Today I am posting part 2 of my Carnival cruise vacation. The second location on our cruise was to Cozumel Mexico. Our ship docked in the port island of Cozumel. The port has many restaurants, shops and of course, bars. We decided to take a ship offered excursion to the main land of Mexico to visit the Tulum ruins. To do this we had to exit the cruise ship and board a small speed boat to take us across the ocean to the Mexican mainland.
The boat docked in Playa Del Carmen, which is a small resort town south of Cancun close to Rivera Maya. The town of Playa Del Carmen had beautiful hotels that were true to the Mexican style, the buildings are white adobe with tropical vines growing up the sides. The picture above is of Playa Del Carmen. From there we boarded a bus for a one hour ride to the Tulum Ruins.
The ruins are located on the shore of the caribbean sea. The ruins were amazing, the entire time we were there all I thought of was the movie Apocolipto. It is a wonder how massive buildings such as these ever came to exist, because they seem impossible for someone to create by hand. The temple of the winds is the building all the way to the left of the picture, with the main temple located in the middle of the picture. The main temple was used as a meeting spot for announcements as well as sacrifices.
Tips of the day when visiting Cozumel and Mexico:
1. The island of Cozumel has many souvenir shops. Better souvenir shops are found on the main land of Mexico. The souvenirs from the main land are more authentic than from Cozumel island. So if you have the opportunity, it is better on the main land.
2. Cozumel has a bar there called Three Amigos. The bar is a lot of fun, and they sell souvenir shirts.
3. Locations in Mexico can go from being the highest of the high, in the resort areas. To the lowest of the low. You could round the corner of a five star hotel and immediately enter a slum.
4. Many people will try to do anything for a dollar. Some may even force you to buy something from them. They many even follow you around begging you to buy from them. The best thing that works for me is to just ignore them, tell them your not interested. They will eventually stop and leave.
5.***If you ever become low on cash and need to go to an ATM. When you with draw the cash. Remember you are with drawing the amount in Mexican Pesos. So if you with draw 200 Mexican Pesos, you are only with drawing 20.00 in American money.
6. We already know not to drink the water in Mexico, there is plenty of bottled water around and it is safe to drink.
One day for a couple of hours is never enough to visit and see all the sights. Stay tuned for part 3 of my journey. Click on the link below to view a video clip of the Tulum ruins.
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