Our first Mayan ruins - Tulum

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Blogger Doug

We woke early today but not due to a departure time. I had a shower and packed my pag and then noticed that the music from the night clubs was still pumping outside. Funny thing to be happening at 6am I thought. Turns out Bec was a little too eager and misread the time on my watch. It was actually 3:30am! We went back to sleep.

At the real 7am we left to travel by bus to Tulum. We dumped our bags at Hotel de Custado (custody?) on the corner of the main road. Unfortunately, we also dropped off two bags that were not ours. Whoops! In the hurry to get our stuff and due to the laziness of the driver, we removed two bags that were not ours from the luggage bay of the bus. Whilst our guide, Ben went to deal with that little drama, we had a great ham and cheese omlette for breakfast.

We walked down to the ruin entrance and watched an amazing display of 4 guys dressed in traditional outfits. They first climbed a 20m pole then curled up four ropes around the top. Finally the simulataneously swung down via the unwinding rope.

The entrance was totally geared to the American tourist - hamburgers, pizza and even a Subway. Our guide, Diego, is a mayan descendent. Very knowledgable about the area but his accent really made you concentrate on whatever he said. It was so hot, mid 30s at least. I really struggled with my cold. Felt crap and was overheating. The ruins were cool to look at. The site was a Mayan sea port that serviced the entire penninsula and is set atop a cliff above the beautiful Caribbean Ocean. The mayans were so bloody clever. No one could invade from the sea unless they knew the channel through the reef - The Spaniards figured that out the hard way! The Mayans also maintained a social hierachy with scientists, astronomers and engineers and a government.

The temples were designed with angled rooves taht channeled water into a complex system of aquaducts to store water. Iguanas were everywhere, bathing in the sun and nodding their heads up and down. A group of us spent the afternoon swimming in the greenest ocean I have ever seen. Simply post card. My nose was stinging from the salt in the water but it was worth it.

After Subway for lunch we caught taxis to the bus station and a bus to Chutamal. Yet another English movie, dubbed in Spanish. Grrr!

Our very first Mayan ruins!
Great guide, stunning weather, the world´s most amazing beach!

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Photos

Tulum resident
So many iguanas!! I love them!

Amazing Tulum
What a picturesque setting the Mayans chose to construct their most important port city.