Armchairshrink
23rd July 2007, 11:57 AM
We woke up around 8:30am), still missed the sunrise. Sorry, we're not morning people!
So my boy wanted to see the Tulum ruins. I was a little down on this idea, as I'd seen the ruins before and while the location is beautiful, the ruins are not that interesting in my opinion. We would be going to Coba in two days, and hopefully Ek-Balam a day after that, and I tried to suggest that instead of seeing Tulum we drive south 30 minutes to see the empty site of Muyil.
No dice! We were in Tulum, he wanted to see Tulum. So we grabbed more coffee from Casa Magna, grabbed some breakfast bars we'd bought, and drove down to the ruins (down the beach road, avoiding the mall/parking lot). We arrived around 9:30 a.m.
AND IT WAS PACKED.
I had been to the ruins (but nowhere else in Tulum) 4 years ago, on an overcast day in October. Not on a sunny, crowded day in July. Let's just say it was a distinctly unpleasant experience. EVERYTHING was roped off now (nothing except the actual steps to El Castillo had been before) and the landscaping and paths just made it feel so touristy. Chris wasn't terribly impressed either. But we got some nice pictures:
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqKcKlJ1_dI/AAAAAAAAAFg/aiBy_vUKZLQ/s800/Mexico07%20283.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqKcQlJ1_kI/AAAAAAAAAGY/OI8QzSs-8WA/s800/Mexico07%20292.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)I love that you can still see the paint here.
I was hot and hungry and on the verge of passing out by the time we walked back to our car. If you're going to do Tulum ruins, I'd REALLY suggest getting there at 8am sharp. The tourists there (mostly Americans) were obnoxious and again - the heat! I had read that the beach was closed (it was) so I hadn't worn my swimsuit, only to discover the beach next to it was open. We skipped it, lacking a way to swim.
Driving back I decided I needed food, shade, and an ocean breeze, NOW. So we stopped at El Paryiso for a bite. Until we saw their menu prices. Yikes! It was a beautiful stretch of beach and I wouldn't have minded spending more time there, but again, we had no suits. So we just got some bland guacamole and waters and beer.
We were out of beer at our cabana, so we made a QUICK run to the super to get ice, beer, and pesos. BACK TO THE BEACH! It became our refrain. We happily spent the rest of the afternoon there.
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLAPlJ1_xI/AAAAAAAAAIA/5MwuVy6NZyQ/s800/Mexico07%20089.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
Around 5pm I remembered that Dos Ciebas had a 2x1 happy hour, so we decided to enjoy it. I had looked at staying there and while I loved their sandy garden bar/restuarant area, after seeing the buildings I'm kind of glad I didn't. Funky but sort of in a run-down way. And with the heat as bad as it was, at EVERY place we saw we judged the availability of wind and size of windows and kept concluding that we really had it the best at Hamaca Loca.
The bartender was nice enough to let us drink on the beach there, and I think we got in the water again there, too. After 2 pina coladas each (and beers on the beach earlier) and only a breakfast bar and guac in our stomachs we realized around 7ish that we were both pretty drunk and starving. Good thing Las Ranitas is close! I think we'd planned on eating somewhere on the other side of the intersection before the Mezzanine party but there was no way we'd make it to the Mezzanine party if we didn't eat something NOW.
Las Ranitas has a beautiful view of the ocean from their terrace restuarant. We sat outside originally before we noticed that we, barefoot (we forgot to bring shoes on our excursion!) were being bitten by ants on the patio. We moved inside. Las Ranitas was fairly pricey but we decided to split focaccia and the tequila shrimp.
Now I've already eaten more seafood on this trip than I usually eat in months, and I had enjoyed it although I am sometimes squeamish about seafood. So I was not exactly pleased when our shrimp showed up WITH LEGS, in the shell. I threw a mini-pouty-fit and said I'd just eat the veggies but the boy was nice enough to spend quite a bit of time de-shelling those guys and giving me the meat. He's so sweet. They were tasty, too. And the kitchen was very nice about giving us two plates with what looked like two full side orders of rice and veggies per plate for the one entree, and I think they only charged us an extra 20 pesos for this.
We hadn't planned on being out so late, so it was dark when we walked back on the beach, although we were able to find our place pretty easily. We showered and got dressed for the party at Mezzanine that night.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1284/867273371_9522dadcbf.jpg?v=0
The Mezzanine party was pretty cool. Very romantic setting. We arrived around 10pm, which was apparently early as the place got packed later on. Very good drinks (at normal Tulum prices, seems $6 is standard whether you're at a funky beach shack or a trendy Euro club) including a decent mojito (still made with dark rum, though!) and lots of loud Euro-house music. During our stay in Mexico we came to realize that the only music we'd hear was bad American classic rock (less frequently) or Euro-house/lounge music (all the damn time). The crowd was pretty mixed but tended towards young and moneyed (if Italian) or backpacker (if American). Plenty of locals and vacationing Mexicans here too, and LOTS of Italian guys trying to pick up American girls. The people-watching was first-rate.
We did only a little bit of dancing, once the DJ started playing JT's "Sexyback." Normally a song I hate, but I was so thrilled to hear something besides "thumpathumpathumpa" that I got really excited. We left around 1am.
Got back to our hotel, hung out for a bit, and were just going to bed when Chris started complaining about water in his ear. We'd done lots of swimming that day and I had some water in my ears too, so what's the big deal? He complained about pressure and then said it felt like an icepick in his brain. He was obviously in a lot of pain, and I was really confused. Could he have swimmer's ear? I'd had it and it never hurt like that. He spent about an hour in bad pain before he said he heard a 'pop' and felt the "water" go out. Hmmm...it was nearly 3am and I was exhausted so I passed out...
