Better late than never! Tulum in November

[PhyllisB]

Day One: Arrival Day!

Woohoo, we go to Tulum today! Hooorah! But we have a full day of travel ahead of us. I did not do the greatest job with airfare this time… but lesson learned. And who cares, when Tulum is waiting at the other end??? Off we go, in a cab to O’Hare around 6am. Something like that. Not tooooo early but still early! We find our way to Mexicana, no problemo. Long line! But we have plenty of time. This time we are checking bags. Last time we didn’t, and it was GREAT. But this is a bit of a longer trip, and we are delivering goodies!

After a while we are on the plane to Mexico City. This is the first time I have ever flown Mexicana, or flown through Mexico City. It seems like a LONG flight from Chicago, but it’s interesting too. Mountains, rural areas, cities, coastline – we see it all. Wow, Mexico City is HUGE. I still haven’t looked up the population – I meant to. (8,463,906 in 2005 according to some random Web site, compared to 2,896,016 in 2000 for Chicago!) It just keeps going, and going, and going…. Kevin and I are both very impressed.

The Mexico City airport is nothing to write home about. It’s allright. We ask an officer at an immigration booth where to go for customs and he points us in the right direction. There are lots of shiny fancy shops around, at least before we go to where our flight will be, and that area of the airport is a little more like a typical airprort. It's like a maze! We eventually find and get through customs easily enough. We grab a bite to eat at a little restaurant, and I am congratulating myself for getting pesos at an American Express office near my office downtown before we left! That was a great idea – I’ll definitely do it again even if the exchange rates suck. It’s nice to have some of the right dinero with you. We have a lot of time to kill, so we have a long lunch and then dive into our books. [I've finished my issue of Sports Illustrated with the Red Sox on the cover, and am on to another magazine. Kevin is finishing _Rainbow's End_ by Vernon Vinge.]

We find our plane to Cancun, and off we go. Yeah!!!!! Now I’m getting excited.

This seems like a good point at which to say Mexicana airlines was okay. On our flight there, we were in an exit row, so we had lots of leg room. The trip home was a different story—totally cramped! Ugh. I could hardly move. There was a bit of excitement as we headed in to land in Cancun, though. I have no idea if this was a Mexicana goof or the air traffic controllers or what, but we were clearly going in to land, and suddenly they revved the engines and pulled up FAST. My stomach lurched. That was exciting! But let’s not do it again… We go around again, and try it a second time. This time it sticks, and we are on the ground safely.

We head outside after passing through security (green light!). I thought we wouldn’t have to do this since we went through Mexico City, but we did. We rented through Continental (Minnie’s company). A very friendly gentleman was waiting for us, and we found him easily. We waited a few short minutes for the car to arrive (he must have had other people to meet) and chatted – I got to practice my really bad Spanish. The funny part was when I accidentally told him I’d been working in Tulum for three years instead of traveling to Tulum for three years. Haha! I’m sure he knew I screwed that one up, given my horrid language skills. He was really friendly, though, and we enjoyed chatting with him. I just wish my Spanish was better!

Another guy—this one very quiet and not talkative—showed up in the car and wisked us off to the Continental office. It wasn’t quite as close as I’d imagined, but it wasn’t bad. We got a VW Polo, manual. We looked over the car very thoroughly, things looked fine. Apparently the gas tank cover sticks, and the guy actually told us to pry it open with the key. Okay, if that’s what you want us to do! We signed up for the advertised special on their website to get a free tank of gas, so that we wouldn’t have to fill up when we got there. It was about 3/4 full – close enough. But they said they wanted us to return it 3/4 full. So, what is it that makes it a free tank of gas then? I can be dense sometimes, but doesn’t “free” imply that you don’t have to pay for it… and having to return it at 3/4 full – well, that’s paying for it, isn’t it? Am I missing something? Whatever… we shrug it off. I hate debating these things (with poor language skills at that) when on vacation. I just let it go. That being said, I was SO glad we could just hit the road and not worry about getting gas! That was really great, and worth it even if it wasn't really "free." We’re just about there… just a couple hours away!

We hit the road a little after 4. We’ll get to Tulum after dark it looks like, but at least half the drive it will be light. I’m glad for the busy traffic actually – less chance of getting nabbed by la policia, right? Actually, we end up behind a police car with its lights on. He doesn’t seem to be pulling anyone over, just driving slowly to control the speed of traffic. No problemo, at least he’s in front of us!

We arrive at La Via Laktea in the dark. And it is DARK. Either they don’t have lights by the parking area, or the lights were out. Our host came outside to greet us, and brought a lighter out to try to help light our path. She almost accidentally lit our backpack on fire, LOL, but it was a nice gesture. We met the owner, Bambu, and Angeles, who seems to be an all around helper – she cooks, she cleans, she keeps an eye on things. Everyone was extremely friendly, but I have to say I really enjoyed chatting with Angeles and trying to converse in Spanish! She was really fun. Always a huge smile on her face too. We also met their beach dog, but Orrie was not your typical beach dog. Orrie could have cared less about the beach, or about us for that matter! He was not unfriendly, but he just didn’t really care about us. But he makes for a cute picture in the daylight!

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB100132.jpg

This is also when I have my first encounter with…

…the STAIRS.

Now, you might think this is no big deal. Our room is on the 2nd floor, which is good, but these steps! Aye carumba! It’s pitch black, I can’t see anything, and these steps are steep and tall. I think they are a foot apart! Bambu calls them “Mayan.” I call them insane. I take them one at a time, while Kevin is laughing hilariously. Here they are during the day, looking totally innocent:


http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070033.jpg

We dump our stuff in the room, arrange to have breakfast there at LVL tomorrow morning (it isn't included but they will prepare breakfast for you if you request it), and head off in search of dinner. It’s 7:30. Look, here’s Dos Ceibas! I’ve heard we have to try this place and check out the candle-lit wall. Hmmmm, doesn’t seem like there’s anyone here… oh, there’s someone. He tells us they don’t have dinner until 8. Hm, that seems pretty late for dinner for me. I’m happy to just hang on the beach and wait, but Kevin (aka The Human Stomach) doesn’t want to wait, so we keep walking. We end up at Amansala (a favorite since our first trip in ’05, when we ate there on our first night of our first trip in paradise). We like Amansala’s patio area. Hm, looks like a big organized dining event getting ready to happen here – but they say it’s okay, we can eat too. Turns out they have a bikini bootcamp going on. It’s pretty funny watching and listening in to some of the campers! One of them is VERY eager to go home and is complaining about not being able to use her hair drier, LOL.

Pretty simple dining options – chicken or fish. I’ll take chicken, he’ll take fish, thanks! We eat pretty decent meals, mine’s average but Kevin is extremely happy. He also enjoys the guac, too. I tell him to remember it so we can compare to other places! He thinks it’s excellent. Anyway, we finish a yummy meal and head back to La Via Laktea, wondering if we’ll be able to recognize it in the dark from the beach.

We have a great walk on the beach, under the stars. No moon tonight, though, so no moon shadow. L Just stars. But they are gorgeous, and we stargaze as we head towards LVL.

As we approach what I think is La Via Laktea, I see a shape… is it a person? What is that? Uh…. Hm. Kevin is oblivious, he’s already heading into the property (I guess I was right that it is LVL!) Well, here’s what it actually was – a pretty cool wooden sculpture thing…. but in the dark.... well, I was totally spooked!

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050018.jpg

We head up to our room and crash. We’ve been up since 5am and are wiped out. We missed out on a whole day in paradise sitting in airplanes and airports, ARGH! I’m really excited to go to sleep, so I can wake up to the sun tomorrow!

[beachreader]

Yay, Phyllis' trip report! Happy butt wiggle dance! :D

[minniemex]

Yea!! Sounds like a full first day of travel!! Yuck, I really hate travel time too!!

Cracking me up with the "fear" factor beach!!!

I thought the offices for Continental were close to the airport - did you go to Santa Fe Plaza??

