Mrs. ItchyFeet The Tulum Mayan Ruins are amazing and I highly recommend them if you are in the Playa del Carmen area. My in-laws are staying with me, which means it’s the perfect time to take them on an adventure. The plan was: go on a weekday, taxi to the ruins, walk around the ruins, bus back, go out for Venezuelan food on the walk back to my apartment. So much for plans!
Stick to the script
As I have mentioned before, it’s really hard to get these peeps into a taxi. Plus the taxi from PDC to Tulum is really expensive. Well, let’s bus it there. Unfortunately, the bus terminal is 1.7 kilometers away from home. That’s a long walk to start the day. Everyone is feeling good, so let’s go for it. We missed the first bus and the second bus was full, so we had a bit of a wait until the next bus.
While we waited, we got to see all the really cool decorations that were going up for the festival of Todas Somos Catrinas. Playa gets really into it, and it’s during my favorite time of the year (includes Halloween and Día de los Muertos). I think I got whiplash looking at all the cool art in Parque Los Fundadores. Time to get on the bus.
The bus was uneventful but not that great because you can’t see much out the windows. They have A/C and play movies, so there is that. Right when we get off the bus, a Tulum Mayan Ruins official employee-looking person accosted us with all the information. Don’t be fooled! They are trying to upsell you a boat tour that doesn’t look like a lot of fun. There were lies of long walks and even longer wait times. We could pay extra and avoid all that. Not today!
Sales peeps are sneaky
We had made the mistake of coming to the ruins on a Sunday. Weekends are busier in general but Sunday is free for locals, so it’s extra busy. I had originally planned for us to go on Friday, but went elsewhere for a pool party instead. Then there, allegedly, may or may not have been some hangovers on Saturday and we ended going on Sunday. My bad! Sales peeps were wrong though because the walk was short and there was not a single person in line.
Walking from the bus stop to the ruins is blistering and by this time we are almost at noontime, hot-hot time. We brought lots of water, and are taking lots of breaks, but my poor in-laws haven’t acclimated to the tropical humidity. I’m not sure they were having much fun. Plus, my mum-in-law needed an enormous piece of sharp glass dramatically extracted from the sole of her shoe. You should have seen the size of that thing!
Taking breaks between Mayan Ruin sites with all the stairs and gorgeous overlooks helped with the heat, but not enough. My poor MIL was hurting. Loads of peeps from the colder climates of North America come to the tropics, get a bit of exercise in the heat/humidity, and boom (!) drop dead of a heart attack. Be not afraid of sharks! This heat can kill you! And coconuts falling from trees. Watch for those as well. Oh, and sidewalks. No dying!
Take all the pictures
We got a bunch of cool pictures (the beach looked amazing but was closed for turtle hatching) and then started heading home. We got so lucky in that a colectivo van was just sitting by the side of the road, waiting to fill up before heading north to Playa del Carmen. My in-laws got a nice rest in some A/C while people filled the van. The ride back was lovely, with way better views than the bus. We should have taken this in the first place. Live and learn.
The colectivo van dropped us off about a mile from my apartment. Sorry, mother-in-law! However, I planned the walk such that it took us past this truly amazing Venezuelan restaurant. So delicious! Plus, it’s right across the street from the Palacio Municipal, which is a wonderful sight to see. This broke up the walk enough that nobody hated me too much.
We were all hot and sweaty by the time we got back. This place has a pool on the roof (about the size of a large hot tub), so we all jumped in to cool off. I made them swim clockwise until we had a good whirlpool going. Hah! Whirlpool! I feel like they have forgiven me for almost killing everyone with all the walking. It’s an adventure!
you rock, I need to come see you so you can walk me about.