Day 3 - Merida to Tulum

GREG: Got up early for the 4 1/2-hour bus ride from Merida to Tulum, a small town on the coast of the Caribbean Sea that is home to a small but impressive Mayan site on a cliff overlooking the sea (we'll visit the ruins tomorrow). Mexico has an extensive bus system, and the great thing about the first-class buses is that they are really comfortable and pretty affordable in comparison to buses in the U.S. The bad thing about them (for me at least) is that they usually play movies (loudly) during the entire ride, and they are most often action films from the U.S. that I'm not interested in watching. So as we began our ride today, I was relieved that the bus didn't seem to have any TV screens. What a relief, I thought. No Nick Nolte or Bruce Willis screaming in my ear the whole trip. About a half hour later I heard a motorized buzz above me and something swung down and almost clipped my head. I rode like this the rest of the way, the TV an inch above me and the sound blasting away as I tried to read.


After arriving in Tulum, we checked in to our B&B, ate a quick lunch, and headed for the beach. It 's a beautiful place -- soft white sand, crystal clear water that some say is "seven shades of blue" (well, that's actually said about a place not too far from here, but close enough).



LISA: Here I am getting a massage on the beach. I've only seen this in magazines and it was really amazing to experience it for myself.


Although I've had massages before, this one with the sounds of the waves crashing, and the ocean breeze was unforgettable. Both Greg and I are so grateful that we are having these 2 weeks of vacation, a luxury that we know many others can't have. I've been trying to remind myself to be present. Even here in such a beautiful place I find my mind wandering. So Greg and I are trying to remind ourselves to fully experience these wonderful moments, and to remember how blessed we are to be here.

Tomorrow we have a full schedule. The owner of the bed and breakfast we are staying at connected us to an amazing tour guide in Tulum. After we see the ruins he will pick us up and take us to explore a beautiful cenote (freshwater sinkhole or underwater cave), snorkeling in a lagoon, and monkey spotting in a reserve (howler and spider monkeys). We are both really excited. We probably won't have time to post tomorrow night but we'll catch up the following day,