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04-08-2008, 11:53 PM
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04-09-2008, 01:33 AM
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Thursday 3-27-08 Part I - Tulum Ruins
We arose and grabbed a quick breakfast at the Festival buffet, the off to Office Depot via taxi to try and resolve the camera issue. Once again, the cabbie tagged us for $8.00 in for the additional 6 blocks to Office Depot from 5th.
The store carried the same brand of camera, and after some convincing, we were able to talk the sales staff into opening a box with a new camera in it and testing with the battery and charger cable, both of which proved dead. The staff was helpful and we ended up purchasing another version of the same camera with fewer mega pixels, but we were not in the mood to spend one of our valuable vacation days trucking around town looking for a deal on a new camera. I am disappointed in the Kamera Kompany (whose name I will not state here) that manufactured my Kamera in the first place as since it was new, I trusted it Kouldn’t Kollapse so Kuickly after being opened. Ultimately it Kost us as we had to buy another Kamera from the same Kamera Kompany as the original. Not Keul. Decided to skip the taxi and walk back to the ADO station to catch the bus to Tulum. Did some window-shopping along the way. It’s impossible not to as the sidewalks are about 28 & ½ inches wide. In all it’s a great experience and there truly are some bargains to be had in these shops. Wish we’d have spent more time there for our gift shopping. The ADO station is really easy – go up to the ticket counter, tell them your destination and number of tickets, hand over the cash and you’re set. Total cost one-way from PDC to Tulum: $8.40 ($4.20 per person). Try and get on the “Go before you Go” plan. Or bring some extra pesos, because if you have to use the restroom at the ADO station, it’ll cost you 3 pesos (30 cents). You simply put in the slot (like a pinball/video arcade game) and pass through the turn styles. A nice little boy helped me and another elderly couple navigate this system as signs were scarce and in Spanish. If you don’t feel like using the semi-clean public restroom at the ADO, and if you have the time, venture across the street to McDonald’s, get a treat and use their restroom (they respectfully ask that their restrooms be used by their customers only). It is much cleaner than ADO. At the ADO Station on 5th & Juarez:  The ADO bus is as comfortable as any other “coach” style bus anywhere. On this ride, we went west on Juarez through town and out towards 307 south. The bus ride west along Juarez: http://www.youtube.com/v/X_UVXYkh9QY&hl=en Soon a movie started on the in-bus TV monitors. Bruce Willis was cleaning up on some bad guys once again, this time in Spanish. We stopped at Xcaret and Xel-Ha to let off passengers taking tours at these destinations. About 75 minutes later, the bus pulled in to the Zona Archaeological (Archaeological Zone) on the north side of Tulum City to let us off. Immediately a man from the bus station here came out and showed us a card with the return bus times and suggested that we purchase our return tickets now – which I suggest you do to. We planned on taking the 5:10 back, and I think the latest left at 6:00 p.m. There was about a ½ mile walk from the stop to the ruins, and along the way we say the pole dancers (can’t remember what they were really called but it looked skillful and painful at the same time):  And the walk to the ruins:  It’s really hot at Tulum! Tickets into the ruins are relatively inexpensive: $4.80 per person. If you want to videotape, you have to purchase a special video ticket for $3.50 per video camera. We considered not getting a guide, which was $40.00 for the two of us. Our friend’s commentary on this topic the other day kept ringing in our ears: “If you don’t get a guide, you’re just looking at a bunch of rocks.” We hired Ishmael, the guide. On the way into the ruins, we saw one of the dozens (hundreds) of current inhabitants of Tulum:   He led us to a bench in the shade and began a brief history of western hemisphere civilization in general and the Mayan culture specifically. He had numerous maps, paintings, replicas and drawings he pulled out of his briefcase to illustrate the different ideas he was teaching us about the Mayans. They were great. Mayans used hieroglyphics that stood for sounds and phrases which when combines created ideas, sentences and concepts. Tulum it seems was built around A.D. 1200 at a time when the Mayan civilization was