Travel Eat Drink Like a Local

December 27, 2014. A drive up north to Playa Del Carmen -our next stop during this vacation. Before checking out from Casita Bonita we headed to La Zebra one more time for a nice long breakfast on Tulum beach. Heading north, we stopped at Akumal. A very crowded beach and it was very hot. Parked the car for 50 pesos and walked to the public beach. Man! the most number of humans I have ever seen on a beach. Akumal Beach So many groups snorkeling, diving, on boat trips, fishing, you name it, or rather trying to. Drove in to Pueblo Akumal.  It's a old Mexican town with some new development that resembled colonies. Next stop -Puerto Aventuras. Another beach stopfor tourists, but underdeveloped poor town on the other side of 307. Poverty was startling. Back in the car heading north. Missed the exit to Plyacar. Damn! Had to drive back a long way for the next 'Returno' ah! There was no road marked! Eventually with the help of the security w...

December 26, 2014. Went to Tulum town after breakfast. Walked the streets. It's a very small town, nothing much at all -that's the beauty of it! I had the most refreshing fresh guava ice-cream! We had lunch at El Camello. It was very good as expected, 400 pesos for 3 lunches. Carnivore second-child refused to eat seafood that day. We wanted to spend the remaining half day in Tulum at the beach -and that's what we did till the sun sets. Dinner and off to bed.

December 25, 2014 Odometer reading at 28084 km. Start time 6:45am from Tulum. Pumped 1/2 tank gas for 360 pesos. Early morning drives are the best. No one is behind you and no one in front. Thick dense jungle all around. A rare sighting of a lone cyclist or a person walking on the street. Road signs are well displayed. We avoided Valladolid town on the way and reached Chechen Itza at 8am. Third car to enter the parking lot. Parking was 60 pesos, entrance 240 pesos per person. This time we decided to get a personal guide because of the extent of the site and as a means to save time on locating hidden stone carvings, etc. The individual guide cost 750 pesos and very knowledgeable Fernando Qunto, a Mayan, was our guide. The grand Chichen Itza with 5 similar inside and one underground Ball courts -notice the walls are straight making it harder to play than in Coba Observatory Tic Tac Toe On the way back 3km from Chichen Itza is another magic...

Odometer reading at 27915km 6:55am we head out from Tulum, sun yet to peep out. Awesome, peaceful drive with once check point just after Tulum town, and not many vehicles on the road.  After about 45 minute drive, we were the first to enter the parking lot! The secret to experiencing no lines for tickets, over-crowded sites and fantastic pictures without people all over is to wake up early and get there before they open. Parking cost 40 pesos. Entrance per person is 59 pesos. Boys got bikes for 20 pesos per bike and the bike rickshaw to take the old dogs around was 190 pesos for the long route with the guide -Miguel. We spent 2 fine hours roaming and climbing ruins.  Tallest at Coba and in Yucatan -Nohuch Mul stands over 130 feet Breathtaking vistas pay-off the climb Yes, they did play ball! Even the ball and the hoop were made of stone As we were exiting the tour buses were hoarding people and lines were forming. Good early mornin...