Xel-ha & Tulum (very long)

So, on Tuesday in Mexico (yes, I'm finally updating!!!) we got up early, ate some breakfast, and then were herded onto a bus that was taking a bunch of people to Xel-ha (pronounced Shell-hah). Breakfast was included at Xel-ha, but if I don't eat for a long time, I start to get sick to my stomach. So, we decided to eat first, and we're SO glad we did.

When we got there, they gave us the rundown of where everything was, told us to be back at the bus at 2:15 (promptly) and let us go off on our own. Most of the group went off to breakfast, but we decided to hit the snorkeling first. It was AWESOME! We had pretty much the entire cove to ourselves. The water was, again, cold when you first got in, but our bodies adjusted very quickly, and it soon felt warm.

LaRean doesn't do water "sports" so she wandered around and took some awesome pictures of Xel-ha while Wayne, Brandon & I snorkled. Wayne was done after about an hour and went to walk the beach and the area with LaRean, but Brandon and I stayed in for a while longer. We saw a lot of cool fish - the Dory fish (from "Finding Nemo") being the most heavily populated. And, they were HUGE! Sadly, there weren't a ton of fish to swim around in (we found a better place to snorkel AFTER we were finished snorkling and were dressed), but it was still cool.

Separating the cove from the open ocean was a boardwalk that ran around the cove. As we got closer to it, was saw a HUGE dark mass underneath it. When we finally go there, we realized that they were fish. HUGE fish! I was seriously a bit concerned, but they never did cross under the boardwalk into the cove. In "Finding Nemo" toward the end where those fish get caught in the net, and Nemo saves them from being pulled out of the water - those were the type of fish we saw, only they were HUGE and LONG! It was kind of amazing to see these fish just hanging out here. I don't know if they were waiting for handouts from people above, or what, but it was neat.

As we snorkled, we gathered some shells from the bottom of the ocean to take home to the boys, and finally decided to be done. By this point, we were exhausted! It takes a lot of work to move against the current, and to flip our flippers and dive . . . But, it was SO neat!

When we got out, Brandon & Wayne decided just to stay in their swimsuits, but (you girls will know what I'm talking about), it just wasn't comfortable for me. I knew we wouldn't be getting back in the water, so I opted to get fully dressed. (I'm so glad I brought a full change of clothes with me.) By then, I was freezing because of my wet hair and the nice breeze coming off the ocean. My sister gave me a long sleeve shirt (very lightweight) before we left, and I'm so glad she did. That shirt was perfect, and kept me warm without overheating me, and also protected my already badly sunburned arms from getting more sunburned! Thanks so much, Anne Marie!

We ate lunch at Xel-ha, then wandered around for a bit. Brandon & I grabbed some bikes they had there (all-inclusive), and rode around for a bit before we had to go. Then, we started towards the entrance, but had to stop and watch the dolphins. We weren't really able to watch them when we came in because we had to keep up with our guide, so now was our chance. I REALLY wanted to swim with the dolphins, but the price was VERY prohibitive for us, so I had to be satisfied with just watching. Someday, though, I WILL swim with dolphins! Wanna join me, April?

We finally got back on the bus, but were so tired that we were dreading going to the Tulum ruins. As it turns out, we could have saved our money (and maybe swam with the dolphins) or gone home right then to take a nap. It was hot, dry, dusty, and frankly, kind of boring. Our guide on the bus spoke three languages (his native Spanish, English, and French), but his accent was still SO strong that it was very hard to understand him.

When we got off the bus and went to check our group in, apparantly there wasn't a guide for us. He got a guide for the Spanish speakers, and the went off, then one for the French speakers, and they went off, and then the English speakers sat around for a few minutes just waiting. Finally, our guide got impatient and didn't want to wait anymore, so he said that he'd be our tour guide. He spoke F O R E V E R at each of the ruins. And, he was hard to understand, and there were many times I just wanted to tell him to hush and let us explore by ourselves. But, that wasn't possible, so many times, LaRean and I found a nice, pointy rock to sit on for the ten minutes between stops when our guide was talking. He finally let us go off on our own to swim in the Caribbean, or just wander around the ruins, or go shopping at the markets they had there.

Brandon & I wandered a bit, while Wayne & LaRean went back to the bus. When we were finished, we were lucky enough to hit upon the "train" taking people back to the buses, and it was only $2. Totally worth it. I was dragging at this point, and not feeling well at all, so I was very grateful to get off my feet for a few minutes.

We got off at the marketplace, where Brandon bartered with a guy over an onyx chess set. The guy started out at $60, Brandon said no and we walked off, but he followed us and kept lowering the price. Brandon offered $25 for it, but the owner said, "NO!" Finally, though, we won. We got it for $25! And, it's beautiful!

We made a pit stop at a bathroom, where you had to get your toilet paper BEFORE going into the stall, and where there was a tip bucket on the sink. I didn't tip anything. I didn't have any money, and when I first went in, there was no toilet paper anywhere. The lady attendant just sat outside the bathroom staring off into space. She finally got some toilet paper in there, but didn't clean up anything. So, no tip for her.

We finally made it back to the bus, bought some water, then went back to Xel-ha to pick up the others who had stayed all day. Two guys apparantely found their own way home, and we had to sit there for 20 minutes waiting for them. The guide finally decided to go, but made us sign a paper saying that we had waited for the guys for the alotted 20 minutes. *sigh*

We finally got home, showered and rested for a bit, then went to get some dinner. Afterwards, we went and sat in the open air lobby and listened to the sax player. There were people up dancing again, and the mood was just infective. I jumped up and asked Brandon to dance just one dance with me. His response? "No. Are you kidding?" I begged and pleaded with him, but his response was still the same. *sigh* That HURT! So, needless to say, I was upset at him for the rest of the evening, but it still ended on a good note.

We got up to leave, when we noticed that there were some people milling around one of the bridges. Suddenly, they lit some batons on fire, and a group of people came and did some fire tricks. Twirling, dancing on the fire, lanterns . . . It was neat, but Brandon didn't have the camera, so we didn't get any pictures of that. After they were done, we went back to our rooms and fell into bed. Around 9:00! Brandon got up the next morning to walk down to the beach with his dad, but I stayed in bed until about 9:30, then got up to get some breakfast. It was so nice to sleep in without kids coming and jumping in bed with me!

There are WAY too many pictures to post on this post, so I'll do a slide show above it! :)