Tulum coastline has some beautiful white-sand beaches and Maya ruins are situated right on the oceanfront. That makes it a spectacular scenery. The village 'Tulum pueblo' is located 5 km from the beachfront.on the main road from Cancún to the south. It's a dodgy place.

I wanted to scuba dive in the cenotes on Yucatan. Nearby Tulum this was possible in the cenotes Dos Ojos. These sinkholes with fresh water were my first cave dives and came among my favourite scuba dives so far.

A great advantage of staying in Valladolid was that I was able  to take an early bus to Chichén Itzá and enter the ruins sites before the big crowds. Chichén Itzá is the most famous and best restored Maya site. I explored the area for a few hours and I wondered how it would have been to have lived in the old Maya days. When the tour-busses from Cancun and Playa del Carmen arrived, I returned to Valladolid.

After getting tanned on the Playa del Carmen beach it was time to go inland. I took a bus to Valladolid. This peaceful city has some cenotes, sinkholes in the limestone ground that contain fresh groundwater. The Yucatán peninsula has many of these cenotes and some of them were used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings. I walked the town and visited the cenote Zaci.

Next day I went to Ek Balam, a relatively non-touristy Maya site. I climbed the highest ruins and got an idea about how the former Maya city would have looked like. Back in Valladolid stomach problems kept me close to the toilet in the guesthouse for two days. I spend most of my time in the hammocks in the backyard (and on the toilet). When I was used to my banana-tea remedy, I was ready to visit nearby Chichén Itzá ruin site.

I booked a return flight from Amsterdam to Cancún. Cancún is supposed to be the most touristy place on the Yucatan Peninsula. Because I wanted to start my three weeks holiday relaxing on the beach I took the local bus to Playa del Carmen immediately after arrival.

The beach in Playa del Carmen was the whitest beach I had ever seen. The sand felt soft under the feet. A few days passed without leaving the beach and drinking and dining on Quinta Av, in the evening. When my skin was coloured by the sun (sunburnt...), I was ready to see some more of Yucatan, Mexico.