My flight to Cancun was scheduled to arrive at 10:15am, and I had figured that with a bit of luck and haste I could make it down to Tulum, 115km away, on my first day. Well, not to be. A freak accident delayed my departure out of Toronto by 90 minutes (a baggage bin was blown by a wind gust into one of the plane´s engines, grounding my plane), and further delays in Cancun (long customs queues, slow baggage retrieval) sealed the deal. All in all it was well after noon by the time I had assembled the bike and rolled out of Cancun International Airport.
The divided highway running along the Mayan Riviera was an easy, flat, but boring ride. Two lanes in each direction, with a 4-foot wide paved shoulder, allowed lots of room for me and for vehicles to stay well away. Every 5km or so a megaresort would appear across the road (on the beach side, of course), while on my side of the road I would go past occasional shanty huts, garbage piles, and abandoned roadside businesses. The highway demarked a distinct contrast, and I felt like I was riding right down the middle... half rich Westerner, half traveller, subject to car exhaust, wind, hunger, thirst, weather, etc.
I don´t like to be riding too late in the day on a bike tour, particularly Day 1 in a region I´m adapting to, so I settled for Playa del Carmen, halfway to Tulum. The ride was fast and I put in a straight 55km from a gas station just outside of Cancun airport. Playa del Carmen is a tourist town, complete with a large pedestrianized beachfront wall-to-wall with souvenir sellers, restaurants, etc. Certainly good for food, internet, and cash, but other than that not my cup of tea. I´m planning on leaving just before dawn tomorrow, for a big 150km shot through Tulum (stopping to see the ruins) and on to Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
Day 1
The playa of Playa del Carmen
I resisted buying the lucha libre mask for Dad
2 comments:
Hi Graham,
How much was a room in Playa del Carmen? Was it easy to find one or were many hotels full? There are always so many all inclusive vacations going there.
The weather looks great!
Mandy
I paid $32 for a room... overpriced for what I got. It was easy to find a room, though. In contrast I´m paying $30 tonight here in Bacalar for a far superior room (differences: very clean, multiple sheets, tv, big clean bathroom).
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