48 hours in Tulum & highway bribery

Sorry for the brief hiatus...I'd like to say it was because I was off in some far-flung, exotic locale.  Unfortunately, I've just been dealing with the ugly reality of day-to-day life in Miami.  Lately I am fed up with this backwards, fucked up, "banana republic" of a city.   The stress level is high so this past weekend my partner and I decided to take a "timeout" for a few days in Tulum, Mexico.  I was excited because the beaches there have always been clothing-optional and the scene was low-key.  I am happy to say it didn't disappoint.  Regrettably we had to fly into oh-so-tacky Cancun, the Las Vegas of Mexico, and white trash central.  Fortunately, only an hour and a half south of that eyesore is the little gem of a  beach town known as Tulum.  A former hippy hang-out, it still retains it new-agey vibe with glorious beaches and dozens of eco-resorts.  We decided to stay at Cabanas Copal, one of the EcoTulum properties, and were glad we did.  Our little eco-shack was perched right on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean, with steps leading down to the beach (see the pic of our view).  Many of the properties on the beach have limited electricity, with the majority of the cabanas being air-conditioned by the sea breezes and lit by candles at night.  For breakfast we ate at a little boutique hotel called Teetotum and it rocked.  Their breakfast burrito and banana/caramel stuffed french toast were out-of -control.  The afternoons consisted of chillin' on the beach, eatting fresh ceviche and washing it down with lots of local beer, followed by drunken boogie-boarding.  It was the perfect way to detach from the ugly realities of life back home.  Sunday morning, however,  while heading back to the airport we got an ugly reminder of  why we needed a little escape in the first place.  The Mexican police stopped us for allegedly going 97 in an 80 km/hour zone.  I was like what-the-fuck?  I thought maybe the Mexi-popo would give us "tourists" a break.  When the little jumping-bean told us the fine would be $150 and I needed to surrender my license to him I started to freak out.   He said he would keep my license while I proceeded to the Playa del Carmen police station where I could pay the fine.  Once he received confirmation that the fine was paid he would drive to the station and return my license to me.  I was like yeah right.  After much pleading to let us go the little corrupto cop finally asked how could he help us.  I didn't get it at first but when he repeated himself several times, I got it.  He was looking for some cold hard cash for himself.  I pulled out what amounted to $57 and discreetly slipped it to him while his buddy was busy pulling over another poor sucker.  He promptly handed over my license and I was outta there like Speedy Gonzalez.  At that moment I was actually happy to be heading back to the airport and getting the fuck out of there.  As soon as I landed in Miami though I was wishing I was somewhere else.  Until the next adventure...