On 24th January, we left Izamal around lunchtime and drove to Tulum. We arrived about 4.30pm and had a bit of a drive around to actually find the Airbnb called Casa Bamboo House but did find it eventually! It was nice enough, did the job, but didn't really blow me away. Still, the price was right at £81 for 2 nights, it was perfectly adequate for us with AC, a hammock in the room, bikes to borrow (which we didn't use but could see how handy it would be in Tulum) and a small kitchenette.
From some 20 years ago, I had great memories of Tulum and it was alright but it is a big (quite dusty) 'strip' of shops, and incredibly touristy. Still, we went out in the buggy, found a great playground, good supermarkets and nice restaurants.
The jewel in the crown really was of course the ruins. Situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea, Tulum was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Mayans and achieved its greatest prominence between the 13th and 15th centuries. The Mayans continued to occupy Tulum for about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico, but the city was abandoned by the end of the 16th century.
We visited on a sweltering hot day and I was reminded of the 'mad dogs and Englishmen in the midday sun' mantra as we walked around the site. It's accessed via a large ish tourist village with plenty of shops, restaurants and toilets, then a 1km ish walk. We did the walk in and out without a buggy, but I did have to do a bit of carrying right at the end to cajole Tiger out and back to have ice cream and nachos and get back to the car!