I've been out of the loop for several days, having made a trip to Tulum, Mexico, on the Mayan Riviera. Tulum is about an hour and a half south of Cancun, a small town that's turning into yet another tourist retreat, but still retaining enough local heritage and flavor to make it a fantastic trip culturally.

The area is not a big destination for Spring Break folk, though the beaches there are legend and seem to cater to a 30-plus crowd.

We stayed at a great little hotel in town proper, as opposed to one of the beach clubs/resorts on the strip. I can't reccommend the hotel enough, it was great. About 8 rooms, a bed & breakfast-style morning with the other guests and the owners. . .and it was then we'd receive good tips on where to go, where to eat, where NOT to go, where NOT to eat. Consider staying at the Luna del Sur if you're headed that way, I promise you won't regret it.

The area around Tulum offers beach clubs and Mayan ruins, a perfect blend of things to do from my perspective. The Mayan cities were fascinating, and the 1,000 year-old sites well preserved. Tulum's sites are mostly ocean-front, and you can spend at least a few hours exploring there, no problem.

There were lots of little shops in the area, too, to cater to the hoardes of tour buses bringing people in from Cancun on day trips. Lots of fun little things to buy, and most prices are negotiable. I personally enjoyed haggling for the Cuban cigars...

I should note here that we drove ourselves, opting out of the mass-tourist-style vacation. The roads were often open and desolate, and other drivers polite, though frequently surpassing the speed limits...we saw at least one fatal accident in just 5 days of visiting.

However, that didn't dissuade me from piloting the Jeep across 300 miles of the Yucatan to get to the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, one of the largest and most mysterious of the excavated Mayan ruins. Their civilization was incredible, and their knowledge of math, astronomy, and building incredibly impressive. We hired a personal guide to take us through the ruins, and I highly recc that anyone traveling there do the same so that a lot of the intricacies of the site can be explained. If you have any interest from where you're sitting, read this Wikipedia entry HERE.