Cancun, Mexico

Oh my god, guys. Cancun is amazing. I always thought that it would be over-rated because it´s so popular as a tourist destination but it´s actually just really amazing. When I first moved to Mexico, I got really annoyed with people who claimed to know Mexico really well but really only knew their resort in Cancun.

And I don´t actually think that there´s anything wrong with staying at a resort in Cancun. It´s a relaxing holiday. And sure, you won´t really get to know Mexico if you don´t leave your resort. But if that´s how you want to spend your vacation then I say go for it. Personally, it´s not my kind of travel. And I wasn't really sure if I would enjoy Cancun because I don´t really dig vacations where I just lie around and sleep on the beach. I like having adventures and getting lost and meeting cool and interesting people. I wasn't sure if I was going to get that kind of vacation by visiting Cancun, but I was definitely able to get the best of both worlds.

I only had 4 days in the area and I could easily spent a month just traveling around the Yucatan. In the 4 days that I was there, I split up my time between Cancun and Tulum. In my opinion, this is the best way to do it, especially if you´re limited on time.

I flew to Cancun out of Mexico City because that was the cheapest flight available. It left Mexico City at 6 in the morning and arrived in Cancun at about 9. I didn´t actually get to sleep a lot because I started off in Puebla. So I took the bus from Puebla at about 3 in the morning.

When I arrived in Cancun, I decided to start my trip immediately with a visit to the ruins of Tulum. There was an ADO bus that took me directly to the ruins. It took me about 2 hours to get there. I was super, super sleep deprived and it was about 100 degrees out but I really wanted to fit in as much as possible.

I don´t look great in any of my pictures on this day because I didn't have much sleep at all. I loved the ruins though. They were really beautiful.

Here are some of my other favorite pictures.

The best part was looking at both the ruins and the beautiful beaches at the same time. It took my breath away.

There´s a public beach located right along the ruins so I definitely recommend packing a suit. Especially when the weather is so hot. And like, it´s just really pretty.

After my long day, I took a colectivo to the center of town. I stayed at a really great hostel right in the middle of town. After I checked into my hostel, I took a shower and rested a little. Then I went out to buy my bus ticket to visit Chichén Itzá. It was pretty high on my list.

There´s a lot of big tours that will take you out to the site, but I did it in a weird way. I left Tulum at 9 in the morning and returned at 4;30 the same day. I really wanted the freedom to explore it and appreciate it on my own.

After I had my plans set for the next day, I took myself out for some ceviche. It was so amazing. Just really fresh and delicious.

Then I went home and slept like I´d been up since 2 in the morning.

The next day, my hostel served me a delicious breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit. I had the brilliant idea of taking the banana with me, but it ended up getting smashed in my bag. Oops.

The ADO bus cost about 500 pesos roundtrip and it takes about 2 hours to get to the ruins.

I spent the entire 2 hours trying to figure out what to do with the smashed banana in my bag. It was a very hard time for me.

When I arrived to the site, I was able to get in for free because I worked as an educator in Mexico. I felt really good about that.

I´ve now seen a lot of ruins in Mexico. I´ve been to Monte Alban, Teotihuacan, the pyramid in Cholula, Mitla, and Yohualichan in Cuetzalan. After a while, they all kind of blend together a little bit. It gets to be a little like seeing temples in Asia. All of the temples in China just kinda look the same. And nothing was as cool as Angkor Wat.

BUT. I don´t want to sound like an ungrateful poophead. I just mean that there´s so many cool things to do in Mexico that it´s easy to forget how amazing the country is when you get to live here everyday.

They don´t let tourists climb up the pyramids anymore, but that doesn´t mean that they´re any less amazing.

The central pyramid is absolutely massive and I really appreciated just walking around.

There is a lot of stuff to check out around the area so I had no problem filling my time until 4:30. It was also really hot so I definitely recommend bringing a lot of water and sunblock.

Here are the many beautiful pillars.

Here is the Temple of the Warriors.

Here is the Temple of the Great Table.

Here are the courts were they would have played their ballgame.

The courts were actually my favorite part because they were so well preserved. I ran around and pretended that I was fighting for the opportunity to get sacrificed. I probably wouldn't have lasted very long in prehistoric America.

Anyway, this is a picture of me pointing at the goal.

I had some time to kill at the end of the day so I went to the restaurant located on the ruins and ate some tasty tacos.

I slept in late the next day because I was exhausted. And then I had ice -cream for breakfast. It was very healthy.

After resting a lot, I took a colectivo to Playa del Carmen. It was only about 40 minutes away and stopping in Playa del Carmen helped break up my return to Cancun.

A lot of people made comments to me about the sand in the beaches in Yucatan. The sand is very fine and very soft. It's really nice to walk around in.

From Playa del Carmen, you can easily take a ferry to Cozumel. It costs about 500 pesos. I didn't do it because I'm lazy.

I had a very overpriced dinner of shrimp in a restaurant overlooking the town.

After dinner, I took another colectivo the rest of the way to Cancun. I checked into my hostel and had an early night.

For my final day of vacation, I took a day trip to Isla Mujeres. Out of all of the beaches that I saw, it was the best without a doubt.

The water was unreal. I seriously just sat and watched it. It was incredible. I'm going to include a stupid amount of pictures because it was so pretty.

I flew back to Mexico City very early the next morning and finally returned all the way back to Puebla by about 2 in the afternoon.

I was really exhausted and it was definitely hard to return back to work the next day, but I was so grateful for all of the time that I got to adventure.