Tulum is what we imagined Mexico to be like. It is a cute little town with lots of character. We arrived at our hostel after Sarah's top class navigation skills with the map. Hostel sheck is so cosy and friendly. We are sharing the dorm with a bunch of really nice Australians. One of them asked us to join them for dinner and being the dedicated backpackers we are... we jumped at the opportunity to make new friends. He brought us to this hidden treasure which was full of locals where we devoured 30 cent tacos and drank horschans which consisted of rice cinnamon and sugar. It tasted like a vanilla malt from Eddie rockets. Yum... From our few days of being on the road we have finally cracked it. We will only eat in places now that have red plastic chairs. As it is normally full of locals and a seventh of the price. We were eager beavers this morning to get our bikes from the cheap bike-store. We were told it opened up at 8am and bikes sold out almost immediately, so we arrived at 7.56am on the dot. By 8.25am there was no show of the bike man, he obviously didn't share the same sense of urgency as us. We went back to the hostel eating our breakfast in super quick time and rushed back for 9am before anyone else got there. However, he must have had a late one the night before because by 9.30am we were still standing there bike-less. Heavy hearted we went to the more expensive store closer to our hostel and forked out the extra €2 day rental. We also invested in a pair of snorkels which judging by day one they are going to be a well used purchase. We were all set for our day of exploring with our snorkels, water and bikes with no brakes. (Apparently brakes are an over-rated accessory to bikes in Mexico) We cycled to the grand cenote which was absolutely stunning with clear blue water. We snorkeled through the cave looking for fish and turtles while Dani tested out her go pro and got some videos of us underwater. We then set off on our bikes trying to find the public beach but missed the apparent 'obvious' left turn and mesmerised by all the fancy beach clubs and bars we kept pedalling and cycled over 30km along the coast. Sarah found a recommendation for a restaurant with red chairs and their guacamole came highly recommended. The conclusion was big portions and nicely salted it had too many onions and tomatoes and not enough avocado. We have two more days left in Tulum and will be going to the ocean tomorrow for more snorkelling, visit the Mayan ruins and laze by the beach for one whole day (weather permitting) and then we are headed for Caye Caulkner in Belize. We will be very sad to say goodbye to Mexico but it's been amazing to explore even this small section of it. Tacos will never be the same again... ☺️