Trippy Tulum
Fifteen years later, we are back in Tulum. What was then a quiet, hippie, beach town has grown into an Instagrammer’s heaven. While Tulum itself is no longer a hidden gem, there are definitely many gems to be found here…the old charm is not too far below the busy tourism surface.
Upgrade? We asked for a car to seat six people and they kindly gave us one to seat 15! Adam didn’t even need a special class of license to drive this people mover. While we felt that it was huge, who else would notice we were driving the Tulum version of a city bus? I’ll tell you who else, the young woman at the airport asking if we were one of the hotel shuttles!
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Alex had a digital nomad moment, catching up on a meeting he missed.
Tulum excels at breakfast bowls!
The street art is more interesting than the vendor’s inventory. Last chance to buy statues for your home nativity scene. I think everyone is already set as this guy’s cart is full. I think he can change the outfits of the baby Jesus dolls and reduce their seasonality.
Cenote Calavera, called the skull cenote due to its two small holes for eyes and this one large “mouth” for jumping in. Cenotes are sinkholes that are formed when a water-filled cave collapses in on itself. The groundwater below is cool and clear. There are thousands of cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula, many of which were used in Mayan times for sacrificial rituals. Divers have found gold, pottery and bones (human and animal)! This cenote is semi-open, mostly underground but with openings that let light and fresh air in. Another one we went to was fully collapsed and it felt like we were swimming in a small lake. We have yet to go to an underground one…stay tuned!
The water was exceptionally clear with lots of little fish nibbling at our toes. We didn’t need to pay extra for one of those fish pedicures!
Looking up through one of the “eye” holes of the Cenote Calavera.
Swings are everywhere; at beach bars, in coffee shops and restaurants in town, along roadsides… I’m not sure why there are so many swings but they certainly add a whimsical vibe to the place.
When they were little, I held their hands to keep them safe. Now…
Grown and flown the Vancouver coop. Now the coop is wherever we travel to all together!
Templo Dios del Viento (God of Winds Temple) guarding Tulum's sea entrance. Overlooking the sea, Tulum was in the enviable position of being where coastal and land routes met. Perfect for the region’s international trade hub! Location, location, location, this Maya settlement was the only Caribbean waterfront property. The ancient Maya had no idea of the future value of the land they settled! Tulum’s heyday was between 1200-1500. They lasted about 70 years after the Spanish conquistadors came and ultimately killed them off with old world diseases, apparently intentionally to rid the area of the native population and get down to business.
There’s a lot to unpack in this picture of the Temple of the Frescoes, a name given for all the paintings on the walls of the inner temple we can’t see. But the exterior is full of action that we can see! Six hundred years on we can enjoy the carved stone and stucco around the exterior. In the corners of this temple dedicate to tracking the movements of the sun are rather grim-faced masks believed to represent Izamná, the Maya creator god. Perhaps he knew what was to come… Three niches run along the top of the first floor of this temple. The one on the left is thought to be the goddess of fertility, giving birth (squatting as shown by her knees). Between her and the central niche is her baby, upside down (as he should be) holding onto his umbilical cord. The central niche is quite important in Maya religion, depicting the descending god. Also shown upside down, falling to earth holding a piece of pottery, he’s a mixed symbol. Some believe he was a god of bees which were revered for their honey. Other beliefs are more dark, associating him with Venus, an important star in the night sky that suddenly disappeared after spending three quarters of the year in their sky. Needless to say, ritual sacrifices kept Venus on track and it always returned after its brief sojourn.
One feature of the Tulum Ruins is all the structures that are small, to-scale reproductions of temples. They would have functioned as alters where offerings were left as they were definitely too small for people… a little like my childhood dollhouse I guess…
Nice to travel with bearers!
Beach bench.
The much beloved Beetle…alive and well in various degrees of road worthiness in Mexico, where the final bug came off the assembly line in 2003 in Puebla, Mexico.
A spectacular day at el Playa Ultimo in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere. A little climb up and over a sand dune reveals an amazing, secluded beach. When we arrived, we were literally the only people on this vast beach. Maybe that’s due to the insanely potholed road that few would dare to drive. The posted speed limit was 40km/hr. Impossible to go that fast! A few more people trickled in but it felt pretty much like our own private beach club.
Dec 25, 2023. It’s closer to a white (sand) Christmas here than in drenched Vancouver! Alex says there are a lot of stray dogs on the beach…
As fresh as coconuts get. He laid the ladder against the tree and called himself the Mayan Monkey.
Passionfruit daiquiri and no need to get up from our beach bed.
Best seat in the house. Food at this little shack was fantastic and copious. A mountain of ceviche arrived, generating attention from the very few others at the beach. Needless to say, we couldn’t finish it and offered it to our fellow beach guests. We thought they’d thankfully forgotten our chicken nachos but suddenly another mountain appeared…we barely made a dent. I’m guessing the dogs camping out under our table may have ended up the lucky recipients.
Proof that I’m reading my bookclub book!
Double rainbow!