Travelling to Tulum

Today was a travel day. We got up early, which was difficult since we got home so late from the wedding last night. We arranged a taxi to the airport through our hotel, and checked into our flight.

Then we had breakfast at a restaurant at the airport. It had a buffet, but I think that best be avoided when travelling. I ordered some familiar-looking stuff, and Ted had bread - he was feeling rather sick.

A friend of mine recommended that I get some Grapefruit Seed Extract and put some in whatever I drink down here in Mexico. It's from the health food store and apparently neutralizes any (bad) bacteria that is in your system. Anyways, I must admit that I am a bit of a skeptic, but after getting sick on my last trip I am willing to try something new. More than a few drops makes your drinks taste bitter though, so I just put it in my juice.

One thing that I am impressed about at the airports here in Mexico is that there are many individuals in wheelchairs working as information agents. I don't see that much at home, and it seems like a good job to have.

The flight to Cancun was pretty uneventful - only 2 hours. When we arrived we talked to some information agents about how to get to Tulum, which is almost 2 hours drive away. We were convinced to rent a car, as it would be cheaper in the end and allow us a bit more freedom.

They gave us a standard, so I started us off with the driving, much to a few people's surprise. Ted hasn't driven a manual in a while, so he didn't want to take the first shift. Anyways, the drive was long and in some places harrowing - not surprisingly, there are fewer rules here than there are at home. Cars squeezing themselves into any spot that they can find, passing within inches of each other, Mexican police parked by the side of the road every 5 minutes or so. There were also these speed bumps every once in a while which forced everyone to come to a virtual stop on the highway. Lucky for us it was one road from the airport to Tulum, but I have to admit, I was wishing we had taken a taxi by the time we actually got there.

When we arrived at our resort, Copal, I was initially charmed. Cabanas right by the beach, water views, the sound of the ocean with clear blue water and the finest sand I have seen. Magical! The reality of the eco-friendly resort was, however, not terribly luxurious. I describe it as similar to camping. No electricity, no lights, sleeping with the sounds of the outdoors (ocean = good, squawking birds at 5am = bad), sand everywhere on your floor, running water but fickle plumbing, etc. All in all, it was good - but luxury, it was not. There were however fresh tropical flowers waiting for us in the cabana when we got there, courtesy of Ted. They were beautiful and made the cabana smell lovely!

We were pretty hungry by the time we checked in and so we had dinner at the resort restaurant. We were accompanied by a very friendly feline friend who sat next to us and talked to us and wanted to be petted and waited patiently for handouts while we ate. We had yummy Mexican food - fajitas and guacamole and chips and salsa... it was heaven. It was right at dusk though and there was another feast going on - and the dish was me. That's right, mosquitoes came out in force and I got about fifteen bites in 10 minutes. By the end of dinner I was squirming. Why didn't I bring my insect repellent??

Off to the local grocery store we go. We pick up some Off, After Bite, sunscreen, snacks and drinks. The sunscreen was about $17. I think that store made a killing from unprepared tourists! Ah well. The After Bite was soooooo nice, and made me much more tolerable to be around, I'm sure.

Sleeping in the cabana was fine, although it takes some getting used to. I didn't know it was going to be so cold! In the middle of the night I had to get 2 more blankets. The sound of the ocean is nice to fall asleep to though, and even though I had nightmares that night, I still woke up to a little bit of paradise. :)