Mexico day 6?

I do like the arrogant looking iguanas.



An amazing view from the ruins, and just look at the colour of the water.



The Temple of the Descending Gods

The Temple of the Frescos.

Today we did a tour of the ruins at Tulum. A small van picked us up at about 8:30 AM and it was a short drive, just over half an hour. I don't have a whole lot to say about the ruins, I think the photos speak for themselves. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, and the older man who guided us through was extremely knowledgeable, his father is Spanish, but his mother is Mayan, and he's been doing these tours for over thirty (30!) years.

The ruins are perched on a cliff, overlooking the sea, and the view is marvellous. Tulum was the only significant Mayan city overlooking the water, and was an important trading post. The beach is at the bottom of the 40 ft cliff, and traders could land there with their canoes. You can swim at the beach now, there is a long wooden stairway leading down to the water, but it was really crowded with people, and it didn't appeal to any of us. (what is with those Europeans and their tiny Speedo's? I know, I know, I shouldn't make fun of other cultures, but I mean, really? Men that are very overweight and 65 years old just should not be in Speedo's. That's all I'm saying....)

I preferred to wander through the "city" and try to imagine it as it was in the 1400's.

After we finished looking around, we walked back through the walls that still surround the city.

The wall averages 7 meters in thickness and 3-5 meters high, and surrounded the city on three sides, the fourth side being the ocean, so it was easy to defend.  This entrance was narrower, but it would have been guarded at all times.

As we left the city, we walked to the present day village of Tulum. You can take a tram, but it's literally a 4 or 5 minute walk, so we simply walked. It's a great place, basically a very large area filled with shops, souvenir stalls, hand crafts and restaurants. You can get anything from carvings to Mexican wrestling masks to delectable pizza, as well as watch the "voladeros".

The voladores are a group of 5 men dressed in brilliantly coloured traditional costumes who recreate a ceremonial ritual. They climb a 100-150 ft pole and four of them  tie a rope to their ankles (in some cases they just slip their foot through a loop...do not try that at home!) and then launch themselves to the ground,twirling around until they land,  while the fifth man stands on top and dances and plays the flute, with no safety ropes at all.

And that was the end of our day in Tulum. We headed back to the resort, met up with Shane and Linnea (who had opted out of today's excursion to have some massages and relax) and instead of dinner at the resort, we decided to take a taxi and head into Playa del Carmen for the evening. I'll write about that tomorrow.