As soon as we arrived in Tulum, I breathed in deeply. It was a relief and I could tell I liked this place already! It had a real laid back, hippy vibe about the town and quite a few tourists/hippy travellers. We arrived in the morning and checked in to our hostel, which was super cool. It was called Chill Inn and it was only small with thatched roofs to give a hut look and had a good outdoor area full of hippy travellers. Once we started talking to the owner we found out it only opened 6 weeks ago and was run by a husband and wife with help from their families. They were from London and fell in love with Tulum and decided to move here and do 'the hostel thing' they always talked about doing. They had done really well so far, it had a great vibe, top rated reviews on Tripadvisor already and there was even a resident kitten they rescued, which was so cute!
The hostel was located off the main strip and we had to hire bikes to get to the beach.
After we checked in we walked along the main street, looked at shops and got some lunch and had a yummy pizza big enough for us to share. We then hired bikes and rode the 20 minute ride to the beach. It was a hot and sweaty ride. I don't think it's reached below 30 degrees anywhere we've been yet.
We saw the beach as we hit the end and saw the sand was covered in seaweed which didn't make the beach look prettiest. Apparently this was one of the worst encounters o seaweed at Tulum and the recent storms and wind etc had brought it all in to shore. Even though we were hot from the ride, the water was really choppy and there was so much seaweed, we didn't go in. This strip of beach is lined with the most gorgeous boutique/eco chic resorts. Small bungalow/hut type accommodation on the beach, lots offering yoga, mediation and hippy activities! They all looked beautiful by what I could see and when I have more money of my next travels, it would be a dream to come back to Tulum and stay in one of these.
We got back to the hostel and started chatting to a few of the travellers, it was an awesome vibe/ set up where everyone was instantly friends and all hung out with each other. We played card games 'Toro meander' - Bullshit in Spanish with two Aussie girls and a London brother and sister. Went back to the same place we had lunch at coz the girls raved about the pasta they had and we raved about the pizza so got what each other had ordered previously. Then when we got back to the hostel a few people, including the Londoners had had a few drinks and were just about to hit the town so we decided to go with and went to a cool little bar with great music. They were well on their way for a massive night no one would remember the next day and as we had only had two drinks all night we thought it was time to leave them to it. Maybe we are starting to turn in to the old married couple, going to bed early uh oh! Haha
The next morning everyone was serve the free breakfast and the Londoners got out of bed with some very sore heads!
That day we went with them to the nearby Grand Cenote which was about a 20 minute ride but ridiculously hot along a main road. Cenotes are natural water/sink holes with caves. The water looks so pure and clear and a turquoise blue. It was soo refreshing to dive into that water after the long hot bike ride. There were turtles and fish and we swam and snorkelled around the caves. It was so cool!
We then rode back along the road to the beach. We left the Londoners so we could check out the Mayan ruins on the beach. I had just missed seeing these ruins last time I was in Mexico as we had come from chitzen itza but arrived just as it had shut and weren't allowed entry. I was glad to have seen them, they were quite small and definitely not as impressive as one of the seven wonders of the world but it was picturesque as they were situated right on the beach. After lots of riding around today I was starving for food and a swim. We stopped at one of the resorts and Matt had fish tacos and I had Nachos at the restaurant which was outdoors on the sand but under the cool shade of a gazebo and the accommodation were modest little bungalows. It was so refreshing to then lay on the beach under a thatched umbrella and go swimming in the ocean, even if there was still seaweed covering the sand.
That night we tried a small joint around the corner that sold delicious quesadillas - 3 for $4.50! I had one with cactus and cheese! We then tried another recommended bar called Mojito Bar where we had Mojitos and watched a live band. It had an awesome vibe and there was a cart with a guy making sugar cane out the front. There were all different Mojitos you could try so I decided to keep with the theme and had one with cactus in it too. It had a very aloe Vera taste to it.
Everyone was still up drinking when we got back to the hostel. We decided to be the married old couple again and went to bed to catch the bus
at 7am the next morning to Merida.
