Transportation and Arrangements

Cousin Amy asked if we were driving ourselves all over the Yucatan. Phil did that twenty years ago with exciting results. But this time we found a great travel service which provided a vehicle, driver (Miguel, above), entrance fees, and pre-paid lunches.

Martha, our reservationist, at Cancun Vista was very helpful. Miguel was early to arrive, a great driver, and a wonderful host.

Lunch at Coba was at a small roadside restaurant. Our lunch near Chichen Itza was in a Hacienda with a large lunch buffet, long tables for bus-loads of tourists, but surprisingly good food, and even some traditional dancers. (See picture below).

Cousin Amy also asked about the apparent absence of any other tourists in our pictures. This is mostly an outcome of planning. We made arrangements with Cancun Vista to arrive at Tulum and Chichen Itza before the big buses. As a result in both cases we were leaving just as the huge hoards were arriving. Coba and Ek Balem are less often on the typical tourist's itinerary.

Ek Balam

A larger map can be accessed by clicking on the image above.

Alexander called Chichen Itza the ¨Disney World¨of Mayan sites because of its size, impressive construction, tourist infrastructure, and the dozens (hundreds?) of vendors who line the pathways between the buildings.

Chichen Itza is the core of an important tourist industry supporting an extended area of central Yucatan. Tulum is similar and while Coba attracts many fewer visitors than Chichen Itza or Tulum, there too large buses will disgorge hundreds of visitors at a time.

In stark contrast was our last archeological site at Ek Balam. Far from any city or village, the roads narrow more and more until a single lane weaves through the brush. From the top of the temples nothing but trees can be seen in every direction.

As we arrived on Thursday afternoon a large group of Mexican high school students were leaving. But for the nearly two hours we were at Ek Balam we shared the site only with Miguel and six others, including a husband, wife, and son from Houston.

Ek Balam has been a site of human settlement for a very long time. Some of the current construction dates back to at least 100AD. Like Coba, it is mostly an example of the Mayan classic period 300 to 800.

In most Mayan construction stucco was used extensively. Over time most of the stucco has worn away. But at Ek Balam a few extraordinary pieces survived and are shown below.


This is a view from the top of the Oval Palace toward the Acropolis (see map). Fred is the white hatted figure in the lower left.



Alexander is standing in front of a stucco ornamented doorway about half-way up the Acropolis



To see close-ups of these objects, please click on the images.


From the top of the Acropolis looking toward the Oval Palace. Fred is the small white figure beneath the trees at the foot of the Acropolis. Please click on the image for a larger view. Fred is talking to Miguel.

Chichen Itza

A larger map can be accessed by clicking on the image above.

Chichen Itza is a "twin city" in that it has two distinct parts. The original city was constructed in the mid-classical period beginning in the 400s AD extending to the mid-600s. Buildings of this period are concentrated south of the Ossuary on the map above. A largely new city was constructed to the north beginning late in the 900s. Significant construction continued into the 1300s, very late for the Maya.

Credible sources disagree regarding political, religious, and other explanations for the distinctly different phases of development. But it is clear the older southern city gives prominence to the Mayan god Chaac (thunder, rain, agriculture), while the newer northern city gives greater priority to Kukulcan (also known as Quetzalcoatl). The southern city is more purely Mayan, while the northern city is distinctly Toltec in style and execution.


Standing in front of the Temple of Kukulcan (also known as El Castillo). The sum of the four stair-steps is 365, one for each day of the year.

Standing in the Ball Court, the largest in Meso-America. At the end of the Ball Court is the Temple of the Bearded Man. Kukulcan was often shown as bearded.

Standing in front of the Temple of the Warriors. Kukulcan was originally a god of wisdom and peace, but was transformed over time into a god of war. Carvings on the hundreds of pillars attending this temple tell stories of various battles.

The most prominent structure in the original part of the city is the Observatory. This is one of the very few round buildings known to be constructed by the Maya.

The so-called Annex is adorned with several carvings of Chaac in various manifestations. Appearing as rain god, Chaac is shown above the doorway behind Fred and Alexander. But in other roles he is also shown on the four corners and the pediment. A big-picture kind of person will also see the entire facade as a face-view of Chaac (the doorway is his mouth).

The Red House is one of the oldest structures at Chichen Itza. While probably first constructed in the 400s, it continued to be expanded and maintained for at least nine centuries.

Phil is standing in a small temple built at the intersections of two sacbes (straight white roads) Xtoloc cenote, shown on the map above.

If you want to know more about Chichen Itza, please access the San Francisco Exploritorium´s fine web-based introduction at: http://www.exploratorium.edu/ancientobs/chichen/flash.html

Thursday heading West

Early this morning we will travel west to Chichen Itza and Ek Balam. I expect we will not get back until late and I will be surprised if I post more until Friday morning. Please click on the links (in the prior sentence) to learn more about these two sites.

Below is the Temple of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza, probably the most well-known Mayan structure in the Yucatan. This is, in fact, from the post-classical period and reflects significant Toltec influence. The Toltecs were a much more war-like people from Central Mexico who exerted significant influence after Mayan culture passed its peak in 800-1000 AD.