[PhyllisB]

Oh Lord, Minnie, I don't remember! :) I just know we had to do a u-turn under 307 at some point, that's all I remember. And I thought I wouldn't want to have to do that never having been there before, so I was glad we were dropping the car off at the airport when we headed home!

Yeah, I spook easy, I guess, LOL! :)

BR, don't get too excited! I don't think it'll live up to the expectations!

Sorry this is mostly just travel day reporting... I'll try to get to more tomorrow night... figured the only way I'll get this done is by doing a little bit at a time!

[Gale in KY]

Well, I am glad I am not the only one in a panic over an aborted landing attempt..lol..same thing last year..one moment we were descending rapidly and you know that is a steep descent...well, it's a pretty rapid steep accent as well..engines roaring..yikes..I could just picture a Mayan family including a dog on a scooter at the end of the runway..lol. You are so right Phyllis..lets NOT do that again. LOL! :eek::eek:

That little carved guy would have freaked me out too..I don't see too well in the dark anyway..but especially not when it's really dark.

Great story, please continue!:)

[beachreader]

I'm a little freaked out by walking on the beach in the dark when I'm alone, anyway. I might be driving to dinners for the first part of my trip even if I'm just going to Dos Ceibas! :rolleyes:

[pepper]

Great start!
Love the over-heard parts at bikini Boot Camp. We ate there too during BBC - I had fish tacos; they were good, but not as good as LaZ.

And I'm nothing but a big chicken!!...I would have been totally spooked in the dark too and would have sent the boys up to investigate.:o

[PhyllisB]

Haha! Yeah, the boot camp girls were pretty funny. The same girl was complaining about the unpredictable hot water too. Tee hee. They also made some toasts to each other (this was their end-of-camp celebration) that were a hoot! They are all BFFs now! :) :) :)

[FITZ]

Were the stairs as rough during the day?
Enjoying your report. Thanks!

[PhyllisB]

During the day the stairs are not quite as intimidating -- because you can actually see where you're going! And I got better as the week went along.

But they are just very steep and VERY far apart for someone on the short side. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad for taller people? But it was good exercise! I would probably not recommend it to anyone who has bad hips/knees/etc. though....

[TheWindyCity]

Great start Phyllis. Can't wait for more!

[preeya]

Yooohooo! Phyllis trip report! Long first day! Like your sunrise pic, i would be spooked with that wooden sculpture in the dark too.
More more :)

[austxdan]

Woo-Hoo !!! Way to go PB, an actual Trip Report from ya! :D

Great start - I love to read these after having been to the places as I can "re-walk" along with your story and see the places.

Looking forward to the rest.


Dan :cool:

[PhyllisB]

No problemo Dan... hopefully ya'll don't have to wait too long for Day 2! Let's see, I got back on the 12th... so it took me just over 2 weeks for Day 1... hopefully you'll get Day 2 before December 15! LOL! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

[PhyllisB]

Day Two Report


We are so tired, that we actually mostly sleep through the sunrise! I’m sure I saw part of it from our window, but I decided to enjoy dozing in and out of sleep… ah, vacation! It’s so wonderful!

La Via Laktea is a nice place. I’ve written about our room in other threads. We have the prime spot: in the center building (out of 3 beachfront), top floor. The bed and the pillows are woooooooonderful. Very comfy. I would have liked to take a pillow home with me, but I refrained!

The best pictures of the rooms at LVL are on the locogringo site. They are totally and completely accurate. I thought our room was really big.

Pro’s: Beds/Pillows; lighting (I can actually read by this lamp! And I love the faint ambient light built into the walls, too…); patio (wonderful… 2 hammocks, nice large patio… w/ plastic tables & chairs); beach loungers (wooden, with cushions). Plenty of shelves for storage (built in behind the bed). Complimentary Kleenex, that I actually ended up taking with me on the plane home, LOL! Two end tables on either side of the bed-- we used them both a lot. Staff is extremely friendly, especially Angeles. She brought us fresh OJ several days in a row after we mentioned to Bambu how much we love fresh juice in the morning – the only down side was that it usually came around 8:30, but never really around the same time, and sometimes we weren’t entirely sure whether it would be coming or not so we weren’t sure if we should hang around the room to wait or not. But that’s a tiny little issue, it was really great of them to do that for us! Bambu was also great when I tracked her down to get a thermometer when Kevin developed a fever mid-week, offered to take us to the health center too. What else… I’m sure there is more that I’m forgetting.

Con’s: No fan, no mosquito net. There weren’t too many bugs around, but quite a few, and it would have been cool enough at night to use a net without feeling suffocated so we probably would have if we’d had one. I’d hate to stay here during the summer months without a fan! Once we got the pilot light turned on, there was plenty of hot water, but it took about 10-15 minutes for the water to actually get hot. We got used to it, though. The buildings are really quite close together, not much space between them, so if you’re hanging out on your patio and your neighbors are too, there isn’t a lot of privacy. That’s okay – just depends on what you’re looking for, so I thought I’d mention it. The beach was not cleaned often – just once a week I think. I’m okay with some seaweed, but there was often trash around, and especially because of Dean and the other storms it seemed worse than usual. Kevin could have cut his foot open on a huge piece of broken glass right by our beach chairs. We picked up so much broken glass during our beach walks, I can’t even tell you! I think it had just been churned up after Dean & other storms that had been through. But it would have been nice if they had been more attentive to that (given the money you’re paying). The bathroom situation? No door, just a curtain. I’d probably be totally cool with this, except that when one of you is as sick as Kevin was, that’s pretty unpleasant and I think pretty embarrassing for the sick person. There really aren’t that many negatives, but I just think it’s way too expensive for an above average room. I like the little extra touches they’ve put in, but I think I’d rather save that dough and stay in a simpler room. Bambu also seems really concerned about the money – she asked me to pay my balance the day after we arrived! I’m used to paying up at the end!

Here are some pics of the room, but like I said the best pics of the rooms are really on locogringo.

The view from our patio (aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh):

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB030001.jpg

Here's how close the neighbors are:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB030003.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB030004.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB030008.jpg

The shower area:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB030009.jpg

The view from our bed -- pic didn't work great because I didn't pay attention to the lighting (duh):

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB030010.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050027.jpg

Right in front of the bed were two big wooden doors that led to out to the patio. There were windows to the left and right, like this:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050025.jpg

More views:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050024.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050023.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050022.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050019.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050020.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB030007.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB030005.jpg


One of the things I liked about LVL was the vegetation they have around. Makes it feel a bit more jungly. I dunno how to explain it, I just prefer it to the places that don't have any!

We arranged to have breakfast on site this morning. I figured it would be a good way to start out the trip and get to know our hosts. We figure that it’s probably safe to wander down there for breakfast by about 8:30, so we head down to the dining area. We are waved in by Bambu’s boyfriend/husband. He is smoking and having some coffee in front of the TV! FoxNews! :eek: Nnooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I come to Tulum to get away from this stuff! They watch TV in the mornings when the generator is on, apparently. So, we try to ignore it and chat with Bambu and Angeles, while we eat big bowls of fruit & granola.

[Maybe here is where I should put in a disclaimer. Kevin is usually our trip photographer, and he had a very “been there done that” attitude this trip! I think he wanted to be liberated from the camera. So we didn’t take any pix of food, and in fact we didn’t really take the camera out at all until much later in the trip! Also, I am not a foodie, so you’ll have to forgive my crude descriptions of the food!]

In addition to the fruit & granola, they were making eggs that morning. They seem to make one breakfast for everyone. If we had had additional breakfasts, we might have gotten something different on a different day, but we chose not to eat with them again because it was a lot of money! $24 US -- $12 per person!

Anyway, I almost went to get the camera when I saw the egg platter because my first thought was, “WindyCity would probably really love this!!!!!!” :D Fried eggs, with a tortilla underneath, drenched in some kind of green sauce. I’m sure there was more on the plate too that I don’t remember! Anyway, we gobbled it up. We were also served toast w/ butter/jam, fresh OJ, and coffee. They make their coffee with French presses. Kevin thought it was fantastic. We also got to taste some juice that Angeles makes from a local flower, that tasted a lot like cranberry juice (had a real bite to it!). It was okay but I like the OJ!

