Tulum ........ I think the Mayan architects got it right in Tulúm. The ruins in Chichen Itza, Tikal and Copan were built in the middle of nowhere. Yes, a lot can be said for the beauty of the rainforest. However, Tulum was built on cliffs high above the Caribbean Sea. There is no debate in my mind which location I preferred.

Compared to Cancun and Playa del Carmen, modern day Tulum was a sleepy little town. There was still every kind of thing you would expect there, but the pace was slower and the crowds were so much thinner. I really liked the town. The actual ruins were a little ways outside of town. The people at my hotel loaned me a bicycle - for free - and I was off to explore.

If you go to the site when it opens at 8:00 AM, there is a good chance that you can roam the ruins in solitude. That is always my preference. By the time I visited all I wanted to see, a lot more people were at the entrance. It was worth getting up early.

Tulum was one of the last major cities built by the Mayans, between the 13th and 15th centuries. It survived 70 years after the arrival of the Spaniards. It appears the inhabitants were done in by diseases that the Conquistadors brought with them to the New World. The name "Tulum" came from the Mayan word for "fence" or "wall". Yes, there was a wall around the area to protect it from invasion. The wall didn't keep out those diseases, unfortunately.

With its location on land and sea, Tulum was a trading center throughout Central Mexico and Central America. Obsidian, as well as jade, were two of the more precious materials traded and used in Tulum. There was also trade in copper, flint and ceramics.