Tulum is a famous stop for many along the backpacking trail. We had a got wind of an all inclusive hostel that sounded too good to be true. Imagine on a backpacking budget suddenly being able to drink, eat, and play as much as you wanted for the one inclusive price. For around $40 NZD per night I could have cocktails for breakfast, lunch and dinner plus endless beers for games such as beer pong and a new one that I was quick to pick up called rage cage. It had a pool, the food was reasonable and it also included daily activities to beaches and cenotes (plus a packed lunch), bike rental and a bonus drop off to our next hostel when we finally left.  Obviously wanting to get our moneys worth each day we stayed at the hostel all night and didn’t really explore Tulum town. Really we could have been anywhere in the world. But we did escape the temptation of a beer for breakfast to discover some incredible cenotes.

I think 2 nights here was plenty and all I could handle so a group of us moved onto a cheaper hostel in the centre of Tulum. A tiny bunk room with no windows wasn’t quite what we had in mind but the intention was to have some drinks and check out proper Tulum night life so wouldn’t really be needing a spacious welcoming room. After getting our taco fix at a very local joint where they served delicious tacos for only $8 pesos we got amongst happy hour. I bumped back into my friend Carlos from Valladolid who was celebrating his birthday. We were at a bar that had ladies night until 1am which meant free drinks for us! Returning to the hostel late the strong air-conditioning was very welcoming. So welcoming along with the no windows that we managed to sleep until 12pm the next day. We all woke with a start and were very confused that we had slept so late, however the refreshing waters at the Gran Cenote soon had us feeling human again.

And hanging out with these little guys was pretty cool.

I stayed a couple more nights in Tulum and then made my way towards Bacalar, The Lake of Seven Colours and sadly my final stop in Mexico.

An unintentional hitchhike saw me arrive at the Yak Hostel which is located right on the edge of the lake. You can walk out on this jetty and dive directly into the azul waters.

There isn’t too much to do in the town of Bacalar except of course to get my daily taco fix and with only a few more days left in Mexico I am determined to make the most of the incredible food. Lake side is a different story and takes up majority of my time with many water activities to get involved in. Kayaking one afternoon we realised we had made a bad decision on timing with the wind picking up and a strong current, we were absolutely knackered after about 20 minutes and decided to turn around and return to the relaxing chairs lake side. Highly recommended was the sunrise paddle board tour and it was incredible. Waking up at about 5am to some hot coffee, we set out just as a tiny bit of light illuminated the lake. It was so peaceful and almost the only ones paddling along.

The tour lasted about 3 hours as you paddle through the crystal clear waters. We visited Cenote Negro where in a matter of centimetres the water goes from bright turquoise to an inky black and you can literally see where the limestone cavern drops away. The depth is about 90 meters and I was a bit nervous to hang my feet over the edge until I saw a turtle come right up beside me and I jumped in beside him to say hello. There is also a cool rope swing here and soon my fear of the deep dark depths was over as I swung out into the cenote. We then went across to El Canal de los Piratos (the Pirates’ Channel), where you can jump from the remains of a ship into the water.

Chill out time in the afternoon and I finally had a chance to pick up my book, if only for a short time before I was too hot and needed to swim again. It’s a hard life!

Later in the day I decided to see the lake in its all its glory for the sunset on a boat tour. We went to Cenote Cocolito where you can see stromatolites — the oldest living organism on the planet, they sound impressive but to be honest they just looked like normal rocks in the water. We also went back across to the pirate channel and got amongst the therapeutic mud to help bring back the glow after the intense sun lately.

Also the perfect vantage point to watch the amazing sunset. What a fitting finale for my last night in Mexico. I already cannot wait to come back to Mexico x