We enjoyed this breakfast, but when I realized how much it was going to cost us if we did it every day, and the fact that I don’t eat a whole lot so it probably isn’t worth it for me to spend that much on breakfast, we changed our pattern. We had a couple of breakfasts at Tita Tulum (where you can get some things a la carte, and a little cheaper), and for several days we just had muffins & snacks that we bought at the San Francisco. Saved us a lot of money!!!!! I do like breakfasts, but it was nice to have the extra pesos too. (I do still try to arrange for juice every morning though!)

After breakfast we head to the beach, and start on our primary objective of the trip: REST! The weather is wonderful – bright blue skies, sun, I’d say it’s in the 80s or so – very comfortable. This is why we come in November! This, and the low season rates!

Unfortunately, I have a hard time getting into the Tulum vibe right away. This is an unusual trip for me. Usually I count on disconnecting from everyone and everything! No phone, no internet, nothing. But my mom had surgery on our travel day. I actually brought my cell phone with me to be able to touch base with her during her recovery, but it doesn’t work… so I’m ancy. I haven’t yet talked to her or anyone in my family since before the surgery. It’s not a life-threatening risky surgery or anything, but it’s still a pretty major procedure. I’m also relying on ATMs this trip, too, for the first time, and I’m terrified that my card won’t work and I’ll be stuck without enough cash! I hadn’t had time to get any travelers’ checks before we left! But I did call our bank so they know we’re here and they assured me it’ll work.

Even though I’m really anxious about all this, I really don’t want to make Kevin go into town right away, I want to let him enjoy the beach a little. I go for a walk, I laze around in the hammock. I start my book, Water for Elephants (excellent by the way). Kevin has moved on to his next book, Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay. By noon, though, I can’t take it any more… so I ask very nicely and Kevin says sure, let’s head to the Pueblo.

We start off at the bank, where yipeeeee! The ATM works great at the HSBC and I get some cash. There’s one worry off the list! We stop at Charlie’s for a bite to eat, and as I’m pondering the menu…. I’m looking around… hmmmm…. That person looks really familiar to me! Wait a sec – Wife, husband, little toddler… hey I think that’s Preeya! We recognize each other at almost the same instant! That was pretty funny! We do introductions and say hello, then after agreeing to meet at Zamas tonight we go back to our tables to finish our meals. We enjoy Charlie's - we just like the feel of the place. On our way back to the beach, we head up to the San Francisco. We were going to try the internet café there, even though there are several along 307, mainly because we were also going to hit the grocery store anyway so it seemed convenient. But it’s not open! Huh???? It was open yesterday when we drove into town… not now, middle of the day on a Saturday? Aye!!!!!

So I send Kevin in to the grocery store for some snacks, water, and muffins for breakfast tomorrow, while I decide to use the pay phone. (I thought my cell phone would work, but it didn’t… I’m sure it was missing some kind of chip or something, I got a super cheap phone when I signed up, but I had it on good authority from someone with the same cell phone company as I have that it would “just work.” So much for that!) Well, I had purchased a TelMex phone card for our first trip two years ago, and I brought it with me just in case – you never know, it might work! I crossed my fingers, said a little prayer that it wasn’t “expired” or something like that, and dialed. And it worked! A 2-year old phone card! Woohoo! I was able to reach my brother, who gave me the phone # of my mom’s hospital room, then I called her and talked to her for a while. Okay, now I feel so much better!!!!!! I can really relax now! We head back to the beach to soak up some sun and swing in the hammocks until we’re ready to meet Preeya for dinner at Zamas.

We had a lovely dinner! Arushi is adorable, and oh so sleeeeeeeepy, being kept up much later than her usual bedtime! She was a real trooper. We really enjoyed talking about Boston, about Tulum, about the forum, and hearing about their lives and their trip!!!!! The waiter is a guy we've had before, who's really chatty and friendly. I like it when you see the same people working at the same place for a while. He chatted us up, asked about Arushi and showered her with compliments! Here’s the pic Preeya took, that I love! It was a great visit, can you tell????

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cf29b3127cceb0794d86d29300000026100AatGzRu4cN2 Pg

We head back to our room afterwards, hang out in the hammocks for a bit and gaze at the stars, I do some journaling, then we hit the sack. Another day of relaxation and beach bumming coming up!

[twirls]

Thanks for posting. I'm enjoying very much! More! MOre!

[beachreader]

Great trip report, thanks so much!

Who's your cell phone provider? I have a conference call (I know, I don't want to work, but it's kind of my meeting and no one could make it any other time) on Tuesday and I really should be "there". I have AT&T (nee Cingular), and my IT guy hooked me up with international calling plan so it's only .59/minute instead of whatever it would ordinarily be. Still seems expensive to me, but whatever, they're paying for it.

Oh, and there are computers you can use at Zahra, pretty decent, and I actually had a better connection out there than I did at the cafe by the Francisco. That was worse than dial-up the day I was there. But their pay phone was cool, in that red booth!


[I was in the same situation as you, my dad in the hospital so I wanted to check in--all was well and it really makes things easier to relax after you check in, right? Glad your mom's OK]

[beachreader]

Oh, and bad enough they actually had a TV and were watching it in public, they were watching FOX NEWS? :eek: I might have had to secretly throw a rock at it or something. :p

[minniemex]

I can never think of anything to say verbally, I guess I do my talking better with pictures!! Totally enjoying your report!! Love it!! We can all imagine being there!!

I always used the Internet place further south in town - west side of the street. It always seemed to have a lot of people in it and the connection was great, much like at home. The keyboard can be a stinker, but once you get used to it, all works fine. This place had no airconditioning though.

Phyllis, you keep saying it was expensive for what you had..... how much was it?? I haven't really paid much attention to the web site and thought people would want to know how much you paid. I know Zulum was alot more than I would normally pay, but I really needed to stay there:D

[PhyllisB]

BR, I have U.S. Cellular (not a big national company but one of the biggies here in Chicago). I really should have done more investigating before I left, but I just asked an LG'er if their phone worked when they went (they have the same company) and they said it just worked, didn't have to turn anything on. I was just uber-lazy and crossed my fingers and hoped they were right, instead of really checking into it myself!

Yep, I'm pretty much a lazy bum most of the time!!!!!

I'll try to remember about Zahra... and I did see those other places on 307... We just figured we could kill two birds with one stone if we headed to the SF. I probably won't do that next time, because half the time we went, it was closed. They seem to open or close depending on the whim of the teenager who staffs it! :)

Minnie.... I'm trying to remember how much we paid.... I'd probably have to look up my receipts... I didn't think it wasn't too much for me at the time, but I know they raised their rates right after we booked. According to LG, they are $220 Jan thru April, $160 May thru November. (not sure December - those rates aren't posted???) The $160 is okay (borderline) but it's definitely not worth $220, IMO. Especially with no breakfast included!

[minniemex]

Phyllis - Yes, I agree, the $220.00 would be excessive for us!! LOL!!

On the phone thing...... I think I remember somebody saying something about going to the phone store in town and getting a new sim card for your phone that would work in Mexico no problems. Or I should say this is what I remember reading. I thought that is what I would do the next time we are down there.

[PhyllisB]

Yeah, 160 is okay, and the comfy bed might be worth it! But 220?!?!?! Way too much.

And in the hottest months, I don't think I'd want to stay there without a fan or anything. But maybe they have standing fans that they put in during those months... it would probably be worth inquiring about....

[austxdan]

Cool! :) Thanks for Day 2 pb. See, you'll get the whole trip done before the 15th.

BR - I have Cingular/AT&T and had no problems in the 'Roo. You are correct in getting the International Roaming thing for .59/minute. That and just make sure your phone has the correct frequencies, I think you'll need 1900 or 1950 mhz. There's a chart on the AT&T site somewhere. I have about a 2 year old Razr and it works fine.

