We adventured to the ancient city of Tulum today and walked through the last remains of the the forgotten gem. Situated on the coastline, only 58 structures remain standing, of which many are just a reminiscent of a wall or two. While the structures themselves pale by comparison to Teotihuacan, the story of the Mayan people ability to thrive in such a arid and inhospitable environment is what brings the place alive. In this salted and wind swept plain, the Mayan people were able to cultivate enough food and crops to not only sustain the large community that lived within its protective walls, but to also use for trade for things like the Abyssinian stone, which they use to look at sun and protect their eyes. This site, like most in Mexico, was constructed under the influence of astrology and so at the summer, spring, winter and autumn solstice the sun appears into be surrounding four temple windows, but only for the day. Once we had our fill of history at Tulum, we mad our way to the beach where we donned some snorkels, sort ourselves a boat and went swimming with the turtles. We even found a couple of stingray. The water was unusually choppy on this day, which made it difficult, but I can now check that experience of my bucket list.
#Mexico #backpacking #gapyear #travel #Playadelcarmen #katiestwoshoes