18th April 2009 – Playa del Carmen (Xpu-Ha)
Woke up pretty early with sleeping on the beach, but though I was still tired it was great to be up for another sunrise. If anything this was better than the sunrise at Bacalar. Went for a run down the beach to the headland and then back to the other headland, about 30mins in total but its much harder running in the soft sand. Saw the kite flying instructor (Dave) out on the waves first thing which was impressive considering he was fairly cooked last night. Don’t think his wife was too impressed that he stayed at the beach last night.
We had a lazy morning as the Danes stayed in Playa del Carman last night so Carlos went into town to pick them up. Spent most of the morning sleeping in a Hammock and catching up with this journal.
From Xpu-Ha we visited the Mayan ruins at Tulu’um. Originally this was called Zama (meaning Dawn). This was an important trading city for the Mayans as it was on the coast. At its zenith it was around 6km long, but now most of the ruins have been destroyed or reclaimed by the jungle. From all the Mayan ruins I have seen on this trip this is perhaps the least interesting. The site itself is very picturesque due to its proximity to the ocean.
However it doesn’t have the splendour or the history of the other sites. In addition with being so close to Playa del Carmen and Cancun the place is full with hoards of tourists. Give me Palenque or Yaxchilan any day.
A quick snack at the van and we left to go to X’cacel. This is a turtle sanctuary when it’s the turtle season, but that’s later in the year. The beach is postcard perfect, as its completely undeveloped due to the turtles. We had a quick swim in the sea but there was a bit of a swell so we didn’t stay in too long.
Even though the beach was beautiful the highlight was the small Cenote a short walk from the beach. This was the smallest Cenote we had visited but this added to its charm. Juan Carlos had said that he’s been there in the low season where he is the only person at the Cenote. It was really pleasant to just relax and swim around in the Cenote. The water was so clear you could clearly see the bottom at 3m.
We left around 4pm to go back to Playa Del Carman for the last meal. The restaurant that Juan Carlos had chosen was absolutely amazing. The El Alux restaurant set inside a natural Cenote. The natural limestone chambers have been modified into a series of dining rooms and bars. The food was a significant step up from what we had been eating for the rest of the trek. I had Mayan Desire which was chicken stuffed with cheese in a mango and ginger sauce together with a Maya Absolut, a vodka based cocktail with watermelon. The cocktail was the same as the Maya Bell at Palenque. The meal was great but there was also some entertainment. First a traditional Mayan style dance by two “warriors”.
And then Tobias shuck his thing with the girl of Eastern Promise.
After the restaurant we dropped the van of at the hotel and headed back to the Blue Parrot nightclub till 3am.