January 19, 2011 (Tulum, Mexico)

The third day of my adventure I awoke in my small hotel room in Tulum after another great night's sleep. Remembering that my hotel was in the neighborhood of three miles from the Caribbean shore, I though it might be great to start the day with a run to the beach. I slipped on a pair of runnning shorts and my new Nikes and headed out. From "el centro" the beach is a straight shot for several miles to a place where the road splits and you can either head over to the Maya ruins or the beachfront hotels. Tulum's three mile "hotel zone" is on a beach road that runs parallel to the coast.  According to my map of the area there are over fifty hotels and other accommodations in the hotel zone. The options range from the inexpensive and "rustic" (i.e., dirt floors) to the post and very expensive for the "high roller" gringos. The general public can swim just below the Maya ruins or at a place someone told me was an open "free beach".

It is very beautiful at the beach just below "El Castillo" and looks like the photo I will insert below:

The hotels that line the hotel zone did not seem to welcome the general public, so I continued to run south looking for the "public beach" someone had mentioned. I jogged into several bizarre places along the way just to check them out. One of the places very close to the "front" of the zone looked absolutely frightening... I ran a long way and I saw a sign for a public beach but it certainly didn't look like much. I looked at my watch and realized that I had been running for about 45 minutes in the hot mid-morning sun so I turned around and headed back. I wanted to make sure I didn't kill myself on only the third day of my trip!
I finally got back to my hotel, grabbed a quick shower, and headed off for another fabulous breakfast at Azafran. Surprise! The restaurant was closed (I found out later that Millie generally takes Wednesdays off!). I ended up eating at a place near my hotel on downtown Tulum's main drag called "Don Karonte"(a/k/a El Paraiso del Caribe), where I had an "OK" omelette and coffee for the equivant of about US$9.00 (not really a bargain for Mexico). I pretty much took a "working siesta" in my air conditioned room, followed by a very nice - local - Mexican dinner at a place nearby called "Rincon Chiapaneco" (which had also been recommended by Liz). I had an excellent meal of tacos, frijoles and a large quesadilla and coke for a grand total of only a little more than US$4.00. I spent an equivalent amount on a fancy dessert (Italian gelato- "doble") at a nearby franchise business called "Panna e Cioccolato"! A classic gringo move for sure! While I was at the Mexican restaurant I couldn't help but notice a very attractive lady who had also been at the same (seafood) restaurant -- with the same two friends - I had dined at the previous evening. I stopped her as she was walking by my table and asked her if she was "stalking" me (and explained that we had also dined at the same place the previous night). She told me she was Finnish, and she introduced her traveling companions who were also from Finland. I told her that my home state - Minnesota - is home to a fairly significant Finnish population and that somehow her fellow countrymen (and women) were taking over the hockey world lately- particularly in the goaltending position. And that's about how far that play went...
But a guy has to take a shot anyway!