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Tulum
A city that cannot be reached quickly
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Tulum, so close and so far away.
We devoted one day of our trip to the city of Tulum: we planned to see the ruins of the Maya, the beaches nearby and go further, to Chichen Itza. Having sailed from the island of Cozumel, we dropped into the bus station in Play del Carmen to buy tickets to Tulum and were a little delighted with the discovery that there are Mayan buses (2 classes) that cost half the price of ADO buses and we can get to Tulum together for the price of one. The tickets were bought with a satisfied look. :-) The distance between the cities of Tulum and Playa del Carmen is 65 kilometers, and our flight was at 13:00 and we had forty minutes left to catch goodbye to the cafe we had liked earlier and eat shrimp salad there. In the cafe we were always served by a cheerful descendant of the Maya Indians. We chatted with him goodbye and even took pictures. If you are in Playa and go to the cafe "La Coronela", then say hello from us, well, show these photos from our report ;-)
After a quick lunch, we rushed to the bus station. There was an incredible crowd of people: Americans with their surfboards in covers, Mexicans with large colored trunks and a lot of vibrant audience from all over the world. At 13:00 the bus did not come, at 13:20 the queue for boarding began to worry. All in turn approached the bus station administrator and asked when the bus would be. The answer was the same: "well, maybe in 30-40 minutes." At 14:00 the American surfers who were standing in front of us on the platform surrendered and went to catch a big car for themselves and their equipment. At 14:20 our state was like this:
We were slightly upset, but still held on. at 2:30 pm we met a couple of students from Paris who were in line behind us. They came to study in Mexico on an exchange and traveled around the country on vacation. The bus arrived at 15:20. Everyone perked up and lined up again for landing. We were a little embarrassed by the fact that only a couple of people got off the bus, and at least a hundred remained in it. The luggage compartments were filled with trunks and even on the driver's torpedo, on the right there were trunks in several rows. From the queue, literally a couple of people could get into this miracle of the Mexican car industry, the driver shrugged his shoulders, got behind the wheel and our bus, which we had been waiting for since 12 o'clock, rushed off into the distance ... We frantically thought about what to do until the French offered us to catch a car for four to Tulum.
A girl from a French couple spoke Spanish very well and in 5-7 minutes she was able to get the bus station administrator to return our tickets (each for 40 pesos) and we went outside to catch a taxi. It took 3 minutes, including fighting off the "help" who helped put the suitcase in the trunk of the taxi and demanded a bribe for it :-) And now we are racing along the road number 307.
And on the way, our new French friends treated us to an apple !!! And don't laugh, apples in Mexico are very expensive. Pineapples and coconuts are significantly less expensive than these exotic fruits :-)
In Tulum, the guys left a little earlier than us, and all that we have left from the meeting are pleasant memories and one blurry photo from a taxi when I tried to take a shared selfie, but the driver pressed the gas and accelerated to 120 kilometers per hour.
We ended up in Tulum around 5:30 pm and had not even been settled yet, and we had only one day to watch everything. The program of visiting the city was spoiled by 2nd class buses. Never buy tickets for "Mayan" buses, take only "ADO" :-) We wandered to our hostel and worried about the place where we would spend the night, for this one night they chose the cheapest hostel in the city, or rather the one that had the highest rating on the "Booking" from the cheapest. And here we are at the entrance. The area turned out to be very green and beautiful with a lot of various sculptures.
And this is how the most inexpensive bungalow looked like of all in which we had to spend the night. Mosquito netting and a "joyful" black ball on the wall - what else do you need to meet the night? In fact, the bed was very comfortable, the wi-fi was fast, and in the morning (even though breakfast was not included) we got two large pancakes with coffee and a couple of papaya and pineapple slices. So that your Mexican "el revisor" can safely recommend the hostel "Rancho Tranquilo" to the budget traveler ;-)
Throwing our things in the bungalow, we went to the city to get to the beach, since Tulum is not a city on the coast - it is three kilometers from the coast. Tulum looks like a city of one street, along which the highway passes. To the ruins of the Maya, which are on the shore, you need to drive up by minibus, which is called collectively.
But even having driven up to the final stop collectively, do not delude yourself: you will have to "walk on foot" for a long time to the ruins, and to the two free municipal beaches of Tulum, just "walk - walk" ... Signs that you are walking in national park.
But, to be fair, let's note the beauty of this reserve. See how beautiful nature is. The photos below are clickable.
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The most striking impression was the exit of the animal Coati from the jungle, although it happened already at dusk, but still we are glad that we were able to see such an unusual animal in its habitat.
And so we got to the entrance to the Mayan city of Tulum, but did not go there, because half an hour was left until closing, and we did not risk spending $ 11 per person for the entrance and not really seeing anything. But we have a photo of the entrance, which means, if someone asks: were we in the Mayan city of Tulum? - We can safely say that there were ;-)
After this entrance, you must turn right and walk for a very long time to the beach. But we were able to do it and in the evening twilight we got to the famous Tulum beach.
Needless to say, the place is beautiful - you can just sit on the beach and philosophically look at the waves and sand.
Equally fantastic is the path leading to this beach through the jungle. In the evening we returned to Tulum and walked late into its night streets, but I want to finish my reportage with this very path to the beach. May she forever remain a vivid impression of a short but interesting visit to the city of Tulum.
We would be glad to receive your comments on this article. If you have been to Tulum or are going to visit this city - share your impressions in the comments. Reposts and likes will be greatly appreciated.
Vitaly & Nataly
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