past it’s classic phase and reduced to warring territorial cities. Mayans developed a social system with kings at the top, followed by priests, then noblemen, merchants, tradesmen, farmers and at the bottom were slaves. Their main calendar had 18 months of 20 days plus 5 extra days at the end of each year when the gods of the underworld and heaven all came to earth to fight for the souls of the humans. Mayans rested during this time and ate corn, refrained from working (to build strength) and made sacrifices of corn and other foods to feed the gods of heaven. Human sacrifices were reserved for extraordinary circumstances in Mayan culture, and it was not until the Toltecs came into the Mayan world that human sacrifice began to be practiced on a wide scale. Tulum had a wall and 6 gates, all of which were defended by watchtowers. The wall went ¾ of the way around the city, and the seaside cliffs provided protection on the east side. The gates were short, built for the height of the Mayans in the 1200’s.  When Tulum was first seen by the Spanish in the early 1500’s, it was still an active city. Ishmael explained that when the Conquistadores asked the Mayans living in Tulum what the name of this place was, the Mayans responded “TcLul –Lhum” (spelling phonetic) which Ishmael explained meant “My Land, My Country” in Mayan. The Spaniards twisted it’s pronunciation into “Tulum”.  Tulum was a trading port – with a whopping 10,000 inhabitants at the time the Spaniards showed up. Ishmael explained that if you look out to sea, you can see the surf breaking everywhere north and south except for one slot where there are no breakers – a natural gap in the coral, where ships could enter, then beach on the sand to unload their goods. I shifted the camera before the picture was done exposing, so this is all I have of the gap:  And here is the beach:  One building, a sort of observatory, was built so precisely that during the Summer Solstice, the Sun’s rays at sunrise shone directly through the small hole on the east side of the building across the city. This was a seasonal indication of when to plant crops for the inhabitants. 
Last edited by 130taKen120; 04-09-2008 at 01:41 AM.
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04-09-2008, 01:37 AM
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3-27-08 Part II
An illustration of the rays of the Sun:
 Ishmael telling us about this particular building:  Across the main central area:  Homes had front steps and the deceased were often buried in carved out basements in their own homes. Ishmael explains that this was because there was only 2-3 cm of soil in the Yucatan, hardly an ideal place to create a cemetery. The walls also had steps for warriors to climb atop (look in the extreme back):  One particular temple had ornate carvings on the corners and above the entrances. The corners featured tri-level carvings of heads – the ones to the east represented the rising sun-god, and were younger and more vibrant looking than the ones to the west, which represented the setting of the sun-god, aging and dying:  Above the door was a carving of their god of the underworld, feet up and head down, to represent it’s sinking. According to the Mayans, there were 9 levels of the underworld and 13 of heaven.  El Castillo, as the Spaniards named it, is the high temple at the seaside center of Tulum. Here only the highest class of priests and kings could ascend, and on occasion human sacrifices were made here: Finally Ishmael left us, and we wandered about a bit before heading out and south along the access road to the beach.
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04-09-2008, 10:42 AM
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WOW WOW WOW!!!
 Thank you so much for the explanations of Tulum. We went there the last time we were in Playa and wandered around. I'm am going back again this next trip and getting a guide. I want to know the how's and why's. Plus I missed the beach last time we were there. I didn't know how to get there. So that is a definate for our trip! And I am making people take the bus rather then taxis. They taxi everywhere. I'm to cheap!  Again, thanks for the great report!
__________________
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04-10-2008, 12:38 AM
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 Ha! I wish I could do our tour guide justice! Read the next segment on how to get to the beach. It's GREAT! I only wish we would've got moving sooner in the day and had more time there. Maybe we'll stay a couple days there next time! Thanks for the motivational comments!