Minnie - I too used the Internet cafes further south in town. pb - I think they're near Charlies or so. There were like two or three just a few doors apart. Gotta love those mexican keyboards after a couple of Sol :D

I guess I side with Kevin in that I like return trips so I don't have to worry about taking pics again. Well . . . except for sunrises :cool:.


Dan

[pepper]

I really like the room at LVL, but they really need a ceiling fan and some screens (if there are none) for those prices.

BR - I have Sprint and my phone worked in the pueblo - my yard guy called and I picked up; otherwise, I didn't make or receive any calls. It was .99/min.

[PhyllisB]

Yeah, we saw a bunch of them... next time we'll use those! I would have gotten the gizmo for my phone, but I really just wanted to check in that once by phone and then figured I'd use email the rest of the week. I felt much better after that phone call, though, and could relax!

Oh, one other thing about LVL. For me, personally, I think I like Tita's location better. I just think there is a lot more nearby to walk to. I'll be curious to see how Gale & BR feel about it after their stay at HL...

[PhyllisB]

Oh, pepper, they do have screens on the windows. But it's Mexico, so the bugs still do manage to sneak in. We'd often want to leave those wooden doors open for the breeze and the view, and there's no screen to the door.

That's one of the things I liked about Suenos, they had glass doors out to the patio (so you could ALWAYS see that fantastic view) and screens behind the door.

And I'm sure the skeeters could sneak in through the palapa roof, which seemed pretty well constructed, but still.... I'm sure it's easy for those buggers to get in. More on the palapa roof later in the report!

I am also kicking myself for not asking about fans... maybe they do have the stand-up ones -- I don't know. But definitely no ceiling fans. Not sure if they have plans to install them or not. While we were there they put in some fancy metal dish for the soap, though. :)

[dionski]

Phyllis,

Love hearing about your trip. Keep em coming.

A few places have wireless internet. If you have to work while there it might be worth bringing a laptop.

d2

[preeya]

Its funny to read your trip report for the day, after meeting you that day :p It was really nice to meet you guys! Did you like anything that day at Mixik after Charlie's lunch, I remember you going and I felt oh I dont have time to go there and then they were closed over the weekend!
Love LVL, the hammock and the sea view is amazing! Good pics!
BTW how much did ppl pay for Zulum, we got a great deal around $100 per day with b/f but it was not beachfront rooms! So $160 seems too much for me now :)

[beachreader]

Alas, $160 is becoming a real deal on the beachfront these days. :(

[Lynnette]

Phyllis.......you've made my day. In spite of the lovely snow outside, I would much rather read about your trip to Tulum and see your beautiful photos!!!! LVL sounds nice, but NOTHING will ever come close to Suenos. :( Looking back, staying there was a bargain compared to prices now and Suenos is still my all time favorite place to stay....anywhere!!! It's a tough act to follow.

I love your pics, and can't wait for the next installment!!!! :)

[petecat]

Hi Phyllis, good report, and I agree Tita to me is more centrally located particuarly if you like long beach walks as Donna and i do! I also enjoyed staying in cabana six, it is a very nice size, gets a good breeze and a nice view of the ocean and beach in front especially from the deck.

[BP.]

Phyllis, love reading your report! Too bad your hub was sick! Wonderful pictures, and what a fantastic view from your room! Glad you got to make your phone call! My friend had her Verizon phone and needed to make a call. She had trouble even though she prearranged service. Finally we remembered to dial 001, then the #. It worked.

[PhyllisB]

Yep, I couldn't get any signal of any kind. So, lesson learned there. But it all worked out!

Sorry I haven't added new stuff... been catching up on a few other things. More to come soon!

[Gale in KY]

Even when you contact the cell company, sometimes it just doesn't work. We had Nextel..were assured that we had reception..not a signal at all once we touched the ground in Cancun....but hey, the clock worked!:rolleyes:

If you end up using a phone card..hehe..be sure that caller ID has the privacy thing turned OFF..drove me crazy, trying to call home to say "We got here" for three days...lol. Finally called somebody's cell phone, never could get thru to my house because of the privacy thingy. :p Guess I burned up about $30 in calling cards trying to figure that one out.

[beachreader]

BP, do you dial 001 to get out of the country and then another 1 before the area code the way we do here, or is it just 001-215-555-1212? I've always been confused by that.

[firecop680]

BP, do you dial 001 to get out of the country and then another 1 before the area code the way we do here, or is it just 001-215-555-1212? I've always been confused by that.

Me Too!!

[austxdan]

BP, do you dial 001 to get out of the country and then another 1 before the area code the way we do here, or is it just 001-215-555-1212? I've always been confused by that.

OK - so not BP ;), but

I believe when I called folks from the webcam (just to rub it in) I only had to dial 001(US country code) and area-code + phone #. In fact with a cell phone I never dial a 1 before area code, I have all #'s stored as 10-digit.

Hope this helps.


Dan

[beachreader]

Thanks, Dan! And I didn't know we didn't have to use the 1 with our cell phones. I'm just so used to dialing 1 I put it everywhere.

[bellydancer]

With Cingular/AT&T you dial the number the same as you do at home except you dial the + symbol before your phone number. Only used my phone once on Hwy 307 between PDC and Tulum and reception was great.

[beachreader]

Bellydancer, I'm confused again. My Blackberry is AT&T.

So I don't dial the 001 thing? Or are you saying I dial the + sign before the 001?

:confused:

[heenan]

Phyllis - Thanks for the trip report, including the full disclosure on the stairs. Great views from the second level rooms though! Heenan

[austxdan]

That's confusing to me as well bellydancer. :confused:

BR - I too have AT&T / formerly Cingular / formerly Southwestern Bell wireless / formerly GTE mobilnet . . .

I only dialed 001 then area code then phone #
e.g. 001 512 123 4567

That worked for Cingular - no special characters require, just setup international roaming before I left home.


Dan

[BP.]

Yeah, what Dan said. :)
Friend had her Verizon crackberry. :(
We did 001 (me, I kept doing 011, swearing I was doing 001, aayy!! :o) and then the 10 digit phone #. She had fine reception wherever she went.

[bellydancer]

Nope...only had to dial the + then 1 and the area code and number. Just called ATT to verify I was remembering right and that's what I was told.

You don't have to activate anything before leaving to use your ATT/Cingular phone unless you're planning on using your phone alot then you would want to get the international plan which just makes calls cheaper per minute and you have to pay something like $6/month for this service (along with your cheaper phone calls). You would need to pay for the month you're in Mexico and one month after you get back in case some calls are later being posted to your account. If you drop the international plan before all the Mexico calls are posted then you would pay the higher rate for those calls. I didn't do the international plan and my bill was a couple of dollars.

You also get charged per minute if you retrieve voice mail messages. I had several messages that I couldn't retrieve but got charged for dialing through to my voice mail...called about it when I got the bill and was credited for those times I couldn't get through.

[AdGuy]

Interesting information on the cell phone use...I typically handle it a bit differently: turn it off, throw it in the glove compartment of my airport-parked car, and hop on my flight. Surprisingly, with all the travel we've done, the world has never stopped turning by leaving the phone behind! :D


By the way, Phyllis, I'm luvin your report...more, more, more!!! :)

[PhyllisB]

Lee, I usually do the same thing! This time I was just anxious to reach my mom after her surgery. Hopefully future trips will go back to the way things should be on vacation in Tulum!

Glad you're enjoying it... will have more soon... it is Friday after all, and the weekend approaches! Yaheeeeeeee!

[beachreader]

I'm usually the same way, Lee, but I have a conference call I need to be on on Tuesday.

I set up the international plan since I'll be on the call for two hours (company's paying, I don't care).

So for two hours out of my week I'll be "on", but that's better than staying home!

[austxdan]

Yeah, I know. I usually leave the phone at home / in the car / etc. but someone wanted to check on "the boy" just in case*. So it usually stayed off on the trip, unless we were checking for messages.

