Tulum - the best place ever

Two weeks ago we organised a trip to one of the most beautiful spots at Riviera Maya: Tulum

As almost everybody was thinking about going to Tulum this weekend - if just to relax or to go to Full Moon Party - we had quite a lot people who wanted to go with us. But as we alreday had made reservacion with our hostel in Tulum we couldn't bring more than 24 people.So we started early on friday morning to made it on time tour first destination: the ruins of Cobá - some 40 km west of Tulum. The ruins of Cobá are with 40 m height one of the largest at the Yucatan Peninsula. Located at the jungle you can discover it by feet or on bike - what the majority of us decided to do. Regardless of the hot and humid climate the whole group took the challenge of climbing up the pyramids which was pretty much worth it.

Discovering the ruins of Coba by foot and by bike 

Chilling at the beach

Once all had taken their pictures we continued our journey and arrived at Tulum in the afternoon. After checking in to our Hostel - a literally round experience we spent the afternoon at the beach (Playa Paraiso - the name says it all)) and Adelita Beach Bar where they serve the best coconut shrimps (Camarones al coco) I've ever had. We passed some hours there doing nothing but relaxing, having some chelas and walking along the beach. At night we went to Playa del Carmen for dinner and some drinks (most of the beach restaurant in Tulum are either kind of expensive or are closing around 6 pm).

Most famous photo spot of Tulum

The next day we visited the ruins of Tulum which are in second place after Chichin Itza the most visited ruins - or at least they seem to be due to loads of tourists from all over the world wandering around and taking the obligatory picture with beach and ruins in the background (of course we did so as well). After that we spent the afternoon at the beach with some of us doing a snorkeling tour and later a fishing tour and others just were handing around relaxing or exploring the beach and nearbys.


Those who went fishing brought some calamaris and fish which they cooked at night. Everywhere close to seaside around Yucatan you can find that delicious dish made of all types of seafood: Ceviche. While preparing it we realized how much time it takes to make it as you have to make sure that the fish is properly cleaned and pickled. It was a great feeling preparing the food that you just fished out of the caribbean sea. After dinner and some pre drinks the majority of us went to Full Moon Party hosted by Papaya Playa Project - a hotel and beach club directly at the beach.

Beach of Akumal 

The next day was "Sunday off" meaning that everybody could do what they want. Some went to the beach again, some had to stay in the hostel due to bad hangover and others went to the beach of Akumal, snorkeling with turtles - which I definitely would recommend. By entering the beach there a lot of guides waiting and wanting to sell their "snorkel tours" saying that you only will see turtles when you go with them. Don't trust them! You will see a lot of turtles when you rent the equipment on your own (less expensive) and share it with some friends (we rented two and shared it with four people).

Tired but full of new amazing impressions of the treasures of Mexico we made our way back to Merida in the late afternoon.

Tulum - we will miss you. We'll be back soon. 

Mexican Oktoberfest

As we all know the German Oktoberfest is one of the most famous cultural celebrations of the world.

Even here in Mexico there are german communities organising this event. This weekend some local german companies are organising the Oktoberfest Mérida 2014 with german food, party traditions and - of course - a lot of German beer in Merida.

Let's see how that will feel like for our german exchange students.

Keep you posted...

Cenotes and Charrería

Mix of cultures: mayan pyramid and hispanic church

One thing that you can find widely throughout in the state of Yucatan are cenotes (natural sinkholes resulting from a collapse of limestone bedrocks that expose groundwater underneath). Some very nice ones are located just 50 km in the south east from Merida, so we organized a trip to visit them with some of our students. Leaving Merida early in the morning, we first stopped for the city of Acancéh where we visited a mayan pyramid from the early classic period (founded between 200 and 300 AD). The view of the prehispanic monument and the spanish colonial architecture of the church right beside the pyramid was impressive. I guess this is one of the only places where you can find the heritage of both cultures that close.

Mototaxis

Hispanic church 

After a quick guided tour around the pyramids we continued our journey to the city of Cuzama. There were already some guides waiting on the road offering us tours to some cenotes but we decided to go straight to the cenotes of Chelentún. We started our tour to 3 cenotes on little train waggons drawn by horses. The cenotes were all surrounded by jungle so the only way to access them was via the narrow railway. The first one was more a cave (gruta) then a cenote. Its entrance was beneath a tree and to access we had to climb down a narrow stair beside the roots of the tree. Down there it was very dark - without the help of our guides we couldn't hardly see anything. The second one was the biggest and most beautiful one. This place had some kind of magic atmosphere: the crystal clear water with the sun entering through to holes and all the roots hanging down like lianas. The water was pretty cold but it was a great refreshment though. The third one was the largest one with a water depth of 27m and 10m height until the ceiling of 10 m.

Horse Railway

Cenotes of Chelentún

Watching Mexican national sports

Once we had done all the three cenotes we headed back with the horse railway and made it, after a short detour due to miserable road signs, to our second and last destination for that day: the Charrería event just in the small town of Baca. We went to the stadium/ranch named "El coraje" (the courage). Charrería is one of the national sports of Mexico. It is a competitive event, similar to rodeo, where the teams have to simulate the animal husbandry practices used on the haciendas of old Mexico. There are different disciplines with cattle and horse. The goal basically is to get control over the animal (horse or cattle) through catching it with a lasso, depending on time and the used techniques. The "charros" - participants in Charería events - wear traditional clothes with big hats (sombreros). We spent the rest of the afternoon there watching it and trying to get into the rules - which however at first wasn't that easy.

I would really recommend visit at least some of the hundreds of cenotes close to Merida and if you're interested in horse-riding and are keen about to learn more about the Mexican's national sport you should definitely invest some time and visit one of the Charreria events.

Guacamole Mania

When it comes to Mexican Food there's no way avoiding the delicious avocado dip: GUACAMOLE It usually is served as a starter accompanied with some taco crisps. 

Here's my quick and easy guacamole recipe for 4 persons:

2 mature avocados (mature when black and a bit soft) 

1 tomato

1 onion

1/2 lime

salt and pepper

add coriander or parsley and chilli according to taste

Cut the onion and tomato and remove the stalk. Slice the avocados and remove the pulp with a spoon. Don't throw away the stone, by leaving it with the avocado pulp it doesn't lose it green color. Mix the avocado pulp with onion and tomato and add juice of half a lime. Stir it all with a fork and season it with salt and pepper and add coriander or parsley according to taste. Often they add a bit of chilli but instead of that you can also add garlic if you like. However the traditional Mexican Guacamole is without garlic and they rarely use much salt.