We had hoped our first viewing of Mayan ruins would not disappoint and it didn't. Tulum was a walled city on the Caribbean Sea and served as a trading centre for the Mayan. Its sandy cove was a perfect landing area for their canoes. Our guide, Eduardo, told us that obsidian has been found at this site that originated in Guatemala. Tulum covers a large area of which much is excavated. We saw many stone houses with columns and arches reminding us of early Greek architecture. The central temple faces the city and not the beautiful azure seas of the Caribbean. Beside it, stands a building through which passes the sun's rays during the summer and winter solstices. These were important dates in the Mayan calendar.
We spent over an hour in the hot sun wandering through the ruins with hundreds of other tourists but were able to find places of calm among the antiquities to absorb the sense of the site's history.
Tourism is the main source of income for people in this region of Mexico so outside the ruins was a market with Mayan dancers and vendors selling a variety of souvenirs. They even had a Subway and Dairy Queen. Tim, from California, had to have a Dairy Queen ice cream because he had heard so much about them. We were not
popular when we clambered onto the bus with our cones.
Our next stop was Xel Ha (pronounced Shell-ha). The word means brackish water and is a lagoon where salt and fresh water meet. It is a nursery for fish and we were to snorkel there. It also had a dolphin experience and a tube ride. It was much like Disneyland but everything is free, including beer. It was full of mostly American tourists but I did hear French and German as well as Spanish. There were three huge parking lots for buses but the first one was barely full so even though it seemed crowded, it was not.
We had brought masks and snorkels with us so just had to grab a locker, a life belt, and get into the inviting waters of the lagoon. I was very excited about using my camera to take underwater photos. We saw lots of fish, a sting ray, and sea urchins. I soon learned how to take pictures and took hundreds--some not so great but others I'm thrilled with.
Exhausted, I slept on the way back to the hotel since it was a two hour bus ride back. We had a lovely Mexican dinner as a welcoming reception for the meeting and were able to connect with many of our friends. The tamales were excellent!
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