Checking out the beach

Trip Start Jul 01, 2005
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Trip End Jul 28, 2005


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Flag of Mexico  ,
Monday, July 4, 2005

Today we decided we were going to have a rest day and check out the Tulum beaches. Keeping in mind the communication issue, I had studied the Spanish book for a few minutes before bed last night, so could ask to go to the beach, and could even understand 'which one?' But we still ended up just guessing which beach we actually wanted while we and the cab driver stared at each other. (We picked the one with the shortest name, though it was one of the most expensive cab rides - 35 pesos - about $3.50.) Since we're staying in the town proper, it's too much of a walk to get to the beach. It's not that far as the bird flies, but since the bird wouldn't need a machete to get through the jungle behind our house, the distance isn't as relevant as the time (at least an hour and a half, just for the nearest beach) along a very dangerous road with no shoulder or ditch.

Turned out to be a good guess - the beach we picked was beautiful and fairly deserted. At the exact opposite end from the resorts. No litter at all, perfectly white, smooth sand, and even in the water, there wasn't any rubbish. Just turquoise and salt. Swallowed enough of that. We could see the Mayan ruins at Tulum from where we were, and it was very impressive against the back drop of rolling black clouds on the horizon.

Changed in the restrooms belonging to some cabanas up the way (many, many skittering roaches were the only drawback) and swam for awhile, with brief breaks for the short spats of rain. When the wind got too wild and we got too thirsty, had pancakes in a little restaurant nearby where the floor was made out of sand. "Hot cakes con mermelada" - I woulda preferred syrup, but have no clue how to say that.

Post siesta, we had dinner at an Italian place where the pizza crust was made of matza cracker. I spilled a glass of agua de melon (a bright red watermelon based drink) over the whitewash, but mostly stayed out of trouble. The table next to us was two families of tourists traveling together, one French, one American. They made the kids order big bowls of salad for supper. They were remarkably well behaved. Both sets. Come to think of it, very few of the tourists in Tulum are American. It seems to be more of a French spot.

Our lesson for the day we can share with all the smokers - we finally figured out the word for lighter - "encenedero." Matches are "cerillos." Sarah´s now lost four or five of them, so we´ve gotten a lot of practice.
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