So my boy wanted to see the Tulum ruins. I was a little down on this idea, as I'd seen the ruins before and while the location is beautiful, the ruins are not that interesting in my opinion. We would be going to Coba in two days, and hopefully Ek-Balam a day after that, and I tried to suggest that instead of seeing Tulum we drive south 30 minutes to see the empty site of Muyil.
No dice! We were in Tulum, he wanted to see Tulum. So we grabbed more coffee from Casa Magna, grabbed some breakfast bars we'd bought, and drove down to the ruins (down the beach road, avoiding the mall/parking lot). We arrived around 9:30 a.m.
AND IT WAS PACKED.
I had been to the ruins (but nowhere else in Tulum) 4 years ago, on an overcast day in October. Not on a sunny, crowded day in July. Let's just say it was a distinctly unpleasant experience. EVERYTHING was roped off now (nothing except the actual steps to El Castillo had been before) and the landscaping and paths just made it feel so touristy. Chris wasn't terribly impressed either. But we got some nice pictures:
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqKcKlJ1_dI/AAAAAAAAAFg/aiBy_vUKZLQ/s800/Mexico07%20283.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqKcQlJ1_kI/AAAAAAAAAGY/OI8QzSs-8WA/s800/Mexico07%20292.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)I love that you can still see the paint here.
I was hot and hungry and on the verge of passing out by the time we walked back to our car. If you're going to do Tulum ruins, I'd REALLY suggest getting there at 8am sharp. The tourists there (mostly Americans) were obnoxious and again - the heat! I had read that the beach was closed (it was) so I hadn't worn my swimsuit, only to discover the beach next to it was open. We skipped it, lacking a way to swim.
Driving back I decided I needed food, shade, and an ocean breeze, NOW. So we stopped at El Paryiso for a bite. Until we saw their menu prices. Yikes! It was a beautiful stretch of beach and I wouldn't have minded spending more time there, but again, we had no suits. So we just got some bland guacamole and waters and beer.
We were out of beer at our cabana, so we made a QUICK run to the super to get ice, beer, and pesos. BACK TO THE BEACH! It became our refrain. We happily spent the rest of the afternoon there.
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLAPlJ1_xI/AAAAAAAAAIA/5MwuVy6NZyQ/s800/Mexico07%20089.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
Around 5pm I remembered that Dos Ciebas had a 2x1 happy hour, so we decided to enjoy it. I had looked at staying there and while I loved their sandy garden bar/restuarant area, after seeing the buildings I'm kind of glad I didn't. Funky but sort of in a run-down way. And with the heat as bad as it was, at EVERY place we saw we judged the availability of wind and size of windows and kept concluding that we really had it the best at Hamaca Loca.
The bartender was nice enough to let us drink on the beach there, and I think we got in the water again there, too. After 2 pina coladas each (and beers on the beach earlier) and only a breakfast bar and guac in our stomachs we realized around 7ish that we were both pretty drunk and starving. Good thing Las Ranitas is close! I think we'd planned on eating somewhere on the other side of the intersection before the Mezzanine party but there was no way we'd make it to the Mezzanine party if we didn't eat something NOW.
Las Ranitas has a beautiful view of the ocean from their terrace restuarant. We sat outside originally before we noticed that we, barefoot (we forgot to bring shoes on our excursion!) were being bitten by ants on the patio. We moved inside. Las Ranitas was fairly pricey but we decided to split focaccia and the tequila shrimp.
Now I've already eaten more seafood on this trip than I usually eat in months, and I had enjoyed it although I am sometimes squeamish about seafood. So I was not exactly pleased when our shrimp showed up WITH LEGS, in the shell. I threw a mini-pouty-fit and said I'd just eat the veggies but the boy was nice enough to spend quite a bit of time de-shelling those guys and giving me the meat. He's so sweet. They were tasty, too. And the kitchen was very nice about giving us two plates with what looked like two full side orders of rice and veggies per plate for the one entree, and I think they only charged us an extra 20 pesos for this.
We hadn't planned on being out so late, so it was dark when we walked back on the beach, although we were able to find our place pretty easily. We showered and got dressed for the party at Mezzanine that night.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1284/867273371_9522dadcbf.jpg?v=0
The Mezzanine party was pretty cool. Very romantic setting. We arrived around 10pm, which was apparently early as the place got packed later on. Very good drinks (at normal Tulum prices, seems $6 is standard whether you're at a funky beach shack or a trendy Euro club) including a decent mojito (still made with dark rum, though!) and lots of loud Euro-house music. During our stay in Mexico we came to realize that the only music we'd hear was bad American classic rock (less frequently) or Euro-house/lounge music (all the damn time). The crowd was pretty mixed but tended towards young and moneyed (if Italian) or backpacker (if American). Plenty of locals and vacationing Mexicans here too, and LOTS of Italian guys trying to pick up American girls. The people-watching was first-rate.
We did only a little bit of dancing, once the DJ started playing JT's "Sexyback." Normally a song I hate, but I was so thrilled to hear something besides "thumpathumpathumpa" that I got really excited. We left around 1am.
Got back to our hotel, hung out for a bit, and were just going to bed when Chris started complaining about water in his ear. We'd done lots of swimming that day and I had some water in my ears too, so what's the big deal? He complained about pressure and then said it felt like an icepick in his brain. He was obviously in a lot of pain, and I was really confused. Could he have swimmer's ear? I'd had it and it never hurt like that. He spent about an hour in bad pain before he said he heard a 'pop' and felt the "water" go out. Hmmm...it was nearly 3am and I was exhausted so I passed out...