I did call mom too, I'm such the good son. She loved hearing the surf from the beach in front of Tita's! :D


Dan

*bet you didn't know he could answer a phone, didya?

[AdGuy]

Yeah, I know. I usually leave the phone at home / in the car / etc. but someone wanted to check on "the boy" just in case*.

*bet you didn't know he could answer a phone, didya?

PLEASE don't have him tell my animals the secret of that opposable thumb-thing. If all 32 of them figure it out...I'm screwed! :eek:

[PhyllisB]

Okay, where did I leave off?

Right, Sunday! We really didn’t do a whole lot on Sunday! Had some muffins from the San Francisco for breakfast, and some fresh OJ brought to us by Angeles around 8:30. Then we went to the beach and lazed for a bit, and walked. Look at that surf!!!

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB050029.jpg

We walked all the way to Tita’s, and of course I had the munchies by the time we got there… but I hadn’t brought any pesos! I guess I just thought we were going for a quick walk! Oh well. So we head back to LVL, drive into town and eat at Don Cafetos. It was fine. We drove through some of the back streets afterwards, and this is when we start kicking ourselves for not having the camera with us. It’s great to be spontaneous, but that doesn’t work well if you’re also trying to be “liberated” from taking pictures. You might see something new that is really cool….. like the cemetery that was all decked out from their memorial day/Day of the Dead festivities that just took place a few days before. Flowers everywhere! It was gorgeous... really beautiful. And no camera! ARGH ARGH ARGH! I was really mad. Come ON trip photographer! Enough slacking off! We make a mental note to try to remember to come back with the camera some other time. We sit and just enjoy the scene for several minutes, quietly. It's really awesome.

We head back and do more lounging. It’s a rough life, isn’t it? Sheeesh. I could really get used to this!

It’s Sunday night, and we’ve arranged to try to meet up with Pete (petecat) and his wife Donna at La Zebra. So around 6:00, off we go! For some reason we decide to walk the beach road. Why? Who knows. I dunno. We just did. We arrive and every table in the dining area is full, this place is packed! We end up at the only open table. It's out on the fringes, practically out on the walkway. Well, I guess we’ll sit here…. I look out for Pete but don’t see him, so we just sit. And we sit. And we sit. And we sit. Finally a woman who looks like a hostess brings us over pieces of paper with the fixed menu described. She looks very flustered, and annoyed that we had been sitting there without service that whole time. On the menu there are at least five courses, and 2 choices per course. $300pesos fixed, not including drinks. Now, I’m a little distracted. I’m trying to add money in my head, I’m trying to look out for Pete (who was there the whole time, I just didn’t see him!), I’m trying to decide if we should just go somewhere else… Torn between my curiosity and my pesos and my commitment to meet Pete. But my curiosity and my commitment win out. In my distraction, we end up ordering for both of us, when I should have suggested that we split one meal. 5 courses for two people is entirely too much food! This is also when I tried to ask some questions that clearly got lost in translation (my bad Spanish strikes again!). I had wanted to ask whether we had to have all five courses. She thought I wanted all five courses to come at the same time! I didn’t realize that until we had waited forever for our food (nearly an hour), and then suddenly it all came at the same time!!!! Five courses is one thing… five courses all the same time??? Aye carumba! We couldn’t (and didn’t) eat it all, though it was all quite tasty. There was soup, there was salad, there was fruit, there was salsa & chips... for the main course, Kevin and I both got the fish. Meanwhile I’m debating how many drinks we can get (and of what) with the pesos I have in my pocket.

We’re situated so far on the outskirts that I can’t even see a salsa party. So during our hour-long wait for food, I check out the place a bit. See the “early” salsa party just wrapping up on the platform on the beach – just a few people, a mom and a small daughter, a couple. Pretty low key, not the party I thought it was (yet!). Still I don’t see Pete, and he was there! I must not have been looking very carefully. But it was totally packed, too.

So I head back to our weird table (it’s like being seated right next to the doors to the kitchen), enjoy chatting with my honey, and wait for our food which finally arrives (all at once). There is a band starting to set up in the dining area, but their backs will be to us – they are facing the beach. Finally the food arrives! And did it ever! Now we are overwhelmed with food! We try to stuff as much in… course after course arrives… Ugh, I … can’t…. eat…. another… bite! I take a much-needed break, head to the restroom, and now it looks like the real salsa party is kicking into action. Instead of a few random people there are now at least 14-16 people on the platform trying to salsa. It’s pretty fun to watch, but I’m not about to jump up there with them – first, it’s just much too crowded (someone would surely get hurt – probably me!) but I also have no desire to make a fool out of myself with an audience. But the band is good. On my way back to the table I see Pete and Donna! Donna’s sitting with a friend of theirs (also Donna, if I remember right!) at the bar and Pete’s getting a cervesa. I introduce myself, and chat for a while. We laugh about the menu and service snafus (they seem a bit overwhelmed by the crowd) and when I start to feel badly for abandoning Kevin we head over to our table and I introduce them. Everyone gets to know each other for a few minutes, and then Pete returns to Donna and Donna at the bar (they had already eaten, but somehow only got 3 of the 5 courses) and Kev and I try (not very successfully) to finish our meals.

After trying very hard to eat as much as we possibly can, we get a bill… yikes! I thought we were just going to make it with our 3 drinks & dinner and I totally forgot about the tip. We end up throwing in a few dollars because we don’t quite have enough pesos (even though we brought more than 700 with us!). I never thought we’d be spending more than 700 pesos on dinner. Well, live and learn I guess! We say goodbye to Pete and Donna, knowing we’ll see them again before the trip is over. They’re staying at Tita’s, and between my love for the fresh OJ at Tita’s and their love of long walks down the beach, I’m sure we’ll run into them again. (And thank god we did! Stay tuned!) I kick myself all the way home for spending so much money and wasting so much food… definitely should have shared the meal… what was I thinking???? But I’m in Tulum… I let the magic of Tulum take over, and let it go…

We walk back via the beach. We tried to take a few pix of the salsa party but it didn’t work very well! Here they are… forgive us our inept photo-shooting… but the lights are kinda cool…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB040016.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB040017.jpg

By the way, when I loaded the pix onto photobucket they all turned out this size for some reason. I usually like the bigger pix – much better, especially for sunrises or good beach shots! If there are any pix you want to see bigger (not these!) let me know and I can try to re-post them.

On Monday, we follow the same breakfast and morning routine of muffins and some relaxing on the beach followed by a beach walk, but this time we actually bring pesos with us so if we get hungry when we get up to Tita’s, we can eat. It’s just about noon by the time we make it up there (I actually haven’t been waking up at 5am here every day on this trip! Amazing!). Kevin is starting to feel not so great, he has a terrrrrrible headache. We figure it’s caffeine withdrawal. He’s a morning coffee drinker, and the last day or two he hasn’t had any. We hope that either food, or caffeine, or both, will take care of the headache. He orders shrimp fajitas, I order quesadillas, and we share a fruit plate between us. Plus of course the fresh OJ for me. :D

Just before we order, Pete & Donna come over to the restaurant, so we share some more stories of our previous vacations to Tulum, about sports (I had to make sure he wasn’t a Yankee fan when I found out he was from the Jersey area), and other random things. Kev doesn’t want to invade their private time too much (which I apparently don’t have a problem doing, haha) but we enjoy sharing our love of Tulum with other Tuluminaries. It turned out to be a pricey brunch, mostly because of the shrimp fajitas – 180p by themselves! But Kev enjoyed them.

After breakfast we walk back to LVL, and relax the afternoon away on the beach. The surf is very strong. Kevin is undaunted, but I only managed to swim for a bit before I gave up on fighting the waves. I lounge on the beach lounger a palapa, then move to the hammock on the patio…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB100134.jpg

By the time the day is done, I finish Water for Elephants, which was excellent – I read it in two days! And Kevin’s into Tigana now.

We are sooo sleepy after a hard day of reading and resting and swimming. Kev still isn’t really feeling quite right, so we snack on a few things we have in the room and end up skipping dinner. We go to sleep early.

