Land of Maya

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While on a cruise in Central America, we stayed in many countries. The first stop was Mexico then Honduras, Belize and the Bahamas and many others.

Our ship approached the Mexican island of Cozumel near the South-Eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. Previously, it was almost uninhabited, but in recent years has become a haven for most Caribbean cruises, and its infrastructure has dramatically improved. We absolutely did not want to sit on a tourist island, and we went on a 7-hour excursion to the ancient Maya-Tulum city. On the map, it is designated the most right under the famous Chichen Itzoy.

From the island to the big earth we delivered a capacious ferry. In the town of Playa del Carmen, we moored in half an hour:

Of the 3000 passengers, only 50 people preferred a beach excursion. Before Tulum, we drove an hour on a ridiculous bus:

On the way, we stopped at a souvenir shop where they told us about the Maya gold. When the conquistadors first saw the Mayan pyramids, they decided that they were made of gold. At night, gold turned into an ordinary black stone. The Spaniards were sure that the Maya hid their gold from them inside these stones. In fact, the pyramids were lined with a local stone, which turns golden in the sun. He, like phosphorus, can soak up the sun during the day, and at night give his energy in the form of a golden glow. We were shown a May mask made of this stone:

In the shade, it was black, but as soon as it was carried out in the sun it shone. Such masks are made right next to this souvenir shop. I could not resist and bought myself the same:

The guide claimed that the products from this stone can only be found on the Yucatán Peninsula. He also talked about various ways of using cacti. Everybody knows about tequila, but that's not all. Maya made of cactus paper, in the likeness of the ancient Greek papyrus, and also sewed their ponchos from them, tearing the threads from the core and weaving them together:

From the parking lot to the city we were taken to the tractor trailer:

Three minutes we stomped along the stone wall. First we had a stunning view of the Caribbean Sea:

And then we saw the city itself:

The city is 50 buildings, surrounded by a stone wall. For comparison, in Chichen Itza of such buildings about 2000:

We stayed under the crown of this magnificent tree, and our guide shared with us some interesting facts. We will do the same:

We all heard that the Mayan civilization was gone and no longer exists. This is not true. Our guide was Maya. By the way, they do not like terribly when they are called Indians. In the Mayan calendar, time is divided into cycles of 1300 years each. December 21, 2012 year ended the next cycle. And on December 22 a new one began. The Mayans were never predictors and did not seek to become them. All their achievements were based on the exact sciences: physics, astronomy and mathematics.

Another misconception is to think that all Mayans were geniuses. This is not true. Well thought only the top. They had no money, and they were divided into classes according to the amount of gray matter in the skull. Engineers, architects, physicists, astronomers and mathematicians constituted the ruling elite and lived inside the city walls. All the rest lived outside in the jungle. The walls were not for protection from external enemies, but in order to emphasize the superiority of the upper class. All buildings are not houses, but temples and monuments. If we put monuments to the famous fellow villagers, they created them in honor of the vital elements: Water, Air, Fire and Earth: