Our Very Busy Final Day!

Drew and I went to Tulum today. Tulum is a city that is about 35 or 40 minutes south of our resort. There are ancient Mayan ruins that we toured there. We woke up at 7:00 AM, got ready, ate breakfast, and got picked up for our tour. Our tour guide's name was Antonio. He is Mayan, and was very funny!

This is an alter, I think

There were quite a few steps leading to the ruins, which you'll see why in a little bit.

This wall was built by the Mayans, obviously many years ago. If you look on the left side, the wall has crumbled. Antonio said that that happened about a month ago from the trees. The purpose of the wall with the gate was to keep people that didn't belong there out. There was a village on the inside of the gate, and villages on the outside of the gate. Only privledged people were allowed through the gates. The wall was also built for defense purposes. Antonio said that when Mayan babies were born, their heads were tied with boards in order to make them flat like the Mayan gods. If a baby came out deformed, they were already godlike. He said that Down Syndrome existed and those people thrived out in the jungle. They developed the skills that are necessary in order to survive.

We walked up some more steps and entered the ruins through another gate.

When the ruins were being reconstructed, they found a decorated skeleton in that hole.

These next two pictures were taken right inside of the gate, looking in to the ruins.

Do you see the waves breaking out in the distance?

They are actually breaking against a coral reef that the Mayans dug out.

This picture is of the sacrificial temple.

The stone in the front, at the bottom of the stairs, is where the sacrifices took place.

Antonio took us to the top of the cliff and we were able to look down and see this beautiful beach.

My screams, that you hear at the end, are because I was trying to write in the sand and it just kept getting washed away. I wanted to write "Just Married" and take a picture with it, similar to our picture from the cruise. I came close at one point!

And seriously, what is it with these people and their big lizards!?!

That picture, the one that you just looked at above, I hope you enjoyed it! That sucker cost us $5. Stupid people just plunking animals in my hands and stealing my camera.

Guess what else we found at Tulum? We went inside the little supermarket store to see if they had ice cream and Drew found a Dr. Pepper!!! Oh, I was one happy girl. I haven't had a Dr. Pepper in over a week and I was starting to have withdrawals. We got two and I'm actually sitting here drinking one as I type!

We stopped at a Mayan craft stand on the way home and we bought a very big blanket that has the Mayan calendar on it. I thought it was pretty cool and Drew liked it too.

At 4:00 PM, we had a kitchen tour.

This tour took us to all the kitchens of the resort and showed us what went on behind the scenes.

We ate dinner at Ventanas on Thursday (?) night and we had a fantastic waiter named Oscar. (Remember the flaming coffee?) He told us to come back tonight and he would make shrimp for us. He also told Drew that he'd have a cigar for him. So, back to Ventanas we went. Oscar was so happy to see us the minute we walked through the door. He led us to a special table that he had set up just for us!

How cute is that, right?? It was so sweet and romantic! Too bad Drew doesn't do stuff like that for me! This guy walks around the restaurant and plays for everybody.

Oscar made us a fantastic dinner of grilled shrimp with steak and steamed vegetables. Mmmmm, it was so good!!!

And so, tomorrow, we leave. I'm sad to be leaving such beautiful weather. But I am oh so glad to be going home. I am ready for some good, normal food again. Granted, we've had some great dinners. But, I'm ready to have Drew cook for me again. I'll see you back in the states!