After Breakfast Get acquainted with Mérida on a morning tour of the city. Then we will continue our expedition where Deep in the Mexican jungle rests the city of Cobá is a special site simply because it's a little bit out of the way. The extra effort in getting there puts off enough tourists to keep this site pleasurably peaceful! This site was populated and used for agricultural purposes as far back as 600 BC. By the 1st century AD.

Some archaeologist calculates "that during the eighth century an estimated 20,000 structures housed a population of approximately 55,000 inhabitants. It bears numerous hallmarks of a major regional center: areal size, size and number of structures, inter- and intra-site sacbes, dated stelae, and ball courts."

The expansion of Cobá is clearly visible in the physical remains of sacbes, including 50 intrasite roads as well as the longest known Maya roadway, which extends 100 km from Cobá to Yaxuna (near Chichen Itza) and a 16 km-long sacbe extending southwest from Cobá to Ixil. Folan estimated the area of urban Cobá at 63 km2 these roads are the finest example of the Mayan mode of transportation anywhere in Mexico. While most of the stones have since been misplaced, the well-defined paths are unmistakable. We will enjoy a delicious Lunch at Club Med Hotel, and then continue to explore the walled city of Tulum, perched on cliffs overlooking a stunning tropical paradise.

Merida		Coba

Tulum is the most visited of the Maya sites in the Yucatan and not only because of its proximity to Cancun. Although the ruins are structurally less impressive than Chichen Itza or Uxmal and much less extensive, they have the azure Caribbean as a backdrop - a startling contrast, and heaven for the photographer or artist. Because the area is small and there is comparatively little climbing involved, you can gain a fair appreciation of Tulum in a couple of hours.

Just in past the main entrance to the ruins is the "Temple of the Frescoes". The walls inside the temple are painted with a mural honoring the "Diving God" and the goddess of corn. The Diving God is the most important god in Tulum. He is interpreted to be god descending from the heavens to receive the offerings of men. The corners outside the temple are decorated with stucco masks.

The "Castillo" is the largest building on the site. It was a temple and fortress. Like all of the buildings here, it was once covered in stucco and painted. The top of the building served as a guide for boats looking for the one entrance through the reef into the harbor.

The "Temple of the Winds" is to the North of the Castillo, perched over the water. Rumor has it that it served as a warning system for hurricanes. Supposedly, the temple whistled when Roxanne reached hurricane force winds in 1995.