[PhyllisB]

And so we arrive at Tuesday… and Kevin is feeling sicker… :( We go into the pueblo to get some supplies, and I need to stop at the internet café because our plans for tomorrow will probably not happen and I need to let people know that. He patiently waits for me to do what I need to do, and when I get a little carried away with reading and answering other emails he comes in and says very nicely (especially given his condition), “Can we go now?” We get back to the room in the nick of time (for him), and he decides to rest for the rest of the day and hope the Pepto helps. He’s had some mild discomfort before on other trips so he’s hoping this is just a one-afternoon thing. I feel badly for him! Unfortunately I’m not quite ready to pick up my next book (you know how that is after you’ve just finished something you really liked and you aren’t yet ready to leave it behind?), so I’m terribly bored. I do walk the beach, and relax for the afternoon.

Now you all know this part of the story, if you read some of the other threads from when we got back from our trip. When I’m hanging out on the beach, Pete and Donna walk by later in the day, and I mention that Kev isn’t feeling so good. (Otherwise I was going to show them the room and let them check out the place.) Pete mentions that he has some Cipro and some Immodium if we need it. I am not yet fully aware of how ill Kev is feeling (I haven’t checked on him in a while), so I say thanks, I’ll let you know. I go back up to check on Kev, and sure enough he’s feeling pretty bad. He’s debating going to the doctor. It is after five, and I’m just not sure if the doctor in Tulum would be there (we saw a dr’s office in the pueblo) or if they could do anything that would really help much. I decide that we should get the Cipro from Pete and if he doesn’t feel better in the morning, then we’ll visit the dr. (I should have known that if Kevin was suggesting the doctor, it must have been really bad since he usually doesn’t go to doctors unless he absolutely has to.)

I head up to Tita’s and hope that I can catch Pete & Donna before their dinner at Posada Margherita. I am not thinking clearly, and WALK instead of DRIVE. DUH. What was I thinking? I’m an idiot. If you all haven’t figured that out by now, now you know. I’m a total idiot. Thankfully, there is Donna on the porch of their room at Tita’s, and I explain why I’m there and she says no problem. We chat briefly (very briefly, now I don’t want to leave Kev alone for too long) and she mentions that when she was very very sick, warm soda helped, as did tea. We don’t have warm soda, so I try to buy one at Tita’s before I leave. Unfortunately I only have a 50p bill and the coke is 20p. They don’t have change. I tell them my husband is sick, that I am staying somewhere else, and ask if I can bring exact pesos to them tomorrow – and they agree! I love Tita’s. I rush back to LVL with the Cipro and the coke. [And here’s another big shoutout to Pete and Donna…. THANK YOU!!!!!]

Long story short… Kev’s got a bad fever when I get back. I run down to the dining area at LVL to see if Bambu or someone is around, and find them eating supper. I ask if they have a thermometer, and they do, yeah! I explain to Bambu the situation, she offers to take us to the health center, but I say no we’ll try these drugs first and then see. Back to Kev, I force him to drink some coke, and he takes the cipro. Taking his temp every 30 minutes or so, and fever is going up… I keep asking when he wants to go to the health center, and he tells me if it gets higher than 104… well it spikes at 104, I’ve put cold towels on his head and he’s taken at least one cool shower, and after a very stressful 30 minutes or so, it starts to come down, thank god. The night passes… neither of us sleeps very well… I’m checking his temp every hour or so before I finally relax that the fever is gone. We get a few fitful hours of sleep. In the morning, he is feeling much better. Not 100% -- but better. He takes the second Cipro, and some immodium. We had big plans for today, but instead it’s going to be a recovery day for him.

So, Kev’s recovering in bed most of the day, and I’m not straying too far. But I do go for a long walk. It’s rough water again today!

Here are some pics from the beach walk:

Hamaca Loca, next door. Note the Re/Max sign – are they just getting some extra cash by advertising for Re/Max, or are they for sale????? I should have asked…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070034.jpg

I think this is also HL…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070035.jpg

Our place:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070036.jpg

I walked north of LVL this afternoon. Along the beach…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070037.jpg

Someone’s having a controlled burn back there…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070040.jpg

More beach…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070050.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070047.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070044.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070043.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070042.jpg

Can’t forget our favorite piece of wood! It looks like a spaceship!

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070052.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070053.jpg

I think this is Ocho… their restaurant probably.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070054.jpg

They were busy putting up a new fence at Nuevo Vida de Romero:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070058.jpg

I think this is La Zebra. Lots of trees around, but no palapas or umbrellas. This is the area with the cabanas.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070059.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070061.jpg

Here you can see the dance platform, that they put sofas on with bright cushions during the day. Seems like a fun place for kids to play, too.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070060.jpg

Beach dogs were here! Haven’t seen as many dogs this trip, but I know they are there…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070062.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070063.jpg

This is one of my favorite pix from the walk this afternoon. I am going to have to try to get it bigger some other time.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070057.jpg




Hopefully Kev’s feeling all better by tomorrow… it is going to be a big day, if it all works out. More to come!

[FITZ]

I'm really enjoying everything, esp. those beach dogs!

Good for you easily writing off the excessive dinner bill. You are so not alone! I have made the same mistake with $. I somehow ordered a 15US bottle of water in Rome, and then, thinking they were free, ordered a second! They had someone escort me to my hotel to get extra $. MOST of the time, I wound up with new friends and hilarious memories!
Unless we're REALLY hungry, before we order, Glen and I will negotiate on splitting something for starters, like a salad and an app/entree. This works really well for us. I'm not to crazy about being stuffed or doggy bags, esp. in hot weather.
I'll be looking for more. Thanks again!

[BP.]

Phyllis, beautiful pictures. So sad about your Kevin being sick. One of the guys we met was real sick for a few days, too!

[petecat]

Hey Phyllis lovin your report, its bringing me right back. I guess destiny plays a part at times, the day we met you on th beach when Kevin was sick we had actually stopped at your Palapa during a rain shower, we were thinking of heading back towards Tita but than Donna and I were playing with a little puppy as the rain stopped and the sky cleared we decided to continue south on our daily afternoon walk. As you stated in your report later on when we were heading back we stopped by you on the beach and you informed us about Kevin and I told you we had the meds, we would have loved to see your place also and but as you said Kevin was very sick in your room, besides I do not know how your neighbors would have handled Donna's beach attire(or lack of some) if she strolled up with you, the tank top she carries got soak and wet in the rain so that was not an option! I must say we really enjoyed meeting you and Kevin and hopefuly we will be there again together some time and when you do return our friend Donna says stop by and visit her, she live at Nueva Vida in the stone cottage just by their entrance on the road. Great report looking forward to the rest. I am going to try and scan some photos to disc this week and start a report, wish me luck I am still kind of in the dark ages as far as photogaphy posting goes, I only use my 35 mm cameras.

[PhyllisB]

Thanks, Fitz! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has goofed like that! It's easy for a control freak like me to let go of things in Tulum, though. That's why I love it so much -- things just fall away...

Pete, get those pics scanned in! I'd love to see them and to read your own report! Now I gotta go back and upload some pix to photobucket again to get them to be the right size for the rest of the report!

[austxdan]

Great job Phyllis :),

I'm really enjoying reading your report. Makes me want to drop everything and head south NOW!

Glad Kev got to feeling better. And I can't mention enough about all the "little things" that make Tita's a great place to stay. You tend to rate hotels on location, decor, food, etc - but I really like the staff, the service, the relaxed atmosphere of Tita's place. Glad they helped you out with the soda.

I think photobucket has settings under the "Options" menu that you can specify what size you want your photos to upload as. Perhaps that can give you some larger shots when you link them over here.

Gotta get workin' -- See you guys next week.


Dan

[PhyllisB]

Thanks, Dan, glad you're enjoying it. I do have a tendency to ramble!

I think the pix thing was because I tried a short-cut --- I tried uploading my pix "in bulk" on the site -- and I think it compressed them to make the upload time faster. I realized last night that if I upload them individually it works fine, so I posted some of the big pix in a separate thread. Now I'll have to go back and re-load some of the other pix to finish the report!

