On the Road Again – First Stop: Tulum

Well, it’s been a while since my last update. Elani and I spent ten months back home in the Pacific Northwest. I worked at the local kite shop as a kiteboarding instructor (a bit off brand, I know, but it did keep me in kiteboarding equipment, so worth the sacrifice). But you know, I’m not a huge fan of cold weather and constant rain, so it’s nice to be out traveling again.  So, where to first? Well, Tulum, Mexico.

Elani and I have been here about 3 weeks now, and are loving it. The weather (aside from a few truly epic torrential downpours) is bright and sunny, the beaches are gorgeous and the food is good and cheap. Plus, there is kiteboarding to be had, though I will admit kitable days are a bit few and far between. Anyway, there’s enough else here to keep me occupied when the wind isn’t blowing.

The big attractions here are of course the beaches, an abundance of Mayan archeological sites, and more cenotes (freshwater pools – sometimes underground – linked by underground rivers) than you can count. Really, the whole Yucatan peninsula is pretty much that way, but Tulum is slightly more laid back than the more well-known Cancun and Playa del Carmen.  It’s basically divided into two main sections. There’s the pueblo, basically a downtown area where normal people might live along with more reasonably priced hotels and such, and the hotel zone, where there are some very nice beachside resorts and you can expect to pay ten times as much for dinner (okay, that’s kind of an exaggeration – kind of).  We’re staying in the pueblo, of course. Which means biking to the beach for a swim, but it’s very close to cheap tacos, so it’s probably the smartest choice (also it’s cheaper, of course).

We’re going to be here for another week, then it’s off to Mexico City for the holidays. There’s a lot to write about here, and I’ll try to get to at least some of it, but in an effort to keep my post short and manageable, I’ll leave it there for the moment and leave you with a picture of the beach here. It really is an amazing beach – oh, and in case you were wondering, the water is about the perfect temperature.