Week 5 - The Mexican Holiday
Tuesday
I left for the airport in the early hours of Tuesday morning. I was the only soul at the bus stop, which happens to be where the bus route starts from in Steveston, Richmond.
Through some seat swapping, John and I managed to sit together. I discovered that we had synchronised.
We arrived in Tulum quite late, after a long line at customs and a ~1 hour drive from Cancun. On the recommendation of the hotel receptionist, we had dinner at a local (cheap) and safe restaurant.
Wednesday
We hired bicycles and used them to explore some nearby Mayan ruins, a beach and SFER IK (a pretty awesome looking museum).
Thursday
We hired a car for a day to visit (and swim in) some cenotes (sink holes), see more Mayan ruins and a neighbouring town.
Friday
We spent the day at Xcaret, an amusement park a few minutes south of Playa del Carmen. We caught a Colectivo there, a local bus system that runs between Tulum and Playa del Carmen.
Saturday
Mike wasn’t feeling well after some suspected bad ceviche from the buffet lunch at Xcaret. So while he stayed at the hotel, we explored Playa del Carmen.
Sunday
We took a tour through the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. We got to see some more old Mayan ruins, got to swim in a river, and saw some stunning views through the natural reserve.
John had been using his phone inside a waterproof sleeve to take photos and videos for us. But while we were swimming in the river, John realised he had lost his phone. He and I went ahead of the group to get on the boats and asked the guides to travel back with us. We spent a few minutes looking for his phone— here’s the moment of gratitude after we found his phone sunk on the river bed.
Monday
On our last full day, we visited Xel-ha, another water amusement park. Although since we were in boardshorts for the whole day without our phones (and with John not wanting to risk losing his phone again), we have almost zero photos from the day.
Tuesday
We took a private driver back to Cancún and flew back to Vancouver. Just in time too, because it had started raining heavily by the time we reached the airport. So here are some photos I took on our last day.