[minniemex]

Great report Phyllis!! Now I just have to get going on mine!! Did you ever make it north of Titas?? Just curious!!

[PhyllisB]

Haha, well not really! We ate at Zamas a few times and that was about it! I really wanted to get up towards Zulum so I could see it for myself and we just never got up there.

That's why I was saying that I think I like Tita's location a bit better. There are a lot more places you can walk to, north and south. And really Tita's was a pretty far walk from LVL! I'm sure we would have explored more, and spent some time on the north end (Mayan Grill etc), had we not lost some time to being sick, though.

[Lynnette]

I'm loving your report, Phyllis! What a shame Kevin was so sick, but you had a lot of good people around to help, and give support. That's one of the things I love about the area....wonderful people, both locals and Tuluminaries!!! I LOVE this beautiful photo of you in the hammock....you look so relaxed!!!

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB100134.jpg

[Jana]

Hamaca Loca, next door. Note the Re/Max sign – are they just getting some extra cash by advertising for Re/Max, or are they for sale????? I should have asked…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070034.jpg

I think this is also HL…

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB070035.jpg




Hi Phyllis - I'm just catching up on past posts this weekend. Really enjoying your report and LOVE your beach/water pictures.

We also noticed that real estate sign next to Hamaca Loca in the top picture (from your report) and I don't think it's part of their property. From the road, you can see that there is a private property between Tierras del Sol and HL that looks like it's owned by the local Remax agent. There are signs everywhere just advertising Remax and a truck is parked there most of the time with the logo. I'm pretty sure that sign is just advertising and it's part of the private property.

We stayed at TDS next door to HL and the second picture is actually Tierras del Sol's La Posada de las Buzas - one of their two beach front cabanas.

Jana

[PhyllisB]

Thanks, Jana! You know sometimes I get home, and see pix from my beach walks, and can't remember which places they go with!!!!

I guess I'd better get on with it and continue this report. We're just back from a weekend visit with Kevin's parents, so we're just settling back in and getting ready for the work week. I'll get back to it ASAP!

[AdGuy]

FYI...those Remax signs have been on that property for over a year. They are not part of either TDS or HL.

[PhyllisB]

Yikes, it's time to get this report finished! We're just about done, anyway... only one more big adventure to report on.

Before our trip, we volunteered to bring books down with us for Alice in Arizona, who does a lot to support the local libraries in the region (especially the Akumal library). Ever since Maggie's report on Locogringo about visiting Mahahual after Hurricane Dean, I had been thinking about a trip there. So I decided to bring the books there! And if I was bringing books, why not bring other things too? I mentioned it to pepper, and she promptly sent me a whole big duffel bag full of kids clothes for all different ages. She's amazing! (Pepper, I swear your empty duffel will make its way back to you!)

We corresponded with a guy I knew only as "Kevin in Mahahual" (from posts on the LG forums) because I wanted to meet up with a local who might help me figure out where to bring the goodies. We had initially agreed to meet him on Wednesday, but since my Kevin had just endured the worst night of his life, we postponed until Thursday. He felt pretty good in the morning, so off we went. I would have liked to have stopped in some of the towns we passed through along the way, but we were on a mission! We headed to the agreed upon meeting place: Aroma, a funky restaurant in the casitas:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080064-2.jpg

We had sent word to Kevin that we'd be delayed a day, and it turned out he had to head to Akumal this day. We chatted with some local expats, who called Kevin, and we learned that he had asked his friend Iris to help us out since he couldn't be there. (When we explained to them that we had been expected to come on Wednesday, one of the guys said, "Oh, so you're right on time!" :) LOVE "Mexico time"!) After some reconnasaince (sp?) work to find Iris, she arrived and was ready to take us where we need to go. We loaded the clothes from pepper into her car:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080067-2.jpg

And then she took us to the local elementary school. This was definitely the highlight of the trip! I don't know if she already had an idea which classroom to visit, or if she just looked for an open door, but she spoke briefly with the teacher and explained who we were and why we were there, and then we handed out books! Just look at these faces!

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080068-3.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080070-1.jpg

Before we had completely interrupted the lesson, they were very energetically reciting something with such loud and joyful voices! I could have listened outside the classroom for a long time. They were so full of energy and brightness! The teacher was so gracious and welcoming. We tried not to take up too much of their time, so after a few pictures and handing out the books, we took our leave.

Here's another picture of one of the classroom buildings:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080077-1.jpg

And they are busy at work constructing another building:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080076-2.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080079-2.jpg

Kevin and our new friend, Iris:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080081-2.jpg

We looked around a bit while we were parked here at the school. There used to be a sand road in front of the main drag of hotels and restaurants right on the beach, and it was being torn up and rebuilt while we were there, making it difficult to figure out if we could actually access those places or the beach or not. There are a bunch of hotels and restaurants open, though, and when we were at Aroma there were a few tourists around who were in town for a diving expedition.

Here's a picture of the road & beach area they were working on -

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080082-2.jpg

Pictures can't quite do justice to how emotionally intense it was to see the impact of a Cat 5 hurricane up close. The town isn't completely devastated at all -- there is a lot of rebuilding going on, and although Iris reported that a lot of people had left the town because there wasn't any work available, the classrooms were full. You could feel a wonderful spirit and energy... the folks who live here are dedicated to rebuilding the area. That being said, the power of the hurricane was very evident -- and once you get beyond the main drag, you can tell that there is a lot of work yet to do. I am sure they have done a lot since then and it probably looks almost as good as new by now. When we were there, a few places looked like they were either newly rebuilt or like the hurricane never hit them, so there were already clear signs of progress in November.

I thought this tree was just incredible -- it's right on the water --

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080083-2.jpg

A few more pics --

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080086-2.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080087-1.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080088-1.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/pb2131/PB080091-2.jpg

After driving around a bit and checking out the area, we decided to head back up to Tulum. Kevin was pretty spent, and was a little worried about when the next wave of illness might hit him. We also weren't quite sure if we could just pull over somewhere and hang out on the beach with the road being totally torn up there. So we headed out, and after a quick stop by the military officers hanging out by the intersection with 307, we headed back north. Kev napped the rest of the afternoon, and I reflected on what we had seen and done, journaled, and read my book on the beach.

[minniemex]

Phyllis - what an awesome experience!! I think I will have to take on something of the same next time I am down!! The books do need to be in Spanish don't they??

Today seems like a good day to finish reporting!!

[beachreader]

Wow, Phyllis, those are amazing pictures. How long a drive was it from Tulum to Majahual? Seems like a full day just getting down there and back.

I've taken books down a few times, and while books in Spanish are preferred, they also like the bilingual books (Spanish/English) since English is going to be a big part of their lives whether they like it or not.

[PhyllisB]

Yep, the books were in Spanish. It was a fantastic experience!


What I'd love to do is a working trip, where you are there for a week just to help out with some community projects. Did that once in Merida... would love to do it again sometime!

[PhyllisB]

Thanks, BR. The drive down was about 2.5 hours I think, it wasn't too bad. Can't quite remember. It probably would have been better to spend a night there for the last part of our vacation but I just had no idea what to expect after the hurricane, and honestly couldn't tear myself away from the Tulum beach to do it! It looks like a great area, but I dunno if it can beat the beaches of Tulum! Actually reminded me of a smaller, less busy Akumal.

[austxdan]

Cool! thanks for the latest installment pb. I had placed Mahahual on our roadmap after our last trip, as we met someone who had just come up from there and they said the snorkeling was fantastic, and right off the beach. Of course, that was before Dean.

What a great unselfish act to bring down books for the kiddos. Good job! :)


Cheers,
Dan

[Lynnette]

Excellent reporting, Phyllis!!! You and Kevin are wonderful for delivering books & clothes, especially with Kevin being so sick. It always makes me tear up when I see the children's faces...they are so happy and grateful for the little things we do for them! Thank-you for your wonderful report and amazing photos. I'm going for a Kleenex now.

