Ruins, Big Fish and the Pueblo

Another early start this morning had us arriving at the ruins of Tulum shortly after 8 a.m.  The weather was pleasant when we began our walk, but we were suffering from the humidity by the time we finished seeing all the ruins a couple hours later.  We didn't get a guide this time; they charge way too much and we had already learned a lot about Mayan culture and architecture at Cobá.  Tulum was one of a series of Maya fortresses and trading posts established along the coasts of Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.  Tulum was first settled around 300 B.C. but was just a village for centuries.  It became a prominent city between the 12th and the 16th centuries (the late post-classical era) when coastal trade in honey, salt, wax, animal skins, vanilla, obsidian, amber and other products became especially important to the Maya.

The architectural ruins of Tulum and other eastern coastal cities look much older than those found at Cobá and other inland areas even though the buildings were constructed more recently.  Because they used stucco on the inside and outside of the edifices, the underlying masonry did not have to be as precise, so it looks more eroded.  Tulum was still a grand, inhabited city when the Spanish arrive but soon was left empty as European diseases decimated the native population.  The many raised limestone platforms that were the bases for buildings of wood or thatch as well as the large stone edifices were overrun with coastal vegetation.

Archeologists have uncovered a number of structures, including the House of the Cenote, House of the Halach Uinic (a royal palace), the House of the Columns, the Temple of the Frescoes, the Temple of the Wind on the cliffs above the sea, the Temple of the Descending God and El Castillo, which also overlooks the Caribbean.

Detail on the Temple of the Frescoes

House of the Columns

Frieze on the House of the Frescoes

Temple of the Descending God and El Castillo

Remnants of colorful frescoes and friezes are still apparent on some of the structures, and the descending god is found on several, but, overall, lizards reign--not depictions of lizards, but live lizards that sit atop the walls, at the entrances and throughout the grass.

A lizard on the Temple of the Frescoes

A lizard commands the House of the Halach Uinic

As we walking out of the ruins area through the forest to the exit, we spotted a number of beautiful birds, including the tropical mockingbird and the spectacular Yucatan jay, striking against the green foliage with its blue and black plumage and yellow legs.

Yucatan jay at Tulum

After gulping down half of our water when we returned to the parking lot, we treated ourselves to ice cream before heading to a supermarket in Tulum.  There we bought 10 small loafs of bakery bread, half of a watermelon, papaya, two different kinds of mangos, cheese and drinks for the equivalent of US $10.

Peter relaxing with one of the friendly cats that roam around

Matthew reading on the patio

It was another lazy afternoon.  While the rest of the family napped or read or spent time on the Internet, I went snorkeling three times and rested on a lounger under a beach umbrella on the white sand--the consistency of fine flour--and read a novel.  The first time I went out in the water, I was truly amazed to come upon an enormous rainbow parrotfish.  I had never seen one that large--about three feet in length--even when doing deep dives.  I don't have underwater photography equipment, but here is a photo I copied from the Internet.  The thing is, in real life, it is really more spectacular because it shimmers in the sunlight filtered through the water, and the scales are 3-D.



I also saw a group of yellow squid with enormous white eyes and a large school of fish swimming in tight formation.  There were about 100 to 150 of them, mostly blue tang, but also surgeon fish and wrasses.  They made a colorful display against the many hues of the coral, and I loved moving with them as they zigged and zagged through the crystaline water.

Katya went out with me the second time (her first time this week), but she refused to spit in her mask to ensure that it didn't fog up, so it did.  Since she had to keep taking it off to try to clear it, she was frustrated and didn't see much.

Peter and Matthew joined me the third time, and Peter and I found the rainbow parrotfish again.  The waves were coming over the reef today, so there was a bit of surge.  Many of the fish were hiding out in the crevasses and under the coral.  We suspect that the large parrotfish had swum over with the high water from the outer reef.

We went out to dinner early away from the beachfront tourist area, to the Akumal pueblo.  Of course, most of the local people used to live close to the sea, but they were moved to the inland side of the highway up and down the Caribbean coast in the second half of the 20th century when the resorts began to develop.  The buildings in the pueblo, which is on a hill so at least it gets some breezes, are constructed of cement blocks of dubious quality.  Some have stucco but most do not.  As we walked along a couple of blocks, we could see inside many of the houses.  They were sparsely and cheaply furnished, usually with just a table and chairs and hammocks.  The doors were open, we suspect, for ventilation.  We had wanted to find a local restaurant, but we ended up at a gringo-Mexican place catering mostly to long-term expats who do not have the means to live on the other side of the highway.  The food seemed authentic, though, and we enjoyed it.  As we walked the block back to the car, we noticed that the social life of the pueblo seemed to consist of lounging around the fronts of the houses and small shops.  The majority of those on the street were male.  As we were approaching our car, a big pick-up truck stopped, and more than a dozen of them loaded into the cab and the back with a cooler and a large container of water, probably headed to an accessible beach.  Technically, all the beaches are public, but access to them is often blocked by sprawling all-inclusive resorts with security guards.

Peter and Matthew have just left to have a drink at the restaurant where we had dinner and drinks last night.  I believe that Katya and I will not stay up much longer (although she did have a siesta today).