It was the first experience for any of us using this form of travel. All I can say is it was very comfortable, had toilet facilities, as well as TV screens (all in Spanish!) The trip took about three hours and ended at the terminal in the center of Tulum.
We had never visited Tulum, but Janie and Norman had visited a number of years ago. The town did not appear to have any landmark features, not even a church spire to be seen. It is a very flat, featureless landscape.
After a taxi ride to our condo, which was very nice and in a small complex of about twenty or so houses, we settled in and unpacked.
The impression I got of the area, was one of many building sites like the one above. The area extending from the town towards the coast gave the appearance of the frenzied development of new housing complexes. I hope the ripping up of the jungle will bring some benefit to the local Mayan communities and not just to some distant developer.
The main focus of our visit was to go to the Mayan ruins just a short taxi ride from our condo. We had been advised to get there as early as we could to avoid the bus loads of visitors that were said to normally arrive at about 10:00 or 11:00am.
We got to the gate at about 8:30 and engaged the services of a guide. I think we lucked out as we were assigned Nelsi Amanda Catzin Pech, who is Mayan, but also spoke English and Spanish.
She said that she was learning French and hoped to be qualified to lead tours in French next year!
Tulum was one of the last cities built and occupied by the Maya. The earliest artifact found on the site dates from about 500AD, but it was a really important city between 1200 and 1521 AD. It was also a walled city, which was unusual. Walls on three sides with the side next to the ocean being open.
About 70 years after the Spanish conquest most of the Mayan inhabitants died from all of the diseases that accompanied the Spanish conquest.
The site was abandoned and was quickly overgrown by the surrounding jungle. The site was rediscovered in 1842 by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood.
Our guide showed us how invasive the jungle had been by pointing out this tree with embedded rocks to give us an idea of the kind of challenges met as the site was uncovered.
It was explained to us that the Mayan priests occupied the principal houses, closely followed by the astronomers.
If I remember correctly, the house with the pillared portico's were the priests houses!!
The Tulum ruins were all that we had hoped for. Getting there early was a big plus, as we were able to walk everywhere without the crowds getting in the picture!
One of the main reasons for the importance of Tulum to the Mayans was it's location on a bluff facing the sea. It was a major center for sea borne commerce, bringing much merchandise to be distributed throughout the rest of the Yucatan peninsula. Did not get an opportunity to photograph the ruins from the beach.
It was quite amazing to hear how advanced the Mayans were in their astronomical knowledge. In the image above, notice the small rectangular structure at the top of the hill.
Each midwinter solstice, the sun shone through this opening across the wide open space to light up a semicircular stone on a distant wall.
You can see this stone in the middle of the above photograph. If I remember correctly, this stone was probably 400-500 metres from the rectangular structure on the top of the hill in the previous photo.
It was good we arrived early as the crowds soon descended on the site. We heard many languages spoken, so it was nice to see that this important Mayan walled town was of interest to many visitors.
There were lot's of "dragons".
As we begin to leave the ruins and look for a place to have lunch!! Diane, Norman and Janie
We did find a beach restaurant not too far away, and not crowded.
Lunch on the beach.
This was MY lunch!!
We found a taxi to take us back to the condo, feeling that the visit to the ruins was a significant highlight for the trip. I learned there are many such Mayan "pyramid" sites throughout the Yucatan peninsula, most of which are not crowded tourist sites. We need to plan another trip, perhaps in the winter when it is not quite so hot and humid.
Janie and Norman continued on to another town and we found a taxi to take us to Cancun airport for or flight back to Guadalajara and home to Ajijic.
I found the area that we visited was not representative of the Mexican experience, I kept thinking we were in Florida, with all of the coast seemingly consisting of one resort after another.
This sign on the outside of a development site in the town of Tulum seemed to say it all.
'Til next time, Adios.
