Praying for rain

We were up early this morning, excited for a trip to our first Mayan ruins. We made ourselves some pancakes at the hostel (free) and then took a taxi out to the Mayan ruins at Tulum, arriving not long after they opened. The name 'Tulum' means 'wall' in Mayan. That's because this city has walls on 3 sides and the Caribbean Sea on the fourth side. It was inhabited from about 1200AD to 1521AD, abandoned 75 years after the Spanish conquest. The city is set in one of the most stunning locations. It is perched up on some cliffs overlooking the clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean and surrounded by palm trees. The white limestone ruins of the buildings contrast nicely with the green jungle and blue ocean. There were a few nice bas-reliefs, and we began to learn a lot about the Mayans. Here at Tulum, Chac-Mool the Rain God played a huge role in their religion, probably because it is so stinking hot. I think I said a few of my own prayers for rain towards the end of our exploring. There were a lot of people around, and even more iguanas, but it wasn't too bad.

After spending about 3 hours walking around, we headed back to town, had some lunch, grabbed our bags and waited at the bus stop for our 2:30 bus west to Piste, the town nearest the ruins of Chichen Itza. The ride took about 3 hours and was again a great trip in air-conditioned comfort. In Piste, we stopped at a few hotels until one would bargain and give us a cheap rate. Piste is even smaller and less exciting than Tulum. We spent the rest of the evening doing laundry in the shower. There is a sound and light show at the Chichen Itza ruins, free with entry tickets, and we were going to see it just for the cheesiness of it, but it was raining with thunder and lightning and didn't feel like getting wet. So, we before walked around the seemingly abandoned town to find an open place for dinner and relaxed a bit before heading to bed.