MEXICO – traces of the Maya

Link to the previous page     MEXICO – Back to the Caribbean        

Tulum

23 Juni 2026

Today we travelled a little further along the Caribbean coast to Tulum, a small town where ancient and older cultures are not mixed with ‘high culture’ but with high-rise buildings. Here we’ve found a small studio flat in a building that isn’t quite finished yet, but is quite affordable and has a rooftop pool and lovely views of the jungle, which is still quite a long way off. The nearest supermarket is also nearby. Most of the remaining wild jungle consists mainly of impenetrable undergrowth; the proud, giant trees are completely absent here.
The vegetation and the appearance of the landscape remind us very much of our lovely time in Florida – after all, it’s just across the way.

After spending the whole afternoon clearing out the cupboard and drawers to make room for our things, we were delighted by the wide range of kitchen utensils on offer, and at last we can make delicious spreads again without the vast quantities of chemicals that are the norm here.
We drove along the very long beach road, lined with lovely little guesthouses, restaurants and shops that look very inviting – in contrast to those massive clothing warehouses where the clothes are hung so tightly together that you can’t even (or, thankfully) get the hangers out – and I can’t help but think of the mountains of second-hand (as they’re usually not even old yet) mountains of clothes in Morocco where they’ll soon end up, because we haven’t even spotted a single second-hand shop here yet. The other countries are already bursting at the seams with a huge range of goods, but here it’s even more extreme, because every one of these massive supermarkets also sells clothes.

Valladolid

Our first trip was to Valladolid, about 1½ hours inland from Tulum. It’s a small, old town, and we finally set off to eat fish at a lovely little old restaurant that was also quite busy… and then the food arrived… to our surprise, first a starter on the house, then a fish platter for each of us with twice as much fish as anyone could possibly eat – even more than was pictured on the menu – along with rice, salad and a warming dish containing a generous portion of tortillas. We couldn’t believe it.
The whole experience more than made up for our disappointment that both interesting museums were closed, because today is Monday and that’s how it is all over the world.

I was just about to look up a bit more information on Wikipedia about the history of Valladolid when I felt (I have to say) sick to my stomach again. It’s just too much of a nightmare. But what has actually changed since then?

El Muyil   29. July 2026

El Muyil, an interesting archaeological site, really captivated us today. The ruins covered quite a large area in the midst of a stand of trees that had, of course, developed naturally over time.  (It’s lovely to see here, too, how the jungle is reclaiming the buildings.) From there, we walked along a lovely path through the jungle to a lagoon that was so large it was barely recognisable as such. There were 18 boats moored there, but we found the price of €100 per PERSON plus an entry fee for this nature reserve a bit steep for a two-hour trip with no sunshade, during which you drift through the ancient Mayan canals without a boat – and on top of that, there’s the entry fee for staying in the area. The walk began at the entrance to the ruins; then we had to pay for the path from the ruins to the lagoon, which was justified, however, as the path led through marshy terrain and was entirely paved with wooden planks. As it was somewhat uneven, though, we had to pay more attention to the path than to the natural surroundings. On the way, we passed a viewing platform, which was closed off for good reason. However, as another one had been announced at the end, we carried on walking – but to no avail; it seemed this wooden structure wasn’t considered safe either. So we set off back before we had to pay here as well, as we’d already set foot in new territory. But that’s often the way it is, and the government takes about 70 per cent of the entrance fee, so it’s a good idea to find out what’s really worth seeing.

But there are also – and this is what makes this country so endearing – these little oases with friendly locals who are still trying to preserve stretches of countryside and make these sometimes tiny oases ‘accessible’ to people once again, with their hearts and senses, not just their feet.
We came across a group like this and only signed up very late in the evening. We were the only ones with a guide who’d grown up in this rural area, and we made him very happy as he would otherwise have been left without any earnings and he has a family to support.
What appealed to me most, of course, was that it was advertised as a cycle tour to visit three cenotes; that piqued my curiosity and I persuaded Gerhard. And I only slipped once on a sandy road, as I’d left my sunglasses back at the accommodation and failed to spot the bumps because of the heat haze in the midday sun. But the two men were more startled than I was. In their panic, they immediately tried to pull me out from under the bike; it didn’t occur to either of them to move the bike out of the way first. When I finally freed myself and tried to turn round under the bike so I could get up, it didn’t occur to me either that the bike needed to be moved first. It must have looked really bizarre. But apart from some grazes on my arm, everything was fine, and when we arrived at the third cenote – a completely open one – the crystal-clear water washed the sand out of my bleeding wounds, wow!
But it was marvellous swimming here and admiring the underwater scenery through my diving goggles. After taking a few deep breaths, I even managed to jump into the water from a height of 4.5 metres for the first time in my life, and as I came out alive, I did it again straight away and earned the admiration of the two men.
Now something brilliant has happened again: we told the guide beforehand exactly why we wouldn’t be taking the photos he offered – which are taken entirely on a voluntary basis – but at some point he started taking pictures of the surroundings, or so I thought.
Then came the surprise that evening: the photos were sent to us, and we can’t even say thank you as there was no personal address included.

