Water, Ruins and Buses - Tulum Ruins and off to Cancun!

Our night in the thatched roof cabin was enjoyable, and we woke up with the birds. We went down and sat down for breakfast with some of the other people staying at the hostel while the son of the lady we'd met yesterday brought us breakfast. 

It was amazing. And beautiful!

We checked out but left our stuff. We had use of the bikes for the morning/early aft so we biked across the road over to the Tulum Ruins. Paid our entrance fee and walked around the grounds. Since we didn't have time for a proper tour (and really just wanted to swim) we headed for the beach. 

the last time I saw these sunglasses.. a massive wave knocked them off shortly after this pic.

This fella guarded our stuff while we swam

After our swim in the ocean we headed back to the hostel, changed clothes and let them dry in the sun for a bit before hailing a cab and heading to the bus station to catch the bus to Cancun. 

The bus ride was uneventful and much shorter than we'd anticipated. We didn't realize we'd arrived and had to scramble to get ourselves off the bus after confirming with the driver that we were indeed in Cancun. 

I'd picked a hotel right near the bus station, knowing we were basically just spending the night before catching our early morning flight back Toronto. We checked in, met the desk guy who'd moved from New York earlier that year and had the accent to prove it. 

We opted to go to the bus station to exchange our vouchers for tickets (and after it taking over an hour and a lot of arguing in Chetumal we had learned not to do things last minute) before wandering around the city to see what we could see. 

Which, apparently, is not very much. 

We walked up and down the main "strip" of Cancun, and eventually just stopped on a side street for a Corona before heading back to the hostel. Asked the New Yowrk-uh for suggestions on somewhere cheap to eat, and he pointed down the road. 

We walked in the direction he indicated and saw an open-air food court with activities going on in the middle. We opted for "traditional" Mexican food (I had something vaguely resembling tacos.) and watched what appeared to be a mass exercise routine. 

Due to our early morning ahead we didn't stay out too late, and went back to the hostel. Our room was full of people so we got our things all packed and ready to go so as to not disturb them in the morning. Crawled into bed, played some ipod solitaire and eventually just passed out.

Next morning - up early, back to the airport and home. :(

Beachside to Swiss Family Robinson Hostels - Caye Caulker to Tulum

We woke up early to make our way to the water taxi office and then to the pier. Said our goodbyes to Blackie and made our way to wait for the boat.

The boat ride was relatively uneventful. Cleared customs in San Pedro, arrived in Chetumal and waited for our bus to take us to Tulum.

The Mexican buses were awesome in comparison to the little passenger vans we'd gotten used to in Guatemala, although extremely cold. Big cushy seats and movies (although in Spanish) to watch, it was living the lap of luxury after windy roads and broken down vans.

We arrived in Tulum late afternoon. Grabbed a taxi to take us to our hostel, Posada Las Mopaches, which was just outside of the town and right across the street from the Tulum archaeological site. When we came in we were greeted by the woman who ran the hostel - and not just a hello but full hugs and kisses.

Our bags were taken to be sprayed with pesticides before we went to our rooms while she gave us a run down on how things ran at the hostel. We were handed bike locks, reflective vests and keys and explained what to do with each. We were then given bicycle's to use to get in and out of town.

The hostel grounds were amazing. The rooms were all in Swiss Family Robinson style buildings, with tall thatched roof ceilings and screened in walls. Lots and lots of greenery and a few different common areas to enjoy.

The best part, however, had to be the multitude of animals that roamed about. 4 little Mopaches, from which the hotel takes it's name (Coati Mundi), 2 cats (one of which was an extremely affectionate siamese) and 3 very old dogs who did little more than lay about in the shade.

As should be obvious from all my other posts, I am no stranger when it comes to animals and take every opportunity to pick them up, hug, squeeze and what not.

We got ourselves settled in the hostel room, had (warm!) showers and headed out on our bicycles into town to explore, get some food and perhaps do some last minute shopping.

Dinner was enchiladas and mojitos. Meg opted for the chicken enchiladas covered in "red" sauce while I opted for the same but with "green" sauce. I'm still not certain what "green" really consisted of.

We wandered around, checking out various souvenirs and I opted to buy a hammock for myself, despite talking myself out of one every other day on the trip, entirely because it was my favourite colour.

As it got dark we realized we should probably get started on the bike ride home. Our bike lights provided little help in guiding us home and I was thankful for the bright and reflective vest that at least made us visible to the cars behind us.

Back at the hostel we got cozy in our room, took advantage of the free wifi and prepared our bags. We were leaving the hostel, checking out the ruins at Tulum and then catching the bus back to Cancun for the night before flying home.