Friday, November 28 (Tulum)

Our final day in Tulum began early with the breakfast buffet. Then Andrew called for our rental car, and we all piled in, squeezing all eight of us into a van meant for seven. Lucia and Luca shared a seatbelt in the middle of the backseat. 

Our destination was the Tulum Ruins, not far from the resort. We were talked into having a guide, which turned out to be not much more money than just the entrance fees, and we were very glad we had one. We all learned a lot about the various uses of the buildings that were now ruins, and lots of things about Mayan culture, traditions, and innovations. It was a great visit. The view from the top of the hill where the castillo rests was amazing.

Next we drove into downtown Tulum for some souvenir shopping. We bought some lovely dreamcatchers, and Lucia and Greta both bought bracelets. On our way back to the resort we stopped at a big supemarket/superstore called Soriana so Mom and Dad could get a new suitcase, since theirs was damaged beyond repair during the flight over. The kids all picked out a bunch of snacks.

We returned the car and had lunch at the buffet. The lobby was overrun with an enormous crowd of people all checking in--they all had matching tote bags and hats, so it was clearly a conference. We looked up the logo on the bags and realized this was a conference for a Mexican multi-level marketing scheme--a skincare MLM--and indeed, almost all the people in the crowd were women. We were very glad this conference was not at the resort all week. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach and pool. It was crowded with conference-goers for a little while, but eventually the chairs emptied, and for a long time we had the pool to ourselves. The pool for some reason was heated today, and it felt like bathwater--perfect, since the day was actually quite cool. Molly and I had Andrew and Dad take more pictures of us in our dramatic caftans. Greta, Mom, and I took a walk along the beach. Andrew went for an ocean swim and a giant stingray swam underneath him.

We gathered in our room before dinner for a game of Code Names, then had dinner at the buffet. We played a couple more rounds of Code Names after that.

Then it was time to pack up and start bringing this vacation to an end. It's been such a fun week. We will be back to this beautiful place.