Tulum Beach, Mexico

Oops.  Did it again. Had the postcard picked and inserted into the blog, then totally forgot to write and post it.

In any case.  Here is the beach at Tulum in Mexico.  If you look past the ruins and down the beach, you'll see a narrow strip of beach.  That beach has got to be among the best beaches in the world - the sand, the color of the water, the lack of people (although the numbers of people increase every year).

I'd like to be there now.

Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico

I can't resist two more postings about Mexico, and after that I promise I'll move on.

Both of these postcards were sent from Isla Mujeres, a municipality in the state of Quintana Roo.  This municipality includes an island by the same name off the coast of the Yucatan, a few miles north of Cancun.  I visited this island in 1978, and these postcards were sent from there in 1980.  Development of Cancun didn't even begin until 1970, and it was nothing like the huge tourist destination it is today.

Isla Mujeres isn't quite the same as it was back in 1978.  At that time, the streets were sand, there were no cars and only a few hotels and restaurants.  I remember getting a ride in a relatively small launch from Puerto Juarez to the island, arriving at the island on a dock like the one on the postcard to the right, and staying in a hostel type place with some other travelers.  It was our first time really meeting "gringo trail" travelers, as prior to our trip to Isla Mujeres, we'd been staying with a family in Mexico City.  We were enthralled by the tales told, the distances traveled, the low cost of eating, sleeping and getting around.  We spent a few idyllic days here before heading off to Guatemala.

In all the times I've been to the Yucatan peninsula, I've never gone back to Isla Mujeres.  Somehow, it's one place which I haven't wanted to see in its current iteration.  However, I might change my mind.  It's just north of Isla Mujeres where you can snorkle with whale sharks June through August.  Bucket list!!!!!! - maybe even top five bucket list contender.  Check it out here.

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is in the state of Yucatan, in Mexico. It is listed as one of the new seven wonders of the world.  1500 years old, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the most famous of all the Mayan ruins.

The postcard above shows El Castillo ("The Castle"), the iconic image of Chichen Itza. However, the ruins are also known for the famous ball court (if you lost the game, you lost your life) and the Cenote Sagrado, where archaelogists have discovered bones that bear the tell tale signs of human sacrifice.  (Remember the movie "Apocalypto"?)

I visited Chichen Itza in the late 70s. We stayed in the one hotel nearby, which not only wasn't that near but also promised a pool which turned out to be filled with slimy green water.  However, there weren't tons of visitors if you got there before any tour busses arrived and we were able to climb up and down El Castillo.  I remember that those stairs were pretty steep,  and in 2006 a tourist feel down them and died.  For that reason as well as the impact of being loved to death (too many people), these days visitors are permitted to wander the grounds only.

Saturday was the Vernal Equinox, and on that day in the late afternoon, the shadow of the sun creates the image of a giant serpent moving down the steps of El Castillo (there are serpent heads on either sides of the stairs at the bottom of the structure).  Thousands of people gather to see this phenomenon.  Note the difference in numbers of people in the postcard below:

Elton John is peforming at Chichen Itza on April 3 this year.  It will be the third concert by a global mega star at the ruins, and is somewhat controversial.  The concert is sold out and I imagine the crowds will be as bad, if not worse, than those in the postcard above.