Mexico Trip Report -- Day 4
We woke up on our last full day with no real plans. I went to the gym at 6:00, and we met for breakfast at 7:00. We agreed that the resort was nice, and decided to stay another day there. By the time we ate, relaxed, checked our email and (I) looked at local real estate online, we decided to visit the Tulum ruins. I thought we had to drive out back to 30 and go north to the next exit, but a hotel clerk showed us a quick drive down the local beach road. We drove past a few small resorts for a couple of kilometers until we reached an unmanned security gate. Parking our car, we walked in for about a 1/4 km until reaching a ticket center. Not many people were there and we realized that there was indeed an exit off the highway, but that we'd come in the less-traveled back way. We paid 51 pesos (less than $5.00), and made our way in.
The ruins were well excavated and maintained, not as big as ones we'd seen in Belize, but located right on the Caribbean Sea, a former Mayan sea port for trading. One of the ruins stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean, with a set of modern stairs leading down to a sandy beach below where a few people stripped down to bathing suits and swam.
We walked around for a little over an hour. By the time we finished, it had gotten hotter and many tourists in large groups (presumably from Cancun) had arrived.
We left and drove the few kilometers back up to Tulum Pueblo and parked. I wanted to find some souvenirs and gifts.
We walked up and down both sides of the main street. On the way up, I saw a small skull replica with all sorts of artwork etched into it. I didn't know the purpose of it, but the store owner tried to sell it to me. "You like? 800 pesos." I shook my head "no" and he made a signal with his hand, sticking eight fingers up, then closing four of them, signaling a price reduction to 400 pesos. I told him no, but I might return later.
I ended up buying a small handmade metal frog from an artisan's store, and that was it. On the way to our car, I walked by the store again. This time, a younger, similar-looking man (his son, I suppose) was with him. He also tried to sell the skull for 800 pesos. I shook my head non and told him it was very nice, but all I had was 200 pesos. He acted irate, showed me a sticker of a less ornately decorated skull for 450 pesos, and then told me he'd sell for 400 pesos. I told him 250. "250!" he acted outraged. "This is real skull. Bambino. Twelve years old." We finally agreed on 300 pesos. I threw in a top for my nephew without bargaining. The salesman, ever a negotiator, tried to keep my change and then, when I wouldn't let him, tried to negotiate how much of it I'd let him keep. I got my money and got out of there.
We ate a light lunch back at the resort. After a little rest, we drove down some back roads outside of town, then quit around mid-afternoon. We just returned, sat outside the pool, had some drinks and chips and chatted.
We once again had dinner at La Trattoria before calling it a night.
Labels: Hotel Blue Tulum, Mexico, Tulum
Day three, part 2
After hearing about Lake Bacalar from two of our fellow guests, we decided to make that our next destination. It appeared that we'd drive back up the Xcalak road (60 km), and then go northwest on 301 toward Chetumal--total trip time, around 2.5 hours. The end result would be that the following day, we'd need to drive about five hours in order to spend our final night near Cancun.
The road to Bacalar, as the rest of 301, was very uneventful, not scenic, but easily traveled. As we approached the turnoff for Bacalar town, we saw Laguna Bacalar to our left--a beautiful lake of Caribbean colors, despite it being fresh water. It was beautiful and accurately portrayed its nickname as "Lake of Seven Colors." However, when we pulled into Bacalar town, we frankly weren't impressed. We pulled into the town plaza and walked around a bit. We saw a fort for which the town is known, but frankly didn't see much else of interest. We drove around for a while and finally decided that --though this would entail much more driving that day--we'd just drive back to Tulum and forgo staying in Bacalar.
I'd read warnings about driving at night in Mexico, including this area. Apparently, the danger is not so much crime but poor driving conditions and poor drivers. Indeed, it was not until heavy dusk that most turned on their car lights. We had to take a road detour through Felipe Carillo and endured some tailgating drivers in the nearby road construction, but otherwise we felt safe.
Once in Tulum, we made the decision to forgo the Pueblo-area hotels and headed for the beach, determined not to once again get stuck in an overpriced hotel. The first place we pulled into looked questionable. The parking lot was gravel, and we couldn't even see the hotel at night for trees. You had to get out of your car and walk along a wooded path to get to the hotel. We just didn't feel like doing it.
