We got up a little earlier today because we had a tour booked. I had customized the tour a year ago, as this trip was originally planned for last January, so we had been waiting a long time. We were supposed to go to Muyil to see ruins that were less crowded and more hidden in the jungle. When the guide and driver picked ups up, they said that we were going to the Tulum ruins because the government had closed Muyil temporarily. I asked if there were other options, because we had specifically booked something less crowded. So we shifted gears and went to Coba ruins.
The site was huge and spread out. Our guide, Alejandro, was fantastic. We had a great time in the van talking to him about the current geopolitical situation in Mexico. When we got to the site, he told us that only 3% of the ruins had been uncovered. There were a lot of piles that they knew had ruins under them that were untouched so far.
There were also a lot of markers places that were marked with sticks. These are for creating a grid for a frame of reference, or to mark places that have ruins seen on LIDAR. It was cool being in such an active archeological site, with people surveying and digging. The site is so big that we were allowed to climb on the structures – they aren’t worried about them being worn down or damaged by people at all.
Our guide was fantastic. He told us so much about how the Mayan people lived and what their culture was like, and he did it in a way that kept the kids engaged.
The Mayans built pyramids for very different reasons than the Egyptians. They believed that there were three worlds, above, below and our world. The gods were above and below, but were not able to be in our world at all. So they built pyramids so they could speak to the gods in the upper world. The higher the pyramid, the closer they could be to the gods.
We learned that as one Mayan town conquered another, the new ruling family would sometimes build a larger temple over an existing one, so when they cut into the ruins, they can often find a smaller version inside. You can see that here.
Before our trip, the kids learned about a sport the Mayan prior played called piet, where they user their bodies to bounce a ball through a hoop. They were excited to see this really Mayan court. Our guide told us that it wasn’t just a game for fun, and that it had huge significance in their power structure.
It was really nice to be able to explore at our own pace, climb around on everything, and ask all of our questions.
We rode bikes to get further into the ruins. Things were so spread out that walking would have taken a long time.
We learned that each temple had a stele, carved to represent the ruling family. The hats they wore were distinct, archaeologists can tell which families lived where, and when a newer stele was placed in front of an old one, that area had been taken over. Here is a stele, and a drawing of what it would have looked like originally. This has a ruler standing on another person, and enslaved people/prisoners kneeling at his side. The prisoners were always upper class people from other families.
We saw wild turkeys. They were much more colorful than expected.
The kids built rock piles.
Next, we went to a Mayan village for lunch. The Mayan people were forced off of their land by the government, and were given land more inland. Some families worked together to build a community and to offer visits to tourists to learn about their culture and swim in the cenotes on their land. We had lunch cooked in the traditional Mayan way. The chicken had been wrapped in banana leaves and buried with coals for six hours, and it was so tender it fell off the bone.The tortillas were hot and freshly made.
The village land includes cenotes, and we started at cenote azul. It was pretty, and we enjoyed jumping into it from the rocks. There were fish to see with the snorkel.
Next, we went to a larger cenote for zip lining. River was the only one of us who saw the turtles from the zipline.
After the last zipline, we canoes back across the center to where we had started. We were the only people there, and it was calm and peaceful. We all got to see the turtles in the water.
Next, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the pool, the swim up bar, and the seafood restaurant.
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