[PhyllisB]

Bringing the books down was nothing. Alice put out a call for volunteers on the LG forum, and I got in touch with her, and she sent me a small box of books and that was it. Piece of cake! But those kids! They were so great!

I think it'll be a great place to visit, or to stay, especially if you can get there before the cruise ship pier is rebuilt. It is so tough - they NEED that to be repaired to help support the economy - but it will be a nice sleepy village until then, which is so much nicer, in my book!

I'll try to finish up with the last installment tonight! Mostly pictures, probably!

[dionski]

Thanks Phyllis for sharing your great report with us! I can't think of a better experience for my 8 year old daughter than bringing books and clothes down with us when we go in April and delivering them to a school. We have already started collecting!

d2

[PhyllisB]

That sounds fantastic, dionski! Let me know if you want me to put you in touch w/ Alice, she may be able to send you some books to bring down, too!

[dionski]

Absolutely Phyllis.

Thanks, d2

[AdGuy]

I'll try to finish up with the last installment tonight!



NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!! I just hate it when we get to the end! :(

[BP.]

Wonderful pictures, Phyllis! Thanks for sharing your book delivery story. It was great to finally read about it. Wasn't that a fun thing to do? Alice was right when she said we'd be "collecting smiles!"

[farmboyswife]

Hello to all. I'm a long-time lurker on the tulum board, though I occasionally post on other boards. But when Phyllis shared her experience at the school with books, I had to share my story.

Hubby and I have been going to Mexico since 2000 and are addicts. Our first love was Puerto Morelos which was great when we took our teens and parents, but Tulum is where I want to be when its just hubby and I.

As most of you know, Puerto Morelos took the eye wall of Wilma and was substantially damaged. Of course, the tourist areas were cleaned and repaired as quickly as possible, but their schools were not. At the main primary school in the colonia, they went for months with 300 children in the morning and 300 children in the afternoon with a barely useable septic system. Ack!! A lady who lives in PM (Catriona Brown) organized a charity group that has done many marvelous things to repair and improve the schools, medical facilities, equipment for paramedics and firefighters as well as prenatal care.

I kept looking at her list of things people could bring and donate, but we really didn't have much on the list. Children's needs go straight to my heart and it rolled around in my head for a while. Finally, I put together a drive to raise funds to have a free book distribution like Reading is Fundamental (RIF) since I had worked through our local PTA to raise funds for my children's school. The point is to have the child choose a book and take it home. I contacted Cat about doing a distribution for the kindergarten children and asked how many there were. At three different schools in PM, there were about 120 kindergarteners.

We put in some money, my parents and sister & her hubby did too, and I contacted some other friends in Puerto about the drive. I also asked our favorite local Mexican restaurant, La Mesa, to donate and the response was incredible! The donations totaled more than $1,200! Way more than we needed for just the kindergarteners, so we expanded the distribution.

Now I needed to figure out how to come up with good Spanish language or bilingual books that are age appropriate and not ridiculously expensive. Since our PTA bought books through Scholastic, I contacted them. Their public prices were high, much more than we could afford. I applied to be a literacy partner with Scholastic and was immediately approved which allowed us to buy at the same low costs that schools do for RIF! For really good books, the average price was about $2.00 to $2.75. With the money, we could buy about 450 books! But there was no way we could bring them all in our luggage, way too heavy. So once again, our friends in Puerto Morelos came through and acted as mules taking more than half the books there when they traveled last May.

Cat contacted the local schools and arranged permission for us to come in during our June 2007 trip. She has worked hard and earned much credibility and respect for the work done by El Mundo para Puerto Morelos.

So in June, hubby and I packed our bags and headed to Mexico. Thank goodness we had redeemed miles for our trip and upgraded to first class. You can take three bags each and the weight limit goes up to 100 lbs per bag. Believe me, we were close with all those books.

Originally, we had planned to give the books (free of charge) to the 125 kindergarten children at three schools. With the amazing generosity, we expanded the book distribution to include the 70 first graders, 100 first graders, 90 third graders, and another 90 fourth grade children. We gave out more than 480 books. I was also able to buy some books that were longer, made with better quality materials, and have a larger variety of reading skill levels.

Wow. For my first post I'm really getting long. I better post and then continue......

[pepper]

:DHEY!:D
I recognize that duffle bag!!!

What a great installment!! I love to see all those smiling faces.

[pepper]

farmsboyswife -

This is an amazing story...go on...I'm in awe!!

[farmboyswife]

Wow. It sure is a lot of work to tell this story. First I had to register, then get James to straighten out my account when it didn't activate, then, I have all these great pic's to share but didn't realize I needed to post them to the web and link them here. Of course, my ancient dial-up connection cuz that's all you can get rurally, is much fun to upload images. And of course, I had to find a place to post them. I have all that done now because these are really great pic's of the kids, it's worth the effort.

Okay....back to the story.

Hubby and I arrived in Puerto in June with loads of books. Cat had arranged for other volunteers to help the children. A good thing because our Spanish is muy malo, but we try.

At each school we were eyed with a bit of suspicion at first, curiosity, and then excitement when they realized what was going on. We went to five different schools: the beach kindergarten in Puerto, the kindergarten in the colonia, the kindergarten at Villas Morelos, the primary school in Puerto, and the primary school in the colonia. We started at the kindergarten in the colonia.

We had the books laid out and decorated with balloons. Pictured are volunteers with El Mundo Puerto Morelos that helped with the distribution. Carl, my hubby, Cat, Emily and Patti. Not pictured is Magaly who coordinated with the principals to allow us in to the schools.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00671.jpg

Picking a book at the colonia kindergarten.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00670.jpg

AFter they picked, the children went back to the classrooms to read them.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00669.jpg

Picking out books at the kindergarten at Villas Morelos.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00668.jpg

As we were leaving the kindergarten at Villas Morelos, we noticed this little guy and his Clifford book heading home. Clifford was a hit. Cleeeford! Cleeeford! We kept hearing.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00666.jpg

Choosing a book was hard for some and instant for others at the primary school in Puerto.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00665.jpg

There are so many children at the primary school in the colonia! We gave away almost 225 books there and then we felt bad because we didn't have books for the older children (standing on the wall watching the younger kids intently). Next time I swear!

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00664.jpg

Children at the beach kindergarten in Puerto wanted to show me their books and see their pictures on my camera.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00673.jpg

These two rascals crawled under the temporary building trailer for a shady place to read their new books.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj115/farmboyswife/DSC00663.jpg

After we finished up at the beach kindergarten, it was about lunch time and the primary students were getting out of school. It was incredible to drive by the square and see the kids clutching their books, sitting and reading their books, and showing their books to their parents. It made me all but cry to see how excited the kids were. I don't think many of them had ever had their own books at home before.

This was an incredible experience. I encourage anyone who has the time and interest to go the extra mile to buy books and take them to a school. And I guess the point of my story was to encourage others to do this and offer some purchasing help to get good books.

[beachreader]

What a wonderful story, and wonderful pictures! So sweet.

I always bring kids' books down with me, usually give them to the cleaning staff or others with kids. I brought a suitcase full for the Akumal library a couple of years ago, but I need to do that again.

Does anyone have any hookups for a Tulum school/library?

[BP.]

Wow, what a wonderful project you put together, farmboyswife- beautiful pictures!

[think]

I know I'm kinda late reading this, but I had to say that I commend all of you. Those pics of the kids are awesome. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you help somebody out in need and you can tell they genuinely appreciate it.

[FITZ]

The faces on the children say it all!

What a wonderful thing. Thanks for sharing.

[farmboyswife]

I had the greatest time with this. I know the kids were happy, but it sure made me feel good and I'm sure Phyllis felt the same way.

I'm already making plans for a "2nd annual" book distribution in Puerto for our trip in June. If anyone wants to start something up in Tulum, count us in. You can get very nice Spanish language books for $2.00 to $2.75 each through Scholastic. Just send me a PM and I will hook you up.