If you were Mayan royalty...

... this could be your view!
Well, minus the honky Yankees.Unless you LIKE honky Yankees, in which case you're royalty, so you can have as many as you want!

Leaving Tulum Ruins...

... at which time we are attacked by giant, mutant iguanas!
I always forget what ubiquitous pests these lizards are in the tropics.
Good eatin', so I hear.AND they use hotel facilities without paying! How rude!

February 20 - Tulum Day 3, Tulum Ruins

As the third most-visited Mayan site in the Yucatan, Tulum is constantly teeming with languages from all over the world.
It sits on a bluff at the edge of the sea, precariously balanced on the precipice of history. Arguably the most luxuriously-located Mayan city, Tulum served as the port for nearby, and significantly less-commercialized, Coba, about 50 km inland.An easy bike ride from either the beach strip or Tulum Pueblo, the ruins are also a short day-trip away for revelers in Cancun and Playa del Carmen, who flock in large tour groups and chatter endlessly.
When the rain comes, the tour buses shuffle off, and we find some quiet among the ancients.
Unlike Chichen Itza, which is awash in hieroglyphics, the only place displaying the art of the Mayan writing system in the Temple of the Frescoes in the central courtyard.We might be Germans and Mexicans and American and Japanese and Aussies, but we all look the same when staring into the abyss of history and through the lens of ancient ruins…

Cabanas Copal - #8

The description said "concrete floor," but we never figured out who they were kidding. Our lovely little cabana #8 was right on the beach, and to call the floor anything but sand was quite the exaggeration. In fact, everything was sand. The floor, the bed linens, the bed, our clothes, our hair. It was everywhere and everything. Without real walls, it was impossible to keep it out. But we didn't mind. We came to Tulum for the sand, and if that meant living it in... well, we were OK with that.Arguably over-priced, Cabanas Copal has one of the best locations along the Tulum Beach strip - fairly private, very quiet, with moderately-priced Coronas for us beach-bum types. But the place is tired, exhausted even, with rusty plumbing, wiry beds, and no electricity.
But for those of us with an adventurous sense of romance, the candlelight was unbeatable, the sound of the sea through the non-existent walls soothing, the constant breeze through the palm-frond roof cooling, and the creak of the old pipes atmospheric.Showers are unnecessary when you live on the ocean, anyway, at least for a time.If you aren't in a hurry and looking for some peace and quiet, check out the awesome specials from Cabanas Copal and it's sisters Zahra and Azulik; the reduced prices make it completely worth it!

Flamenco - Tulum , Day 2

On the recommendation of the lady who directed us to our bicycles, we returned to La Llorona for a night of Flamenco dancing from a local troupe. We found a table near the front, under a loft decadently decorated in the style of a Moroccan salon. The lights were low and crimson, with the occasional car or bicycle light breaking the warmth of the ambience. We ordered enchiladas—his with green chili and mine with mole, both flavorful and spicy—and beers and settled in.

The man in the back with the guitar, his eyes shaded with a straw Panama hat, hummed along with each strum, and the woman next to him used an old apple crate to provide the pulse of the music.
And they circled around, the spritely dancers…
swirling skirts and stomping heels.Claps of hands and flicks of wrists kept time, each passionate step outlining a sad story of longing and unfulfilled desire.The dances of Flamenco tell stories of yearning and love and adventure and tragedy,
each step made with absolute precision
each sensual movement an expression of duende…
soul.

February 19 - Tulum, Day 2

The Search for Bicycles, Beaches and Booze!

The sign was rickety and swung loosely on rusty chains. Chips of paint flittered down here and there, littering a sidewalk already dotted with cigarette butts and broken bottles. It was old, surely, but it still said clearly in green paint “Iguana Bicycles.”

We stood there, our heads cocked curiously, chewing on our lips with perplexity, muttering "huh" under our breaths. We had passed it no fewer than three times and would have sworn that the small bicycle shop, tucked into the side streets of Tulum Pueblo, didn’t exist. But there it was, right where the friendly locals said it would be. "Huh."We started the morning with fruit, yogurt and thick coffee at our hotel, Cabanas Copal, a tired resort of rustic cabanas with an unequaled location on the white-sand shores of the Caribbean Sea. No electricity, rickety walls and a thatched roof of palm fronds, but the ocean purrs all night long and the sun rises between swaying palm trees and above a glittering, pulsing sea right outside the bedroom window.

The view of the sunrise and sea from our Cabana

After breakfast, we decide to make the (by most counts) 3km hike into town to find a bike rental. The weather was perfect, sunny and 80 with that constant, salty breeze that one can find only in the Caribbean’s wintery season. Though shorter than the hike into town from our home in Lander, and despite the fantastic weather and tropical scenery, it seemed MUCH longer. But the bike path from the mini-village on the beach and the town proper was brand new and very fine, and very crowded with bikers ranging from locals going to work to tourists out for a morning cruise to hardcore bikers out to get in shape for triathlons.
Our goal was to find our own bikes to rent, and rumor had it there was a great place in town that kept its beach cruisers in good condition. But after walking there and muddling around unsuccessfully to find the Iguana bicycle shop, we decided it was time for a beer and a bathroom.
We stopped at La Llorona, a fairly new restaurant with a more-established Mexican handicraft store and a bungalow hotel on the beach. There, we ate some of the best sauces on homemade tortilla chips, drank some cold beers, chatted up the owner and asked a local about the bicycle shop. She pointed us in the right direction with more detail than our wayward rumors, and we set off.
After securing transportation, we headed back for an afternoon on the beach at Mezzanine, a posh beach hotel near the Tulum ruins that features a swanky Thai restaurant and 2-for-1 margaritas during happy hour(s). We sat and relaxed in the sun and watched the extreme kite boarders play in the opaline seas before heading back to our own Cabanas Copal and lounging on the beach with Coronas.

February 18 - On the Plane to Tulum!

Not to constantly compare my life to a Jimmy Buffett song, but so often it seems entirely appropriate (which I guess is something to be proud of!)...

Well he’s on his third drink before the wheels of the plane leave the ground…
And that’s just the start of a well-deserved, overdue binge
Meanwhile back in the city, certain people are starting to cringe!

You can’t fly to Mexico and NOT have a drink on the plane!