Rainy Wednesday in Cancun

This was originally to be a "beach day," breaking up our Mayan excursions. But Chaac, the Mayan rain god, had a different idea. The rain began early. It was cloudy all day and rain returned from time to time.

All the Palin boys slept in, but this is a relative term. The two older boys had breakfast together about 7:30. Alexander joined us about 9:30.

At 10:30 we took a taxi to the Hotel Zone, about five miles away. Ruthie Palin always said that travel and shopping go together like a horse and carriage, so we went to La Isla Shopping Village, on the lagoon side of Cancun island.


The covered walkways were barely sufficient to keep the rain out. But as Alexander said, "It's better than lazing in the room."


Mostly we looked in the Mexican souvenir shops for gifts to bring home. But we were poor hunters and did not find anything we considered worthwhile.




For lunch we sat by the lagoon. Alexander and Phil had spicy barbecued pork. Fred had spicy shrimp. Despite the rain and a rather chilly breeze, we all had frozen margaritas in an - unsuccesful - attempt to mollify Chaac. Darker clouds formed on the horizon.



After lunch we walked to a second mall. Ruthie would be unhappy with us, again no purchases were made.



Phil waded in the Caribbean Sea. Alexander was satisfied to walk the beach. We came back to the hotel about 3:30 to laz around in our rooms and blog.




Before dinner we took a dip in the hot tub. We have had dinner each evening at the Courtyard restaurant. There is a covered patio looking over the pool. At sundown they light some torches and it is a peaceful and pleasant place. Last night as the clouds cleared a sliver of crescent moon moved across the sky as we ate and talked.

For three nights in a row Phil has had Sopa de Lima, a Yucatan speciality.

Tuesday at Coba

After spending about one and a half hours at Tulum we drove another 30 minutes into the interior to Coba. Before going to the archeological site we had an early lunch in the small town outside Coba. This is where I stayed for three nights almost twenty years ago.



Coba was a huge city of 50,000 or more people scattered over a very large area. It is now mostly a scrub forest. Phil should have taken some pictures of the forest, but did not. Behind Alexander and Fred is Nohoch Mul the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan.



Alexander climbed Nohuch Mol to scan the flat Yucatan landscape. The expanse of forest provides some sense of Coba´s isolation. When walking beneath the trees many shapeless piles of rock can be seen which were once carefully wrought limestone buildings. While Coba is almost certainly the most significant site we will visit, it is also the least fully known and very little restoration has been done.

We spent about three hours at Coba. We left Cancun at 7 AM and returned about 3:30 in the afternoon. All three of us were plenty tired. Alexander and Fred both had cheeseburgers for dinner. Fred asked for an Old Fashioned, but was given straight brandy on ice. Wednesday we all get to sleep in.

Tuesday at Tulum

We are standing inside Tulum. El Castillo, the principal shrine, is over Phil's left shoulder



Fred is standing at the El Castillo with a different shrine appearing on the ridge beyond him. Tulum was principally a trading post. Large canoes used the beach to bring ashore their goods.



Alexander is the blue-shirted figure in the foreground. This is the narrow beach below El Castillo.



Walled on three sides, Tulum is positioned on a high limestone cliff above the sea.



When the structures at Tulum were redisovered in the 1840s they were overgrown with vegetation. When first built they were covered in white stucco and painted bright colors and covered with heroic frescos.



This a view of the front of El Castillo behind Fred and Alexander.

Tuesday, March 16

Today we will be traveling to Tulum and Coba, south of Cancun. Our first site, Tulum, was established in the early 1200s AD as a fortified port for Coba and other interior centers. An ancient sacbe or elevated road connected Tulum with Coba. The comparatively modest structures at Tulum reflect a decline in construction technique and artistic quality from the high-point of the Mayan classical period prior to the 10th Century AD.


A larger version of the map will open by clicking on the image.

The Maya were very interested in zenial passages, the time when the sun passes directly overhead. The Yucatan is below the Tropic of Cancer, so zenial passages occur twice a year equidistant from the solstice. To represent this position of the sun overhead, the Maya had a god named Diving God (or Descending God). The Diving God is given particular prominence at Tulum

Coba was well-established in the pre-classic period (before 300 CE). The city reached its population peak of roughly 50,000 or more between 600 and 900 CE. Unlike other urban and ceremonial centers Coba was not abandoned in the sudden collapse of the late classical. Construction continued until the 1400s, but there is evidence of a significantly reduced population and much less construction than previously.

Nohoch Mul at Coba is the tallest of the Yucatan pyramids at 42 meters or 138 feet (El Castillo at Chichen Itza is 33 meters)

Monday, March 15

Alexander and Phil arrived in Cancun from Washington DC about 10:30 AM (local time). Our hotel is only about five minutes from the airport, so we checked in. Fred arrived about 1:30. Phil went to meet him and bring him to the hotel. We are staying at the Courtyard Marriott.

After sitting and talking by the pool (above), we went to dinner at the hotel. Alexander and Fred had Mexican variety plates, Phil had fish tacos and lime soup. We are going to bed early so we can wake up early Tuesday to begin our tour to Tulum and Coba.

A couple of years ago Fred mentioned a long-time fascination with Mayan ruins. This week we will visit at least four, and maybe five, sites from the classical and post-classical periods. Look in for more late tomorrow or early Wednesday.