Miles: 25 - Total miles: 2,999
Time on road 45m

Akumal, Quintana Roo to Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo

Had a short 45 minute ride up to Playa del Carmen today.

Got to the hotel way too early. They let me park the bike, leave my riding gear with them, and change clothes. Room would be ready by 12:30.

Out of the Power Ranger suit and now wearing civies, I found a place to have lunch and after wards took a tour of the beach area. Had something on the lens of the camera so all of the pictures had a smudge in the middle of them. Had to go back to the beach again and retake all of the pictures. (The wife is really going to believe that one. You are not seeing in the pictures what I was seeing up close. Or at least I am not posting those pictures.)

This phase of my ride has come to an end. Tomorrow I will remain in Plays del Carmen and get a rental car. The rental agency is just around the corner from the hotel that I am staying in. Saturday I will drive up to the airport in Cancun and pick up my wife and sister. The bike will remain parked at the hotel. We will be going back down to Akumal where we have a condo reserved. On the 17th I will make a return trip back up to the airport in Cancun, back down to Playa del Carmen where I will turn in the rental car, get my bike from the hotel, and I will be back on the road again taking the slow route back home.

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo to Cancun Airport to Ackumal, Quintana Roo

This morning I seperated the riding gear from the rest of the clothes that I will need for the next few days. Leaving the bike parked at the hotel and they are storing all of my riding gear for me until the 17th.

Got up to the Cancun airport with little traffic and no real problem locating the correct terminal and getting the car parked. Within 15-20 minutes my wife and sister came out of the terminal and we were ready to head down to Akumal. The condo is locaed in the building next to the hotel room where I was staying a few days ago.

Coba (Mayan Ruins)

Coba is a large ruined city of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization located in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is located around two lagoons. A series of elevated stone and plaster roads radiate from the central site to various smaller sites near and far. Coba is estimated to have had some 50,000 inhabitants (and possibly significantly more) at its peak of civilization, and the built up area extends over some 80*km. Archaeological evidence indicates that Cobá was first settled between 100 BC and 100 AD.

Nohoch Mul, which means "big mound" is a 138-foot high pyramid which rises even higher than the more famous El Castillo in Chichen Itza. Nohoch Mul can be climbed and there is a stunning view from the top.

Tulum

Tulum

Today was going to be a day for snorkeling. However the day started off hazy and with a cloud cover so we decided to take advantage of the somewhat cooler temperature and go and explore the ruins in Tulum.

Tulum stands on a bluff facing the rising sun looking out on views of the Caribbean that are nothing less than spectacular. In Maya, Tulum means "Wall", and the city was christened thus because it is a walled city; one of the very few the ancients ever built. Tulum served as a major port for Coba.

Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans, it was at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish settlers appear to have been the cause of its demise.

Entrance into the city through the wall.

Tulum Ruins

Notice the big guy in the center of the picture.