Tulum

The overnight bus from Belize City arrived at 4am and so we spent our first 30min in Tulum standing in front of the Maison Tulum Hotel And Bakery, calling out hoping that someone would wake up and let us in. Finally they did and by 5am we could go to sleep.

The hotel was in the city centre, at least 10km from Dos Ceibas, the ecological lodge with private beach where Cecilia (the girl we met in San Marcos at Lake Atitlan) worked. We planned to visit her whenever we went to the beach and so rented bikes for the duration of our stay at Maison Tulum. Travelling by taxi was ridiculously expensive, the taxi mafia had their standardized non- negotiable rates which even the locals had to pay.

When Cecilia asked if we wanted to stay at Dos Ceibas for a reduced rate instead of going to Cancun for 2 nights, we accepted immediately, having been persuaded by the crystal clear waters of the sea and the chilled atmosphere of the lodge. During our stay there we spent many hours on the private beach- looking over the white sand where turtles had come the evening before to lay their eggs; spotting rays while snorkelling and watching the sun set over the sea. Cecilia had introduced us to Maria, her friend who worked at Encantada - a boutique hotel further up the road. On the day we went to visit her and have lunch at the hotel, she showed us one of the rooms- it cost $355 per night in the low season!! We felt like celebrities just walking around there.

One of our main highlights in Tulum was diving the cenotes, first The Pit and then Dos Ojos. The Pit is deep, dark and mysterious containing both fresh and salt water which doesn't mix creating a fuzzy layer between the 2. It is the most extraordinary experience diving through that layer - you feel like you are hallucinating. The site at Dos Ojos was not as deep but equally as eery, diving through the stalactites and stalagmites - making a halfway stop in a bat cave.

On the last night Cecilia took us to a lake to watch the sunset. We went to the roof of a hotel where, when it is a full moon, one can watch the sun set over the lake as the moon rises over the sea on the other side.
This hotel was quite a way from where we would go to watch live music and, after waiting half an hour for our taxi, a young couple offered to drive us to our stop. As we drove away the taxi arrived and ended up following us, eventually stopping in front of our car claiming that we were his passengers. With the ridiculous price of the taxi ride we were glad to have met this couple although the taxi driver wouldn't move his car until we paid a portion of the fare. We made it in time for the live music and ended the night with a promise to Cecilia that we will, one day, return to beautiful Tulum!