Next stop was in the town of Tulum with a visit to the Mayan Ruins of the same name. It is believed this site was occupied by the Mayans between 1200-1520's and was a walled port town on a main trading route and was one, if not the last, ancient Maya site to be abandoned in this region after the Spanish landed (many of the other sites having been abandoned long before the Spanish came).
Surrounded by rainforest and walled on three sides the fourth side of Tulum was the beautiful coastline and easy to see why this was so attractive to the Mayans.
There were probably more Iguana's than bricks around these ruins right enough...... when I first spotted one with a red face I thought it was blood but it turned out to be the juice of the cactus plant they they were eating!!
Templo de las Pinturas had some of the most detailed decorations that you could see within the ruins.
Just down from the ruins was the beautiful non developed beach of Tulum - I know it's a hard life I have!!
The Weary Traveller Hostel in Tulum was good fun, Feliz enjoyed getting to know some of the other guests and showing off his skills in the open air kitchen
Walking the short walk down to the Angelita Cenote with all my dive gear on was like walking into something from Raiders of The Lost Ark - then once in the water it was even more eerie - this dive was highly recommended to me and there was only me and Luis my dive instructor at the site which was even better. My deepest dive to date at just over 40m (though it is much deeper going down to 70m) - the top layer of the water was fresh water and underneath was sea water - they are seperated by a layer of hydrogen sulfide which creates a fog like appearance (similar to what you would get if you put a little oil in a glass of water) in the water giving the earie/mysterious feeling. One minute Luis would be right in front of me then as he went into the fog he would all but disappear!! Looking up into the light and the ancient tree branches was pretty spectacular. At some point thousands (x thousands) of years ago this cenote (like many others) was dry and there is evidence of habitation or use by humans here - old fireplace remains.
(Turtle bones)
My last cenote dive was at Casa Cenote - the colours when under water here were as green if not more so than the photo's show...... diving through dark caverns with sunlight breaking through the roots of the mango trees, this cenote has a tunnel which takes you out into the Carribean sea which is why there was so much variety in sea life in this one and again the fog like clouds as well as distinct pockets of warm and colder temperatures!! Seemingly the colours here are not always this colour and change quite significantly depending on the weather and time of day....when we hit the dark tunnel to go out into the sea I suddenly lost control of my buoyancy as I had little weight on in the fresh water but needed some to keep me down in the salt water - thankfully it wasn't a long way and Luis gave me some help getting through but it really demonstrated to me the distinct difference of diving in salt and fresh water!!
\
Walking the short walk down to the Angelita Cenote with all my dive gear on was like walking into something from Raiders of The Lost Ark - then once in the water it was even more eerie - this dive was highly recommended to me and there was only me and Luis my dive instructor at the site which was even better. My deepest dive to date at just over 40m (though it is much deeper going down to 70m) - the top layer of the water was fresh water and underneath was sea water - they are seperated by a layer of hydrogen sulfide which creates a fog like appearance (similar to what you would get if you put a little oil in a glass of water) in the water giving the earie/mysterious feeling. One minute Luis would be right in front of me then as he went into the fog he would all but disappear!! Looking up into the light and the ancient tree branches was pretty spectacular. At some point thousands (x thousands) of years ago this cenote (like many others) was dry and there is evidence of habitation or use by humans here - old fireplace remains.
My last cenote dive was at Casa Cenote - the colours when under water here were as green if not more so than the photo's show...... diving through dark caverns with sunlight breaking through the roots of the mango trees, this cenote has a tunnel which takes you out into the Carribean sea which is why there was so much variety in sea life in this one and again the fog like clouds as well as distinct pockets of warm and colder temperatures!! Seemingly the colours here are not always this colour and change quite significantly depending on the weather and time of day....when we hit the dark tunnel to go out into the sea I suddenly lost control of my buoyancy as I had little weight on in the fresh water but needed some to keep me down in the salt water - thankfully it wasn't a long way and Luis gave me some help getting through but it really demonstrated to me the distinct difference of diving in salt and fresh water!!
\
The ancient Mayan City of Coba - well what is left of it. This city was built between 800 & 1100 and is thought to have covered an area of more than 50Sq km and had a population of 40,000 people!! Pretty impressive given it is surrounded my thick forrest!!
The 'Ball Game' court - to show their stregnth and greatness the Mayans competed in a ball game in these courts which had one of these brick pyramid type structures at either side with a stone hoop - the aim was to get the ball (which would be pretty heavy) through the hoop without ever letting it touch the ground or anyone's hand.....usually after the first goal the game ended!! Given the size of the courts it wasn't surprising there weren't a lot of goals.
Afterwards there would be a human sacrifice but this is where I am bit confused as I have been told and read different accounts of this - the first being that the loser would be sacrificed the second that the winner would be as it was such an honour to win and demonstrate your greatness and the following sacrifice meant that your blood was observed into the ground and fertilized the crops meaning it was a great honour to be sacrificed!!! Not sure which one I think is the better version!
Afterwards there would be a human sacrifice but this is where I am bit confused as I have been told and read different accounts of this - the first being that the loser would be sacrificed the second that the winner would be as it was such an honour to win and demonstrate your greatness and the following sacrifice meant that your blood was observed into the ground and fertilized the crops meaning it was a great honour to be sacrificed!!! Not sure which one I think is the better version!
The Bicyle Taxi driver has a power nap....
Nohoch Mul (The Great Pyramid) the tallest Mayan structure in this area - and of course it was a hot and sweaty climb to the top - great views though!! The temples at the top were built with small doorways as they were not intended to be entered regularly but rather worshippers would leave their gifts at the door.
Of course as it was in the middle of the jungle there was the odd little animal around!
The town of Coba itself didn't seem that inspiring - nice lake and friendly kids - so I just jumped on another bus and headed to my next stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment