Tulum Mayan Ruins

Last weekend was pretty fun. We finally got to go see some mayan ruins. 360 tourRight after we got out of the car we lost Debbie´s mom. She didn´t see that we went to the bathroom. She thought we went to the ruins ahead of her. Sooo, she walked around the ruins trying to ¨chase¨after us. Even though we were in the parking lot looking for her. In the end, Debbie and I went through the ruins quickly and Ruben stayed at the end waiting for her. So when we got out of the city everyone was waiting for us.

The name Tulum means wall. Tulum is one of the only ruins with walls surrounding the entire city. We didn´t have a tour guide so I didn´t learn that much. But it was neat to see a structure that was used between 1200 and 1521 AD. Tulum was rediscovered by explorers in 1840 by a feller named Juan José Gálvez. There is proof that Tulum was a major trade route from both land and sea traders. Tulum was abandoned because of diseases brought over by the old world spaniards. This was common to most of the tribes in Mexico. The photo at the top is me standing in front of the ceremonial structure. This picture to the left is directly in front of the ceremonial area. Directly behind this building is a cliff on the ocean front. There are also watch towers at each corner so they can see if ships are coming in. When ships came by all the Mayans got their beads and trading things and waved them in the air trying to get the traders to stop there. What a life. Waiting until the next ship rolls in to trade for more useless stuff that they don´t know what to do with.
The next picture below shows how their beds were. There is a ledge behind the pillar on the right. Thats a bed. In the bottom centre is an iguana. It looks like it has been here longer then the mayans. If you want to check out more pictures they are on my snapfish account. If you don´t have access to that let me know i will add you.

A few facts

• Tulum was once called Zama, meaning ¨place of the dawning sun¨.
• Tulum was a site of main importance between 1,000-1,600
• Tulum was one of the first cities that the Spanish Conquistadors encountered in Mexico
• residents of Tulum are known for a tradition of rebellion that lasted for several centuries, never falling to Spanish rule
• Tulum didn´t sign a treaty with the Mexican government until 1935