Cancun and Tulum Mexico

My arrival in Cancun was pretty uneventful. Everything went very smoothly until the cute custom's beagle sniffed out my bag! The customs guys swooped down on me whilst I chatted to the dog. They went through my bag only to find a little something that I bought as a gift for someone at home. It was acceptable so they let me go without confiscating it, very friendly guys! I finally took the bus into town only to find my wonderfully cheap hotel was CLOSED for renovations! Whilst wondering where I was going to stay, a little Mexican man ran out and told me in very broken English that “as my reservation was confirmed” the hotel group would put me up in the Radisson. Now I gotta tell you I cracked up laughing. The Radisson is pretty up market and about twice the price of my cheapy. Not only did I receive this fabulous upgrade, they also offered free full breakfast buffet for the inconvenience. We all know how amazing those big hotel breakfasts are! I am back there after my 4 day stint in Chizen Itza!
Wandering around town after checking in I found a well known restaurant named ‘Parilla’ – the décor within this abode was traditionally Mexican and very cheerful with an authentic band wandering around the tables. The trumpet player grabbed me for a photo; think he felt sorry for me dining alone!

After a great sleep and breakfast for a king, I headed off to Tulum, another major archeological site about 2 hours drive south of Cancun. You can hale down these ‘vans’ that will pick you up on the side of the road. They are called ‘collectivos’ and offer a decent if not very FAST drive south. (I do believe the Mexican can’t read the speed limit signs!!) We finally arrived in the area of Tulum where you find your way in the crazy heat to the ruin site.
The old city was some 1600 years old and an important port and fortification for the Mayans. It is walled on 3 sides and bordered by the sea on the 4th. The Mayans were very advanced for their time, buildings included under ground cisterns and beautiful fresco work. Time and weather has worn most of it but some parts still have the faded colours and engravings. It is interesting to note that every building had a stone alter for sacrificial offerings; what the offerings were I couldn’t find. Apparently the Mayans had 3 distinct levels within their community. The very upper crust elite whose homes were within the walls and very ornate. The intermediate level which were the trades’ men and warriors and thirdly, the servants and peasants who also rowed the long carved canoes along the shores to the port. Not unlike today really but in those days you rarely could move in-between the levels of society.

There is an excellent swimming beach below the ‘castle’ of Tulum, it was incredibly hot and most people ventured down the wooden stairs to cool off. I joined them. On the beach sunning themselves on the huge boulders were a group of iguanas. Two of these fellows were quite huge, a memento of the dinosaurs in mini form. I kept my distance…..

It is a strange feeling to be floating in the sea below a huge stone building from an ancient civilization. It was like the tiny windows were watching us, as if spirits from a long lost people were still there. You could feel it. There was a presence, as if the stones and the earth still held the stories. I almost felt we were intruders to this sacred site, but everyone showed respect as if it was an unspoken gift to be there. I could see the look of wonder in the faces of other visitors and knew others felt like I did. Like them I stood in the stinking heat, reading about each building and soaking it in. They had complex “sun calendars” and built so that the sun’s rays hit certain spots within the buildings at certain times of the year. The Mayans were a people to be reckoned with and then they just disappeared. Up until today no one knows why for sure, theory has it that drought came, depleted soil or a disease perhaps. But disappear they did and they left the remains of incredible architecture and grand buildings that take your breath away.

Tomorrow I follow a dream of mine for years and find another bus to take me to the largest and most important archeological site of them all, inland and deep within the Yucatan Peninsula – Chizen Itza!