Tulum... Day 5

Our 5th day on the cruise we docked in Cozumel Mexico. After a short walk through the rain, and a taxi to the ferry dock (our first mistake of the day - pretty sure we could have caught the ferry right from that dock... but you don't ask people at the taxi parking lot a stupid question like that... they'll find you a dock somewhere else!) We quickly got on that ferry. We had been warned that this might not be a pleasant experience. Wow… that was an understatement.. especially since the weather was stormy and terrible. Shane and I actually felt fine and slept most of the way... but I would liken it to being on “The Tidal Wave” at Lagoon for ½ hour... Except that you weren't sure which direction it was going to go next... We were ALL happy to get off of that “ride”!

We were quite pleased with ourselves that we had made it to Playa Del Carmen at exactly the time our tour guide had told us. We had hired “Helaman” an LDS tour guide to take us to Tulum... many of us had heard great things about him. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to be there, so his son-in-law Carlos guided us. He did great, what a cute guy. We boarded our 15 passenger van and headed off. Carlos got right to business giving us lots of background and information about Tulum and the associations between the Mayan ruins at Tulum and the Book of Mormon. The only problem was that we were all exhausted from too many late late nights… (and some were still sick from that ride over.) And although his English was excellent for only speaking a year of it... some was missed in translation. So unfortunately most of us were nodding off and trying VERY hard to be polite… It’s a good thing we had DeeAnn with us… because she was chipper and awake and full of questions for our cute little guide!

We had a great tour of Tulum with Carlos… Very informative and fascinating! What a beautiful scene it was set right on the coast.

Carlos...

Don't we look smashing in our raincoats? We stopped at a little shop on the way to the ferry to purchase them... because we were sure it would be a downpour. It never really rained... just sprinkled, but they served another purpose as well, I'm guessing we couldn't have got lost from our group in these get-ups!

How cool of a shot is that? I must admit Ron and Nancy took that one, I never even saw any iguanas... the camouflage worked on me! The nice thing about offering to do our "Cruise Video" is that I have the pick of 7 couples pictures on my computer! If only I had our video - which apparently has 44 out of 52 "corrupted" files from our cruise. GRRRRR


I almost asked the guy next to me where I could find me a pair of shorts like that for my hot hubby... :) Those aren't swim trunks people... just "hot pants" for another day in paradise!!

Deon, Deon Deon... After touring Tulum Deon and I went to the restroom. When we came out and were washing our hands I noticed a plate on the counter with money on it... I must admit I thought to myself... this is not a pretty restroom... I mean we did get soap... but who are we tipping here? At that very moment I see Deon reach into her purse and pull out a dollar that she set nicely on the "tip plate." A lady handed us a paper towel and we left. When we got back to the group I said, "This beats all... Deon just tipped the towel lady!" And that's how Deon became known as the "Potty Tipper." After Jamaica and her attempt to save that nation with tips... I was surprised she had anything left! We are still wondering what she gave to one particular man at the nearby shops... because she was pretty taken aback when he asked her if... "the pretty senorita wanted a hot Mexican lover!"

After Tulum Carlos took us to a “cenote” for a picnic lunch of “subway sandwiches”. It was very pretty, but none of us wanted to get into the water… a titch bit eerie. There were hundreds of little fish… when we threw a piece of cookie in they would attack it like piranhas... He assured us that they wouldn't do that to us... but I didn't see him jumping in either.

When we arrived back at the dock at 3:05 PM and were told that the ferry just pulling out was the last one until 5... which meant our ship would be leaving us. We panicked a little… actually a lot… Carlos ran around trying to get us on some sort of a ferry back. We were all certain we would be stranded in Playa Del Carmen Mexico and miss our ship!

Lisa had warned and warned us not to try to do that tour on our own... she had got Deon quite worked up about the whole thing... So when the "last ferry just left" announcement was made... she was NOT happy... That doesn't look like a relaxed vacation face does it...

She was wishing she had stayed back in Cozumel with Joe and Lisa to hold an Iguana in a diaper...

Or watch Joe in the "zonkey show"...

But instead she was with us... stranded on the dock!

Eventually we found someone who informed us we could catch a ride back on the ferry that was used to take passengers right back to our ship. (In other words the one you got if you booked an excursion through the ship.) Of course since they knew we were desperate the price was double for us... Pretty sure they knew we were going to pay whatever they told us to!! (Thank heaven's our friends had extra money... because Shane and I had spent all ours for the day!)
The ride back was just as horrendous as the ride over. Shane and I didn't get sick... but I must have looked like it because the lady walking around handing out barf bags - tapped me on the shoulder to ask me if I needed one? I was thinking about how this was only 8 miles... and how so many people came from Europe all the way across the Atlantic... on ships that were nothing like a "Cruise ship"... it must have been unbearable!!

What a wonderful site to see this...

That night we had a fabulous crab dinner, but only half of us made it there, (we were there of course... Shane wasn't missing a meal!) The rest were sick in their rooms! Shane and I were exhausted that night. And turned in a bit early.

All in all we decided that having an LDS guide made it so much more fascinating for us. But if any of you are reading this and considering doing it your own tour. MAKE SURE you check the ferry schedules BEFORE you go!! The ship waits for no one... When we were sailing from Grand Cayman a speed boat was trying to catch up with our ship (that wouldn't even slow down) to get a passenger back on board! Thank heavens that wasn't us!!

To be continued...