Easy Dream Vacations

Well here we are back in Cozumel, this time though we wont be staying long at all as we have booked an excursion to the Mayan ruins at Tulum.  The excursion takes up almost all the time that the ship is in port.  Tulum is on the Mexican mainland about an hour from Play del Carmen.  So you start out your day by getting off the ship and getting on the ferry that takes you to Play del Carmen.  The ferry is pretty nice, the lower level has airplane style seats, the upper area has seats that have tables between them so you can  sit across from and have a conversation with friends.  There are also outside areas on the ferry with seating.  The boat is pretty quick, but it is still a 45 minute ride by ferry.   Once in Play del Carmen you step into a tourist area and surprise there is even a Senor Frogs!  We were met by our guides who divided you up into groups and you walked a few blocks to your tour bus.  Sorry but here is where I start getting down on Mexico.  I am not sure why but every time I walk through the streets of Mexico I smell sewage.  The walk to the bus took you past some resorts and shopping areas.  Right where the bus is parked there is a graffiti filled wall and on the top of the wall there are shards of glass meant to either keep someone in or someone out from behind the wall.   I would strongly suggest to the tour company that they find a better area to start out that tour.  Once on board the bus we headed off to Tulum.  There was quite a bit of road construction and building going on so you can see that there are improvements being made to the area.  The bus was ok, fairly clean and our tour guide was very informative.  Although he did say that we would be stopping at a rest stop that had some shopping and we should barter price there.  We tried that and found no value in trying as the prices seemed to be firm on their goods. The rest stop in my opinion could have been bypassed, it only added to an already long day of travel and its only purpose was to get us to spend some money at that shop.  They would be much better off having the shop at the Tulum ruins site. We finally arrived at the site and off we were to the ruins. Our guide once again was very informative giving us a guided tour of the site.  I enjoyed hearing about the Mayans, it added greatly to viewing of the ruins.  After the guided tour we headed out on our own to walk around the site.  The beach area is as breath taking as we were told.  The water is as turquoise blue as it could be and the sand as white as puffy clouds in the sky.  We really did not have as much time to ourselves, we would have liked to get down to the beach.

We also had little time to visit the shops near the ruins, which is probably just as well.  I will say that the locals there could brush up on their manners.  They are pushy trying to get you to spend money.  Even the costumed performers expect you to donate to them before you can take any pictures.  I always leave a tip with these folks when taking pictures of them.  However after being told I have to pay first, I avoided the entire picture taking process.  One word of  caution I will give you is do not use your charge cards if you do not have to.  Our tour guide recommended getting this piece of jewelry made that had your initials in Mayan writing, he even had order forms on the bus that you could fill out before arriving in Tulum  One of our group ordered the charm and necklace.  She paid with her credit card and was surprised to find out upon arriving back home after the cruise that someone had used her credit card to order $200 in items for themselves. Cash is always the best way to go.  The bus ride back to the ferry was much quicker without the “rest stop”.  The ferry ride was a bit rough going back to Cozumel but we made it back safely. Once back in Cozumel we only had about an hour to spend on land.  We walked around the commercial shopping area at the port.   Commercial it is!  I highly recommend going downtown Cozumel and shopping at more of the “local shops.  The commercial shopping near the pier was pricey and crowded.  The bars there were pretty empty but the shops were full.  Speaking of the pier, our ship was docked at the new pier that was recently finished.   The original pier there was destroyed by Hurricane Wilma a few years back.  Last time we were in Cozumel we docked at the other pier that is closer to the downtown area, I much prefer that, it seems to be less of a commercial tourist trap area.  Next stop Miami. That is so sad as it means we will be back to winter before long.