Tulum

---

On our first day in Tulum, we arrived on the bus from Playa, which took a bit over an hour. We found our hotel, a short walk from the bus station. It had a handful of rooms around a nice little garden courtyard and was very pleasant. We hired bikes and cycled out of town to Gran Cenote, a limestone sinkhole connected to an underground river. We snorkelled in the cold, clear, water in the caves with fish and turtles, amongst some spectacular rock formations.

After a hot cycle ride back into town, we stopped for ice lollies before heading to the beach. The scale on the tourist map is definitely a bit dubious, but after a fairly long ride, we got there. We found a quiet spot and cooled off in the sea!

'Rust bucket', Lara's lime green-and-rust coloured bike wasn't sounding too healthy on the journey back and had a fairly flat tyre so we took her back to the shop. They swapped her fora far newer blue bike.

We ate dinner in a little place close to the hotel, opting for Mexican food over the French restaurant recommended by the hotel... it'd feel a bit odd to spend three days in Mexico and eat French cuisine!

This morning, we set off early on the bikes for the Mayan ruins. We were there before almost everyone else, and walked around in peace and quiet. There are some spectacular views with temples perched on top of cliffs above white sand beaches. You can't get very close to some of the buildings, and we could see why when we left and saw lots of people streaming in!

---