Beach Life

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Take any architect, anywhere in the world, and place them on a wide stretch of white sand, large expanse of ocean and whispering palm trees, and the response is pavlovian - wooden huts spring up in their dozens, thatched roofs appear, hammocks swing gently and reggae wafts on the breeze. Tulum is no exception to this rule.

Arriving, as I did, convinced I was at Death's door, I decided to put off finding a hammock on the beach and check into a hostel for the first couple of nights, until I was feeling better. I never left. The hostel (The Weary Traveller, much-championed by Lonely Planet and indeed weary travellers everywhere) was considerably more than I had been paying in Guatemala, but included huge breakfasts, dinner basics, free transport to and from the beach, and Rob and Marco - two Canadians who's passion and flair for cooking ensured that we ate incredibly well for the week and a half I was there - including one memorable night where we cooked up a liquid 3-course dinner - prawn ceviche (with vodka), fruit salad (with rum) and mexican coffee (with tequila). There was also a lot of fish - marinaded, grilled, fried, stuffed, broiled - you name it, we did it.

The beach itself was absolutely beautiful, and surprisingly empty. I spent many, many days working on my tan and staring at the ocean - often too lazy even to go swimming. Needless to say, I soon managed to convince myself that I wasn't suffering from Dengue Fever, and in fact just needed to get over the cold brought on by my truly excessive 5 days in San Pedro.

Tulum is also famous for it's cenotes - a network of underwater caves. Most dive schools will try to persuade you that this is where you want to be spending your bottom time, but I was desperate to get out on to the reef. However, I went down to the grand cenote with some guys from the hostel to snorkel, and it was truly impressive - I have never seen water that clear before.

Eventually, I did manage to get underwater - my ears hadn't quite improved enough and it was tough going, but I couldn't bear to wait any longer. The water around Tulum is very shallow, so we hit bottom at 10m - good news for my ears. There were lots of soft corals, and lots of fish - grouper, snapper, parrot fish (making me wish I indulged in spear fishing!), lots of lobster, and on the second dive I spotted a scorpion fish. It wasn't the most spectactular diving I had ever experienced, but it was wonderful to be underwater, and the temperature meant that I did the whole thing in a 1mm suit and hardly any weight, giving me much more freedom of movement.

The days stretched out, and it soon became clear that I wasn't going to have time to visit Oaxaca on my way to Mexico City. I shelled out a large amount of money for a ticket direct to the capital - although for a 25 hour trip you wouldn't expect to be paying peanuts, and I wanted to complete it in a certain amount of comfort. The time had come to say farewell to the beach and spend a few days living it up in the city before, shockingly, returning home.

In Tulum, winter (and Christmas) had never seemed further away. On the approach to Mexico City, howevee, there was a distinct shift in the seasons - I started to see leafless trees, and witnessed my first winter sunset - the sun hanging as a huge red ball in the sky. I was pleased to be able to get to my hostel via the subway - costing me all of 10p instead of the $12 a taxi would have set me back. Upon arriving at the hostel, I checked in and was told that my room was on the 4th floor. I heaved all my stuff into the lift before finding out it was broken, and started the long climb up the stairs. Locating my room, I decided to make my bed before dinner, meaning that I could collapse into it after eating. I had just served myself up from the buffet when the receptionist appeared, apologising, but telling me he had erroneously placed me in a more expensive room, and the one I had paid for was on the ground floor. Inwardly seething, I said I would bring my stuff back down when I had finished eating. Moments later, a smiling girl approached my table and asked if the other seats were taken. When I replied that they weren't, she proceeded to carry them across the room to her friends. I missed beach life.

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