Daytrip to the Mayan ruins of Coba, Mexico

Ancient Mayan site of Coba

I felt much better after a day of just resting in the hostel. The worst pain from the sunburns lessened, but I still felt it a lot. Well, this time I prepared much better, by buying a hat and putting on the sunscreen. I was ready to catch the bus to Coba.

The bus station of Tulum is at the very heart of downtown Tulum, on its main street (Chetumal-Cancun). If you walk in the direction from East to West, it will be on the right side of the street. Coming up before the bus station is a colectivo station. In Mexico, beside bus transit, there is also combi and taxi colectivo, which is a way of traveling where you share ride in a taxi or combi with other passengers, and thus share the cost. This is the cheapest way of travel in Mexico, and I would have definitely chose it were my Spanish skills better at the time I was in Tulum, not only because it is cheap but also because you really get a deeper insight about Mexicans when traveling with them in such a way. At that time I was still feeling unsecure so I went with the bus option (yet, already the next day I started using colectivos way of travel). To use Mexican transit system fully and smoothly you need to speak basic Spanish. This is actually a topic that deserves its own blog entry, so I will write more about it later on.

Three Days in Tulum, Mexico

I woke up at around 8am, rested, to a sunny day. Today’s plan was to spend most of the day exploring the ancient city of Tulum, and swim in the Caribbean sea. As the ruins are only a few kilometers away, I decided to rent a bike, which a lot of travelers that come here do. As I got to the main street of Tulum, a girl riding a bike passed by me. I halted her to ask where she rented it from. She pointed to a place which is on the main Chetumal-Cancun street, close to the corner with Avenida Satelite (but there are several more places where you can rent bikes). Renting it for the whole day cost around 50 pesos, which is a good price considering that Tulum is one of the most expensive places in Mexico.

Getting to Tulum ruins was easy. I drove Eastwards on the main street, and after 10 minutes of cycling there was a big sign “Ruinas Tulum” pointing to turn right. Soon afterwards I came to a big place – a parking lot with stands where merchants were selling related products. I had to leave my bike here and continue on foot. After buying the ticket which cost around 60 pesos, I passed through tropical vegetation and entered the ancient city of Tulum.

From Vancouver to Cancun, the Mexican Adventure Starts in Tulum

Outskirt of downtown Tulum

I barely got any sleep on the night flight from Vancouver to Toronto. It was early morning when we arrived, and I found myself a nice spot at the Toronto airport where I waited for the plane to Cancun. But before that I went outside to get some fresh air. It was nice and sunny April day, and I was surprised how warm it is. I expected it would be much cooler than in Vancouver. As I waited for the 10am flight to Cancun, I was learning Spanish from a notebook in which I wrote down all the necessary lectures needed for knowing how to get by in Mexico, and even more than that. A family from Venezuela sat next to me and I listened when they spoke Spanish to one another, to see if I will understand any. Well, at that point my Spanish was still not good, because I have only started properly learning it a week or so before that.

The flight went smoothly. I traveled with Air Canada Rouge airplane, which is the Air Canada branch that flies only to exotic destinations. The atmosphere was just like that – it felt like I’m traveling with a tour group to Hawai. As we were approaching Cancun, I look outside the window and saw the jungle of Yucatan as far as the eyes can see. Soon afterwards we landed and disembarked the plane, and as we did that the high temperature and humidity hit us strongly. There was a huge line at the customs, but I eventually got through it, grabbed my backpack and went to arrivals where I exchanged some money and bought a bus ticket to Playa del Carmen, which cost around 60 pesos.