Tulum | Central American Adventure
White sands, palm trees, beautiful rock formations – what more could you ask for? This is what awaits in Tulum. We left Playa behind and took a “collectif” shuttle down the coast to Tulum first thing in the morning. We stayed at Hotel Villa Tulum, not too far from the town centre, but at least a 20-30 minute walk to the coast. It’s fairly basic, but there’s a good bar, a pool, and most importantly, wifi! The town of Tulum itself didn’t seem hugely exciting – the beach is where to go.
Firstly, we walked up to see the Maya ruins nearby, a 20 minute walk, or 10 by bike. On the way we passed a pole with four men spinning upside down, which we later learned is a prayer to the winds. The ruins themselves aren’t the biggest or grandest in the region, from what I know, but they were still worth seeing. Big stone temples that have stood the test of time, and stand guard overlooking the ocean. There’s some great views out to sea too, and I still can’t believe just how blue the Caribbean is! There’s a beach accessible from the ruins, down the stairs from the rock face, and a second beach off limits, as it’s turtle egg season. The ruins exit near the public beach, so we wandered along that. There’s a lot of seaweed, but otherwise it’s white sand and blue seas as far as you can see. We stopped for lunch at a beach bar, Pancho Villa, where I had the most delicious and refreshing icy mango juice. It was ridiculously hot in the morning, but there was a lovely breeze off the sea by lunch.
The walk back to the hotel was slightly more painful, as I’d been walking for quite a while and it’s so very hot! When we did get back though I just spent some time lying by the pool, as I think I’m still a little jet lagged – waking up at 5am is not good! Our guide took us into town for dinner, and we ate tamales from a food stand, which cost next to nothing! She also chatted to us a lot about local life, and how developers are damaging the jungle and not supporting the locals, which was all very interesting!
