Ruins and Cenotes

The crowded ruins at Tulum
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When I woke up in the morning in Playa del Carmen I noticed that a pile of stuff I had beside my bed seemed to be missing. I had 2 books, sunglasses, and some bed bug cream tucked into my hat, all of which were no longer there. After searching through the room I discovered my 2 books in a drawer in the bathroom. This leads me to believe that it was a non english speaking person who stole my stuff, otherwise my books would have been gone too. But did they really need to steal someone else's ointment?

The Weary Traveler Hostel
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I got packed up and went to the bus station to see what time the bus to Tulum left. I had a few minutes so I went to a McDonalds across the street because it was quick. I got a Egg McMuffin de Mexicana, which is pretty much just a regular egg mcmuffin but with beans and salsa. Bad idea, an egg mcmuffin is bad enough for you without adding beans to it as well. The bus trip was short, and I got off in Tulum.

I think I lost about 5 pounds in just sweat...

The big cenote
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At least I thought it was Tulum. Turns out the bus first stops at the Tulum ruins, which are about 5k down the highway from the town. I rented a locker to throw my pack in and started walking to the ruins. I couldn't believe how many people were there, it was ridiculous. And it was sooo hot, hottest day of the trip yet, by far. The ruins were pretty cool, and the location was beautiful, but I just couldn't get over how many people were there, it really took away from it. I didn't stay there too long, and after I grabbed my pack I walked back to the highway to wait for a collectivo (shared taxi) or someone nice who wanted to give me a ride. Of course, I was there less than a minute before I taxi pulled up. I waved him on, but then I figured it was only a couple bucks so I got in. He gave me a "very special price", lucky me!

Tulum Beach
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He took me to the Weary Traveller hostel, right on the main street of Tulum. This place was really cool, it has a huge common area outdoors with tables, hammocks and a bar. They give you this wristband you wear, so whenever you need any food or beer you can just go to the bar and they'll add whatever to your running tab, which could be pretty dangerous because it doesn't feel like you're spending anything. I met up with some english people at this hostel, 3 of the same I hung out with on my first night in Cancun. While they went for dinner I had a nap in a hammock and read my book. At this hostel they also have a "Burn Your Own BBQ" and for only 50 pesos you get a hamburger to cook yourself, a salad bar, mashed potatoes, and 2 beers. We spent the night hanging out in the hostel and meeting other travellers. It seemed like 95% of the people there were from the UK, I didn't meet any Canadians or Americans that night.

King of the Castle
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The next morning I got up and walked to Iguana Bike Rentals to get a bike for the day. I wanted to check out some cenotes, these holes in the ground full of water that turn into an underground cave system that leads right to the ocean. After getting lost once and almost getting hit by a car I finally figured out where to go. The one I saw was pretty cool, and there were 3 connected that I could see, when I bent over the ledge to look in you could see that they go for a long ways. It didn't take me too long to check them out so I decided to go see the Tulum beach next. It was a really long bike ride, and I think I lost about 5 pounds in just sweat. When I finally got to the beach I bought a big bottle of water and chugged the whole thing. I returned the bike just before 1pm and walked over to the bus station and bought a ticket for Chetumal, a small Mexican town on the border with Belize. The bus ride was going to be about 4 hours and I was looking forward to getting some good sleep in an air conditioned place.