AdGuy
22nd December 2006, 06:21 PM
Dia Uno – Thursday, December 7: The alarm rings…3:00AM. We kick the dogs off the bed and head for coffee and showers. After a whopping four hours of sleep, we need all the help we can get. An hour later, we’re saying goodbye to the thirty-plus animals on our horse farm (okay many didn’t even hear us as most were still asleep) and headed to JAX for our Northwest Airlines 7:00AM flight. Flying with another airline out of Tampa or Orlando would’ve been faster, but NWA definitely had the better deal (thinking I was some big cheese since I owned my own advertising agency they offered two FREE First Class tickets to try their airlines). The flights were fine and at 12:50PM we land at CUN.
After stops through Immigration, Customs (green light!!), and Baggage Claim, we find the Buster Car Rental representative holding up our name and are off to get our car. For those planning on renting a car, I highly recommend Buster. They typically have the lowest rates and receive more positive feedback than any other rental spot. Our experience with them was 99% flawless. The only hiccup was they gave us a car with an empty tank so upon leaving their rental location (right on Highway 307 about two miles north of the airport exit), we had to stop at PEMEX.
Now is about as good of a time as any to discuss PEMEX. Many folks get scammed at Mexican gas stations because they innocently believe the simple task of getting gas will be above-board. We have NEVER been cheated by a gas attendant…but it does happen every day. The problem seems to be either folks don’t get the amount of gasoline they are asked to pay for or the attendants switch out bills (like a 20 peso bill for a 200) and claim they weren’t paid the correct amount. We solve this by getting out of the car, verifying the attendant zeros out the previous sale, pleasantly requesting a specific amount and grade of gas (dosceintos pesos, magna, por favor), then paying with bills that cannot be switched out (20, 50, or 100 peso bills) once the transaction is complete. We had been warned that one of the Tulum stations was very dishonest but never experienced any problems…and we traveled over 1,000 kilometers this trip alone!
After we fueled up, we headed down 307 to Playa Del Carmen. We have spent a bit of time in this town in the past…but in holds little allure for us now (WAY too crowded). Now, we just use it as a place to grab supplies and exchange money (their exchange rates tend to be much better than Tulum…we saw 10.62 in PDC versus 10.20 in Tulum). After converting a thousand bucks to pesos, we had lunch at Los Carboncitos (their great dip assortment followed by arrachera and pastor tacos) and ran to Wal-Mart for supplies.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/FloridaAdGuy/December2006TulumPictureson16MB022.jpg
Okay…enough time spent in this congestion…let’s head to Tulum!
For those wondering, it takes about 45 minutes from the Cancun airport to get to PDC and then roughly an hour to get to the Tulum beaches. We didn’t see much radar out there but did notice an occasional police car pulling someone over. For that reason, plus the safety of locals crossing the street, I highly recommend keeping to the speed limits. Also, there are several topes along the way (at least five areas that I counted) and a good deal of construction. Please allow yourself enough time to accommodate any possible delays without trying to ‘make up time’ by driving like the collectivo vans!
We pulled into Tita Tulum around 6:30PM. Ah, heaven...
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/FloridaAdGuy/December2006TulumPictureson16MB402.jpg
Of course, with the long day we’d had it felt more like midnight. After checking into our cabana, we finally had a chance to breathe. With everything unpacked, we looked at each other and thought, “Hi friend...it’s good to be in one of the top places in the world with you.” We headed to our private porch and cracked open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon...
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/FloridaAdGuy/December2006TulumPictureson16MB082.jpg
We discussed several dinner possibilities, but between the toll of travel and the effects of the wine, we decided to have dinner right at Tita Tulum’s restaurant. A pair of killer margaritas (by far the most powerful and tasty we had the entire trip) perfectly complemented our meals: grilled garlic fish and Fish Olmeca (a TitaTulum specialty). Banana flambé seemed the perfect finish.
Afterward, we walked to the beach (a whopping 50 steps from our door) and watched the moon rise over the crashing waves. Though we live in Florida and can see this any day we want, it just never gets old. We’ve just arrived in Tulum…we’re happy…we’re healthy…life is good. We’re also realized we were exhausted, so we head to bed around 11:00PM.
After stops through Immigration, Customs (green light!!), and Baggage Claim, we find the Buster Car Rental representative holding up our name and are off to get our car. For those planning on renting a car, I highly recommend Buster. They typically have the lowest rates and receive more positive feedback than any other rental spot. Our experience with them was 99% flawless. The only hiccup was they gave us a car with an empty tank so upon leaving their rental location (right on Highway 307 about two miles north of the airport exit), we had to stop at PEMEX.
Now is about as good of a time as any to discuss PEMEX. Many folks get scammed at Mexican gas stations because they innocently believe the simple task of getting gas will be above-board. We have NEVER been cheated by a gas attendant…but it does happen every day. The problem seems to be either folks don’t get the amount of gasoline they are asked to pay for or the attendants switch out bills (like a 20 peso bill for a 200) and claim they weren’t paid the correct amount. We solve this by getting out of the car, verifying the attendant zeros out the previous sale, pleasantly requesting a specific amount and grade of gas (dosceintos pesos, magna, por favor), then paying with bills that cannot be switched out (20, 50, or 100 peso bills) once the transaction is complete. We had been warned that one of the Tulum stations was very dishonest but never experienced any problems…and we traveled over 1,000 kilometers this trip alone!
After we fueled up, we headed down 307 to Playa Del Carmen. We have spent a bit of time in this town in the past…but in holds little allure for us now (WAY too crowded). Now, we just use it as a place to grab supplies and exchange money (their exchange rates tend to be much better than Tulum…we saw 10.62 in PDC versus 10.20 in Tulum). After converting a thousand bucks to pesos, we had lunch at Los Carboncitos (their great dip assortment followed by arrachera and pastor tacos) and ran to Wal-Mart for supplies.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/FloridaAdGuy/December2006TulumPictureson16MB022.jpg
Okay…enough time spent in this congestion…let’s head to Tulum!
For those wondering, it takes about 45 minutes from the Cancun airport to get to PDC and then roughly an hour to get to the Tulum beaches. We didn’t see much radar out there but did notice an occasional police car pulling someone over. For that reason, plus the safety of locals crossing the street, I highly recommend keeping to the speed limits. Also, there are several topes along the way (at least five areas that I counted) and a good deal of construction. Please allow yourself enough time to accommodate any possible delays without trying to ‘make up time’ by driving like the collectivo vans!
We pulled into Tita Tulum around 6:30PM. Ah, heaven...
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/FloridaAdGuy/December2006TulumPictureson16MB402.jpg
Of course, with the long day we’d had it felt more like midnight. After checking into our cabana, we finally had a chance to breathe. With everything unpacked, we looked at each other and thought, “Hi friend...it’s good to be in one of the top places in the world with you.” We headed to our private porch and cracked open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon...
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/FloridaAdGuy/December2006TulumPictureson16MB082.jpg
We discussed several dinner possibilities, but between the toll of travel and the effects of the wine, we decided to have dinner right at Tita Tulum’s restaurant. A pair of killer margaritas (by far the most powerful and tasty we had the entire trip) perfectly complemented our meals: grilled garlic fish and Fish Olmeca (a TitaTulum specialty). Banana flambé seemed the perfect finish.
Afterward, we walked to the beach (a whopping 50 steps from our door) and watched the moon rise over the crashing waves. Though we live in Florida and can see this any day we want, it just never gets old. We’ve just arrived in Tulum…we’re happy…we’re healthy…life is good. We’re also realized we were exhausted, so we head to bed around 11:00PM.