We could not come to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and not visit one of the Mayan ruins. There are multitudes of tour agencies that will offer you a variety of options to visit one of the three major sites close by on the mainland. These sites are not dog friendly, so I got left behind on the boat at the anchorage at Isla Mujeres.
There are three major sites on the mainland relatively close to Cancun, Chichen Itza, Coba and Tulum, and it is hard to decide where to start first. Chichen Itza is the largest and most well known site, it is also the furthest away requiring a 4 hour coach trip from Cancun City. The humans were told loads of vendors are spread through out the site and they would be constantly badgered.
Coba is set in the jungle and Roy (who visited us in the Bahamas) enjoyed his visit to this site. It is one of the few sites you can still climb the main pyramid and look out over the surrounding jungle.
But, with the strong maritime history of Tulum, the humans decided to start there. They had planned to visit the site by boat, but they were warned that the reef break was precarious at best and, besides being very rolly, the holding in the anchorage was very poor. So it looked like a land visit.
Of course they were too cheap to take one of the ‘all inclusive’ tours and decided to travel independently on the local buses. Tulum looked straight forward to get back and forth from, but you know they are going to get lost somehow!
Getting there
$1 US = 14+pesos
To get to Tulum from Isla Mujeres first the humans had to take the fast cat ferry to the mainland (146pesos/each rtn). This part was straight forward.
From there they caught a bus right out front of the port to the main bus station (ADO) in Cancun city (10pesos). Doing alright so far.
At the main bus terminal (ADO) they purchased a ticket to Tulum (86pesos/each/one way). The bus was air-conditioned and the seats where wide and comfortable. It was a 2 hour trip down the coast to Tulum. They were smart to ask the bus driver to hail them when they arrived at the Archeology site, as it is hard to spot and you do not want pass by and go into the town of Tulum instead.
So believe it or not they made it!
The actual archeology site of Tulum is a protected national park, and the forest around it is home to a few local species.
The short walk up to the site has turned into a sprawling tourist trap with restaurants, bars and souvenir vendors.
Tickets to get into the site are 64 pesos/each. The humans went to the stand and paid their fair only to walk in with a tour group and find no one asked them for a ticket.
Tulum
Tulum is said to be the most spectacular Mayan ruin on the east coast of Yucatan.
It was the first Mayan city discovered by the Spaniard conquerors in the 16th Century and the only walled Mayan city known to exist on the seashore. Renown for its millenary frescos and unique buildings, this mysterious city was a major port-of-call on the Mayan maritime trade routes.
The large truncated temple, El Castillo, stands perched on a cliff high above the tourquoise waters of the Caribbean.
Researcher Michael Creamer, helped by a National Geographic grant, discovered how the Castillo once served as an important lighthouse that guided boats through a small opening in the reef.
Tulum is the only known fortified settlement found on the coast. Long stretches of the wall that enclosed Tulum, on its three land sides, are still standing.
Tulum is dated A.D. 1200-1450, making this a late Post Classic site. At the time of the Spanish conquest, it was still a flourishing city. In the late 1800s, during the War of the Castes, Tulum was used as a fortress by rebellious Mayans.
The Temple of the Descending God has a carved deity over the main door.
The Temple of the Frescoes still has traces of mural paintings.
Great Palace.
The site is fairly popular. This does mean it has the disadvantage of being busy, but the advantage that it is easy to ‘nose in’ on an English speaking tour guide explaining the importance of many of the buildings.
They may have made it here, but can the humans find there way home?
Getting Back
Now getting back to Isla Mujeres should be easy for my humans. All they need to do is repeat the process in reverse, but you know my humans will mess something up.
It all started to go wrong when they decided to take one of the multitude of minibuses taxis, instead of the coach, back to Cancun. They were told that they are often cheaper. They asked how much and were told 70 peso/each to Cancun ADO.
Yes, I can hear you now shouting at them ‘don’t do it!’ But it was too late, they jumped in.
The man who collects ‘punters’ is different from the driver. As soon as they have filled a mini bus, a driver jumps in and the initial contact lists for the driver who goes where, then you are off. As the driver drops people off at the hotels he also stops to fill the seats back up again. Before long the humans found themselves alone on the bus and the driver dropped them off on a corner pointing down the street and saying ‘ADO’.
Now the humans insist they asked if it was Cancun ADO, that way, but the fact the driver asked only for 40 pesos/each should have set warning bells off for them. A little wander up the street and it was obvious they had not been dropped off in Cancun.
The driver had instead dropped them off in Playa del Carmen, about an hours drive south of Cancun.
The humans were there anyway so they had a look around the place.
After a good nose round they found the Playa del Carmen ADO and caught a coach to Cancun. (60 pesos/person).
Once they arrived at the Cancun bus terminal they needed to find a bus to the ferry port. The sale counter staff said they could catch a bus across the street in front of McDonalds, and no the male human was not tempted, despite the fact he lived on the breakfasts in England.
The humans wandered aimlessly, but could not find a bus stop listing the ferry port as a destination. Finally they ran into an American who had immigrated to the country. He told them to just hail a taxi and they should take them to the port for 20 pesos. They tried his advice, but the taxi drivers scoffed at the silly gringos.
Finally they ran into a mini-bus driver who offered to take them there for 8 pesos/each.
At the ferry dock they could no longer get lost. They already had a return ticket, the ferries came every half hour, so there was little left to do but get a beer and relax.
The moral of the story: If you would not try it at home, definitely do not try it in a foreign country especially when you do not speak the language.
Like I can teach these humans anything!
One thought on “Mexico, Tulum – Looking back in time at the Mayan culture”
Tulum is great. I stayed in Playa del Carmen, so I had the same mini bus trip back as you. The ADO coaches were more luxurious! I remember those swinging bar seats near my hotel. Enjoy your trip to the jungle ruins at Coba.