tulum & playa del carmen, mexico

21 June - 3 July, 2014

Hola amigos! 

We totally made it to Mexico! We're talking Mexican food, Mexican beer, Mexican tequila, and Mexican, well, Mexican everything! Now most people shudder when they think of tequila. Reminds you of nights out that are blurry and days after that are painful. However tequila here is different. Smooth. Palatable. And readily available! A top shelf bottle that costs $60 in Australia, costs $10 here. Anyway, I am getting carries away. We also saw some cool stuff like Mayan ruins, went diving in cennotes (basically caves), relaxed on beaches and did some yoga. Read on to hear more about our Mexican adventures to date. 

The highlights

• We broke two personal bests for diving. We did the deepest (40m) and the longest (66 minutes)  dives to date. There's a dirty joke in there somewhere, but this is a family friendly blog, so minds out of the gutter please. 
• Speaking of diving, these were done in underwater caves. With actual stalactites. Imagine the jenolan caves, filled with both salt and fresh water. Wowsers! 
• We went to Chichen Itza - one of the 7 wonders of the world. It was pretty cool however to be honest, one of the top 7? In the whole world? Questionable... 
• We ate. True story. 
• We chilled out. Playa Del Carmen was kinda like a holiday for us, breaking up the intrepid travelling we've been doing. I'm talking cocktails in bed at 3 in the afternoon. 

The photos tell a better story than I can write, so sit back, pull your socks up, and enjoy the eye pleasure you're about to experience. You're welcome ;) 

The Summary

Weather: We had our first rainy day in months! Other than that, it's hot and sunny. How's sydney?? 
Diving: Totally awesome! Unique dives in crazy underwater caves, created when a meteorite hit earth. Rumoured to be the same meteorite that killed the dinosaurs.
Food: Healthy, fresh and cheap! Who doesn't like Mexican? Guacamole, lip burning hot street tacos, home made salads, repeat dinners at our favourite place in playa ($8 for a two course meal!). 

Beverages: Corona is the cheapest beer here. Really? Heaven. I also created a cocktail. Tequila, Tamarindo juice, squirt (yes, that's an actual drink, please keep your minds out of the gutter), lime and enough ice to sink a ship. I call it the Dangerous Damo. Enjoy. 

People: Met plenty of people at our great hostel in Tulum, then kinda took it easy in Playa. 
Accommodation: Classy! Great hostel in Tulum, and our private apartment on 5th in Playa. 
Budget: Smack bang right on budget. We are getting good at this!
Overall: We love Mexico! There's plenty to do, it's got great food and drink, it's cheap and the people are friendly. What's not to love?? 

Ciao,
Damo (and Kath)


Tulum

Tulum ruins. We look relaxed but it was at least 40 degrees!

Not bondi, but close. Tulum, just under the ruins.

The winning shot of Tulum ruins, although by now we have lost so much water through sweat that we are feeling a little woozy...

Dirty shirt, Kath's genie pants... must be laundry day.

Tulum has one of the nicest beaches in Mexico. So we're told. By people that live in Tulum. Although, it was actually pretty nice. Long, about 7.3 times (roughly) the size of bondi, but without the hoards of people.

A momentous occasion, our first Corona in Mexico!

We had lunch at this joint every day. Fresh avocado, fruit, quesadillas, sangas, you name it. For a princely sum of $4 each.

Another Mexican first, our first margarita!

No, it's not washing day again. We're wearing this to go diving. In a cave. And here is what we saw:

The Pit! A 120m hole in the ground, where fresh water is on the top, salt water underneath, and then a 5 meter thick hydrogen sulfide cloud made from decomposing organic matter, with actual trees coming out of it. The visibility (outside the cloud) is pretty much the same as if you were walking around normally. Incredible! We made it to 40m.

This is the stalactites in the caves from our second dive Wowsers! Although maximum depth was only 10 meters, we lasted 66 minutes underwater. A new record!  

Here's the cloud from the first dive, with an actual tree. As you get close, it feels like you are flying as the visibility is so clear, and the cloud looks like ground. We even got to dive through the cloud for a minute or two, where visibility is zero. Freaky.

Our awesome pad, where all the cool kids hang out.

A moment of history. The first ever Dangerous Damo. Patent pending.

Kath and her fruit snacks. She loves these little beauties!

A local Mexican eatery, including people making out, the soccer, babies, and hot sauce.

Don't you hate it when giant turtles photo bomb a perfectly good pic??

Inquisitive Kath

Playa del Carmen

Doing what we do best... relaxing!

Rooftop view from our apartment in Playa.

Next door neighbour. Hopefully it doesn't rain, their roof has seen better days...

This is these guys' lounge room, just drinking a Corona on the roof. With the washing. That's cool.

Playa Del Carmen has awesome beach clubs where they pump groovy tunes and you can enjoy the water.

However, the beach clubs close up at 5pm. Why? No idea. But that's someones homework. So we just took selfies instead. Gen Y much? 

Kath took me to a yoga class that was actually acrobatics. Turns out I'm actually ok at this! I may or may not start wearing leotards from now on...

One of Kath's lunch masterpieces. She asked me to wait while she took a photo. Sorry.

Our favourite restaurant in Playa. It was empty every night but the chief was Italian trained, and an amateur boxer. Amazing food. Don't do the runner.

Chitzen Itza. A rare shot without people.

Kath reckoned it looked better upside down.

Karate kid

What would Mexico be like without taco stalls? In my humble opinion, still pretty good, but local taco stands are the bomb none-the-less!