7-day itinerary | tulum, mexico

sunday, day 1: hola! + salsa dancing
After going through customs and immigration at the Cancun International Airport, find the ADO Bus ticket counter in the middle of the exit walkway, wedged between car rental and tour companies. Ask for a bus that ends in Tulum - it will stop in Playa del Carmen along the way (150Pesos). The bus station in Tulum is located in town. You will have to take a taxi or walk to your hotel. After checking in, enjoy a great introduction to Mexican food dinner at Charlie's (great margaritas!) before trying free salsa dancing lessons at Zebra Bar on the beach (lessons only on Sunday).

day 1: 500P

monday, day 2: beach
Rent bikes from a shop in town (they'll be infinitely more expensive near the beach) and cycle your way to the beach. Try Playa Kin Ha for a quiet, secluded beach experience. Splurge on a gourmet Mexican lunch at El Tabano, or try Mateo's - both on the beach. Enjoy Tulum's favorite happy hour - 2-4-1 at Playa Kin Ha, or any of the many cabanas along the beach. For dinner, try your hands at al pastor tacos at one of the taquerias in town.

day 2: anywhere from 300-500 pesos, depending on food & drink

tuesday, day 3: mayan ruins
Visit Chichen Itza, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and/or Coba, a ruined Mayan city only discovered in the 1980s and 10% excavated. Don't miss the cenote, or underground pool, outside of Coba. The easiest, most efficient way to do all of this in one day is to hire a taxi, but that's muy expensive. You can take an ADO bus to Chichen Itza, about 2.5 hours away. If you choose to only see one set of the ruins, my pick is Coba, but I'd probably be outvoted on that. If you only do Chichen Itza, visit the cenote near it. Pack plenty of water, buy more, and when you feel hydrated, drink even more. A packed sandwich for lunch will keep you moving (Subway in town really is a good, easy, fast choice). You'll probably be exhausted when you get back, so check out one of the taco carts in town and explore the merchant stalls.

chichen itza entrance: 120P
coba entrance: 60P
coba cenote entrance: 100P
bus to chichen itza: 200P
taxi for the day: 2000P + tip

wednesday, day 4: turtle beach + dos ojos cenotes 
Hopefully you're well rested after yesterday and ready for more adventuring (albeit much more relaxing exploring)! Take it easy this morning with a leisurely breakfast at your hotel or a bakery in town. Rent snorkel gear wherever you find it cheapest in town (80-100P). Stand on the side of the street heading north and wait for a collectivo, or local bus, to stop to pick you up. Ask them to stop at turtle beach. If they don't know it, well, you might have to ask around town or the bus to find the name of this incredible beach because I just can't give away all my secrets! Snorkel on one of the most pristine stretches of beach you'll see, with fish that will light up your eyes for days. Wander back through the jungle to the nearby cenote. After your dip, jump in another collectivo toward Dos Ojos - it boasts the world's largest system of cave pools. Or check out some of the local watering holes (literally). Take a collectivo back to town and try El Camello or El Capitain for incredibly fresh seafood.

collectivo: 40-80P
snorkel gear: 80-100P
turtle beach/cenote entrance: donation
dos ojos entrance: 100P (note that you may need to take a taxi from the road through the jungle to the entrance)
other cenote entrance fees: varies

thursday, day 5: biosphere or beach day
If you have the time and money to splurge, head to the Sian Ka'an biosphere. The UNESCO World Heritage site is home to numerous bird and wildlife species, boasts beautiful sights and sounds, and a truly awe-inspiring wilderness experience. I've even heard rumors that in one kayak tour, you stop cliff jump into the clear water. If the steep entrance fee and guide (optional) isn't in your budget, spend another day at the beach. You are on the Caribbean coast, after all!

biosphere tour: 1000P (my understanding is that you have to have a tour)

friday, day 6: tulum ruins + private beach + town
Spend your last full day in Tulum seeing the sight that'll put this city on the map - the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Take a taxi or rent bikes to head up there. The ruins overlook the beach, and when you're done exploring them, you can swim and sunbathe at the ruins' own private beach. There's nothing like swimming and looking up at ancient ruins. It's beautiful. After, head back into town for lunch and sight-seeing. Take a walking tour of the town, stopping to take pictures of everything. Buy some Mayan honey and Mexican vanilla in a local market. Eat wherever is still on your must-try list.

