In Cancun this weekend, we visited the Mayan ruins in Tulum. Tickets are required to enter the ruins. We took the green bus, packed to the max, to get to the entrance of the ruins.

Mayan civilization came to this hemisphere in 2200 BC, largely from Asia it appears. Mayans continue to migrate north from Honduras and Guatemala, finally reaching the Yucatán peninsula in approximately 1100 BC. Archaeologists are unsure why the civilization died out, there are millions of Mexicans with Mayan ancestry, but apparently the cohesive Mayan society dissipated and devolved, ultimately disappearing and merging with local Mexican culture. Accordingly, Mexicans of Mayan descent can speak the Mayan language, in some cases, but are unable to read the written hieroglyphics, largely because the elite Mayan  society died off. The ruins were amazing to witness and learning about the archaeology and culture was extremely interesting. 

Our guide indicated that the walled compound that we visited was the living location for approximately 35 elite leadership families and priests, with the majority of the community living outside the walls. She also said that the architecture style was based on the fact that Mayans did not use wheels and did not have large animals to transport materials, so smaller stones were used as those could be moved on the backs of the indigenous slaves that were used by the Mayans to construct the complex and the buildings. 

The Mayans were master astronomers—the main temple building was constructed with slits to the east such that during the summer solstice the sun penetrated the cutouts in the stone on that annual solstice day only, illuminating and penetrating the temple to honor the Sun God in whose name the temple was established. Seated as it was next to the Atlantic ocean which is protected by a coral reef which makes it dangerous for local ships, the temple had a dual purpose in that it served as a lighthouse to warn the ships so that they would not venture too close to the reefs and be damaged. An amazing piece of archaeological and architectural history.

After exploring the Tulum ruin, we visited a Mayan village just south of Tulum called Tonka. This aboriginal Mayan village including beautiful cenotes, which are natural sinkholes creating beautiful pools of water with caves and stalagmites from the underground aquifers. The water was crystal clear and crisp. 

There were activities such as zip lines  offered during our visit but the highlight was a hammock in the shade and canoeing.  

We went to a Mayan restaurant to enjoy some authentic Mayan cuisine, while the experience was amazing, I preferred the food served at the hotel😂.  

There is a coffee station where they brewed coffee in a pot, maybe it tastes better than Starbucks but I will never know.  

My favorite part was the crepes, they called it margarita (I think) where they made crispy waffle with your choice of  2 toppings, I opted for chocolate because you can never go wrong with that.

At a end of the day , we met a new iguana friend. What an adventurous day❤️

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