Day 7: Cozumel to Tulum

December 19, 2023

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The two ferry companies serving Cozumel alternate time slots. Since we wanted to go as early as possible (because of the long ride to Tulum), that put on Ultramar, rather than Winjet.

With Ultramar, there was only loading at one end, and all by the one gangplank. You can see it in the photo below. It turned out that the loaded bikes fit, in terms of width, but it was a short and steep push up the ramp.

We stowed the bikes on the back deck, not quite knowing if they would go flying, or get covered with salt spray. It turned out to be just fine!

By the way, the white stuff in the water is fishes, hanging out in a school.

On the Playa side, we waited for the crew to unload all the suitcases, which had been stowed much like on an airplane.

We then followed the herd back to good old Playa.

Playa is wild and commercial, but it is now familiar and we rather enjoy it.

We found a bench and set about eating our yogurt and other breakfast stuff. We had held off on this until after the boat ride, to avoid throwing up on any fellow passengers. While we were there, a young man came over and he turned out to be Jan, from Hanover. He had noticed our bikes and Ortlieb bags. Since he was a member of a folding bike club, and also German, we ticked some boxes for him. Of course we chatted about bikes, bags, routes, etc. etc. Jn particularly thought we should cycle in the Hartz mountains (something we had planned but missed in August), and he had been to Majorca, and said Highway 10 was the good cycling way.

We passed through town and took to the dreaded Highway 307. It's a high speed (nominal speed limit 100) road, noisy and with lots of decrepit big diesel trucks, as well as the flocks of sleek white mini busses. For all that, there was nearly always a shoulder for us.

One of the problems with cycling a high speed limited access road is that while you may have a shoulder, it becomes useless at off and on ramps. In the photos below, half the traffic is exiting for the Xcaret theme park. We got off our bikes here, and Dodie simply got the traffic to stop.

There are perhaps ten theme parks like this along the Riviera. Most seem to be run by the same company, and have X's in their names.

These iconic shuttle busses are seen all up and down 307.

Dodie finally got to spot her Turkey Vulture, the type that buzzed us yesterday but where we could not get a photo.

25 Ahh, he is called a Turkey Vulture because he looks like one, not because he especially hunts turkeys!

307 eventually calmed down a bit, and we had a clear shoulder to cycle in. The noise, however, never abated.

26 This Grey Hawk was watching the action on 307.

We reached the Tulum Country Club, which is quite a distance from Tulum. All the big hotels and theme parks have pretentious entrances, and this one is typical. This is the special distance along this ride where Dodie seems to always have absorbed too much heat. Last time they had their sprinklers on, and she wanted to run through them, but just then they turned off. This time she wanted to wet her shirt in their fountain. In the end we just basically poured water down her back. It's notable, because to locals (including the crocodiles) there is a cold snap going on here right now.

Do they accept crazy cyclists swimming in their fountain?

Along the way we rested in the shade o bus shelters, or overpasses, like ths one. Dodie liked the plants growing on the wall.

In past years coming from and going to Tulum we have noticed road signs giving the distance to the restaurant Oscar and Lalo. There were not all that many signs, but it still was a little like the Birmashave meme for us. We did stop at the restaurant one time in the past, and were very impressed by both the food and the lush grounds.

This time when we saw the Oscar and Lalo sign we resolved to stop in again. We cycled on, seeing no evidence of the restaurant, until we began to wonder if we had missed it. I doubted they would let that happen, and sure enough we did encounter another sign, and then the place itself. All was as we had left it, with the jungle like surroundings and a bridge over a pond with large carp and many smaller fishes.

We seemed to be the only diners there, but we were ushered into a dining room (one of several) and were given a table. At the bar nearby sat a (to us) young woman, Virginia, working on a MacBook. She looked up and greeted us enthusiastically, following with many questions about where we were from and what we were up to.

Looking only briefly at the menu, I asked if she had Poc Chuc. I was surprised to find that she had basically never heard of it. This makes a little sense, because Poc Chuc is a Yucatan and Mayan dish and though we are on the Yucatan Peninsula, we are in the state of Quintana Roo, and not Yucatan itself. However, Virginia went and dragged out the (Mayan) cook, who affirmed that he knew Poc Chuc well, but lacked the pork right now to make it for us. So I went instead with something that was on the menu, Yucatan Chicken, while Dodie chose chicken tacos. Within their categories, these turned out to be the best we had ever had. For my part, I would say it was the best chicken dish ever - so flavourful, moist, and tender!

Virginia now displayed something that I recognized soon was part of her general approach. She described the chefs as knowledgeable experts, saying that they had been carefully trained . They were also encouraged to prepare their own traditional and favourite dishes, and some of these might make it to the menu.

The Yucatan chicken is served on a banana leaf. Those fried plantain are also super good.

We took a short walk around the grounds, and were introduced to a man refurbishing some of the restaurant chairs. Virginia described him as a genius in his field, and also praised his command of English. We did not get the fellow's name but chatted for a while, about chair finishes and gluing at first, and then to learn that he had worked for some years in construction in Washington State. We talked about being an immigrant, and about the reasons for returning home. The man was thoughtful and articulate, and worthy of Virginia's praise. His son was also there helping with the chairs. He is home for the holidays, from studying in Izamal. I was gratified to find that he knew our hotel there, the San Miguel Arcangel and the big yellow church beside.

The grounds also produced what I think is a couple of the best bird pictures we have made to date. They are of Yucatan Jays. These birds were not caged and not posed, but they did seem to have a sense for composition!

Those Jays are exactly as they appear in our book "Common Birds of the Yucatan Peninsula", but in our "pocket naturalist guide" "Yucatan Birds" they are not only shown with black beaks, but a black beaked one is the "Cover Bird". Curious!

Also at Oscar and Lalo, there was this butterfly!

This gives an idea of the lush grounds at Oscar and Lalo

We pedaled on in to Tulum, dodging construction and noisy traffic all the way. Eventually we came to the corner where a right turn could eventually take us past Gran Cenote and on to Coba. Our hotel, the "Uolis Nah" was near that corner. The corner always has a pretty good burrito stand, and also there is a Super Aki grocery. But it also is always a total zoo of construction, snorting trucks, and noise.

Because of the crazy street, the Uolis Nah had the potential of being a bad choice. But as we have now found, behind the drag exteriors can hide little oases. That was the case here, with a nice room, with fridge, a pool, and pleasant garden.

Tomorrow we will choose a cenote to cycle to. And oh boy, breakfast is included here. That's worth turning in now, to soon see what is for breakfast!

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 238 km (148 miles)

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Laurie MarczakI read this entry out loud to Joni (she can’t see the screen anymore) as a bedtime story and she was very entertained by the food descriptions in particular. Birds came in second…
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