SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
The next day, our port of call was Cozumel. We docked at a small island and caught a fast ferry boat to Playa del Carmen. Very touristy town.
Brian had pre-arranged a car/van for the six of us to take us to Tulum and the Mayan ruins there. The car was arranged through Avis, so we thought we were safe. However, when we tried to find the address where the Avis rental store was – it wasn’t there! We even checked in with the police station, and they had no clue where it was! Brian actually called Avis to find out what was going on. Finally, after walking around the town for about an hour, he was able to find out they had built a lovely new showroom – on the outskirts of town! Apparently the Avis company didn’t realize this – had no record of it, etc. In any case, we climbed into two taxi’s, and were on our way.
While the rest of us freshened up, Brian got the car. Turns out, they had given away the van he had reserved, and the only vehicle they had was a Jeep that only held five bodies, so Katie sprawled in the luggage area of the vehicle. Not very comfortable.
And especially not comfortable when we were hurtling down the road at 60 mph and came to an unmarked HUGE speed bump! She was literally bounced to the roof of the car, and banged her head, causing her to cry out! After this happened the second time, she tearfully announced that Forrest was riding back there on the way back!! There were three speed bumps on that road, and only the third one was marked!
We finally arrived at Tulum. We had a light lunch, and Brian arranged with a local to be our guide through the ruins. Before we headed off, we were treated to a show of pole dancers. No, it’s not what you think – this was a group of four men, dressed in native costume, at the top of a tall pole, who allowed themselves to be dropped nearly to the bottom of the pole (and the ground!) and swung around. Very festive, but certainly not something I would want to attempt.
And then we began our tour of the ruins. Fred and I have always enjoyed roaming around ruins – whether in New Mexico, Texas, Europe, or now Mexico. Our girls enjoyed it, as well, so this would be a fun trip.We were quite interested in seeing the “village” and the building there. We saw the temple and it’s outbuildings.
One structure that interested us quite a bit was at the top of a hill. Our guide, Ernie, said that it was an “early warning system” that the Mayan’s had built-in for hurricanes. When a hurricane was coming, the wind would blow through that building – or the “hole” within it – and make a unique sound. And it only sounded when a hurricane was approaching – no other storm would make that same sound. Fred, being a meteorologist, was fascinated by this piece of information and the ingenuity of those ancient peoples.
When we returned to Playa del Carmen, Brian dropped us off and he went to return the car. We were concerned that he wouldn’t get back to the ferry in time to make the ship, but did – running at top speed!
More to come……….
Old Things R New 