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04-10-2008, 12:44 AM
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Thursday 3-27-08 Part II - Tulum Beach
At the end of our tour, our guide, Ishmael, bid us adieu and left us standing upon the cliffs overlooking the beach on the east and the Castillo temple on the west. We ventured about the grounds for a bit, and then considering the heat and the fact that Ishmael had educated us far beyond what we would’ve expected from a guide, we decided to depart. Tip: If you do hire a guide, we hired Ishmael from the mini desk just outside the ticket station. If we would’ve been smart, we would’ve tried to talk another random couple in to splitting the cost with us – Ishmael was worth every penny and then some!
We made our way out of the ruins and then headed south along the access road paralleling the beach. Once again, Mapchick Maps helped hatch this plan, as they indicated the road that led away fro the ruins and the beaches and resorts fronting the ocean along it. It is impossible to walk from Tulum ruins beach to the beaches farther south, as there are cliffs that drop straight into the ocean for about 1/3 km. Once walking, we soon passed through the police station, and then were looking for Zazil-Kin beach bar and cabanas, but missed it for whatever reason. Along the road:  This road was hot in the afternoon, so be sure to pack a couple water bottles for after your trip to the ruins. About the time we thought we had gone too far, a cabbie in a driveway to the El Paraiso struck up a conversation with us, inquiring if we wanted a ride. This was about the 3rd one since we left the ruins – maybe they wanted to see if we’d had enough of the heat. In any case, he told us that this was “Much better than the beach back up there” so we headed in to see what there was to see. The entrance:  Much to our delight, we sat down at the El Paraiso Beach Club and cooled off with some refreshments, pico and guacamole, which were the best yet (total bill $22.00!) The floor of this club is sand and the views are priceless: Her view:  His view:  What other people saw when they looked at us:  South to North:   And, a panorama: http://www.youtube.com/v/T1i9mOvdPtU We changed in the bano & walked along the beach for a bit, and eventually were approached by a gentleman from the El Paraiso snorkel shack inquiring whether or not we wanted to go snorkeling out on the reef for $10.00 for the two of us, equipment included. Snorkel shack in the background:  A good price to be sure; the only item of concern was where to leave our valuables whilst on the boat. He offered to have the nearby security guard watch our beach bags if we parked them beneath a palm tree on the beach, but, for some reason that didn’t sound like a particularly attractive option. After some discussion, we discovered that the boat had some watertight compartments into which we could cram our beach bags (remember, next time bring a knapsack!). “When can we pick out our flippers and goggles?” I inquired. “Oh, on the boat!” was the reply. If you ever get this reply, you may want to try things on before pulling away from shore…. Approaching the shack:  Beach near the shack: 
Last edited by 130taKen120; 04-10-2008 at 12:18 PM.
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04-10-2008, 12:45 AM
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At the Leaning Palm by the shack:
 Snorkel Shack with beautiful scenery:  Without time to think, the two of us were hustled aboard along with another family of 6 and we were soon headed out towards the reef in a launch piloted by a person who didn’t speak much English, which pretty much mirrored my knowledge of Spanish (Tip: Learn Spanish/Spanglish before next time). Views from the launch:  Too bright? ?  Once under weigh, we were encouraged by our pilot to get snorkels and masks ready and adjusted. Thanks to my father and mother, I have been blessed with a broad foundational footing – size 13 US to be precise. Flippers in this size are rare in Mayan Mexico, and on a low-budget fledgling snorkeling launch, they are even rarer. (keep in mind that I was ecstatic that it was low budget ?) Fortunately, flippers tend to run large, so a smaller size fits a larger foot. Equally as fortunate, a chap across from me parleyed the size 8-9’s that I was lucklessly handed for the size 10-11 he was holding. This trade enabled each to secure a reasonable fit, and soon we dropped anchor and were over the side. We saw fan coral, brain coral, blue fish and a small sea turtle right after our disposable underwater camera’s pictures were exhausted. My advice: bring extra cameras. What’s $8.00 if you lose the opportunity to take a once-in-a lifetime picture? You can always use up the rest back home in open air, removing the watertight casing if you wish. Snorkeling at Tulum:     After about 1 hour or so we returned to the boat and with the help of the men on board, freed the anchor from a rock/coral pile beneath the waves and were headed back to shore. The wind hampered efforts to land the boat on the sand but the gent who originally talked us into the trip was on shore helping guide the boat in, stern first. These boats all get double-moored: one at the bow, usually to a heavy concrete block dropped out in the water (look for them when snorkeling) and the other at the stern, to an anchor or tree on the beach. We disembarked and then decided to beach it for about 45 minutes before we had to begin our trip back to the bust station on 307. Postcard poses:  
Last edited by 130taKen120; 04-10-2008 at 12:57 PM.
