Brett 23 vs. Mosquitos 32 - the trials of paradise!!

Yesterday we arrived in Tulum.....mmmmmmmmm, Tulum!



Tulum is a little coastal town on the Caribbean coast of Mexico about 2 hours south of Cancun. We had heard great things about Tulum, a little known beach town with miles upon miles of un-spoiled white sand beaches where you can rent little chic-shack style sea hut on the beach for 10 dollars a night without a single other tourist in site!

well nearly, the miles of miles of unspoiled beach is true, and the eco friendly chic shack cabanas are definitely available to rent...alas, a few others have heard about Tulum too and although it is definitely not mainstream yet and the tourists are few and far between it is no longer 10 dollars a night.

We are staying at Retiro Maya, which has a modest 10 cabanas directly on the beach. we have an awesome view from our front porch I'm sure you'll agree and we only have to share it with the Geckos...and the local golden retriever...oh and the crabs...and of course the ever attentive mosquito's!!



Our porch


Our room


But fear not, after suffering a huge defeat in the jungle that was Palenque earlier this week I have waged full scale warfare on my winged combatants and am happy to report that I am rapidly catching up my deficit! Thus far I am a mere 16 bites down versus the admirable 23 Mosquitos that I have managed to squish, mainly tonight, with the aid of a net, some raid, a can of repellent and my ever alluring ankle which I have been using as bait. When we include the further 16 bites that Nem has suffered then I'm still losing the war, but at least tonight I have definitely won the most satisfying battle. I have been wondering why Jehovah decided to create such a creature, in fact I re-read the Genesis account this morning to see if I could find a clue, but no there was none to be found. I have pondered this at length today and have come to the conclusion that one possible reason he could have created them was rather than suck our blood and be quite possibly THE most annoying insect to ever grace his fine planet they were supposed to be providing a minor liposuction service to enable us to be able to eat all of the finer things of paradise life (marrow, oiled, kept on the dregs et al) and have simply got a little over zealous in the process. Whatever the reason, in this day and age of inherited imperfection they have made themselves fair game as far as I am concerned and all the while they are merrily taking off from my sleeping body bloated with a fresh cargo of my hard manufactured T4 cells, I have no problem in balancing up the status quo with a "bring it on" clap of my, by now mossy hardened hands!

Anyways, I digress (probably more of a rant than a digression) Tulum is lovely and is exactly what we needed after nearly two weeks of leaving London and travelling the width of Mexico.

The Mexican people are as charming and happy as ever and the views and atmosphere of this place are fantastic. Hope you enjoy the photo's of the beaches if you had any second thoughts about holidaying in Mexico they should hopefully allay any fears.

This afternoon we went to hire a scooter so that we could go and check out the cenotes (underground caves that have lakes and rivers connecting them in which you can snorkel and dive etc). The scooter guy didn't have any scooters available (none that would start anyway) and so he gave us this funny harley style roady motorbike to hire, the sort that I did my bike test on back home when I wasnt trusted to ride a "proper" bike. This is what I love about Mexico - No questions as to whether I had any experience riding a motorbike, no instruction as to what to do with it, he simply said..."little bikes broken, you take Big bike...Si?"



the beast (and me)

So, we took "The Beast" down the road to the eco park along the pot-holed track and had had some fun negotiating the mountainous speed bumps and military check points along the way.



We found this guy in our sink tonight



we couldnt resist photographing the local ladystick at the minimart

Last night we went attended the meeting at the local english group public meeting in Tulum, a modest 20 or so publishers. Apparently they only need one elder to join and then they will be able to make a congregation, so if anot of you are wondering about serving where their is a need!!?



we were late for the meeting, not being able to find the KH due to a brother giving us a slightly wrong address. So we called our contact asking for directions, but then as if by divine inspiration a local brother from the Spanish cong gave us directions. Oliver, without proper meeting attire - we were going to pretend he was our study!

We're looking forward to the next couple of days relaxing on the beach, getting some snorkeling in (hopefully in one of the cenotes as well as the second largest reef in the world) and visiting Tulum ruins, which is unique amongst the other Mayan archaeological sites in that it is the only known temple to have been built on the beach. Next we will be making our way up to Cancun to join the congregation for the circuit visit, although we have been told it is not all hard work next weekend as they have arranged a congregation day out to the isle mujeres which is a lovely sand/coral island in the Caribbean just off the coast.

love to all at home, missing you...

P.S a quick note from Naomi to say - as we are staying in an eco warrior location we have no electricity in our rooms, and we only have lights in our cabana from 6pm until 11pm - yes friends this means a week of embracing the curl - although there is a communal 'charging' area in the bar/restaurant area which is basically a sand floor with tables and chairs and a palapa roof - very cute... i'm wondering if they'd notice me dash in with my hair straighteners - don't mind me!
ha ha - until next time, lots of love
curly sue x