Ek Balam    3 August 2026

The day before Gerhard had to return the car to Cancún, we wanted to make the most of the opportunity and head inland once more, to Ek Balam. We were interested in these excavations because the buildings were in a different style to those we had seen previously. The layout of the site was also different and had a very religious character.
We’d also planned to pop by Valladolid again, but when we realised it was Monday again, we decided against it.
On the way to the ruins, we spotted some growths on a few trees that we couldn’t explain.  We asked the park attendants and learnt that they were Arsenura armida caterpillars, which later develop into larger butterflies.  It was an incredible stroke of luck to be able to see them here.  Only the younger caterpillars form such a circle.  They are solitary when feeding, but during rest periods they gather together again to ‘cuddle’.

Link:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenura_armida

Ek Balam is a very important centre of Maya culture; it is thought to have been founded around 100 AD and flourished until around 1200.  The site covers an area of approximately 12 square kilometres in the heart of the jungle.  Many of the buildings are still in a good state of preservation, although in many places the jungle is already reclaiming the site. For further information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ek´_Balam

Now let’s take a bit of a break from doing the washing and make some of our lovely spreads – first hummus, not with tahini but with ground sesame seeds, parsley pesto with ground sunflower seeds, all with good olive oil, garlic butter, and sometimes garlic yoghurt mayonnaise with tuna, and of course  plenty of spices and garlic. And to really enjoy all that, we’d like to have more time for breakfast; and if we can’t get any proper bread again, there’s a toaster here.
We’ll wait a bit longer until my elbow has healed – it turned out to be quite badly injured – before using the rooftop pool. But thanks to the European Championships, that’ll all work out fine too.
The car has been returned.
Gerhard is fully occupied sorting through the photos.

I managed to persuade him to hire a bike this evening, though – for 24 hours to start with – and it was brilliant. It felt brilliant to be back on a bike again, and we had a leisurely ride through the town, stopping at an ice-cream parlour (which we recognised from our first visit to Tulum) to eat the best ice cream – in the truest sense of the word – made with only natural ingredients and big chunks of fruit. Afterwards, we visited a colourful market and a street lined with restaurants, which reminded us a bit of Granada. We also found a lovely little snack bar that serves almost nothing but empanadas with at least 20 different fillings – it was absolutely delicious. What are we doing here with our own kitchenette, a supermarket with its own bakery and RYE BREAD – a real novelty in Central America?
We extended the bike hire for another 24 hours until Monday evening and then hired a car for three days, as we realised that the bus journey to and from the archaeological site is 1. rather a faff and 2. actually a bit more expensive for two people than the car.

AKUMAL

On the first day, we drove to Akumal to finally see the giant turtles in the wild. It all turned out quite differently, though – not in the immediate vicinity as we’d expected, but we first had to swim a very long way out into the ocean, which is quite exhausting even with a life jacket. On top of that, the diving kit I’d been given was too big and therefore not watertight – though I only realised this once I’d turned round and had solid ground under my feet again, as seeing the seabed receding further and further beneath me only added to the experience. But three giant tortoises, one of them immense and beautiful – it’s just a shame we couldn’t capture what we were so lucky to witness on camera.
However, care was always taken to ensure we didn’t get too close to the animals.
I swam on a bit further and was lucky enough to see more turtles – some of them really large – on the nearby reef, as well as a multitude of small and medium-sized, very colourful fish swimming amongst the rocks and corals.   Almost by chance, I spotted a small stingray amongst the seagrass.  It was so fascinating that I found it hard to follow the others.  Unfortunately, my mobile phone isn’t just afraid of water – it certainly can’t swim either. I’m just glad it works when it’s dry.   ...-G.)

(Underwater photos by the guide)
After a short rest, and with our feet finally back on solid ground, we also spotted the many nests on the beach from which the little turtles will eventually hatch.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see that happen.

Coba    12 August 2026

On the second day, we drove to Coba, another large archaeological site in the middle of the jungle. As the sites were quite far apart, we were able to hire a bike, which was quite an experience in itself: cycling through the jungle to the various sites, including the second-tallest pyramid (42 m) in Mexico, and we spent a total of six hours there. You could choose from a vast number of bikes, but as they were all equally old, rusty and too low, it didn’t really matter which one you picked, and it was quite strenuous anyway – especially when we came to a slight incline, we really had to push ourselves.

On the third day, we actually came across another cenote that had only been opened to the public a year ago by a Maya family. It’s still (thankfully) relatively unknown, and there’s an exciting trail leading to it. We managed to drive quite a way into the jungle. We were the only visitors, and, equipped with life jackets and diving goggles, we plunged into the icy waters. This cenote was quite different again; it consisted of several vaulted chambers, each covered in beautiful stalactites in their own unique way. The water reached a depth of up to 23 metres, and some huge boulders extended just below the water’s surface; our diving goggles were very helpful in finding our way between the rocks over the shallows. What was particularly interesting, however, were the many bats that often whizzed past quite close to our heads and, if we kept very still, would hang upside down from the ceiling. But as they were smaller than the ones we’d seen before and looked more like birds whilst flying, we quickly took a liking to them.
Soon the family’s children joined in too; they couldn’t believe that there were people who didn’t speak Spanish. But we managed to communicate using hand gestures and body language, and they had a brilliant time, as they were better at handling the ball than we were. However, we scored a big point when Gerhard retrieved their ball from a spot under a low vaulted ceiling, where they apparently weren’t allowed to go.

And now we`re off to Mexico city.

 The inserted travel routes were created with Google Maps.

Translated with DeepL.com

Link to the next page          MEXICO – Mexico city – first impressions