no %¿*!!*^`´# hot water

also found in Mexican hotelroom bedside drawers


regal old gent in Tulum


Tulum ruins


Jane and Shane at Tulum


Tulum ruins and the ocean


view from my cabana


my cabana


i´m feeling like perhaps I am getting a little too old to be sleeping in dorms in foreign hostels. Fortunately one of my three roommates was out all night on the tequila and arrived home for bed as I was geting up for a shower. Another was asleep at 5pm last night and was STILL asleep when I left the hostel at half 7 this morning. I don´t want to know what HE had been up to. The final other room mate was your typical English soccer hooligan about 12 years old, out looking for some 'trubble'. I had no desire to find out if he found it.

At least I slept well but my worst fears were realised when I discovered there was no agua caliente in the bathrooms in the morning. Now I can put up with dodgy roommates, threadbare sheets, ceiling fans that sound like 40 year old inverted helicopters above your head. But I CANNOT and WILL NOT ever get used to cold showers. Guaranteed Mr.Grumpy. So I swore like a trooper for 5 minutes then stomped off to make myself a strong long-black to try and salvage the morning.

Not altogether unhappy about leaving Campeche we headed off to the other side of the Yucatan peninsula to the town of Tulum which, the guide book assured me, had spectacular Mayan ruins set on a cliff overlooking the bay of Mexico. Good so far eh?

We had a lot of driving to do and consequently arrived in Tulum quite late in the afternoon and immediately began searching for accomodation. Tulum itself is dismal but we had heard there were some good cheap places down by the beach. We found ourselves a cabana each set less than 30 metres from the oceans edge. Built of sticks and grass it appeared incredibly inviting. (see pix)

Jane, Shane and I spent the rest of the evening admiring the full moon rising over the Gulf of Mexico and swimming in its luke-warm turquoise waters. (So there all you 9 to 5ers!!)

The ruins unfortunately, though in a spectacular setting, suffered from too many people and from the fact that we had seen far more magnificent sites earlier in the trip. It was also stinking hot and there was very little shade. However, not to sound too blase about the whole thing, it was still a pleasant way to couple of hours.

We are now back in Cancun and are leaving for Cuba in the morning. Not sure about the availability of internet but will do my best.

Adios.