Last night was not so easy to fall asleep as expected. It was just too hot outside and it felt like all the warm air got trapped inside our tent. The thoughts about ice cream and cool breezes didn’t help so we just lay still and tried to control our breathing and hoped for a little air to fly through our ‘windows’ or to just fall asleep at some point in time. Around midnight we were taken by surprise by a small storm shaking the surrounding palm trees but even then we didn’t feel any breeze of air so that didn’t solve the heat issue either. When finally the alarm went off in the morning, it didn’t take us much effort to get up. The good thing was that we didn’t take long to walk to the beach to see this beautiful sunrise.
Energised by the sun we drove to ‘Tulum‘, an ancient Mayan port. We were one of the first visitors so we got front parking (which is only fair actually having to pay 70 pesos for a spot – regardless of where you are standing – and still having to walk 1km to the entrance anyway). Luckily the entrance fee didn’t match the Uxmal and Chichen Itza prices (yet) and we paid the normal 57 pesos each. The site is beautiful. It’s really special seeing this old city next to the Caribbean coast line.
When we left the site a lot of tourist buses were arriving and people were lining up in a non-stop stream. We then headed to a smaller site nearby called ‘Muyil‘. On this site you can also see ancient Maya ruins, the longest inhabited along the Yucatan peninsula, this time in a forest setting. The buildings have not been excavated that much so it immediately gave a different feeling.
We must have prayed to the rain god too much overnight as what started as a sunny tropical day soon turned into a tropical rainy day, completely flooding the streets of Chetumal. Rodrigo was put to the test to see if he could also remain stable on slippery ground. So far we managed to arrive safe and sound at our camp location. When we arrived there the grass was all soggy and we had to take a detour to the toilets.
Today we are sleeping at the coast side again. This time we can feel a little breeze. Maybe it’s because we are parked parallel or maybe the heavy rain earlier today helped to wash away the tropical heat. Let’s hope we have more air tonight.
At least we have no monkey sounds today although the sound of frogs all singing at the same time can be heard as well as the sound of coconuts falling from the trees. We went for dinner at the restaurant down the street and ordered ‘camaron a la diabla’ and ‘cocktail de camaron’. There was a a karaoke at the restaurant, as somebody was celebrating his birthday. Not before long we were invited to give our best performance… they put ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon on and put the microphone in our hands. Given the big success that we had, we gave a bonus performance of a Mexican song called ‘Cielito Lindo’ and left the restaurant under loud applause. Not a bad good-bye from Mexico, as tomorrow we are heading to our alphabetical successor Belize!
Time goes by so fast
You’ve got to have a dream
To just hold on
Keep Calm and Drive South 