We hadn’t anticipated to see the sunrise, on this trip, but we did. In order to beat the tourists in Tulum, we had been advised to be on site well before 8 am, the official opening time. But that meant that we had to leave from our hotel in Coba, about an hour away, in the dark.
And indeed, this plan worked well. We were amongst the first to get our tickets, and walk into this Mayan site, unique for its location at the coast. Of course, the sun had just come up, and was now low above and behind the most important building – not ideal for photographs. You cannot control everything. But overall the site was nice enough, with various temples spread across the mostly flat plateau, dotted with palm trees. Movement was exclusively via a network of gravel paths, most of the buildings had been roped off to avoid people climbing on, or wandering in between walls. No Indiana Jones feeling here. And the place does fill up quickly, and you know how that goes: soon there are lots of small groups, with guides talking loudly to make sure even the least-interested member of the group could hear him –always a him, never a her. People taking selfies, people taking pictures of each other, some even taking pictures focused on the buildings. Nah, no Indiana Jones feeling at all. A must-see, like all the websites and travel guides claim? Mwah, perhaps a little overrated.
Although – as you know by now – we try as much as we can to avoid the tourist scene, our plan today is to drive along the coast and at least see Cancun – drive through -, see the strip outside Cancun with all its hotels, see how this fabulous Riviera Maya looks. Just to confirm that that is really something that would not turn us on.
Disappointing, all the way. Along the road from Tulum north-east, towards Playa del Carmen and Cancun, you never see the sea. Every patch of coast has been claimed by one or another hotel, and we pass lots of them, with the most fabulously attractive names; think of Dream Jade Resort, El Dorado Seaside Palms or Secret Jewel Beach Villas. But the hotels are mostly invisible from the road, hidden behind an entrance gate in a wall. A designer wall, perhaps, but a wall nevertheless. And right and left of the wall a barbed wire fence, or some other unfriendly construction to keep non-guests out. What is behind the wall, or the fence, remains hidden.
The country side doesn’t help. It is not particularly attractive, shrubs and shrub-like trees, of a nondescript pale green. All along the way, on the other side of the fence, as well as on the other side of the road. In fact, this is what most of Yucatan looks like, so far, the road to Coba isn’t much different. And what doesn’t help is the rubbish, sometimes more, sometimes less, but quite often not just the stuff you throw out of the window. Whole plastic bags full of rubbish find their way onto the side of the road, too.
The first significant town we hit along the coast is Playa del Carmen. One huge tourist resort, but with mostly low-rise hotels; soulless, it what comes to mind, there is no atmosphere whatsoever. We drive into town, towards the coast, but it doesn’t get better. Worse rather, when we get to the jetty where the ferries from Cozamul, a popular island offshore, arrive. The boat that just got in dislodges the tourist groups en masse, each of them following their guide for the specific tour to the waiting busses.
The rather smaller town of Puerto Morelos is slightly better, more compact and with more live in the streets. We decide to have lunch here, in a beach restaurant, which doesn’t disappoint. But still, not for a million dollars would I spend my holidays here – by way of speech, that is…
And then Cancun. Cancun has two coasts, one on the inside of the laguna, and one along a narrow strip that separates the laguna from the Caribbean Sea. We decide to follow the narrow strip. And once again we see hardly any beach, the hotels, this time definitely visible, occupy the area between road and sand. I had expected a kind of Vegas-like string of obscene hotels (I have never been in Las Vegas), but in fact quite a few of the hotels have made an architectural effort, although whether you like the design or not is a personal matter, of course. Despite the narrow strip, the set-up is relatively spacious, with enough room for green, mostly lawns and palm trees. Throw in a few nightclubs and shopping malls, and that is Cancun for you, and everybody else here on their package deals. Disappointing, but not enough evidence to call it disgusting – although not for a million… you know.
And then it was still a long way back to our base in Coba. Whereby the landscape didn’t improve from earlier on.