When we last caught up, half of our family was sick, but after doctors visits and medications kicked in, we were able to join our friends Lynette and Kevin in touristy pursuits. Unfortunately, our friend Brian was only in town for a few days and had to return to San Francisco on Tuesday morning.
Aside from some time well spent on the beach, we also made some excursions outside of Playa. An afternoon trip was made to Tulum, the site of an old coastal Mayan city, about 45 minutes south of Playa. Although the ruins there are not the most impressive in the area, its location on a cliff overlooking the blue ocean makes it quite scenic. With its manicured green lawns and strategically placed palm trees, we almost thought we made a wrong turn and ended up on a golf course. Those Mayans were damn good landscapers. 
We also made a full day trip to the ruin sites of Ek-Balam and Chichén Itzá and the town of Valladolid. Archaeologists only began excavating Ek-Balam in 1998. Excavations take a LONG time, so this site is considered very new and there’s still much more to be discovered there. We felt almost like it was our own private discovery since there were few other people there and it had none of the typical tourist diversions. We carefully climbed the steep stairs of the “Acropolis” (about 100 feet high), which housed various temples. From the top, we enjoyed a view of nothing but jungle for miles and miles. Afterwards, we headed back to our newly cleaned car, and paid the enterprising local kids 20 pesos ($2 USD). Being vertically challenged, they must not have noticed our still dirty roof.
Lynette had wanted to see a real Mexican town, as opposed to the tourist town of Playa del Carmen, so we stopped off in Valladolid for lunch. We had a great lunch in the courtyard of El Mesón del Marqués hotel, walked through the zócalo (main town square) and took the requisite picture of an old Spanish church.
Next we headed for Chichén Itzá, which is the most thoroughly excavated of the great Mayan cities. We were disappointed to find that visitors were not being allowed to climb the steep and tall pyramid called El Castillo. We have since discovered that a few days prior to our arrival, an elderly woman fell to her death while descending its stairs, so the chances of anyone climbing it in the future are slim. Nevertheless, we saw all the wonders of Chichén Itzá — temples, cenotes, the Ball Court (a stadium used to play a Mayan ball game), a bathhouse, thousands of columns formerly holding up thatched roofs, and locals (possibly the descendants of the very Mayans who once lived here) hawking souvenirs with their ritualistic chant of “1 dollar, 1 dollar”.
After a long day of playing tourist, we drove back to Playa del Carmen, and indulged in the comfort food and mojitos at Babe’s restaurant. It’s good to live in Playa.
“Almost free, almost free”