At 7:30am we set off for the water taxi to San Pedro where we had to complete our Belize departure formalities. This involved lining up to pay our port tax, lining up again to pay our departure tax then another counter to have our passports stamped. Bureaucracy at its best. Back on the boat it was a 2 hour ride to Chetumal where once we exited the boat we had to line up single file with our bags in a line about 1m away. A guy in army fatigues then walked down the line of bags with a sniffer dog and back again. Luckily no bag was singled out, everyone was good to go. Then it was the Bureaucracy thing again lining up to receive an immigration form and lining up once more once we had filled it out. It was a short taxi ride to the bus terminal where we caught the 1pm bus to Tulum, a 4 hour journey. It was a 2nd class bus which took longer than the first class as we had to stop along the way to pick up and set down passengers. As it was late in the afternoon when we arrived the two of us set off by ourselves for a dinner of Nachos to the sound of a chainsaw in the background. They were building an awning across the street from the Restaurant. The lovely friendly waiter made our meal very enjoyable.
On the morning of the 10th we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant then set off with Stephanie, Josh and Katie on our bikes to the ruins. We were on cruiser bikes with no gears but the bike path was relatively flat. We stopped of to have a look at the beach on our way there, dipping our toes in the cool clear water. Once at the ruins there were huge crowds of people and as we were not on a tour we had to line up for our tickets which took about 15 minutes. Once inside we checked out the fantastic views along the coast and what is left of the structures of Tulum. The main building El Castillo (the castle) as named by the Spanish, is the main draw card of the site. Tulum was on the major trading route along the coast between Maya settlements.
Once we exited the site we jumped on our bikes and head back to the beach. We all had to do quick change wrapped in a towel to put our swimming costumes on. This was quite difficult as the wind was very strong. The water was beautiful and we spent about an hour frolicking in the surf. Stephanie decided to stay a little longer so the four of us head back to the hotel to shower and get something to eat before we had to leave at 3pm. Just before we were served our lunch the heavens opened so we moved from our position under a sun shade to the inside of the cafe. By the time we had finished the rain had stopped and the sun was back out.
Our afternoon bus to Playa del Carmen was very comfortable and only around 1 1/2 hours. After check-in we set off walking down 5th avenue stopping along the way to look in the shops full of bright coloured objects. We had dinner at a Taco restaurant then made our way back to the hotel noticing the huge number of people on the pedestrian street.
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