I'm so excited! Today, my last day in Mexico (suppresses wail), I'm going to see some Mayan ruins at Tulum, the only Mayan pueblo built on a cliff. I originally wanted to see Chichen Itza, especially because it's so famous, but it's three hours away from here and a full day excursion, and I just didn't have the time for that unfortunately. Luckily, my amazingly wonderful Spanish teacher Israel told me that the Tulum ruins were only 45 mins away from Playa, and very easy to get to. And on top of that, they have a gorgeous beach! He didn't need to say anything else -- I was sold.
Unfortunately, I let some other things delay this trip...I was going to go Wednesday, but the beach here in Playa was looking so gorgeous I couldn't pass it up, and then yesterday I had a little spat with the love of my life (-_____-) that put me in too foul a mood to really enjoy anything. Today though, I determined to let nothing hold me back, and now I'm off!
As with any place, there are countless expensive tours to all the places of interest in the area, complete with guides and what I've seen often called "beach party." This is when they usually provide some beers and/or premixed drinks in addition to attraction tickets and information. Apparently this is a selling point with a lot of people.
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| "It's $50 extra...but we'll each get one Corona on the way. Honey, that's authentic Mexican beer! Take my travelers checks...this is beyond worth it." |
Being, well, a tourist, I immediately looked into these tours, but was disappointed to find that most of them left before 9 am, and I'd be in class. I mentioned this to Israel, and he told me how easy (and cheap!) it was to get there on my own. Now you're talking my language, Israel. (Actually, much to my chagrin, he was still speaking Spanish, but at least I understood him.) Apparently Playa del Carmen (and other places, I'm sure) have this handy little thing called "colectivos," which are basically air conditioned shuttles that hit a few different attractions/cities on a continuous basis. There is a line for them in a designated spot in Playa, and basically you just get in the van and when it's full you go. It reminds me a lot of the "slug" system in the DC metro area, except it costs 40 pesos...roughly $3 each ride. Uh, $3 for a trip to the Mayan Ruins and one of the most beautiful beaches in the world? Yes please! The organized tours were charging anywhere from $50 to $100 for the trips. So let's see...40 pesos for the colectivo, 57 pesos to get in the ruins, FREE access to the beach...you do the math, which one do you think I took? Granted, I didn't get a "beach party," but I did find a place that had 3 coronas for 50 pesos, so I think I did ok. Riding the colectivo wasn't so bad...actually it wasn't bad at all. I'd read a couple of message boards where people advised against them but didn't give any reason why, so I decided to take my chances. I'm very glad I did.
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| My chariots await. |
The bad thing about the colectivo is that they just kinda unceremoniously drop you off on the side of the road near your destination...also very much like the DC slug. But it was only about a ten minute walk from where I needed to be, and that was cool. Time to soak up some sun and get some exercise in. In the beginning of the town are some people harassing you to purchase tours whom I'd usually ignore...but they were offering a free map of the town and to be honest my plan had just been to walk around aimlessly until I saw something, so this was helpful. He suckered me into buying a "behind the scenes" boat trip of the ruins that included snorkeling and a regular ruins admission ticket, and also access to a private beach club with chairs, showers, and lockers, all for $30. I'll admit, he had me at locker. Up until now I hadn't been able to really get in the water like I wanted because I'd been watching my stuff, so the appeal of being able to actually relax and get my hair wet was worth $30 to me.
After a mile or two walk, I was finally at the ruins I'd been so longing to see. I noticed a huge tour group with a guide and decided to sneak in with them and get some of their free information. I stuck with them for all of five minutes...their guide was a little too militant for me. He raised his voice and stressed "our people" enough for me to be uncomfortable...I scurried along and went at my own pace, picking up snatches from other groups here and there.
Let me tell you...the Mayans had it absolutely right when they built that place. I mean seriously, they knew what they were doing. It was the most perfect landscape I'd ever seen, even more beautiful than my view from the Bahamas. Tulum is literally paradise.
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| I'll take that room in the main tower. I never want to leave. |
I was so caught up in the beauty of it that I almost forgot about the history, which is saying something. Eventually I got the story behind some of the buildings and life there and that made it even more cool. For example, Tulum had a wall around it...while this was partly for protection from attacks, it was also how the separated their classes. In this society, however, classes weren't separated by wealth or position -- they were separated by those who were interested in obtaining knowledge and those who weren't. I thought this was pretty awesome...almost too awesome to be true. I actually heard it from Mr. "Our People," so I might need to do my own research later.
After the ruins, I went to snorkel and do the "behind the scenes" tour...which turned out to be literally just seeming Tulum from the back, with a man telling us some information. I wasn't mad though, because it was an hour of snorkeling, so I felt like it was worth it. I'd bought this underwater bag for my camera, so I was even able to take some pics! Except that I wasn't able to take pics, because for some reason my camera was stuck on video, so I took that. The video's kinda lame but really cool at the same time...feel free to check out
one of the vids here if you'd like :)
I was able to take video unrestrained because the snorkel man kinda just grabbed me up and carried me through the water. I feel bad, I literally didn't do any work lol...it was like having a chauffeur underwater. I can't have been light, but he didn't complain once. To be honest, I really think it's because he wanted to feel me up...he grabbed me in the upper chest region more than a couple times under the pretense of holding on. Creep.
After snorkeling, I was pooped, and headed back home. A cab driver charged me 50 pesos to get back to the main road (highway robbery), and when I got there, that's when I realized I had no idea how to get back on the colectivo. Turns out, you just kinda stand on the side of the highway and stick your thumb out like a hitchhiker. Took me about 20 minutes, but I finally got a ride back to Playa. That part of the experience I could've done without.
All in all, it was a great day and I'm so glad I went. A perfect way to end my stay in Mexico -- for now. Playa del Carmen, I'll see you again very soon!
