While my vacation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico this week is mainly focused on relaxing in the sun, I also wanted to do something other than just lay around while I’m here. Fortunately, my hotel has a tour desk where you can book half- and full-day tours and it didn’t take long for me to decide that I wanted to do a half-day tour to Tulum. I’m not much of a history buff, but the pictures I had seen looked intriguing and I wanted to see this well-known historical site in person.
It takes about an hour to reach Tulum from Playa del Carmen. Once there, we parked among the masses of buses and tour vans and met up with others from the same tour company. The area outside the ruins is not unlike 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen, with a mix of souvenir shops, street vendors, a couple of restaurants, a Starbucks, and even a pharmacy (they’re everywhere here!).
We navigated through the crowds and set off for a 10 minute walk to the ruins. Our local tour guide kept us moving until we got to the main entrance before telling us about what we’d be seeing. Once inside, there were hundreds of tour groups and people everywhere. There were also a lot of local iguanas hanging out among the ruins.
Tulum is one of the best preserved cities of the Mayan culture and had its heyday around 1200-1500 AD. What’s left now was discovered and restored during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
What sets Tulum apart from other Mayan sites in the region is its location, perched high up on a cliff above the Caribbean Sea. After the guided tour, we had about 1.5 hours to walk around on our own, eat, shop, etc. before meeting back at the entrance. I walked along the cliffs, took some pictures, and enjoyed an ice cream.
While I enjoyed the trip, there were way too many people in Tulum for me. I was happy to get back to the hotel and settle in with a cold beverage and book by the pool for the afternoon.
Traveling with Laura 