Tulum Beach

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  Tulum, Mexico
Friday, October 12, 2007

Completely adored the Carribbean at Tulum even though it is the rainy season and mosquitos are plentiful. The Aussie lemon and eucalyptus blend rub with no DEET is good (DEET melts plastic) and aloe vera is also a good repellant. We planned to leave our luggage in Tulum City and take just the necessities to the beach because we heard that there is lots of theft from the beach cabanas. We winged it anyway after leaving Rancho Tranquillo who tried to pull a swifty on us by not doing the laundry we had left. They wanted us to stay another night because the touting for backpacker trade is all the rage. We got the laundry washed down the street by a mother and daughter team at a small house for $2.20 a kilo "urgent service".We had time to kill so i burned a CD of photos, found a cybercafe (plentiful all over), drank a litre of naranja juice (orange juice), stocked up on beer and supplies for the beach. We drink the Superior brand which has an 80's image of a woman on it. Other popular choices are Sol, Corona, Bohemia and XX beer

Carribbean Smile

.

We cabbed it to the beach for 45 pesos. The cabanas we intended to stay at have been renovated with electricity between 7pm and 6am (fans, lights) and a mosquito net plus bedding. It was called Zazil Kin, formerly Don Armandos. There was a good bar, a primo Mexican restaurant next door called Don's Cafe and it was right on the beach with a thatched roof. Security wasn't an issue as we scored a cement floor and we had security guards 24 hours a day. These guys were GOLD and even raked up our footprints in the sand when we walked around. So for the poor man's Carribbean for US$40 per nite between us, we were laughing and felt like we were in a movie. There were only 12 others staying there. It way exceeded our expectations by a long way.

Three hurricanes have smashed this region this season already however, the weather was good for us and only a little debris remained. Dean was the last one to hit. The first thing we noticed at the beach was the turqouise / aquamarine water like the gemstone Aqua-aura?? which we had glimpsed from our flight into Cancun. There are small waves here and a very much alive reef, the second biggest in the world we are told. There was a gentle, pleasant breeze and the sand was white, velvety, super fine and was easily sculpted when wet

Flying in To The Carribbean

. There are cute little red and white wooden boats too. After throwing ourselves in for a dip we sculpted an Earth ball out of the sand in honour of our journey around the planet.

I played some Australian psytrance on my ipod speakers which unknowingly attracted the attention of the boys next door who ran the "Aquatic Tulum Dive School". These Mexican guys (all named Pancho i think) were friendly but rowdy and immediately befriended us wanting us to play them all our music, take us snorkelling and inviting us to share their lunch of chicken and vegetables in vine leaves. They had caught a large, crayfish, lobster type crustacean with their bare hands from the ocean floor which they sliced open with a machete and then went in to town to buy garlic and supplies to cook it. People carry machetes and knives plus other tools for use in their everyday lives and it took a bit of getting used to because we kept thinking we were getting robbed. There was an incident with a guy and a machete which turned out to be a large metal set square. I saw a guy today carrying a chain saw, it happens. It is frustrating to not speak Spanish as we have so many questions and people speak very little English.

The beach bars are groovy joints, some are just an esky with a few select spirits, beer, water and coca-cola plus tequila of course, others are full kit and caboodle spaces with massage, cabana boys serving mainly European tourists lazing on banana lounges, giant mattress cushions and chilling under white umbrellas with smooth reggae and loungey tunes.There are funky little swings hanging from thatched roof bars on which you can sit and swing in the breeze

Paradise Found

. We frequented a place called "El Paraiso" which had friendly bar tenders.

We met the most beautiful, handsome young Mexican man with sparkly eyes, a huge white smile, looooong dreadlocks and happy feet as he walked. Gorgeous. He asked us to dance salsa with him then invited us to smoke some ganja......we declined..... a happy guy he was. He danced with his buddies and showed off on his bicycle. I snapped some beautiful images of him which i am very happy with as a representation of these people. Their darker complexion is striking against the backdrop of white sand, blue water and palm trees.

One day we saw a rainbow form over the Carribbean.... nature's painting in the sky... a dream. Locals walk the beach selling hand-made jewellery and fruit like papaya, mango, coconut and pineapple pieces already peeled and cut. It is a shame it is already peeled because we would eat it for sure if it was whole. Our stomachs are holding up well and we eat at hole-in-the-wall establishments. We trekked around the restaurants and came across a very glamorous renedered brick and thatched roof party house being built. it was ingeniously powered by a system af wind mills and solar panels.... fantastic design and we immediately thought of flying all our friends over for a party here

Tulum Beach

. Deluxe location. I watched large sea birds spread thire wings and fly high then swiftly dive into the ocean for a catch of fish stealing them from the fishermen. this place is big with hippies on holiday.

The scuba boys harassed us the whole time we were there looking for us in the mornings. We couldn't keep up and had one nite out at the bar with them, 3 Germans, 2 Americans and an Austrian drinking margaritas, caprinhas (caprioskas) and beer. Both nites we ate at Don's Cafe next door. We had mole poblano (spicy chocolate sauce and chicken), beef tacos (getting a bit over them now), a dish called peppitos (beef steak, cheese and bean sandwich) and i had my first cerviche which i had been waiting to try. This dish was raw fish, shrimp, octopus, coriander, tomato, onion, chilli and vinegar all cooked in it's own citrus juices. Tops! One nite we had dinner with a giant, prehistoric grasshopper creature. We also tried Mexican eggs which was basically eggs on tortillas (again). We are obsessed with food and need to eat lots because we walk ALOT. Nadine tried a Tamarindo Margarita.

We visited Tulum Mayan ruins which are located on the ocean. There is an amazing level of planning and design gone into this site with watchtowers and strategic access to the land and sea.  This was a walled city with another internal wall with a central space where magic and religious rituals were held. Tulum was dedicted to the planet Venus and the Mayans here worshipped the morning and evening star. It was also known as Zaci which i think translates to "dawn". This is one of the first places to see the magnificent Carribbean sunrise. Again rain was very important here and being in the hurricnae zone, they would not have wanted to disrespect the rain god Chac. The tourists here were just as interesting as the ruins and we had a good laugh watching them. The Mayan culture gets more and more interesting everyday and we have met some Mayan people now who are very proud of their culture and want to talk.

We spent the last nite chatting with an Austrian musician with a mop of curly hair who was living in Tulum in a dodge van whilst waiting or his band to arrive. This guy was very wised up on the areas we are travelling to and we spent some time chatting about governments, music scenes, environment, the fall of culture in tribes, Mayans vs Aboriginals comparisons and ways of living in Western society. Angels come in many shapes and forms.

We will leave for Belize early tomorrow morning and arrive in the daylight. We heard their are no foreign ATMs in Belize so we must stock up and carry cash.

We haven't felt scared of a robbing yet mainly because we are on the gringo trail and don't go too far off the beaten track. My "throw-down" wallet fakey which i carry around gives me piece of mind in case of mugging. It has fake cards, a small amount of cash and pictures of Kath and Kim and Britney Spears in it so the joke is on the bandit if they take it.

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