We wanted to get up at a reasonably early hour - well for a vacation at least. I got up a little before 7am and started making pancakes for the group. I had wanted to make gingerbread pancakes, my specialty, but couldn't find ginger, molasses or apple sauce at the store. Ah well, we had cinnamon pancakes instead. Though they don't have real maple syrup down here either.

This morning we wanted to get up really early so we could hit Tulum before all the crowds got there. Our whole group was going, except Doctor Larry. Everyone did a pretty good job of getting going early in the morning. We all got there by 9am. Joel and I had left first, but we went past the exit to Tulum and ended up in the village of Tulum. Joel noticed our error first. He was wondering what happened to all the signs that pointed out the direction to Tulum. Well we turned around and found them going the other direction. The rest of the group were wondering what happened to us.

The parking lot in Tulum is next to a little shopping area. Just past the shopping area is where you hire the guides (if you want one). We decided to hire one for about $35 for our group. He also collected our entrance fees so we didn't have to wait in line at the entrance.

The entrance to Tulum was about 1/2 mile from where we were. Matt, Erin and Ian elected to take the bus (which costs a small fee) and the rest of us walked down with our guide. Then it was into the park.

Tulum is not particularly large. It is easy to see in about an hour or two. Our guide was with us for about an hour. He pointed out tidbits that we would probably have overlooked and told us the history of the place. Karen warned us that some guides are not quite up on all their facts and talk of sacrificing virgins and such. Our guide seemed pretty accurate for what little I did know. I only caught one error. He said that the Spaniards had destroyed the Mayan books, but in reality three of the books were not destroyed and still exist today. All in all he was a wonderful guide and I highly recommend hiring one if you go.

After our guide left we wandered around by ourselves for a while. Joel spent his time photographing as usual even though the conditions for photography was less than perfect. Ian seemed to be having a blast. It was very windy and he loves the wind in his face.

We all left the ruins together, but then split up. Matt and Erin wanted to get back to the house and Donna went with them.

Some of us had to go to the bathroom and there is no bathroom at the ruins (make sure you go before you enter!). But the pole dancers looked like they were just starting their dance and we wanted to see them. We were wrong however. They just sat at the top of the pole while the rest of the troupe hit the tourists up for money. They were very insistent about it too. It took forever before they decided it was worth their while to start. There were five men at the top of the pole. One in the middle who stayed there the whole time and four who hung upside down on ropes while the pole spun around and the "dancers" slowly came down. I figured they would do something besides just hang there. But I was wrong. They just hung upside down as the ropes slowly played out and when they got to the bottom, they flipped right-side up and stopped. I was expecting at least a little acrobatics. But I guess not.

Well now we really had to go to the bathroom. We found one in the corner of the market. They charged 2 pesos to get in, but it was better than the other bathroom where the line was incredibly long.

Then we shopped around a bit. Beth wanted a dress. We wanted something with Mexican lace work, but couldn't find a dress to fit Beth. Beth is very, very skinny and tall. The Mexicans are not. There was no dress that was skinny enough for her that wasn't a child's dress and she is way too tall for a child's dress. Ah well, it was fun looking. The proprietors there were not as pushy as the flea market in Cancun, but they obviously wanted to make a sale. The last lady kept trying to find one narrower than the one Beth tried on, but I was showing her how much smaller it had to be around the top (about 4" less in width - or a total of 8" of material less), but the best she could come up with was 1" less. Still too big and baggy. Despite the language barrier we had no trouble communicating. And it is funny, but even though we both knew the other couldn't speak our language, we both were talking - she in Spanish with the occasional English words and me in English.

The guys by this point had had enough of shopping. So they had found a little outdoor cafe and were drinking Gatorade. I was getting a little thirsty too, not to mention hungry. It was time for lunch.

We decided that we would eat in Akumal at Lol Ha (the outside beach cafe not the inside restaurant). We drove down to the restaurant and found it but a guard told us that we couldn't park there. So we went down another road to find parking and walked back.

Lol Ha is supposed to have the best burgers on the beach - at least according to my guide book. And indeed I think their burgers live up to their reputation. Beth had a burger and let me try it. She was less sure about how good it was. She likes her food plain and unseasoned and this obviously had some seasoning in it. The rest of us thought they were great. I didn't order one however. I wasn't in Mexico to eat hamburgers. I ordered one of their soup specials. It was fabulous. It was a chicken soup with onions and tomatoes and avocado. Yummmm. I also had the fish tacos. I wasn't impressed with them. Joel's pork tacos were much better. Luckily he let me have one. :>

For the afternoon we headed back to Puerto Adventuras. We went to the beach at the Omni Hotel. The kids body surfed a little, though the waves weren't particularly large. Joel and Larry went snorkeling. I had to let my suntan lotion dry :<. When they got back I went out with Joel and Beth. The snorkeling was marginal. The whole time we were there the wind was very strong and kicked up the waves and made the snorkeling very cloudy. This beach had a little barrier reef out by where the boats go into the marina (though the boats are on the other side of the reef so you don't have to worry about getting run over). The reef has obviously been pounded by some nasty storms in the past. It is a graveyard of coral - though some small corals were growing there. There was not a lot of fish, but enough to be interesting. On the way back into the beach, Beth found a friend, or should I say it found her. A little baby shark sucker about 9" long started swimming just below her stomach and followed her all the way into the beach. It was adorable.

While we were gone the boys had started construction. They were digging out a hole in the sand. Ben was quite startled when he found that he had dug up a crab's home. It scared him at first but then the boys tried to catch it. I felt sorry for the little crab being chased by a group of boys. It was probably happy when we left the beach.

Well you can't stay at the beach forever. We went back to clean up for dinner and figure out where we were going. We decided to go to La Faisan y el Venado, or the Pheasant and the Deer. It was a local restaurant, not a tourist place. It was just past Juarez Ave in Playa del Carmen. We wondered if we had found the right place since we were told that it was an underground restaurant. Obviously they had gotten mixed up (unless there was an underground entrance we missed). But all the other descriptions fit perfectly. No one at the restaurant spoke English and the menu was entirely in Spanish. I had a good time trying to get my point across. Though a margarita without ice really confused them, but they brought me something with tequila and without ice. There might have been the juice of one lime in my drink, but it was not what you would normally call a margarita. It was quite good however. For our meal we ordered a plate that was for 4 people. It had quite a few dishes on it - three soups, three appetizers and five dishes. Yummy. All the soups were great. And my favorite dish was some kind of beef. Most of the table loved it, but a few weren't as impressed. Beth as usual had a plain quesadilla. Solaente tortilla y queso. She likes her food plain and this is the only dish in a Mexican restaurant that is plain.