Tulum Ruins and More About the Mayans Print
Monday, 13 February 2006 16:00

Another early morning for us! To take part in these excursions, we have to get up early in order to meet our tour guide and catch the coach to the planned destination. Fortunately, Tulum is only just over an hour away so today’s exploration of the Mayan ruins would not be an all-day event.

The ruins in Tulum are much younger than the ones in Chichen-Itza and much smaller however they are also in a far more beautiful setting, overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Today the expected high and reality coincided and we did see sunshine with a high of 24C so the waterfront location was ideal. Our tour guide was easier to understand and we learned more about the demise of the Mayan nation, a sad tale indeed. As is often the case, the European “conquerers”, in their infinite wisdom and their efforts to convert these sophisticated heathens into Christians, destroyed nearly all of their historical scrolls by burning them. They also tortured the Mayans for worshipping their gods and refusing to convert. Along with their religious history written on the volumes of scrolls, were all the thousands of years of their highly advanced studies of astronomy and mathematics. Fortunately, there were a few scrolls that made their way to three European countries where they are today and which have been interpreted. In recent years the Mayan scrolls have been deemed to be incredibly accurate and their astrological predictions are coinciding with what modern man is learning to be true today.

Yesterday, while we were in the Chichen-Itza Riviera, the people that we saw in huts and working in some of the little shops are Mayan descendents. They speak the Mayan language and they live the Mayan way (with the exception of their religion and using human sacrifices). They are short in stature, dark skinned and their eyes are similar to the eyes of people of Asian descent, where it is believed they originally migrated from. We have had two very interesting and informative days…more tomorrow.

Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!!