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TOURING THE YUCATAN RUINS
By David Hammer
His EmailConcepts: Complete Article including Photo Strip
Mayan, ruins, miles, city, Chichén, Spanish, Tuluum, Cozumel, Mexican, Merída, hotel, castillo, Cobá, pyramid, San Gervasio, del, cenote, restaurant, towns, culture, beautiful, wall, drove, art, Chichén Itzá, market, locals, surrounding, plaza, toll road.Summary:
We had previously toured the Mayan ruins of San Gervasio on Cozumel.
Although the pyramid at San Gervasio is not as high as Cobá or Chichén Iztá, the ruins have a primitive architecture that is interesting.
The ruins of Tuluum are on a limestone bluff overlooking the aqua Caribbean and are the only Maya ruins located next to the sea.
The word "Tuluum" is Mayan for "wall," which was built around the city to protect it from invading rival tribes.
The wall did not stop the Spanish and the city was abandoned about 70 years after the Spanish conquest.
It was an important seaport for the Mayans when the Spanish arrived, but now the seaport is a beautiful sandy cove under the shadow of the castillo (Mayan castle), where tourists swim and sun.
Driving at 60 miles per hour, it is difficult to see the occasional car-eating chuckholes, which is probably the reason why the wheels of our rental car were out of alignment.
From the top of El Castillo, which is the tallest pyramid in the Yucatán, (even taller than the El Castillo at Chichén-Itzá) you can see for miles in every direction, with jungle-covered pyramids and ruins poking out of the jungle floor.
We stayed at Hotel El Mesón del Marqués, a restored old colonial hotel across from the main plaza.
For $67 we got a large room, which had recently been renovated, with two queen beds, A/C, large clean bathroom and TV.
We arrived in Merída late Sunday afternoon, and most of the shops in the central market were closed, but Curios Lucia's, where I had shopped before, was still open.
David's articles
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