Eating Ice Cream with the Nephites

28 December 2014

Day 2: Tulum

We have already had so many adventures and it is only day two. This morning we woke up after a solid night’s rest and packed up our backpacks for our next adventure. We are headed to Tulum, the sight of some of the most beautiful Mayan ruins in Mexico. But before we left we had a bit of an adventure. Last evening the man running the guesthouse kept knocking on our door asking for payment information. We ended up paying in pesos that evening because they couldn’t get our cards to work. This morning when we woke up, Andrew had an email in his inbox that said that his card payment was pending. Let me just say that when you talk money as a tourist in a local Mexican hotel, you are always going to lose.

We left the hotel with a handwritten receipt, and two forwarded emails exchanged between the owner and his son during the payment process. The one after the payment attempt said, “Done! I hope we don’t get in trouble. :/”. If I have anything to do with this situation someone will get in trouble! The nice part of the situation is that we were staying in a typical backpacker’s hotel and the price reflected that. I don’t understand why more people don’t choose to stay in such places. The beds were comfortable, the bathroom was very clean, and the room even had Turkish lanterns!

We spent the morning in Cancun riding the local bus through the Cancun suburb streets to the long-haul bus station in the city center. I am proud to say that I came to Cancun without ever visiting the resorts, and we experienced more in a day than I ever imagined was possible. From 75 cent tacos and 50 cent bus rides to staying in a colonial mansion and walking over 10 miles in the streets of Cancun. Last evening we purchased our bus tickets to Tulum and after hearing the difference between first and second class, we opted for second class. We have an hour left of our two hour bus ride to Tulum and everything has been great. It looks like we will be opting for second class the rest of our trip!

I will write about Tulum this evening! We are going to have the best adventures!

9:04pm
The day passed so quickly! We hopped off our bus in Tulum city and set off to find a hotel. We quickly found a hotel/hostel called The Weary Backpacker and ended up purchasing the last $30 private room available. The cheap prices in Mexico are incredible! We went on to walk through the city, visit the Tikal ruins, go to the beach, eat great good food, and enjoy lots of ice cream. Traveling (aka backpacking) usually involves a lot of walking so by the end of the evening we are dead tired. Maybe it’s a good thing that Andrew is so good at giving massages…and all this walking is giving Andrew a six-pack. 😉

-Kylie

Day 2 has been great! We got up early to make our bus to Tulum, but got stalled by our hotel owner. Turns out the hotel had double charged me for our stay and we had to work with them to get the second charge reversed. Fortunately we made it with time to spare at the bus depot. Once we got there, I had to run upstairs to use the bathroom (which they charge you 5 pesos to use). However, when I’d inserted my coin the gate didn’t open! And to too it off the lady wouldn’t beep me through even though I inserted money. I was pretty frustrated and was a little stubborn insisting to the lady I’d paid and that she should just let me in! Eventually another person paid and my coin shot out – turns out I had only paid 5 pesos. My frustrationint the situation was a good reminder that I thought I was in the right, but was unwilling to admit it in the moment… Or urgency from the need to use the restroom. We made our bus and Kylie and I napped, chatted, and read all along the two hour journey to Tulum

I’ve been reading the book ‘How to win friends and influence people’ a very popular book on being persuasive. As I read a couple items stood out, the first was the need everyone has to feel important or meaningful, and the second was that criticism does more harm than good. It mentioned how the best leaders were ones in that criticism was ‘needed’ or acceptable, but instead they chose to convey their message in a clear but patient way. Great lessons along the journey.

When we arrived in Tulum we found a nice little hostel called ‘The Weary Traveller’ (sounds like a lord of the rings destination) and set out for the city. We walked around the streets before deciding to go see the ruins of Tulum, an ancient Mayan city. We didn’t want to rent bikes so we walked a few miles to get there (stopping for cold, refreshing ice cream treats all along the way). The ruins were cool and it was fun to imagine Tulum as an ancient Nephite city. We stopped off briefly at the beach before heading back as the sun was setting.

For me best part of the day was the dinner Kylie and I shared. For 80 pesos (around 5 dollars) we had this delicious dish called pastor, a kind of marinated pork that involves flames and pineapple. It’s delicious, trust me.

Another great thing is we’re doing this whole trip on a good budget and still have the chance to enjoy everything. The time in Central America will probably cost 800 dollars (USD) for the 14 days we are here. Pretty amazing if you ask me!

All in all from the walking, ruins, ice cream, and dinner it’s been a great day!

-Andrew