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Published: December 10th 2007
Tulum, Mexico
The beach at Tulum, how can you beat that?The other day the guys in my hostel and I had the chance to take a discounted tour to Chichen Itza and the beaches of Tulum. Tulum is about an hour south of Playa, and Chichen Itza is 3 hours to the west. We got admission to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, transportation, a Mayan buffet lunch, and a great spot on the Tulum beaches for $23. The guys that run our hostel were starting a new excursion service and wanted to try it out to get the timing and pricing down. Since they knew us they asked us to test it out for cheap.
The trip was great and the ruins were amazing. Chichen Itza was just voted the 8th Wonder of the World so it was cool to see that. The main pyramid was also a calendar, with 91 steps on each side and then the top level creating 365 days. During the solstice the snake head carvings cast the shadow of a snake moving down the pyramid and then back up again.
There was also a huge field where they played this crazy game with a big stone using only elbows, hips, and knees. Whoever
Chichen Itza
Just voted the 8th Wonder of the World won the game (got the ball through these really high sideways hoops) was "rewarded" by having the captain of their team sacrificed to the gods. An honor in Mayan culture, but not a game I would want to be good at. It was also crazy that the Mayans were able to create perfect acoustics on this field, so that every sound echoes 7 times (7 was the Mayan's "perfect" number). How they managed that when constructing this stuff is beyond me.
There were tons of buildings to see, and also a long walkway that led out of the town to a huge cenote (water-filled sink hole/cave). Of the ways to be sacrificed by Mayans, being thrown into the pit was the dishonorable punishment. Having you heart ripped out an taken to the top of the temple for the gods was honorable. Sounds fun.
We went to a Mayan buffet afterwards that was surprisingly delicious. Excellent rice, refried beans, chicken, pork, and white-wine fish (the fish was amazing). They also had dancers that performed with bottles on their heads which was interesting.
The trip to Chichen Itza was 3 hours each way, and it was a crazy trip.
Cenote
Its tough to see how far down this thing really is - but its a LONG ways. One of the ways to be sacrificed was to be thrown off into the cenote - it was the version that was punishment rather than honor. Narrow roads with no shoulders, cars stopping in the middle of the road for no reason, bad curves, and TOPES. I hate topes - they are Mexican speed bumps and they are in every city. Instead of la policia, speed limits are enforced by these damn topes because you HAVE to stop if you don't want to destroy your ride. But most of the topes are falling apart, so instead of hitting jagged metal and concrete you have to go around the road, which was interesting in a touring van.
The other great part about the roads was the passing strategy. You basically start to pass, hope the people move over a little, and then start flashing your headlights at oncoming cars and hope that they can slow down or go off the road. We had some pretty close calls, once with a delivery truck.
On the way back we went through several villages and cities, saw a horse someone literally road to the bar on, and saw the Quintana Roo State Prison - not a place you want to be.
We eventually made it to Tulum, and the beaches were amazing. White powder instead of the
Mayan Games
Quite a great game. Athletes take a stone "ball" that weights 2-3 kilos and using only their elbows, hips, and knees they knock the ball up into those round "hoops" on the wall. Sounds impossible to me. Playa white sand, and a bar right on the beach. The Mayan ruins there overlook the ocean from the cliffs (nice location). We hung around there to watch the sunset and then headed back to Playa. Pretty good day for $23 I would say.
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