Visit of Tulum Archeological site

Visit of Tulum Archeological site

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Temple of the Wind

Temple of the Wind

Activity: Mayan Heritage Tour 5D/4N

Site: Tulum archeological site

Day 205

We had bought pan de la muerte for breakfast but these ones taste like margarine and are a total disappointment.

Our tour guide, Max, is right on time, and to our delight, we are the only ones. We have nailed a private tour at the cost of a shared one. I am liking traveling in low season more and more. It's going to be awesome.

Our first stop are the famous ruins of Tulum. Famous because they are by the sea and sandwiched between important touristic towns. They are the most recent Mayan ruins as well.

Main temple

Max explains more about the cosmogony of the maya and as we walk through the site, points out the carvings, fresco and various use of the buildings. The small temple of the wind for example has in one of its roof corners, a stone whistle. When the winds are at about 90/100 km per hour it will make a sound that works as an alarm for hurricanes. Max explains that usually you then have about 30 min to find shelters.

Temple of the wind
Palace
Palace with a cenote underneath

 

There are a lot of significations in the way the buildings are laid out. They help in forming calendars and keep track of seasons, equinoxes and astral events based on how the sun sets and rises and its reflection on columns and various alignments of the buildings. The main temple also serves as a lighthouse and its columns help determine the natural entrance for boats through the reef.

Temple aligned with equinox

 

This is an extremely interesting site when the guide explains all of this. And of course, there are some super famous Instagram shots taken here. If you google Mexico or Yucatan, I am 100% sure everyone has seen the temple of the wind on top of its cliff with the gorgeous sea below .

Most famous photo spot

We actually do not stop for lunch. Our guide tells us that because of the train Maya construction work, there might be a lot of traffic and he isn't also sure if the next archeological site of Konhulich is reopened. He wishes to go there as soon as possible, because if it's open and we get stuck in traffic, we would miss the opening hours. The driver got the info that the highway was closed, or blocked, from another driver in the parking of Tulum.

The traffic is bad and the road is full of trucks and construction materials for the train. It's a zig zag with the van to overtake the slow vehicles. The road is deteriorating fast and has potholes from such a heavy traffic of big trucks.

Once we arrive at the crossroad to Konhulich, our guide stops and ask the construction worker doing the traffic. The road to access is not reopened yet and the site is still closed for renovation. Our guide tells us that he will replace this site by another one on Thursday next to Campeche. We arrive earlier than planned in Xpujil. It's a town that exists only because it's midway on this long road that crosses the peninsula. Nothing fancy there but a larger truck stop with some hotels and restaurants.