We took the new A.D.O over-night bus line from Belize City to Tulum. The A.D.O bus is much nicer then any bus I've been on in the U.S. and it the only major bus line to and from Tulum so we rode it quite a few times around the Yucatan. The only bad thing is the bus is really only an over night to Cancun so we were dumped in the middle of town at 3:30 in the morning. Lucky for us it was with a Canadian backpacker who was very fluent in Spanish because I was too tired to remember any of mine. So we got a ride in a cab to our hotel which turned out to be 4 miles (way further then I thought) from where we were dropped off.
Of course it was worth it because we woke up to this everyday because our cabana was right o the beach tucked into the mangrove.
We stayed in a beach side cabana at the Vida Nueva de Ramiro that was complete with a porch and hammock.
It's a family run eco hotel set into the natural mangroves so they left everything as undisturbed as possible (They were one of the few places that did) plus they did work with the bio reserve down the road to help protect the sea turtles that like to nest in the area.
This is one of their lounge areas on the beach. It know, it was rough.
I'm not one to sit around long, plus it's a RESEARCH trip so here I am baking at Chichen Itza while I sketch the ball court. Dave was able to catch a rare moment where there wasn't a billion tour groups herding through.
We all know what this is. I wasn't very impressed because everyone makes such a big deal about it so I was expecting something taller but I saw much taller in Belize. However, it is interesting to see the influences of other cultures such as the Aztecs in Chichen Itza.
They did have some well preserved statues though, but you couldn't get close to anything.
We rented bikes and went over to the Gand Cenote which is only 2 miles out of town. It is actually very small, but you can rent snorkel gear there and the cave is easy to navigate. It was fun and great relief from the hot sun.
I'm smiling and waiting for my juice but I was really sick from a salad I ate at an American hotel restaurant the night before.
This is what our evenings looked like
I loved the limestone rocks in the area. This is where the locals and the birds would go to catch their fish for dinner every night.
Coba is really spread out so you go around the different areas by bike. Luckily for us, most people just go to the big temple that you can climb and maybe a couple other things before they call it a day. This makes a lot of the smaller areas relatively tourist free.
That building in the shot is part of the Mayan Tulum ruins. It is a pretty little site and the beach attached to it is great even with the crowds. Most people won't go past the ropes though so it is easy to get to get some good pictures and enjoy yourself.
When we first got to Tulum the small waves tumbled you around like a washing machine until you swam far enough out. The hotel owner explained that it was because of the full moon. Sure enough by the end of the week, their were no waves and the water was completely clear to the bottom.
You can never have to many sunrises
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