Kevin's Life

This morning I got up, had breakfast, then headed off to Tulum.

I decided to use the public transportation called the Collectivos.These are minibuses that travel up and down the highway. For $2 (20 pesos) they will take you anywhere on the Myan Riviera. Just be aware that they drop you off on the highway. If you are going to places like Xel Ha you may have to walk a km or so from the highway to the entrance.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the collectivo I travelled in. However, here's a picture that I found on this web site.

I hopped on a Collectivo, and headed down the highway to the ruins at Tulum. I highly recommend the collectivos. For a single person, it is cheaper than a taxi. It is much cheaper than the tours to Tulum being sold at the hotel. The only advantage of the tours is that they get a guide to explain the buildings. However, if you go on your own, you can attach yourself to one of these tours and get the benefit of the guide anyway. The best thing is youi aren't tied to the tour's timetable. You can leave whenever you want because the Collectivos are there about every five minutes.

Tulum is a walled Mayan city (Tulum means Wall) which overlooks the ocean. The original Mayan name of the city translated as "Dawn" because it is the Mayan city which is furthest east, so gets the Dawn first. It is also the city for Venus, the morning star (whereas Chichen Itza honoured the Sun God).

Below is a picture of one of the entrances through the wall.

The main¨castillo" (castle) served as a lighthouse. and was normally lit up at night. It was positioned across from a break in the reef where boats could get in. Here's a view of it from the sea side.

Below the Castillo is a beautiful beach. Supposed to be great for swimming. This shot shows the castillo with the beach.

Here's the castillo from the inland side.

For a bonus, here's a 3d image of the Castillo. You'll have to use a pair of red/cyan 3d glasses. Click the image to get the full sized picture.

As I walked around the site, I saw many ruins, and many iguanas. Here's a pair that were fighting.

Here's another iguana sunning himself on some rocks overlloking the beach. What a life! (He's on the rocks on the right.)

For more information on Tulum, look at the wikipedia entry for Tulum.

After visiting the ruins, I stopped in the shops. I bought a cool hand-made shirt, and the video of the Xcaret night show. So now Mom and I can relive the show whenever we want. It also has English translations so we can understand a bit better what was happening in the show.

Outside the shops was a demonstration of the "pole flyers". This was the same pole flying tradition as described in the Xcaret show. I couldn't get a picture at Xcaret because it was too dark, but here's a picture from Tulum.

I caught a collectivo back to the hotel. I arrived at the Tulum Lobby about 1:00 so I went to lunch. When I got back to my room about 1:30 Martha the maid was cleaning the room. So I decided to go to the small grove of trees between my room and the gazebo where Trevor and Tammy got married. There they have a couple hammocks hanging in the trees. I crawled into the hammock and slept there in the shade until 3:30.

After that, I headed down to Akumal beach. At the beach bar I met some people from Victoria and chatted a bit, then walked back to my room.

When I got back to the room, I had a "special infitation just for me" to attend an appreciation night in the Tulum lobby bar. I suspected that this was where they would try to sell me a timeshare. But no. They had lots of appetizers, some deserts, and of course free drinks. They then introduced all the hotel management, brought in a mariache band, and then the normal night band. Was a lot of fun.

The towel buddy for today was a sea turtle.