Tulum Mexico Trip

Tommy and I are soo lucky we got to go to Mexico last week.  We had such a great time.  We flew into Cancun, spent a few hours in a hot and crowded "spring break" customs line and drove a few hours south to a little bay called Soliman Bay.  We stayed at a beautiful little hotel with amazing breakfast!  They also put yummy little chocolates on our pillow each night.

View all our pictures here.

We saw lots of Mayan ruins while we were there. It was really amazing. What was so unbelievable to me was there was soo much unexcavated. It would be really neat to go back in 10 years and see the different buildings they will uncover and restore.

Here is a little about each ruin we saw:

Chichen Itza: One of the largest Mayan cities, said to be occupied 600 A.D. through 1200 A.D. "During restoration of El Castillo in the 1920-30s, Mexican archeologists discovered it had been built upon an earlier temple. Today a small doorway under the northern staircase leads to a small stairway into temple within the pyramid." "In 2009, underneath the Grand Plaza archaeologists have found ancient structures that predate all the monuments we know today. They've found perfect walls, at least two older platforms." "It was definitively built 100 years before El Castillo, directly settled on parent rock; until now, a building corner, a cornice and a slope wall have been identified; the southeastern part might have been discovered as well, but it is not known where does it end or if it has a staircase".  NEW STUFF still being found!
There was definite similarities to the temple of Solomon.  There was a round platform for performing sacrifices and then a small baptismal font in front of that.  Very cool to see.


Cool info on El Castillo and the snake shadow that shows up each year at spring equinox






Cool info on the Great Ball Court and the type of game that was played there

Ek Balam had a small ball court and Coba had two ball courts.  They have been found at many other Mayan ruins.  Pretty cool.

Ek Balam: means "Black Jaguar".  This was our favorite site because of the incredible carvings that are there and the fact that we got to climb to the top of the temple.  It’s a deceptively hard climb considering it’s only 106 steps. The stones are old, worn, and uneven.  Said to have been occupied in A.D. 600 to 900 but there are mounds and mounds all around that have not been excavated yet so we'll see if that changes over the next years to come.  "Acropolis, at once a temple and a palace, which features remarkably well-preserved carvings about two-thirds of the way up, decorating the exterior of the Tomb of Ukit Kan Le’k Tok’" Awesome pictures here.

There was a cool little baptismal font here too.

Coba': name means "ruffled waters", another large city (many estimate it to be the largest), LOTS of walking and not well restored/excavated, lots of jungle to walk through to each ruin.  Missed having our guide, but I tried to make up stories along the way to entertain the other couple we went with.  Many roads connect Coba to other ruins, making it an estimated essential trading route.  "Archaeological evidence indicates that Cobá was first settled between 100 BC and 100 AD. At that time, there was a town with buildings of wood and palm fronts and flat platforms. The only archeological evidence of the time are fragments of pottery."  We were lucky to be able to climb the 124 steps to the top of the temple.  You could see for miles!

Tulum: one of the last of the Maya civilization cities and appears to have peaked during the 13th and 15th centuries, even lasting several decades after Spanish occupation of the region.  It is connected by road to Coba as well as on south to Guatemala. Check out these gorgeous images.

Someday I would love to see more ruins further south like Chiapas ruins!  In 2001 divers found a whole Mayan city underwater off the coast of Cuba!  That is pretty cool stuff too!  Article here.