a bit more...
...and our guide pointed out some of the Mayan details that remained, like the detail on the side of this building. Right after this, the guided part of the tour ended and we got a bit of free time. We wound our way through the crowds, and eventually made our way to...
...the beach. It was small but pretty, and it was neat to see the ruins from the water!
It took some good timing, but I managed to get a picture without any people in it. (What you can't see are the dozens of people just off the left side of the frame.)
Mark went in the water for a few minutes, and I people-watched for a bit. This kid was having a lot of fun getting tossed in the air.
We eventually said goodbye to the beach and went to explore the ruins for a little bit before meeting our bus. (See, I wasn't kidding about all the people!)
I especially liked looking for iguanas as we walked back; I didn't even know there was a second smaller one in the window until I checked my camera later!
We grabbed a snack, met our bus, and rode back to the resort. It was early afternoon when we got back, so we still had plenty of time left in the day! We grabbed lunch at the buffet near the lobby, then went back to our room to change into our bathing suits.
We grabbed a snack, met our bus, and rode back to the resort. It was early afternoon when we got back, so we still had plenty of time left in the day! We grabbed lunch at the buffet near the lobby, then went back to our room to change into our bathing suits.
Ahhhh, beach. I spent the afternoon hanging out and reading, while Mark went over to the swimming area for a while.
Mark seemed a little off when he came back from swimming, and it didn't take long to find out why. He plopped down on his chair, dropped his towel, and said, "So, a guy just drowned". It turned out that an older guy had been pulled from the water while Mark was swimming. The lifeguards spent quite a bit of time doing CPR, but with no luck. I'm not sure exactly how it all happened, but I do know that the rip current and the waves were pretty rough that day, and if you weren't ready for it, it would definitely be challenging to deal with.
We were both in weird moods for a bit after that, and decided to hang out on our smaller beach for the rest of the afternoon, away from the action. We had a couple drinks and hung out for a while.
Mark seemed a little off when he came back from swimming, and it didn't take long to find out why. He plopped down on his chair, dropped his towel, and said, "So, a guy just drowned". It turned out that an older guy had been pulled from the water while Mark was swimming. The lifeguards spent quite a bit of time doing CPR, but with no luck. I'm not sure exactly how it all happened, but I do know that the rip current and the waves were pretty rough that day, and if you weren't ready for it, it would definitely be challenging to deal with.
We were both in weird moods for a bit after that, and decided to hang out on our smaller beach for the rest of the afternoon, away from the action. We had a couple drinks and hung out for a while.
We stayed on the beach until the sun started to drop down and it started to get chilly. A little further down, a couple grabbed a couple chairs from the bar and dragged them out onto the beach to watch the sunset. We eventually went back to the room, hung out in the hot tub for a bit, then got cleaned up an went out to dinner.
We decided to try L'Olivo, the Italian restaurant. It took a little while to get our food, but everything was tasty. I had fun teasing Mark for getting two dinners. ("They were bigger than he said they would be!")
We ended the night in the Plaza Espana, sipping drinks and watching drunk people dancing while the Imperial Band played.
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