Sunny Day in the Tulum Ruins

I once read a travel guide that referred to the Tulum ruins as the Maya's with the best views.  I have to admit they are rather fantastic.  The white stones in verdant green groundcover on the cliffs of a spectacular blue-green Caribbean Sea are stunning.  That said, the grounds of this site are lacking in tree cover and the result is a true oven and a breeze that was both humid and hot.

We woke the girls at @9 and stopped by the grocery for breakfast on our way.  We arrived at a fairly large parking lot with several tour buses.  The Tulum ruins are visited by 1.1 million people a year and the are running a racket.  When you arrive, there are several hut that offer maps and info in the parking lot, they are really there to sell you packages to do other things.  By the time we escaped the salesman, another few buses were unloading and we began our 3/4 Mike walk to the gates through an outdoor shopping extravaganza with hawkers in every doorway beckoning you inside.

On the map there is a picture of a train that carries you the 3/4 mile.  In truth it is a pull-behind trolley with cutout plywood shaped and painted to look like a train car nailed to the sides being dragged along by a tractor spewing stinky gas fumes.  The fumes make the walk a little less breathable but just as crowded.

We get to the ticket gate and there is a long line.  It's fortunate that it's shaded but the air is stagnate and we are overheating.  The girls find a seat on the edge of the covered space while I run to the restroom and Mike toughs it out in line.  

When we walk to the ticket gate, we are dodging tour groups set up in the shade giving background information on Mayan history and describing the site.  The people passing us in the other direction are drenched in sweat and heading out the entrance.  I am a little worried at this point, what kind of misery have I insisted upon this morning?

A large tour group is making their way through the little opening in the wall so I elect to climb the stairs following the signs to the viewpoint.  The stairs are boarders on the right by a wall and some trees and on our left by a small but dense forest.  When we get to the top of the stairs, there's another break in the wall.  The Mayans built gates into their walls, no bigger than the width of one person, we turn here and go through.

We emerge on the other side of the wall and we are standing in a wide walkway.  Trees are scarce and shade is at a premium. The white buildings gleam in the bright sunlight as I start to wither from the heat immediately.  We only walk the ocean path and climb to the ropes on 3 buildings, before we call it a day and start looking for the exit.

On the way home, we stop at a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet.  El Carmello is a street side shack that serves some fantastic food.  We ordered tempura shrimp tacos, fried fish tacos and octopus a la Mexicana.  Yum Yum Yum!!

Back at the hotel, we changed into swimsuits and went out to lay in hammocks and on the beach loungers and ordered some frosty cold drinks.  A few hours later, we walked up the beach to another great restaurant, El Tabano and I had my second set of fish tacos for the day. 

After the walk back home, I spent some time outside gazing at the stars.  The Milky Way was a fuzzy slash in the sky and I had a difficult time identifying even the constellations I know.  When I was ready to turn in, I was lulled to sleep by the sound of the surf.  I'm wondering now if I'm going to be able to sleep at all when I get home.