tulum ruins: 60P
bike for the day: 80-100P
taxi to/from the ruins: 120P
photography and walking tour: free

saturday, day 7: cancun
Jump on an early ADO bus up to Cancun and check into your hotel in the Spring Break Capital. If you're like me, one day is too much to spend in this city, but well, you need the experience, right? Hop in a taxi or on a local bus without giving it too much thought. Ask for the closest beach and see where you end up. A taxi driver took us to his favorite beach, a locals-only type spot, where we drank 2-4-1 margaritas in lounge chairs, watched kids splash in the waves, and loved every second of our day in Cancun.

ADO bus to Cancun: 150P
Taxi/local bus: varies

Cost breakdown: 
Hotel: $350 for 7 nights (based on Posada Luna del Sur = $100/night with 2 people)
Without including flights (about $350 from D.C.), Tulum can easily be a $1000/person trip. With two people, it was much easier to split things and take taxis instead of buses. The conversation rate as of 2/13 was 12 pesos for $1. I hope this itinerary and sample budget helps!

where to stay | tulum, mexico

My favorite keepsake from Zan's and my trip to Mexico last month is a map. It's so worn it looks like we moved to Tulum and lived off of it. It fell in the ocean when we forgot it was in Zan's pocket, and it dried in the sun beside us. It has directions scribbled on it, notes jotted in the corners, unmarked beach nooks circled. It got us where we needed to go, and when we explored off the map's territory, it guided us back. It's a map of Tulum, a town whose main strip is no longer than a mile, and Tom, the owner of our hotel, handed it to us in person when we checked in.

When I finally sold Zander on Mexico, we made a deal: he said no sleeping in huts on the beach, and I said no resorts. So..... we have very different ideas of what a vacation should be, and what kind of bed it should involve. To further compromise, we decided I would be in charge of research and logistics, and he would pick the hotel.

I was terrified.

Needlessly!

Zan found Posada Luna del Sur, a small - 12 rooms - hotel owned by an American expat in Tulum pueblo, or town. It's in the center of the local scene - near the best restaurants, bars, and artisan stands. It's 3-5km from the beach - an easy bike ride or cheap taxi trip. It was perfect.

A hotel staff member greeted us when we check in and showed us to our room, a spacious one-bedroom with a queen sized bed fitted with a sheet and a small, light blanket. We had a small balcony with two chairs, overlooking palm trees. The kitchenette comes equipped with a water jug to refill water bottles (!), a sink, microwave, fridge, even a coffeemaker. The hotel is three floors, has free wi-fi, and serves a free made-to-order hot breakfast every morning. It's a dreamboat.

About five minutes after checking in - enough time to set down our suitcases, Tom knocked on the door. He handed us our beloved map. He has carefully created this beauty, marking all of his favorite restaurants and bars, a place on the beach for salsa dancing lessons, the best cenotes in the area, trustworthy bike rentals, and pretty much everything you can think of.

Since it was getting late in the evening, and we were starving, he pointed us in the direction of a few restaurants and said he'd chat more in depth with us in the morning. And that he did. After breakfast, he invited us into his personal apartment, on the third floor of the hotel, and we talked for an hour. He graciously let me go through my entire list of places to see, things to do, and let me ask logistical questions. He gave us honest answers on what was worth it and what was a tourist trap, and he even gave us some "off the map" (even better than the beaten path!) places to check out.

Mid-way through our trip, when I came down with a nasty case of Montezuma's Revenge, I was so sick Zan sought Tom out for advice. Tom drove Zander down to a pharmacy in town and acted as a translator to get the medicine he thought I needed. Those meds? Oh dear, they knocked me out, but they also knocked the nausea out of me!

