MY CANCUN TRIP

IN 1986 MY HUSBAND AND I VISITED THE EAST COAST OF YUCATAN PENNISULA. IT IS ON THE EAST COAST OF YUCATAN PENNISULA. IT HAS A NUMBER OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS AND SITES. ISLA DE MUJERAS, BAY OF THE WOMEN, HAS WONDERFUL BEACHES. YOU TAKE A SMALL BOAT TO THE ISLAND AND SWIM IN THE WARM SEA WATERS WITH GIANT TURTLES AND DOLPHINS. WE TOOK A MOTORCYCLE RIDE IN THE SAND.

IN A SMALL COVE IN CANCUN WE SNORKELED AND FOUND VARIOUS BRILLIANT FISH AND OCTOPUS AS WELL AS CORAL REEFS. THERE WERE STAR FISH AND LIVING SHELLS. WE HIKED TO THE RUINS OF COBA AS WELL. THERE WERE ARCHAEOLOGISTS EXCAVATING THIS SITE AND IT HAD A LARGE SYSTEM OF CANALS . I CAME DOWN WITH DYSENTERY. AND STAYED FOR THREE DAYS IN A NICE HOTEL AFTER GETTING A SHOT FROM A DOCTOR.

MY HUSBAND AND I WORKED WENT TO CHICHEN ITZA BEFORE MEETING MY FAMILY AND MY SISTER IN LAWS PARENTS. IN CANCUN. CHICHAN ITZA IS A HUGE SITE WHERE WE STAYED IN ROOMS THAT WERE BUILT FOR THE ARCHEOLOGISTS WHO EXCAVATED THE SITES. IT HAS A LARGE PYRAMID WITH A BALL COURT AND SCULPTURES ON SOME OF THE OUTLYING STONE BUILDINGS. ALSO HAD A STONE BUILT OBSERVATORY. THESE PREHISTORIC INDIANS WERE VERY ADEPT AT USING THE STARS TO TRACT THEIR SEASONAL CALENDAR AND WHAT TO GATHER AND PLANT DURING DIFFERENT SEASONS. THEY HAD AN ELABORATE TRADE SYSTEM WITH MANY OTHER SITES.

OUR ENTIRE FAMILY HIKED INTO THE RUINS OF MUJIL, JUST SOUTH OF TULUM. YOU HAVE TO HIKE INTO THE RUINS ABOUT 1 MILE ON A DIRT ROAD. THEY HAVE SEVERAL PYRAMIDS THAT HAD NOT BEEN EXCAVATED. THERE ARE . THERE ARE LARGE ROCK STELA ABOUT 8 FEET HIGH WHICH WERE USED AS A MONUMENT OR COMMEMORATIVE TABLET. THEY ARE FOUND IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES IN EUROPE AS WELL.

WE ALSO TRAVELED TO TULUM WHICH IS ON THE BEAUTIFUL SEASHORE OF THE CARIBBEAN. TULUM MEANS WALL. IT IS A WALLED CITY, ONE OF THE FEW THE ANCIENTS BUILT. AFTER 1840 THEY CUT ALL THE TREES FROM THE SITE. IT DATES TO 560 AD - AS IS INSCRIBED ON A STELA. THIS CITY SERVED AS A MAJOR LINK IN THE MAYAN TRADE NETWORK. ARTIFACTS FOUND HERE RANGE FROM CENTRAL MEXICO TO CENTRAL AMERICA - COPPER RATTLES, FLINT, JADE, AND GUATEMALAN OBSIDIAN. THE SPANIARDS CAME HERE AFTER 1600 AND UNWITTINGLY SPREAD THEIR DISEASES TO THEM WHICH VIRTUALLY ELIMINATED MOST OF THE POPULATION. THEY BUILT TEMPLES TO VARIOUS GODS HERE. THERE IS A NICE BEACH WHERE THE TRADING CANOES WOULD EXPORT AND IMPORT VARIOUS GOODS.