Cruise Pt 7

We get back on the bus and head for Tulum. Tulum is the third most visited archaeological site in Mexico. We get off the bus in front of… more souvenir shops! I deduce that the literal translation of Mexico is ‘Land of Souvenirs’.

We follow our guide down a long road through the jungle. It is very hot, and we hear all kinds of noises in the jungle, just like in the movies. The sides of the road are littered with trash and junk; lots of Corona bottles, bent and twisted rebar with chunks of concrete still attached, an old rusted truck almost overtaken by the jungle.

We get to the site, and can see the main temple sticking up over the tops of the trees. We head through the visitor’s center on a path through the jungle as we begin to climb. I had expected lots of mosquitoes and bugs, but surprisingly we don’t see or feel any. The track winds up and around till we come to a wall with a narrow opening, wide enough for only one person at a time.

We’re here.

Tulum is on a large, open plain. Whatever areas you see covered with grass now would have been paved with stucco then, and all the buildings plastered with stucco as well. While an inscription dated A.D. 564 has been found at the site, most of the structures now visible were built between about 1200 and 1450. The city remained occupied through the early years of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, but was abandoned by the end of the 16th century. Local Maya continued to visit the temples, to burn incense and pray, until the late 20th century, when tourists visiting the site became too numerous for the local inhabitants. The Spanish never conquered Tulum. Ordinary people didn’t live here, only the ruling family did. Human sacrifices were performed in the room at the top of the highest temple.