4-4-2011 Tulum Mexico

4-4-2011 Tulum Mexico

After breakfast and a swim we decided to venture to Tulum, a near-by village with ancient Mayan ruins a top limestone cliffs over-looking azure-blue Caribbean ocean. Five years ago we took a day trip to Chichen Itza to walk up to the pyramids and look up close at the stone carvings built around 750AC.

Tulum is about 24 kilometers (~12 or so miles) south from Akumal where we are staying. We asked our Apple vacation representative Miguel, who casually has his office in the lobby.
Miguel is an interesting guy with those striking characteristics of the Mayan influence: rich chocolate brown skin, short in stature, high cheek bones, with a round face with equally bright round eyes and a smile full of promise and excitement. He was telling me about his little 4 year old boy. Parents are so proud of their children and have proven convictions that their child is the smartest and brightest. Miguel is no different. He is teaching his son Spanish, English and French in pretty easy fashion. He shyly let me know he was happy and surprised when his son could count in all languages.

When we talked to Miguel about things to do in the area, we mentioned Tulum. There is really not an excursion for that as it is a National Park and only a few miles down the street. You just catch a bus on the highway and there you are. The buses are not on a scheduled time and prices vary from $3 to $5 per person. Simple task for him, he lives here and speaks the language. I’m more than a little concerned about the drug traffic and associated shootings we hear about on TV. Miguel offered no assurances except to say the drug lords aren’t targeting this area as they are busy at the border. As vacationers start demanding drugs in the future, surely smart businessman will fill the demand.

Armed with vague information we lathered up with sun screen, filled our water bottle and grabbed a couple bananas left from breakfast in a bag and off we ventured to the busy highway on a very humid warm day. The sea breeze helped keep us cooled off. The traffic on the 4 lane highway is brisk. We scurried across to wait for the bus. After all this is Mexico and I wasn’t sure if I would be waiting for an old rickety bus, filled with people, chickens and goats.

It was hot and perspiration comes easily. Not a minute after we started waiting we saw a van pulling over with a label saying Collectivo on the front and side of the vehicle. We figured this must be the “bus” and bravely jumped on. I asked the driver, “how much”. He replied, “$2.” I gave him four for both of us and that was it. The van was clean, air conditioned (thank God), with local people and tourists riding from one place to another on a busy freeway. A couple of guys hopped out at resorts with their execution notebooks in hand. Others ran across the street to jump on. The driver had a little wooden box to the right of his steering wheel stacked with coins. The bus stayed full with about 14 passengers. Our turn came to jump out at Tulum. Phew we made it.!.

We crossed the busy highway to the village of Tulum following people who looked like they knew where they were going. The Mexican hawkers started their barrage of needs. One guy with plastic spoons filled with ice cream beckoned you to take one and come in a buy another. I don’t think so. Others asked if we wanted cab ride down to the ruins. Others beckon us to buy a tour ride on trolley pulled by a makeshift tractor. It did look inviting, but we kept walking and sweating. The path was dirt and mostly shaded.

We stopped briefly at the sound of drums to check out the activity in the little village to watch guys in red and white costumes perched on top a 100-foot spinning steel pole. As the drumming continued, four of them stretched their arms out and began their spinning decent upside down on ropes rotating leisurely like a maypole to the beat of the drum by the guy left perched on top. Finally they reached the ground. We found out later that is was such a feat that they had charged the other tourists $25 to see this and we had viewed it for free from the sidelines. I feel I was back stage peaking through the curtains at an Elton John concert and didn’t even know it.

Onto the ruins. We heard from some friendly people along the path coming from the ruins that is was about 200 yards down the way. Well I can probably walk a couple lengths of a football field even in hot humid backing sun. The path was flat, dusty and shaded. We arrived at the entrance and paid the fee - $51 ($5 dollars US). The park is well organized with paths that circled the area. The ruins were roped off to keep things in tack. They were smaller buildings with no carvings then Chichen Itza where you could walk up and touch the stones.

The view at the cliffs of blue-green ocean took your breath away in contrast to the dark stones from the ruins. I gingerly walked up uneven rocks of make shift steps on slippery sandals wondering if crawling up would be more appropriate. There just wasn’t much to hang onto except Stan’s hand.

We sat down under some trees to eat our bananas. A couple of women were resting and eating their sandwiches. Yikes. Up came a two-foot long iguana with spikes running the length of his back. He jumped across the ladies legs toward her sandwich. Every jumped up. The iguana blended into the rocks so well you had to really look closely to see him. When we looked, we noticed we had been sitting by his whole family of four or five smaller iguanas. We weren’t really afraid, just startled and interested.

The women tossed part of her sandwich to the eager iguana. He gobbled it in one mouthful. A guy standing next to me - speaking what sounded like German, was cajoling me to take a piece of banana in my hand and give it to the creature. Not so sure about that. I gave the man a piece of banana. His wife got impatient with our skittishness, took the banana from her husband, held it in her hand toward the iguana. It was gone in a flash as the iguana came up and grabbed it. That was exciting.