When Zan wanted to book a fishing trip, Tom was stoked - told him his favorite place to go and was truly bummed out he didn't have time to take off from work to go with him.

I can't say enough good things. If you're heading to Tulum, skip the expensive resorts because, let's be honest here, the restaurants on the beach are overpriced and overrated and as authentic as McCormick's taco seasoning, and being in town is the way to do Tulum. Unless you can convince whomever your travel partner is to sleep in a hut on the beach, of course.

I want to frame our map or do something creative with it. I have a feeling no matter where I keep it, it'll lead us back to the hotel on the corner near the Subway with the flag of Mexico out front.

Posada Luna del Sur
Calle Luna Sur 5, Tulum, Quintana Roo (about 3 blocks across from the bus station, pass the Subway, walk one more block, and turn left at the Pescaderia)
Rates: $99 high season / $55 low 
Email: welcome@posadalunadelsur.com 

Tell Tom hello! And that Zander and Cyndi recommended you! 

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.

unexpected memories | tulum

On a hot, sunny Thursday afternoon about 10 miles outside of Tulum, Zander and I found ourselves sprinting across the major highway that connects the city to Playa del Carmen and Cancun. We vaulted over the median, towels dragging on the steaming asphalt, water dripping off our hair and swimsuits. We dodged traffic - a car honked and veered left as we careened towards the opposite shoulder of the four lane road. A mere second after we'd stepped on the grassy roadside, a van, stuffed like a can of sardines, barreled towards us and came to an arresting, loose stop, flashers furiously blinking.

"GET IN," Zander yelled, already launching forward into the front, where, miraculously, there were two open seats.

I lifted myself into the high van, wedging Zan tighter between the driver, the manual transmission, and myself, and slammed the door as the driver floored the accelerator.

Seat belts unbuckled, we flew back to Tulum with the jungle on one side and the beach on the other. The wind and sun dried us off, and we laughed at the absurdity and memory in the making - riding shotgun in a colectivo, a Mexican-style bus.

It was completely unexpected and unplanned, and it's my favorite moment of our trip.

travel tuesday | where to eat in tulum

When I read an article, or heard from someone, or something, semi-recently about, "culinary travel," I shook my head. Nope. That's not a thing. I think the conversation was with Zander.

"It... is... a thing," he said, looking perplexed. "It's a really popular thing."

I shook my head again. I was probably eating something as we were having the conversation and took another bite. "It's not a thing. That's not a thing."

"It's a real thing, Cyndi," he asserted in this hypothetical memory (that I'm nearly positive really did happen), getting a wee bit annoyed at my orneriness.

"Fine. It's a stupid thing,"  I quipped, real mature like.

And then the dam broke, and the flood gates let loose, and all hell rained down on poor Zander, trying to tell me something that he read about that day. I ranted. (Don't feel too bad for him - you should hear him talk about people who check out accidents on the side of the road instead of driving. You should feel sorry for me!)

What the expletive is culinary travel?! People are spending thousands of dollars to visit new countries and eat. They're booking culinary cruises, dining with chefs, taking cooking classes in 'exotic' lands, trying foods they've never heard of, arranging their itineraries around restaurants - often, hole in the wall restaurants. And they're spending so much money doing all this.

SAY WHAT?

Every traveler everywhere balked at this newest fad trend thing because we've all been doing it for as long as we've been traveling. Eating is as much of the reason most travelers travel as seeing ancient ruins and touring museums and hiking on the Great Wall. It's an inherent, inextricable aspect of the whole business.

So. Culinary travel? It's not a thing because it's built in to the experience of a new destination as it is.

Phew. That was supposed to be my intro to eating in Tulum. I mucked it up and ranted instead! So let's just get to the good food, shall we?

Culinary travel. Hrmph! 

Charlie's (~$20-30 for two, including margaritas)
Warm up your palette and tolerance for spice at Charlie's, a Tulum staple known for their strong, handmade margaritas. Charlie's is located in town next to the ADO bus station. You can't miss it! We loved the chorizo empanadas and house made quacamole.

