Tag Archives: walled city

Time to leave Mexico Behind

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It was time to start back to the ship. I left the ruins through the hole in the wall and caught the tram back to the marketplace and parking area.

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Now I had the most uncomfortable experience of the whole trip.  I know that in many countries market places are filled with pretty aggressive stall merchants. It’s one thing to read about it but quite another to be subject to it. I don’t know if it was because I was alone when I stepped off the tram or because I was a woman or if this is just their way. It’s possible it’s all an act for the gringos but I didn’t like it.

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In any case I wanted to look in the market place. I didn’t have much money on me but I was curious. Big mistake. The proprietors ran at me waving mayan calendars, or another big one was cigars. At first I tried to make light and laugh it off saying no-no I don’t smoke and things like that. But as I got away from one another was there in front of me pitching their wares and they had an answer for everything.  I broke away from them with “Buy, Buy for your husband, buy for your friend, take back to America”…ringing in my ears.

I’m sure they need the money. The area is clearly poor by American standards but the aggressive approach certainly drove me away rather than encouraging me to buy anything. I was relieved to get back to the bus where they were handing out cold cloths and water.

The ride back to the docks was uneventful. It was dark by this time and I think everyone was tired. It was time to try out our guide’s advice for avoiding seasickness.

We took seats on the lower deck and waited. News finally came that another tour bus was stuck in traffic because of an accident and we had to wait for them.  Once they finally arrived the crew wasted no time in casting off. I was still wearing my patch but I tried Paula’s tips and it seemed to work. The return to Cozumel was much easier than the morning trip.

We arrived back at the cruise ship about 9:30 pm ship’s time. Although we had covered many time zones the ship never changed the time. We were still on EST time. Unfortunately the delay leaving Mexico made us miss dinner. We wandered down to the Lido deck where the late night offerings were being picked through. We settled on Pizza. Not my first choice of food before bed but better than nothing.

Tomorrow would be a day at sea with no ports of call.

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We headed back to our cabin to be greeted by another Towel Animal. This time a frog. 🙂 Love those little surprises.

Tulum Ruins

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Location, location, location…the mantra of the real estate industry was true even in Mayan times. Tulum’s greatest attraction is its location. The walled city perched on a bluff facing the rising sun offers nothing less than spectacular views. Tulum is also different because it is a “walled city” and the Mayan’s were not known for building fortified cities. Research suggests that Tulum was originally  called Zama, meaning “to dawn” , which makes sense given its location.

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It is speculated that Tulum was not  so much conquered by the Spaniards as destroyed by the Old World diseases they brought which wiped out the native people who had no resistance. So like so many cities, Tulum was abandoned  to the elements.

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The Walled City of Tulum

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True to the guidebooks’ promise the little shuttle dropped us at the entry to the ruins of Tulum but we hadn’t caught up to Paula and the rest of our group yet.

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We had a new guide who was very considerate and kind. We had some stone stairs to climb before we actually reached the main ruins and he graciously helped some of the older guests as I helped a lady who had somehow attached herself to me. He never rushed anyone and always asked if we were ok.

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Finally we saw the site spread out before us. Paula and our group were off the path ahead of us so our guide sent us to rejoin them and he went back for the next tram.

The site spreading out before us was impressive.

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Paula was pointing out the various structures and points of interest before turning us lose to explore on our own.

While she was giving us a history an animal ran out from a clump of trees.

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Of course I had to interrupt by loudly asking “What’s That?” and pointing.  Paula looked and quickly dismissed  it as being “our raccoon”.

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It didn’t look like any raccoon I’d ever seen but before I could get a picture one of the other guests stepped between me and the animal.   According to the internet it’s a coatimundi and it is called the Mexican Raccon.

Finally Paula pointed us in the direction of the beach and told us when we were done to come back to the bus. She gave us a time because we had to get back to the ship or end up staying in Mexico.