Yes, We Can

The sun and heat are back after a week's "cold" spell. Last Friday we avoided the high winds by going down to the tourist Zona Hotelera to see 2 movies --- first run, in English. "7 Pounds" makes you want to be a better person. "Benjamin Button" is an intriguing what-if. Both recommended.

But yesterday we went on our first planned daytrip, a driving circuit of Mayan ruins and what we thought would be a familiar beach town. Took about 2 hours on a surprisingly good (and non-toll!) Highway 307 to Tulum, the Mayan coastal fortress and trading site. The main "castle" is on spectacular heights with a postcard white beach and azure reef-breaking surf below. We had been here 10 years ago and it has been formalized for the hordes on the tour buses. Best part for us were the different birds and lizards.Admission is no longer free on Sundays, and you can no longer clamber over the stone remnants. That's the bad news, good news.

Then on to Coba, which was new to both of us. First uncovered by an Austrian in the early 1900's, it sprawls over 700 acres, much of it still overgrown with cotton silk trees and leafy scrub. The highlight, besides walking under the ceiba canopy for many kms, is the main rockpile pyramid. And unlike other ruins, you can still climb the steep 120 steps to the 43 meter crest! In a blink, up we went --- we're used to both rocks and steep at our place in Kemble Ontario. You can see a long way from up there, but it's mostly the green treetops, mowed to a uniform height by the hurricanes that come through like an unannounced building inspector. There are clever local men waiting in tricycle "taxis" to take tired gringos back the 5km to the entrance. How many times did we say "No, gracias"? Also nearby are large lagoons where we saw an alligator stalking a heron. Who do you think got out alive?

Then backtracking to Playa del Carmen, a well-known beach town south of Cancun and the ferry for Cozumel island. We were backpacking through here in 1997 and it's another case of "Holy cow --- Santa Vaca --- what happened to the place?!" In 5 years the population has doubled and the shady village has become a Euro-chic bustling people spot. Think of the narrow streets of Key West, the carnival of Rio, and the bronzed (and now tattoed) bodies of the Mediterranean. Funny thing is I actually liked it --- the street life is quite the opposite of the quiet at Punta Sam. We'll be back...

Today is like a Monday back home --- laundry, maybe wash the van, and our morning discovery walk. that's anothe rpost later today.

Oh --- today's title "Yes We Can!"? Obama fever is everywhere and the world has their fingers crossed for him. In Coba, a guy was teaching a teenage girl to ride a bike. She was struggling, but he looked at us and in a thick accent said "Yes, She Can!".