Mexico

---

The hotel owner is Italian, so he made some good expresso for breakfast.
The house dog is a little Chihuahua named Bimbo (after the bread!), always dressed in a blue jacket.

Took the Collectivo this morning to the ruins. This minibus, which holds about 14 people, goes all the way to Playa del Carmen. We got picked up about a block from the hotel, very convenient. Entry to the ruins was 65p per person, a very reasonable price of about $5. There were many tour buses there, so very crowded. This is a smaller area than the other ruins, and you can't walk up any of the structures. The landscaping is beautiful, with paths set amidst palm trees and lush green vegetation. The overall location is gorgeous. The ruins are built atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. You can look down and see the waves coming in over the rocky shore. I couldn't stop taking photos!

A short distance from the exit we took the road to the public beach access. Perfect beach for walking in this area, very fine sand, no rocks or shells. There were a few hotels along the beach, some rustic with private cabanas, palm trees, and hammocks. Some padded lounges and massage areas. Good ocean breeze for the wind surfers. Hit a rocky area on the beach we couldn't pass at high tide, had to return to the road.

We couldn't return to the beach through most of the hotels because of locked gates, but got down again through a beach club. Further down the beach more rocks with precarious crevices, somewhat hard to maneuver with the strong wind in sandles! We tried to return to the road via a small path through the trees, but the path stopped and we had to backtrack.

We returned to town by taxi, and found great quesadillas at Las Quekas, for the second day in a row. Two large quesadillas and two drinks for under $5. Our kind of lunch! Spent some down time on the patio, reading books, blogging, etc. We walked the main street later at night. One vendor said, "Buy something you don't need, almost free." We hit the bakery, and found fruit and our dinner right across the street from the hotel. Ate mega burritos at The Natty Dread, surrounded by photos of Bob Marley and reggae music.

Today was a busy day. Our pedometer read 9.8 miles. Tomorrow we head to Playa del Carmen.

---