I awoke at 7:30 feeling incredibly refreshed. Considering how early I went to bed, I was shocked to even sleep that late. Guess I needed it.

Another walk to the beach and another incredible amount of sweat. The sun is more powerful here. I’ve obviously felt temperatures around 90, but the sun makes it feel even hotter. Maybe I’ll get used to it. Or maybe I’ll switch my trip to a few months in the arctic.

I entered the restaurant attached to my hotel and attempted to order en español, but I’m foiled by ‘scrambled or fried’. Luckily I’m still in the English friedly zone, and got a free pass from the friendly waitress. The coffee is incredible and the juice is fresh squeezed. The eggs with bacon (either ‘scrambled’ means ‘with bacon’ or I ordered bacon without knowing the word for it – either way I win) were muy delcioso as were the frijoles negros.

Seeing all there was to see in Puerto Morelos, I decided to move on to Tulum, the site of an impressive Mayan ruin and burgeoning tourist destination. I was going to take the bus, but my friendly cab driver with the comfortable car and blasting a/c convinced me to let him take me all the way down there. A bit more expensive, but not enough to make me sit out in the sun for an hour waiting for the bus.

The landscape on the drive down is gorgeous aided by the beautiful weather. The highway is bordered on both sides by lush greenery dominated by palms. The median has intermittent Mayan style scultpures.

I arrived at the Weary Traveler hostel at around noon and immediately loved it. A huge international presence as in the first 10 minutes I met a Scotsman, three Israelis, a Swiss couple, and two fellow Americans, Jesse and Liam, who are following the same general trip plan as myself. Jesse is a 25 year old girl who’s spent the majority of the past 10 years traveling the world. Liam is a 22 year old guy who’s traveling with Jesse until he runs out of money (he’s predicting Panama).

The three of us chatted a while and eventually all went to the ruins together. The ruins, built on a cliff right on the ocean, were breathtaking but – and I suspect this will happen a few more times – I forgot to take my camera out of my locker first. Afterward, we got a cab to the public beach where we swam for a few hours.

On the way back to the hostel we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some dinner items. Back in the communal kitchen, we made up some pasta and a chunky salsa with beans, tomatoes and peppers. It was really tasty and ridiculously cheap when split three ways.

Now, we (joined by Angus the Scot, who as it turns out is also following a similar trek through Latin America) are relaxing in the hammocks in the hostel’s courtyard. Tomorrow, many of my new friends are heading to Belize. I may join them or I may stay here another day before heading south.