where the ocean and jungle meet | tulum

I admit that when I'm researching a new travel destination, one of the first steps I take is to type, "must do (x place)" into Google. Then I type in, "must see," "must eat," "must try," and any other variation I can come up with in that moment. Judging by the number of results for each search, it's how a lot of people start plan their travels. When we have a limited amount of time in a new place, it's human nature to want to experience the best of the best of the best. Unfortunately, a lot of those results lead us to what's typical, overdone, touristed, and easy.

So I make a list of the top 5-10 results I find, research those more in-depth and knock out all the ones that don't make my cut. That research usually takes me to smaller online forums and blogs that contain the real gems of wherever I'm headed. On average, I probably spend 15-20 hours researching before every trip I take.

I arrive wherever I'm going with a folder filled with my travel documents, hotel information, car rental if it's applicable, and all the other essentials, along with a list of my "must sees" and "must dos." I like to think my research is solid, but even then, at the end of every trip, I've crossed out half my list and traded the other half in for what I found while I was there. And then I get to tell you about that list.

Cenotes - must see, must do

Cenotes are natural watering holes, created from a collapse of limestone bedrock. Limestone is usually exposed, and it's green and sometimes jagged and sometimes smooth, and it's beautiful, and it's perfect.The cenotes are often in caves. A famous, much-touristed network of cenotes is Dos Ojos, between Playa Del Carmen and Tulum. It's a popular area for divers, as you can see incredible marine life and get into nooks and crannies that you can't while swimming.

Zan's and my first cenote experience was in a cave near the Mayan ruins of Coba. Thirty feet above the water, climbing down steep, winding stairs, we could see the very bottom of the pool. Small fish darted around. Limestone stagtites and stalagmites decorated the interior. We saw a bat dart from one alcove to another. Every 10 feet down the climb was a ledge off of which you could jump. Zander and I both jumped from 30 feet. 

A few days later we swam in the cenote where the ocean and jungle meet. We learned about a beach that I honestly, readers, won't even name, it's so special and barely touched. But if you go to Tulum, email me, and I'm sure I'll spill the beans. This beach is all white sand and famous for snorkeling and for seeing sea turtles lay their eggs and make their way back to the waters during the right season. The path to the beach, and to the nearby cenote, is a 1/2 mile dirt road, and the entrance fee is a voluntary donation and your John Hancock in a visitors log.

From the beach, the only guide to the cenote is a wooden sign, the stake stuck deep into the sand with an arrow pointing from the beach into the jungle. We showered outdoors before the trail head, as any sunblock, product, dirt, or chemicals on your body can harm the ecosystem of the pristine pools, and trekked further into the jungle, the sounds of waves crashing the only reminder that the ocean is only a stone's throw away.

Swimming in a cenote is the most refreshing experience I've ever had. I wanted to immerse my head and arms and whole body and come up for air over and over just to feel the coolness and fresh air mixed together one more time. I felt like a Mermaid, and an explorer at once.

I've never seen or experienced anything like cenotes while traveling, and for good reason - they're only found in that part of the world. 

Tulum Ruins - must see, must do

If you Google, "Tulum," you'll see a thousand of the same images, taken from every angle: Mayan ruins sitting atop a hill, with the turquoise Caribbean ocean lapping at the ancient rock. That image alone has put Tulum on the map. It's so breathtaking, it's hard to exercise self-restraint and not immediately book a ticket.

So you'd think we visited these ruins the second we stepped off the bus in the city. But we're not normal. We're weird. And so we did it last. We waited until after we'd seen the famed Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and scaled the perilous temple of the ruin Mayan temple of Coba, In truth, I didn't expect much; I expected the Tulum ruins to be overrated, especially after what we'd seen.

I was so wrong, and the Tulum ruins blew me away and brought tears to my eyes and lit up my face and my heart. The Tulum Ruins are the smallest of the three sets we saw. There's a cracked wall around the old city that stops short of the beach, because the elevation and the ocean - well, what imposters and enemies could challenge that?

The ruins themselves are spread out. It's a small area, but I could walk around it for days. The sun shines brightest here, stays in your eyes and paints your skin. It's crowded; you should get here before 8:00am to beat the tour buses. But not a single one of the too many tourists can diminish this place.

The real magic is the ocean. There is a private beach below the ruins; you have to be a patron to use it. Swimming while looking up at towering, strong, defensive ruins is an experience I can never replicate anywhere else in the world. There's a reason that one image is so iconic of Tulum - you can't take your eyes off of it.

tulum, mexico | to the mayan ruins

I want to tell you this before you hear it from someone else. 

You know how rumors get started - one little inside joke tweet raises eyebrows, and gchats buzz with questions, all, "like really? did she really do that? No she did not." and facebook posts get overanalyzed, and suddenly every instagram picture is like a piece of a puzzle and then the whole interweb thinks they know exactly what you did in Mexico. So before it comes to that, I want to set the story straight with you, readers.