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04-10-2008, 12:51 AM
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Someone’s comfortable!
 Looking south:  Then north:  The El Paraiso: Soft sand floor, rusty steel shutters and priceless view:  The sand was very, very fine and compact. Entry into the water is zero – extremely gradual. Snoozed ever so shortly before we awoke and had to get ready to head back. Got dressed in the bano and walked out to the access road we had walked in on, and there were several taxis ready to take us on our way. I inquired how much to take us to the ADO bus station at the Archaeological Zone (be sure to specify this as there is another one in Tulum City) and for $5.00 we were off. The drive:  The cab – note the road construction:  Through town:  The ADO Bus Station:  Another view:  These buses were first class – note the wheel lock cables on both tires on this parked one: 
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04-10-2008, 12:53 AM
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Soon off towards PDC – glad to be seated again:
 Along the way, there were some great evening views:   A typical roadside fenced in area – not sure if home or business:  Some 4-wheelers:  Highway construction crews:  Sirens resort:  Xel-Ha (advertised everywhere):  And, of course, the Pemex, the ever present gas stations throughout Mexico. There is only 1 – Pemex – throughout all of Mexico, so I read:  Finally, back to the Sandos. Warmly illuminated lobby at night: 
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04-10-2008, 12:53 AM
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In this part of the lobby you can see the Concierge desk in the foreground and the drink stand between this desk and the check-in desk in the background.
 Finally back to our room and what should we find? Bath Towel Art! Very nice!  We readied and ate dinner at the Festival’s Italian Buffet – mmmmmm…. 
Last edited by 130taKen120; 04-10-2008 at 01:08 AM. Reason: pics
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04-10-2008, 01:09 AM
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Tonight we were tired! We managed to hang out on the plaza for a bit. Here the set up chairs at night along the walkway and every night had some form of entertainment - usually singers on a stage near the lobby. The music was good and we usually camped near La Bamba, the establishment aross the plaza from the Festival buffet:
  And then went to the show Tropicana:   Again, good tropical dance numbers, talented dancers but we were soooooooo tired we checked in early-ish (10:45). Tomorrow would be a beach day of rest. Good night !
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04-10-2008, 02:28 AM
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Wow, you have a great memory for all that info at the ruins...or did you take notes? You got more info from Ismael than we did on a highly recomended tour we took last year. I think following your plan for visiting Tulum is a smart one. (only, I would take a cab to a beach club. I know how hot it can get.) Note to self....stop renting cars, take the bus.
Can you imagine how sad that most of the people at your resort never ventured out? Keep it coming...Please tell me you stayed a month. I don't want this report to end.
__________________
I'll take 2, please. Please bring them to me over here. 
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04-10-2008, 10:40 AM
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The walk to the beach club actually wasn't that bad, maybe go to Tulum first thing in the a.m. then walk before it gets too hot.We often asked that question: How many people at our resort never left it until they headed back to the airport. You wouldn't have to, being an AI, but why would you NOT want to? So much to see & do! I WISH we stayed a month! Feel free to the 130taKen120 Travel Fund so we can do exactly that next time!!!!
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