After being disconnected from the online world for 2 weeks I had a very slack first day back in Mexico. I scheduled in some life admin, sorted out my hike for Machu Picchu in the coming year, and made plenty of FaceTime calls back home. It could have been the wine, but I was definitely having content feels, I am able to be away from everything that was familiar, be having these amazing adventures in the constant changing company of strangers and thanks to wifi still feel close as ever to my friends and family 13000km away.
Tulum was a really cool place, the backpackers version of Cancun or Playa Del Carmen very chilled out, great little cheap restaurants, spot on mojitos and an abundance of things to go and see and do. I met up with a couple of girls from the hostel for dinner, you have no idea how excited I was to get some decent Tacos again, hello flavour! I don’t think I ever want to see a ham and cheese sandwich ever again.
The next day I was really quite happy to go off exploring the ruins by the beach on my own, just taking my time, being a photog nerd. It was a little overcast and unfortunately for the last month or so the beach had been covered in seaweed wash up from a storm offshore, however it was still pretty spectacular. I can see why the hoards flock here.
Tulum like Merida was a centre for checking out the cenotes, a guy at our hostel recommended 2 of his top options so I met up with an aussie girl to go have a look, we grabbed our day packs and headed off in a Taxi. Now when we arrived at the “grand Cenote” there was the option to rent snorkels and we were tossing up whether it was worth it when a couple of guys said you definitely want to, its amazing down there. We could see into the crystal clear water and thought ok sure why not. I went to grab my go pro out and jump in the water when you wouldn’t believe it but the damn battery was flat…. ffs… It must have switched on in my bag the day before because I had only just charged it. I was kicking myself, there were all these amazing caves underwater that you could see into, and turtles everywhere… my ability to describe it will not do justice… so please refer to some “borrowed” images from the internet…
We had to go back into town to get out to the other Cenote so I decided to quickly duck into the hostel and charge it up for a half hour. Turns out it was a nice stop because we picked up an American lady that wanted to come along to the next one too. I was so impressed with the one from this morning that I had high expectations for the afternoon… but when we arrived we were all a little confused… this one was kind of open aired? It looked just like a creek? If I was back home in Aus there is no way I would have set foot in there, it looked like deep crocodile country, and while the guys assured us there was nothing in there, it didnt stop you from slightly freaking out each time a leaf brushed past you, or the water got so dark you couldn’t see. Oh well it was still an experience I guess, but we thought a walk along the beach and a couple of sneaky beers might be a nice idea instead.
If I hadn’t locked myself into Panama for the Christmas/New years period I probably would have stayed a little longer here, I was really enjoying the atmosphere, and there were plenty of other things I just didnt have time to go check out, alas the journey south begins.
mareewise 