Trip report - Tulum - two great places
Mar 7th, 2007 | 07:21 PM
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Trip report - Tulum - two great places
Our last full day in Tulum begins with the usual hour beach walk at sunrise and passing on the free yoga lesson with Maria. After breakfast we are off to the biosphere. This is a place we have been wanting to see and even though there weren't any monkeys, or even many birds to be seen, the small fraction of the reserve that we saw in a morning was awesome. If you are down in that area, be sure to put aside some time for a visit. Judging by the very few people we saw there, not too many do. We went up to the top of the observation tower for fabulous views of the jungle roof and lagoon and then hiked some trails. A short drive down the road took us to a fishing camp and a gorgeous stretch of beach. Bring insect repellant. Lots of it. The experience was well worth a few bites.
Driving back to Los Lirios, we passed a cenote and stopped by - a pleasant diversion. Lunch again was at Don Cafeto on the beach to try some other items on the menu and because of the great lunch experience the day before (mole pablamos). We see an item on the menu called "Pepitos." Sounds interesting. Asked the waiter what it is and he answers "a meat torte." Torte - that is kind of like a pie, right. Wrong. So what is or are Pepitos? Turns out to be something like a Mexican version of a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, sub roll and all. Not quite the same. The meat was shredded, the cheese certainly wasn't melted cheez-whiz and the spices were different. Not what we expected, but pretty good.
One last swim and afternoon walk on the beach and we are off again to our silver mine in the Pueblo followed by dinner again at Charlies. When we like a place we tend to stick with it. No flamenco this time but a knockout filet of fish veracruz.
Monday dawns. Our day to leave Tulum and it is hard. One last walk on the beach, extra long this time, breakfast, and we are off to 3 days in Cancun. We stop at the San Francisco super market. It is a pretty good size and is a good bet for stocking up. Next stop is Xel- Ha - not the tourist attraction, but the ruins across the road. This place is empty, there is only one other car in the parking area. No tour busses here! These ruins are older and very different from those of Tulum. They are in less of a state of preservation and occupy a much more compact site in a jungle setting. Also unlike Tulum's ruins, these are very accessible and you can walk right up some very interesting frescos. The morning light was both wonderful and a challenge for picture taking. Found a large beautifully colored iguana here as well who kindly posed.
From Xel-Ha it is on to Cancun and the Ambiance Villas Ken Ha. For some reason not revealed to us, we were upgraded to a suite that was about twice as big as our first apartment. The beach at Ambiance Villas is the nicest at the top part of the 7 shaped Cancun Island and it is an altogether pleasing property. Our beach and the flanking beaches connected with the Intercontinental El Presidente and Olas Residences and Spa seemed to be the only ones in that area that were wide and intact. Once you walked past Olas, the beach narrows down to next to nothing courtesy of Hurricane Wilma we are told. We are completely spoiled by Tulum when it comes to beaches. Welcome was a small nearby supermarket and laundermat. Other than that I don't have much to say about the hotel zone of Cancun so I won't. Market 28 downtown however was fun and worth a trip if even for the very colorful photo opportunities.
When I figure out how to upload my photo software I will post some pictures. That Kodak Z612 turned out to be one heck of a camera. Hasta manana.
Driving back to Los Lirios, we passed a cenote and stopped by - a pleasant diversion. Lunch again was at Don Cafeto on the beach to try some other items on the menu and because of the great lunch experience the day before (mole pablamos). We see an item on the menu called "Pepitos." Sounds interesting. Asked the waiter what it is and he answers "a meat torte." Torte - that is kind of like a pie, right. Wrong. So what is or are Pepitos? Turns out to be something like a Mexican version of a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, sub roll and all. Not quite the same. The meat was shredded, the cheese certainly wasn't melted cheez-whiz and the spices were different. Not what we expected, but pretty good.
One last swim and afternoon walk on the beach and we are off again to our silver mine in the Pueblo followed by dinner again at Charlies. When we like a place we tend to stick with it. No flamenco this time but a knockout filet of fish veracruz.
Monday dawns. Our day to leave Tulum and it is hard. One last walk on the beach, extra long this time, breakfast, and we are off to 3 days in Cancun. We stop at the San Francisco super market. It is a pretty good size and is a good bet for stocking up. Next stop is Xel- Ha - not the tourist attraction, but the ruins across the road. This place is empty, there is only one other car in the parking area. No tour busses here! These ruins are older and very different from those of Tulum. They are in less of a state of preservation and occupy a much more compact site in a jungle setting. Also unlike Tulum's ruins, these are very accessible and you can walk right up some very interesting frescos. The morning light was both wonderful and a challenge for picture taking. Found a large beautifully colored iguana here as well who kindly posed.
From Xel-Ha it is on to Cancun and the Ambiance Villas Ken Ha. For some reason not revealed to us, we were upgraded to a suite that was about twice as big as our first apartment. The beach at Ambiance Villas is the nicest at the top part of the 7 shaped Cancun Island and it is an altogether pleasing property. Our beach and the flanking beaches connected with the Intercontinental El Presidente and Olas Residences and Spa seemed to be the only ones in that area that were wide and intact. Once you walked past Olas, the beach narrows down to next to nothing courtesy of Hurricane Wilma we are told. We are completely spoiled by Tulum when it comes to beaches. Welcome was a small nearby supermarket and laundermat. Other than that I don't have much to say about the hotel zone of Cancun so I won't. Market 28 downtown however was fun and worth a trip if even for the very colorful photo opportunities.
When I figure out how to upload my photo software I will post some pictures. That Kodak Z612 turned out to be one heck of a camera. Hasta manana.