I pooped my pants while climbing the ancient Mayan ruins of Coba.

Let me back up.

Alsinsio, our cab driver, picked Zander and me up at 6:00am from our hotel, Posada Luna del Sur - a great, small place in Tulum pueblo - or town, run by an American expat named Tom. Tom set us up with Alsinsio for a day of hiking and exploring two famed sets of Mayan ruins.

First we would head 2.5 hours into the Yucatan to see Chichen Itza, a Mayan city center and sacred religious grounds named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. After Chichen Itza, Alsinsio would take us to Coba, the ruined Mayan city only discovered in the 1980s and about 10% excavated. We were warned that the climb "to the top" (of what, we didn't know) was steep and not for the faint of heart or weak-legged.

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed; Zander kept stealing my side. I was crabby, too. Even the prospect of 10 hours in Mexican jungles, hiking on ancient rock, couldn't shake my sour mood. Something was very, very wrong. But as I'm keen to do, I figured I was tired and needed some caffeine and carried on.

Chichen Itza is a sprawling, well-preserved wonder. The main temple, along with the surrounding sacred sites, are roped off and kept safe from human hands. Lizards ignore the "don't touch" warnings and sun on the chipped and ornately carved stone. We meandered without a guide, appreciating the symbolism and intricacy of a row of hand-carved skeletons on the side of a sacrificial plateau, and the rows upon rows of stone columns that comprise the world's largest column-based meeting area. Naturally, I did handstands in front of the primary temple.

But my heart wasn't as in it as it normally is. I still felt, let's just say it, crappy.

Heading towards Coba, we knew we had messed up: we didn't bring lunch. We asked Alsinsio to stop somewhere quick. He promised us a "not so tourist" joint and ushered us into an empty taqueria outside the entrance to Coba. 

I did not want to eat at this place. My most ornery side came out. I nearly stomped my foot like a two year old. I love a dusty, rickety taco stand as much as the next person, but my gut insisted - no. no. no. Always listen to your gut. But, you know, we were here.

I ordered tacos con verde. Zan had tacos con something else. I tried a bite of his; he had a taco of mine.

I was admittedly calmed, rejuvenated, and gaining back some of my normal perkiness when we entered Coba.

 

Coba is remote, beautiful, dusty, dirty, filled with lizards and god knows what other creatures, and raw. It's a raw experience. It is Chichen Itza probably 20 years ago. I wish I could freeze time for Coba and keep it as untouched and remarkable as it is.

Coba is so raw that it's interactive; you can touch the sanctuaries, the temples, the ancient meeting areas. You can climb through carved out areas of stone that were never finished; what were they going to be? And after a 2k walk, or so, you can climb to the tip top of Coba - the temple with a view that spans across the top of the jungle. 

When we came to Coba, the temple, we stopped in our tracks, kicking up dust and dirt behind us. It's steep. There's a rope attached, to assist climbers up and down it. The steps are narrow - did the ancient Mayans have smaller feet? These steps weren't made for my size 10 clunkers. It's astounding and marvelous.

We started to climb, Zander ahead of me. My thighs burned. Coba is a beast. I kept climbing.

About 3/4 of the way to the top, I felt a rumbling. Is this thing stable? No rocks were loose. The rumbling continued. I stopped, a foot poised mid-step. Coba was stable; my stomach wasn't.

Uh-oh.

REALLY UH-OH.

You know how they say before you die your life flashes before your eyes?

Well.

Before you poop your pants, all the things you have eaten in Mexico do the same.

I saw images of verde salsa - on tacos, on all those chips I'd been consuming, on enchiladas, quesadillas - I'd eaten so many quesadillas! Steak tacos, pork tacos, tacos al pastor, verde... verde... verde... verde.

I climbed down. I grabbed the rope. No time for the rope. I leaped down the stairs like they were bleachers. One at a time. Two at a time. I expected an imminent death from this sort of reckless abandonment on this like 40% incline, but frankly, death is less scary than what was about to happen.

....and what was happening.

It was inevitable. Believe me when I say it was inevitable.

I kept running down the steps, fearless. I half expected to start flying.

I reached the bottom and started running. WHERE? I ran in a circle. Another circle. But seriously, where do I go?

(Unspoiled ruins are great, and I can sing their praises all day long, but I will give you this one thing about Chichen Itza and all other well-preserved historical sites set up for tourists - there are bathrooms everywhere.)

I used the jungle. In plain sight.

I ran to the side of Coba, found the least thorny-and-creature-filled nook I could, knowing that everyone walking up to the temple could see me if they happened to look that direction, and lord help the people on top who choose to look down (a whole other kind of view), and I squatted.

The temple is this looming, giant structure literally designed to see everything - renegade stomachs beware. 

Meanwhile, Zander was at the top, unsure where the hell I was.

So I climbed Coba... again, and I'm proud to say that I didn't poop my pants twice. 

Motezuma’s Revenge: 1
Cyndi: 0