Cozumel and Tulum

Our last stop was to the Mexican island of Cozumel. But we had barely stepped off the boat when we were whisked away to the city of Playa del Carmen and then quickly walked to a bus where we started our trek to Tulum.

It ended up being fairly far away, and we even made a stop at a workshop where they work on reproductions of Mayan artifacts. It was very cool, and we wished we could have spent a bit more time there, because before we knew it we were back on the road again.

The actual site of Tulum is a half mile or so from the bus stop and behind some walls, so after a short walk, suddenly we were there. The city was a major port for the local people from about 1200 AD to 1500 AD and was called "Zama" back before being abandoned.It was quite the site, and much more had been uncovered than at Altun Ha. It was also extremely hot and humid, so we were both sweating like crazy, and it was very crowded. But it was worth it.

The city is dominated by a huge temple called "El Castillo," as seen from the distance above. It was the main site of worship for the Mayan and Toltec people that lived there, complete with human sacrifice and whatnot.

We had two other favorites. One was the Temple of the Frescoes, which was supposedly a fertility temple, where women would go worship when they wanted to get pregnant. It has a lot of cool carvings on the outside (and inside supposedly, but we really couldn't see those), including a cool carving of the Descending God (the main god of this area, left), and a carving af what they say is a baby holding it's umbillical cord (right).

The other cool spot was a structure called the Temple of the Wind. Our guide claimed that it was built as kind of a look out post for hurricanes; that when the wild would blow fast enough to be hurricane strength, that the whole building would act as a whistle that could be heard for miles. Luckily there were no hurricanes, so we couldn't experience it firsthand.

The whole city was also surrounded by a big wall, which some argue was primarily built as protection against hurricanes, while others state that it was like any other city wall. In any case, it was cool to see, especially considering some of the passages in the latter part of Alma in the Book of Mormon when they talk about the people of the Americas buiding great walls.

Tulum was beautiful, built right on the beach. The waters were very pristine and blue. It would be the last stop on our cruise, but would be one of our favorites. It was such a great and fun trip, just being able to relax after the last few hectic months. We enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it to anyone.

We'll leep you posted when we the wedding pictures back, and whatever else we can scrounge up from our ongoing adventures.