Day 90-92 / Tag 90-92 June 10-12 Arriving in Tulum, Qua. Roo, Yucatan, Mexico

Mexico...
Arrive 7:30, immigration takes some time, latin american countries love bureaucracy, paper and forms, it's raining heavily at 32 degrees Celsius, humid and warm, different to California.
I get picked up at the airport for a shuttle bus to the car rental, wait more than an hour in line, see above, latin america and bureaucracy..., buy extra insurance for third party liability, and a gps, with wifi access point in one device.

Everybody wants to be tipped for everything. I give the guy who checks the car with me and hands me the car key a 10 Dollar bill, hope that helps, when I return the Volkswagen CrossFox.
Finally pull out of the car rental at around 11, south to Tulum, can't miss it, a two hours ride. Police posts everywhere, heavily armed, I am thirsty and hungry but don't have mex pesos yet. It's raining like hell.
Drive into Tulum, follow the gps and find my "hotel" booked in advance through booking.com
In a backstreet of town, between torn down houses, jungle-like vegetation and rubbish. Can this be true? Yes, they are expecting me with my reservation in hand.
I check into a room, it smells bad from the drain, the water smells bad, I will not use that to brush my teeth. Have booked three nights, drop the bags and go downtown to change money. Well, saturday, no banks open...

Mexico seems hostile and dangerous until now, not inviting at all, feels like I have to take great care with every move I make on the streets. Did I make a big mistake to go here? Is it all in my head? Or have I simply been in the U.S. too long and don't recognize anymore that Mexico is perfectly normal and not hyper clean and sterile?

Find an ATM in a 7-Eleven, buy and drink a liter of water and look for the beach road. I need Vitamin Sea. The only place to look a bit inviting is Mateo's bar and restaurant.

I have some tacos and beers, think about changing hotel,
can still smell the water, find the Tulum Bay on the beach, just across the street from Mateo's

imagine myself sitting on the terrace , looking over the beach, writing blogposts, but they charge 89 Euros a night...

return to my place, the Posada Hal-Ha in calle Asteroides

and have a nap until 8 pm. When I wake up, there is no light, no electricity at all. The rain soaked the electric installations of this part of the hotel (later I will see the cables on the roof, simply tied together and connection with tape...). The mexican solution? Look for a room that is not affected and make me change room. OK, it's bigger, smells better, and has a fridge... I won't complain, and fall asleep again

June 11
Next morning I wake up, get a coffee and cereals for breakfast, the rain has stopped and life looks definitely better than yesterday. I drive around town

and check about six dive shops, in the end I came here to dive cenotes, and decide to dive with ScubaTulum . 

It's the first shop I checked, looks the most professional one, good vibes, my gut feeling says this is it. I book a two tank dive at Cenote Dos Ojos (two eyes) for the day after tomorrow, take it easy. They recommend me a place around the corner for good coffee, the Ki-Bok in calle Centauro. In this part of Tulum town, all streets are named after planets, stars and so on. I have a real Cortado for 25 pesos, take some fotos of beetle with sugar cane press in front of the bar next door.

Not sure, if I want to stay in my hotel for the time remaing until I fly, I take the car for a drive to Playa del Carmen,

passing Hard Rock Hotel riviera Maya, big Resort, gated communities, not my style. In Playa the rooms are much cheaper, but it's sheer crazyness, don't even get out of the car, you can as well go to Mallorca, Balneario 6, Bierkönig. On my way back I pass Cenote Dos Ojos, feel the thrill already, take to the beach road, find a fine spot on the beach,

then downtown for live music and beer,

beer sales in mexico supermarkets: weekdays 9am til 9pm, sundays 9am til 2pm
you have to know this if you want to buy one for your hotel fridge...

June 12
get up too late for dive, have a lazy one and work on the blog instead. Takes 1,5 hours to upload 106 MB to Vimeo...

better go to the beach...

have a Passionfruit Margherita at a place that Nicola recommended

 back to town




and passing the perfect combination of car car and trailer

Sugar Cane Press for the real Mojito

 sounds interesting

I have made friends with Tulum by now, after the short Playa del Carmen experience I am really happy to be here. And I don't have any idea of how much I will love it during the next days:
Go diving tomorrow, first time Cenotes!

See you under water