Day: 220
In search of some Yucatan Peninsula history, I rented the worlds second smallest car this morning and decided to drive until I found something spectacular. I had the general idea that I needed to be heading south, so with no map (but armed with my remarkable direction sense), I gassed up and was off.
After a couple of close calls on the Mexican roads, two hours of driving, and one police officer following me on his motorcycle for a few miles (eyeing me to see if I was the bribe giving type), I made it to Tulum; the ruins of a once great Mayan port city.
For hundreds of years this was one of the great trade centers for all the Caribbean, with natives and traders paddling their canoes up and down the coast as far as Honduras in search of new goods.
The entire city used to be made of giant stone structures carved with intricate representations of the various Mayan gods, and heroes of the Mayan culture. The city was still in use until as late as the turn of the 20Th century, and soon after the Mexican government took over to preserve the ruins.
I was having a great time wandering throughout this testament to an early civilization, but soon my stomach started grumbling and I had to make my way to find some tacos and another layer of SPF 50.
With my lips burning from far too much habanero sauce on my tacos, I wanted to see what else I could find in this area. I grabbed a helado (ice cream) to-go, hoping it would cool my burning mouth and loaded back into my tiny car to explore some more.
I hadn’t gone ten miles when I saw another sign the said: Zona Arc. Xel-Ha 500mts.
Sweet! I thought, More ruins. I slowed down and made a hard left turn across the freeway (another close call) and pulled into the dirt parking lot of Xel-Ha. There was a sign saying Xel-Ha, but other than that there was not another living soul around. I parked and got out of the death trap and was soon accosted by a older Senora telling me I had to pay 34 pesos ($3) for park fees. No big deal, I followed her to her guard shack, paid my $3, and filled out the register. I was only the third visitor of the day!
The senora pointed me off on a small dirt path into the jungle and mumbled in Spanish, “that way”. I had the ruins completely to myself, but when I say ruins I don’t mean the still standing buildings like Tulum was, these ruins are actually in ruins. But, still, I had them all to myself and was able to climb some of them to see ancient paintings and carvings, as opposed to Tulum where there were hundreds of tourists and ropes blocking off everything interesting.
Unfortunately, after half an hour, the afternoon rain clouds started to move in, and in hopes that I could make one more stop in Playa Del Carmen before sunset or before I was rained out, I set off in my minuscule white car to drive north once more.
Windshield wipers, sun, windshield wipers, sun, windshield wipers, sun.
And so the weather continued, in a constant state of flux, for my entire hour drive back north to Playa del Carmen. When I finally arrived, the rain had abated, but the clouds decided to hang around and look menacing anyways.
Playa del Carmen is a little beach town, about an hour south of Cancun, it began as a little fishing and ferry town to the island of Cozumel, but soon it took off as a tourist attraction on its own. For fear of the big hotels moving in and destroying the small beach town feel here, a few years back the town passed a law that no structures can be more than three stories tall. It’s worked, although there is a definite tourist feel here, there still remains that vibe of beach community.
From where I parked near the center of town, everything is within walking distance. I strolled down the pedestrian streets near the ocean side which had the feel of an open air market, selling everything from charms and beaded necklaces to timeshares with oceanfront property. The water looked inviting; but since it was getting late in the day, I had no towel, and nowhere to store my camera, I settled for an seaside cup off coffee and some people watching.
As the sun dropped in the sky, I made my way back to my car for the final leg of the days tour. I was content, I had seen so much today, and felt right with the world for experiencing a small taste of Yucatan culture.
