Mexico, country number ELEVEN! It is quite amazing to think that we have reached our seventh month already and we have only two left before touching down in the UK! We arrived into Cancun after a stress free flight with Copa. All reports of Cancun are horrendous, having been totally ruined by package tours from the UK, so we decided to hot foot it straight down to Playa Del Carmen for our first night. 'Playa' as it's referred to locally is a trying to be cool beach town that hasn't quite made it, and in retrospect, we should of just headed straight down to Tulum and given Playa and all its large hotel fake charm a miss. Tulum on the other hand, although also very much touristified, is cool in a more genuine and authentic way. All our recommendations told us to stay at the beach, but there were very few options available that were in keeping with our budget so we opted for a new little hotel in town called the Art Hotel. The staff were friendly, the rooms large, and most importantly it had air conditioning which was key because it was HOT. Tulum is your typical beachy, hippy sort of town, lots of dreadlocks and yogies. The beach is now lined full of resort-style hotels and hostels and although I certainly wouldn't have complained about waking up to the sound of the sea, the best restaurants and bars are in town which is around a ten minute collectivo drive away or a forty minute cycle. There was no way I was cycling for that long in this heat and for once Rob agreed. The very long beach itself is really nice, the sea a perfect temperature, and the ocean breeze provides a welcome relief to the stifling heat. Food of particular note includes the roadside stall of Taqueria Honorio, which serves amazing pork tacos and tortas (baguette style sandwiches) on plastic bags, and are the perfect introduction to real Mexican food and flavours. You also need to try delicious fish tacos while in Tulum, served at pretty much every local restaurant. And we had a great brunch serving Mexican coffee at local cafe Del Cielo. However one of our best recommendations came from our friend and fellow foodie Jayme who said a visit to Hardwood was a must. And it was exactly that - the best octopus of my life. It is on the pricey side however and it's worth bearing in mind that most restaurants in Tulum are cash only. This little detail caught us out and meant that I was only able to have one of the dreamy rose sangria cocktails that won itself the title of 'best drink' on our trip so far. We had managed to arrange a fairly last minute trip to Dos Ojos, reported to be one of the best cenotes in the area, only twenty minutes drive out of Tulum. There are so many cenotes around, it was tough trying to decide which was the best but in the end we went with recommendations of the tour guides. Rob went diving and for the first time in a while, I was pretty jealous that I never took the time to learn. The cenotes are essentially limestone sinkholes full of fresh ground water. You can dive through the series of connected underwater caves as well as snorkel in certain areas. The Mayans built temples over many of them as they believed that they lead to the underworld. They don't, but they are super cool. Dos Ojos (two eyes) has two main caves, cave two being the best, at least from a snorkelling perspective as there are many more underwater formations, stalagmites, stalactites and the columns created when the two meet over thousands of years. You can also access the Bat Cave from cave two but only with a guide because the 'ceiling' is so low it is pretty dangerous if you don't keep an eye on where you're going and as you surface. It isn't a cheap activity but one well worth it, an experience like no other!
The Tulum ruins aren't advertised as the best in Mexico, they are tiny in comparison to others but they are made pretty spectacular by their awesome cliffside location. We were advised to take our swimmers with us so that we could take a dip once the heat became too much, which was almost immediately to be honest but we powered through. The little pocket of beach was packed by the time we reached it, others clearly had the same idea, it was so hot, people were undressing on the stairs and practically running in half dressed. Needs must. Comments are closed.
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AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
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Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |