heenan
23rd February 2008, 08:38 PM
Wed. – Day One of Trip to La Via Laktea in February 2008
We headed down to Tulum from Playa del Carmen around 10 a.m. We had been staying at a resort north of PDC for a seminar I attended. The resort was great, but the beach was nothing like Tulum’s. The drive was fine – no stops by the police this time (although I was more prepared for the local honorarium than last time).
The highway continues to improve and there is less of the 4 lanes in 2 lanes/highway of death each time we travel to Tulum. We stopped at the grocery on 307 and the beach road for a few drinks before turning down the beach road. Of course, the excitement builds as one makes that turn. The road from 307 to the beach is under construction to add lanes (it appears) and not in good shape so the driving was slower (for us anyway). Turned south on the beach road, and passed several familiar sites before we got that first big look at the ocean by Zamas. The road just past Zamas is in poor condition in a couple of spots, but otherwise the beach road was good.
The entrance to La Via Laktea was easy to spot. There is a sign that says: “La Via Laktea – Luxury Cabanas.” The drive in from the beach road was as the pictures on LVL”s website depict – sand and palm trees. The office for LVL is next to the parking area and below the beach dune in the shade. We had a bit of a problem checking in as the owners were not there and the two women who were did not speak any English, which with my limited Spanish made for difficult communications. The women did understand our last name and with us holding our bags and a backpack could see that we wanted to check in. The women showed us their reservation book, which had us down for Thursday and Friday nights but not Wednesday night. By pointing, I think we were able to show them that we were supposed to have a reservation for Wednesday night. The younger woman (who looked about 14 but is actually 20, married and has a 3-year-old as we learned from other guests) called the owner on the phone and after talking to her a few minutes put me on the phone. The owner explained that it was their mistake and they would get a room ready in a few minutes, which the young woman did. Apparently, they had put another set of guests who had arrived a few minutes earlier in our room by mistake. While we were waiting for the other guests to move rooms, a nice Canadian couple staying at LVL came to the office. They filled us in on some of the details of the hotel and offered some tips on things to do in Tulum. They said they have stayed at LVL each of the last five years since it opened, and that the owners called them the hotel’s “first guests.” They gave the hotel high marks.
The young woman then led us up the dune to our room where we had our first confrontation with the stairs to Room 3. The first flight was not a problem. But the second flight is more like climbing a ladder or some mountain climbing experience with a back pack on my back and a suitcase in one hand. Balance was key. But the climb was well worth it, as we now had a view of the Tulum beach and ocean!
We had Room 3, which is the top level in the middle cabana. The middle cabana sits a little closer to the ocean than the two on either side, which helps to avoid everyone sitting in a row on their decks. As Phyllis observed, the cabanas and decks are pretty close to each other. But with my focus on the ocean and beach, I did not notice much.
The cabanas are fairly large as is the deck. Our cabana had five windows that opened with screens. Three window were large and on the sides of the cabana. Two windows were in the bathroom – one above the shower side and the other above the toilet side up high on the wall. The windows provided plenty of cross-ventilation and breezes for cooling. One nice addition, as Phyllis mentioned I believe, would have been a screen on the door to the deck so one could see the ocean and beach from bed.
A quick change from travel clothes to swim suits, and we were on the beach for the afternoon. There were three or four other groups at LVL also, and Hamaca Loca next door seemed fairly full. But aside from these two properties next to each other, the beach was pretty well deserted to the north until Dos Ceibas and Las Ranitas which are next to each other also, and until Casa Magna to the south.
We took a brief break from the beach to have afternoon margaritas and guacamole at Dos Ceibas. Both were very good. Then we returned to LVL’s beach for more reading, sun and dozing. As the afternoon progressed, we turned our lounge chairs to the south and then more to the west. We were both facing west toward the sun when the temperature started dropping and the wind picked up, and there was a sound of distant thunder. Turning over and looking to the north, we could see a storm moving down the coast. This seemed like an odd direction to me, but we had no choice but to retreat to Room 3 and just in time to avoid the down pour.
After the rain, it was time to try out the hot water in the shower. This can be a bit of an adventure in Tulum with water pressure and water temperature being quite different than home. There did not seem to be any hot water in the shower so it was off to the office to ask if there any special directions. (In a past hotel, there was some mechanical work that had to be done to get hot water.)
Again, we had the language hurdle at the office as the owners were not back yet. But I had time to plan my phrase and sign language – “agua caliente” and hand signals to symbolize water falling onto my head. The young woman at the office understood me and was able to hand signal me and explain in Spanish to let the water run for five minutes. That did the trick.
For dinner, we went to Don Cafeto’s in Tulum Pueblo – a favorite of ours. Sidewalk dining, organ music, and great Mexican food. It is always fun to people watch in the evening in the Pueblo.
After dinner, it was back to LVL to tackle the stairs by night. We had a half moon so there was pretty good light, and we did not really need the flashlight we brought. On the drive back to LVL, we saw what looked like a coatamundi walking next to the beach road. We have not seen one of these before so we may have been mistaken. But I am sure it was not a dog or a cat.
Back at LVL, we enjoyed the brief electricity to watch a movie on our laptop and charge our cell phones. Learning that the electricity was on only in the evenings at LVL was a surprise. We know that is the case at many of the places on the beach, but I had thought LVL has full time electricity. We quickly adapted however.
I might mention that cell phone and blackberry service on the beach was much improved since our last trip. Not that we checked either throughout the day. But text messages and the occasional phone call were great ways to keep up with our teenagers at home. We also noticed that more of the hotels had wi-fi service which came in handy at Las Ranitas one day when we both needed to check email.
The movie was the end of our first day back in Tulum. Sleeping to the sound of the waves again was great!
Day two to come soon.
Heenan
pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23872398@N03/
We headed down to Tulum from Playa del Carmen around 10 a.m. We had been staying at a resort north of PDC for a seminar I attended. The resort was great, but the beach was nothing like Tulum’s. The drive was fine – no stops by the police this time (although I was more prepared for the local honorarium than last time).
The highway continues to improve and there is less of the 4 lanes in 2 lanes/highway of death each time we travel to Tulum. We stopped at the grocery on 307 and the beach road for a few drinks before turning down the beach road. Of course, the excitement builds as one makes that turn. The road from 307 to the beach is under construction to add lanes (it appears) and not in good shape so the driving was slower (for us anyway). Turned south on the beach road, and passed several familiar sites before we got that first big look at the ocean by Zamas. The road just past Zamas is in poor condition in a couple of spots, but otherwise the beach road was good.
The entrance to La Via Laktea was easy to spot. There is a sign that says: “La Via Laktea – Luxury Cabanas.” The drive in from the beach road was as the pictures on LVL”s website depict – sand and palm trees. The office for LVL is next to the parking area and below the beach dune in the shade. We had a bit of a problem checking in as the owners were not there and the two women who were did not speak any English, which with my limited Spanish made for difficult communications. The women did understand our last name and with us holding our bags and a backpack could see that we wanted to check in. The women showed us their reservation book, which had us down for Thursday and Friday nights but not Wednesday night. By pointing, I think we were able to show them that we were supposed to have a reservation for Wednesday night. The younger woman (who looked about 14 but is actually 20, married and has a 3-year-old as we learned from other guests) called the owner on the phone and after talking to her a few minutes put me on the phone. The owner explained that it was their mistake and they would get a room ready in a few minutes, which the young woman did. Apparently, they had put another set of guests who had arrived a few minutes earlier in our room by mistake. While we were waiting for the other guests to move rooms, a nice Canadian couple staying at LVL came to the office. They filled us in on some of the details of the hotel and offered some tips on things to do in Tulum. They said they have stayed at LVL each of the last five years since it opened, and that the owners called them the hotel’s “first guests.” They gave the hotel high marks.
The young woman then led us up the dune to our room where we had our first confrontation with the stairs to Room 3. The first flight was not a problem. But the second flight is more like climbing a ladder or some mountain climbing experience with a back pack on my back and a suitcase in one hand. Balance was key. But the climb was well worth it, as we now had a view of the Tulum beach and ocean!
We had Room 3, which is the top level in the middle cabana. The middle cabana sits a little closer to the ocean than the two on either side, which helps to avoid everyone sitting in a row on their decks. As Phyllis observed, the cabanas and decks are pretty close to each other. But with my focus on the ocean and beach, I did not notice much.
The cabanas are fairly large as is the deck. Our cabana had five windows that opened with screens. Three window were large and on the sides of the cabana. Two windows were in the bathroom – one above the shower side and the other above the toilet side up high on the wall. The windows provided plenty of cross-ventilation and breezes for cooling. One nice addition, as Phyllis mentioned I believe, would have been a screen on the door to the deck so one could see the ocean and beach from bed.
A quick change from travel clothes to swim suits, and we were on the beach for the afternoon. There were three or four other groups at LVL also, and Hamaca Loca next door seemed fairly full. But aside from these two properties next to each other, the beach was pretty well deserted to the north until Dos Ceibas and Las Ranitas which are next to each other also, and until Casa Magna to the south.
We took a brief break from the beach to have afternoon margaritas and guacamole at Dos Ceibas. Both were very good. Then we returned to LVL’s beach for more reading, sun and dozing. As the afternoon progressed, we turned our lounge chairs to the south and then more to the west. We were both facing west toward the sun when the temperature started dropping and the wind picked up, and there was a sound of distant thunder. Turning over and looking to the north, we could see a storm moving down the coast. This seemed like an odd direction to me, but we had no choice but to retreat to Room 3 and just in time to avoid the down pour.
After the rain, it was time to try out the hot water in the shower. This can be a bit of an adventure in Tulum with water pressure and water temperature being quite different than home. There did not seem to be any hot water in the shower so it was off to the office to ask if there any special directions. (In a past hotel, there was some mechanical work that had to be done to get hot water.)
Again, we had the language hurdle at the office as the owners were not back yet. But I had time to plan my phrase and sign language – “agua caliente” and hand signals to symbolize water falling onto my head. The young woman at the office understood me and was able to hand signal me and explain in Spanish to let the water run for five minutes. That did the trick.
For dinner, we went to Don Cafeto’s in Tulum Pueblo – a favorite of ours. Sidewalk dining, organ music, and great Mexican food. It is always fun to people watch in the evening in the Pueblo.
After dinner, it was back to LVL to tackle the stairs by night. We had a half moon so there was pretty good light, and we did not really need the flashlight we brought. On the drive back to LVL, we saw what looked like a coatamundi walking next to the beach road. We have not seen one of these before so we may have been mistaken. But I am sure it was not a dog or a cat.
Back at LVL, we enjoyed the brief electricity to watch a movie on our laptop and charge our cell phones. Learning that the electricity was on only in the evenings at LVL was a surprise. We know that is the case at many of the places on the beach, but I had thought LVL has full time electricity. We quickly adapted however.
I might mention that cell phone and blackberry service on the beach was much improved since our last trip. Not that we checked either throughout the day. But text messages and the occasional phone call were great ways to keep up with our teenagers at home. We also noticed that more of the hotels had wi-fi service which came in handy at Las Ranitas one day when we both needed to check email.
The movie was the end of our first day back in Tulum. Sleeping to the sound of the waves again was great!
Day two to come soon.
Heenan
pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23872398@N03/