Tacoqueto (around $6 per person)
My favorite meal of the entire trip came from Tacoqueto, the hyper locals spot that's so homemade and local, I had to use my nominal Spanish to ask what was on the day's menu. Fortunately for me, since I couldn't catch everything the chef/hostess/server told me, there's an open kitchen in the back with vats of what's on the menu for that day. They obliged the crazy American girl by letting me order two dishes and giving me half portions of each. I would fly all the way back to Cancun and take the two hour bus ride to Tulum for the spicy Mexican chicken & noodle soup and meatballs in tomato sauce I had. Tacoqueto is on the south end of town, across the street from a bike rental shop. One of our taxi drivers told us it was his favorite restaurant in Tulum, and now it's mine, too.

Taqueria el Carboncito ($12 for two, generously)
I don't have a good picture of this tiny thatched roof shack with plastic tables and chairs, but it was our second favorite meal of the trip, after Tacoqueto. The specialty is tacos al pastor, and they were bomb. It was Zan's first time having al pastor, and I loved introducing him to it. It's located in town, just north of Tacoqueto. There's another al pastor place, as well, almost directly across the street from Carboncito.

El Camello ($40 with drinks and enough food to feed 2)
If seafood is your jam, you're in the right place for it in Tulum. El Camello famously serves up that day's catch - it's so fresh it's quite possibly still moving a little when you take a bite. Zander explored this place solo, so I can't speak for the taste and quality myself, but he assures me that it was the best of the best. It was one of his favorite meals. He loved the octopus ceviche and the grilled fish. He ordered the "small" ceviche, and it could have fed a crowd, though I doubt he was disappointed to have it all to himself.

El Tabano ($30-40 for two, no alcohol)
When you're on the beach in Tulum, eating gets tricky. Well, it gets tricky if you're looking for authentic local food that won't break the bank. If you're good with mediocre, expensive food, you'll love eating on the beach! Snark aside, there are some good beach restaurants, but you need to be willing to pay more than you would in town. El Tabano is worth shelling out the extra pesos. We enjoyed stuffed jalapenos with chicken and bananas and caught-that-day fresh fish tacos. You can find this cozy, charming, quirky restaurant tucked on the west side of the road.

Mezzanine ($$$$)
Without intending to, we booked our vacation over Valentine's Day. We joked that we may never be able to live up to the standard we set our first one together, spent at a fancy Thai restaurant overlooking the beach in Tulum. It was pretty darn romantic and wonderful. It's not usually my cup or tea (or curry, as it may be) to eat at international restaurants in a new country, but for this place and the day, I made an exception to that rule. The chef at Mezzanine is Thai and has re-created traditional Thai dishes with Mexican flair. It makes for an exciting, palette stretching menu. Our favorite dishes were the spring rolls, pineapple curry, and (for Zan) the hog fish. Be prepared to drop some money if you choose to dine at Mezzanine, located at Mezzanine hotel on the beach.

Other places we enjoyed or wanted to enjoy but ran out of time... 

Altamar - located in town, this restaurant serves upscale Mexican dishes, along with other cuisine. They also offer cooking classes. It was on our to-do list but unfortunately we ran out of time. Tell me what you think if you try it!

El Capitain - this used to be known as THE seafood restaurant in Tulum, but El Camello has taken its place. I loved this restaurant, really and truly. It's the perfect place for a couple or family with a seafood lover and a not-so-seafood lover. I had a Mayan chicken dish, and Zan had a delicious quesadilla. Located in town.

El Asadero - my biggest culinary regret is not making it to El Asador, located on the north end of town. It's a famous grill and steak place (Mexican). The best part? It's cheap and a favorite locals spot, to boot.

Popular Tulum food...

In this area of Mexico, you'll be enjoying a lot of tacos, quesadillas, empanadas, Mexican soups, nachos, delicious (spicy!) salsa and guacamole, seafood, and tropical fruit like pineapples and mango (my favorite!). You won't find as much mole, enchiladas, and other Mexican dishes you've come to love here. Mayan culture is vibrant and alive in Tulum - don't miss out on trying some Mayan dishes!
 

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