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  • Day 146

    Tulum

    April 7, 2017 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    After a luxury ride we arrived in Tulum and walked to our hotel. By now we were very hungry so went and enjoyed a delicious lunch nearby.
    We were staying in the main downtown area which was full of shops, bars and restaurants so definitely a good place to be based. The afternoon was primarily wandering around and exploring the area.

    The next day rather than taking a pre arranged and expensive tour we decided to go DIY and take ourselves to a nearby attraction. The plan for the day was to go to Sian Khan ecological reserve. We got on a locals bus (certainly not as swish as the ADO services but still really not bad! It had air con, can't complain). And after a 20 minute drive or so we jumped off outside a small complex of Mayan ruins. With hardly anyone else there it was great to explore these temple ruins, just off the main road but hidden amongst jungle. Some of them were in great condition with some original motif carvings still in tact and some red paint still visable. After this we circled round the biggest castle temple and saw a sign to the lagoon - the main part of the eco reserve. To get here we followed a raised boardwalk through the jungle. There was an observation tower halfway down with steep ladders to climb the 18 metres or so height to the top. I wasn't so keen on this so waited at the bottom while Phil climbed the ricketey rather rotten steps to the top of the tower. He said the view across the jungle to the lagoon was great, but was a little uneasy seeing all the woodworm marks and the shaking as he climbed. Standard lack of health and safety rules, all part of the fun!
    We continued down until the jungle suddenly opened out onto the beautiful lagoon. Very similar to Bacalar it has stunning turquoise water so we were very keen to get out on it. We got a private boat ride with a local guide and zoomed out across the water. Before long we went down a windy mangrove canal to get to the second lagoon. Here the water was so clear you could see to the bottom.
    Onwards we went, seeing a range of birdlife then suddenly a big turtle with red markings. The driver quickly stopped as we watched it shuffle along the sandy bottom. The guide had a nature book for the area and pointed it out, it was called a Jacatera.They are pretty common but rare to see! And this one was pretty big too. It is a main prey of crocodiles although they can die eating them as their large shells get caught. I think this one might survive with that knowledge.

    We continued on stopping in the middle of mangroves where there was a jetty. Just there off from the jetty was a small piece of land and another small but brilliantly preserved temple. It looked very picturesque on it's small island and we went for a closer look. After this we could see a small channel of water through the mangroves and our guide said we could 'float' down it. He got some life jackets out of the boat and made us step into them like giant nappies. Then we jumped in and he joined us for a 30 minute or so natural lazy river ride. On one side was mangroves, the other tall reeds and you bobbed along in clear blue water to a gentle current. It was awesome! Not only to cool down but to be gliding down through such a natural environment. We even saw a massive bird like a heron right by us as we floated past. It was very peaceful and fun just drifting along. We could have stayed there all day!
    Afterwards we walked on a long boardwalk back through marshland to the boat and sailed back to land.

    From here we made our way back to the main highway ready to catch a bus back to town. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience here and would go back in a heartbeat to do it again.

    That evening we treated ourselves to one of the best restaurants in town (conveniently two houses down from our little hotel) and had the speciality. We ordered the Arrachera steak which is considered the best steak around, and it was cooked to perfection, served with a whole heap of sides and condiments including cactus leaf (not a fan to be honest... it's slimey). Amazingly the whole meal and drinks still cost less than an average steak in a chain pub at home. What a treat. The only thing that was not a treat every evening when we ate our meals was a particular street performer with a eukule. He was without doubt the worst 'singer' I've ever heard, basically just groaning out words and attempting to play the instrument... he kept randomly strumming the strings loudly and out of tune. The worst song he kept doing was Purple Rain by Prince. That was verging on traumatic having to listen to that. I was tempted to pay him to leave every time. Ask Phil to do his impression some time.

    The next day we got up early to go and see the Tulum Mayan ruins by the beach. These are the only Mayan temples on the coastline and are very popular so we had to go see them for ourselves. Thankfully we got there just after 8am when they opened before it was too busy. Still more people than we'd previously seen but not manic. It was already hot but not unbearable so was worth the early alarm. It is not a huge site so was easy to get around and it is definitely unique seeing them perched on clifftops overlooking the sea. Some of the ruins were in great condition which we enjoyed, and these also had so many iguanas living around the site, we played a game of 'how many can you spot' which was fun.
    After we wandered down the beach, but there were warning signs about jellyfish and a lot of seaweed on the sand so decided to not to stay here, and headed back to downtown for lunch and the afternoon. We found a cute restaurant within a glamping site which also had a pool which they let us use. We ended up just spending the afternoon relaxing here, cooling off and eating yummy food.

    Our time here was suddenly finished and although we really liked the vibe of the place we felt we'd done the main things to do, so prepared to leave on a bus to Merida early the following morning.

    Beth
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