After reading this post, some of you might be a bit jealous... but don’t get us wrong, we just want to warm you up a little in these cold rainy days. Wir ersetzen die schöne Glühweinzeit durch kalte, frische Kokosnüsse und Piñas Coladas hehe. Para los que no comprendáis, dice que os peinéis y chincha que estamos en bañador ;)
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| Isla Mujeres in low season |
So, after Cuba we flew back to Cancún and caught a ferry to Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres (Spanish for Island of Women) is a small island off the coast of Cancún that got its name because of the many cult images of Mayan goddesses the Spanish found in the Island. Isla Mujeres is a common destination for American tourists, but right now, during low season, there are few gringos on the island, so we could enjoy the white sand beaches almost by ourselves.
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| Carlos at Playa Norte |
The most famous beach in the island is Playa Norte, located at only a walk from the city centre. Playa Norte is a beautiful 1km Caribbean beach with white sand, palm trees and crystal clear water.
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| Crystal clear water |
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| Joana on Playa Norte's wooden bridge |
But the most impressive beach is located on the northern part of the island. There, Isla Mujeres is connected by a wooden bridge to a tiny, private island, only accessible to guests of a luxury hotel. Between both islands the water is only a few centimetres high, thus creating a huge swimming pool, with the difference that you are in the middle of the ocean. We did some snorkelling and spotted a small stingray as well as some coloured fishes and coral.
Although VERY touristy, the beaches of Isla Mujeres are worth the trip.
From Isla Mujeres we headed south to Tulum,an ancient Maya town. The ruins of Tulum are located just off the beach, thus making it much more attractive. We stayed in the city centre of Tulum, which is 15 minutes away from the ruins and the beaches by bike. Most hotels are located at the beachfront, but are not really affordable for backpackers like us :)
Tulum is a nice place to spend holidays: it has a lovely town with different bars, restaurants and shops, the white sand beaches are beautiful, and you won’t find a thinner sand between your toes.
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| Playa de Tulum |
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| Snow or sand? |
We also visited the Mayan ruins, which are beautiful because the archaeological site has its own beach. You can see the ruins on the cliffs while swimming. However, they are overcrowded and are much less impressive than all the other ruins we’ve seen by now.
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| Mayan ruins of Tulum |
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| Beach view from the Mayan ruins |
Furthermore, Tulum offers plenty of private cenotes (remember the underground natural pools in Valladolid) to visit. We went to the “Grand Cenote”, one of the most famous ones around Tulum, in which you can swim, snorkel and dive in huge underwater caves with fishes and small turtles.
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| Grand Cenote in Tulum |
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| Caves in the Grand Cenote |
But without any doubt, the highlight of our stay in Tulum was Akumal beach, 30 minutes north of Tulum. The bay of Akumal is protected from the wind and is very calm. There is a turtle conservation programme going on and the beach is full of big green turtles, stingrays, huge and colourful fishes as well as some small sharks. Swimming with the turtles and observing how they eat and swim up to the surface to breathe was impressive. We tried to take some photos with a water camera (Danke an mein Binchen J) swimming with the turtles. Pics to come.
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| Leaving Tulum |
After five relaxing days in Tulum we took a night bus to Belize. When we got to the Belizean border at 4am, immigration agents woke us up. We were the first in line to get stamped our passport and were asked to pay a 20 dollars departure tax. This non-existent tax is also called Gringo tax, because only uninformed tourists get ripped off. Fortunately, we already had left Mexico a few days before when we went to Cuba, so we already knew about it, and therefore refused to pay. The officer got a bit angry but eventually let us pass, while many of the other tourists on our bus paid that Gringo tax. Yeah, corruption is still a major issue in Mexico...
In our next post, we will tell you all about swimming with sharks and stingrays in Caye Caulker (Belize). See you!
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2 comments:
Bueno, bueno, ya veo que le estáis dano duro al curro ongero por las Américas... jejeje (broma mala, sólo intento boicotear vuestra felicidad extrema). Estáis negros, cabronesssss!!! Perdona Joana, pero es que de verdad dáis mucha envidia.
En fin, disfrutad mucho de cada lugar que veáis, y tomaros unos tequilazos a mi salud, pues.
Un besito y segui contando cosas, que se agradece!!
envidia malsana que me dais, nosotros a 5º, niebla espesa...
pasároslo genial, y seguir poniendo fotos para dejarnos saborear esos alucinantes sitios.
Y para planear nuestras próximas vacaciones!
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