We turned around and went to the Hotel Blue Tulum, which looked to be very nice. It was gated, but a guard let us in. We learned it was a luxury all-inclusive resort. The desk clerk quoted us a high rate ($250 per person for separate rooms), but when we turned around to leave she changed it to $150 per person per room. We were going to stay at this luxury resort for the same price as at Teetotem, but with all included meals and oceanfront! We couldn't believe our luck. It was about 7:00, we were tired and hungry, and had driven way more hours than planned that day--but this resort made it all worthwhile.
Compared to the Cancun resorts, I'm sure Tulum Blue would be considered small--the eating area consisted of a buffet restaurant on the first floor, and two small specialty restaurants (Asian and Italian) on the second. The clerk made us an immediate reservation for La Trattoria, an a la carte Italian restaurant.
The water brought us some nice drinks, and as we ordered off the menu, we quickly relaxed and our moods improved. I had a beef carpaccio appetizer, followed by seafood soup, lasagna bolognese, and a desert whose name I forgot.
Afterward, we went to our respective rooms, laid out with marble and tiled trim, with hot tubs on each of our front decks. And just because I could, I ordered room service, sat in the hot tub, and relaxed before going to bed.
Labels: Bacalar, Hotel Blue Tulum, Mexico, Tulum
Mexico Travelogue, Day 3
December 12, 2009:
I woke up early in part because of my early night to bed, but also because a group of fishermen begin exiting their cabanas, with banging doors, at about 5:00 a.m. to make the five-hour trip back to Cancun Airport.
Once light broke sufficiently, I swam out off the pier toward the reef. The water was cool but refreshing, and I swam for close to an hour.
About 7, Don and I ate a great breakfast of cantaloupe, watermelon, coffee, juices and pancakes.
The night before, Mike (a fellow temporarily helping manage the hotel) helped us line up a boat trip. We were going to take a five-hour boat trip, sightseeing and snorkeling--complete with lunch and a cooler full of bottled drinks. Were were going to cruise the backside of the Yucatan Peninsula, through the river and channel separating Belize and Mexico. Our total cost--$50 per person for the two of us.
We boarded our boat--a 20 footer--at about 8:00. Our driver was (like all of the other local employees) Xcalak born. He was very dark-skinned, with a shock of shaggy, graying hair. His English was about as limited as my Spanish.
We drove south to the village, and from the water, Xcalak looked larger than it had seemed while driving around. Within 15 or 20 minutes of starting, we reached the river, where a Navy patrol boat was located. By the time we'd reached the river, the sky had gone from barely cloudy to dark. Ramon asked us before entering the river if we wanted to go back, but we signaled we were ready to go so long as he was comfortable with the boating conditions. In no time the rain poured down on us and the waves out in the sea--even behind the reef-got choppy. Luckily we were in the river now, and we tucked in behind some mangroves.
After about 25 minutes, the rain stopped, We were soaked and chilly, but moved on down the river. We stopped at one spot where a rusted steam engine was sunk into a sandbar, then moved own, cruising down the river into Chetumal Bay and through the old channel cut by the Mayans separating Ambergris Caye from the rest of the Yucatan. At a point in the bay, Ramon pointed down to a dark hole in the clear water:
"Cenotes," he said. A good place to snorkel. Don and I put on our gear and jumped in. Near the cenote were some rocks where numerous tropical fish loomed; I swam around then swam down into the cenote. Cenotes are basically collapsed caves--they can be found above ground or under water.
This one wasn't very deep or wide. As I swam in, the water actually got warmer, and was swarming with fish. After about 20 minutes, we got back into the boat. On our way further up the bay, a wind blew in more dark clouds and it started raining again--this time harder and colder than the first. We once again tucked in, and though we were safe from the rough waves at sea, we were soaked and chilly.
After about 20 or 30 minutes, the rain stopped and we headed closer to sea when, near the mouth of the river, Ramon spotted Manatees. Huge mammals, they nonetheless were hard to spot--indistinct large gray objects--until they came up , barely breaking the water's surface to breathe. We kept watching and eventually spotted three moving around in the river near us. We took photos as best we could, hoping that the shapes in the dark water would show up.
We headed back out into the open sea, and Ramon took us near the reef to snorkel. I stayed in the water for about 20 minutes, swimming around coral heads and seeing all sorts of fish. After getting back in the boat, we ate a packed lunch of roast beef sandwiches. Ramon offered to take us to another snorkel spot, but it was almost noon and we were frankly tired. Plus, we decided that we would take off from Xcalak and hit another destination. We arrived back at the hotel a little after 12:00, showered, paid our bills and left.
Labels: Xcalak
