You know what I’ve found I’m really good at?
Taking photos of ruins which make it look like there’s no-one else around.
I’m so damn good at it that looking at these photos you could possibly be convinced that on a hot, sticky day in March I headed off to the beachside ruins in Tulum and I was there all by myself, skipping merrily among the grassy paths and reveling in the fact that I could take photos entirely devoid of tourists.
That was definitely not the case.
In fact, much to my dismay, the Tulum ruins are one of the most popular stops for day-tripping cruise ship passengers and just about anyone else within a 100-mile radius of the beach town. Which, you know, doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re damn attractive ruins (and all the history and stuff, let’s not forget that, kids) but it just doesn’t make it….fun.
It almost reminded me of the episode of Friends where Chandler makes “mooing” cattle noises as he talks about the crowds at the Empire State Building.
Which isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy visiting them, because I understand the irony that I too am just another of these tourists, but more that I felt cheated. Like when you think you’re the only one who knows a piece of really good gossip, only to find out that everyone else has been talking about it for weeks already.
Anyway, perhaps I should have taken the guidebooks’ advice and gotten there early in the morning. But really, who wants to get up early?
Luckily for you, dear readers, I managed to snap these pictures of the ruins and the beach they overlook (and I even threw in a free lizard!) so that you could enjoy them without having to imagine the sweat-filled jostling I had to endure.
Don’t say I never do anything for you.
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