Mexico - Day Two - Tulum & the ocean (part 2)

Ana drops me off at the Maya Museum halfway up The Strip, which is open today.  Inaugurated in 2012, it’s small but with a wealth of artifacts from all the cultures of the region, classified by era.  All the big explanatory signs are in Spanish and English, but the smaller ones are only in Spanish.  The first section focuses on the period from 250 BCE to 600 A.D.  Some of my favorites were a tiny jade head of a man (or god), a collection of Dzibanché necklaces, and an Oxtankan ceramic dish with a fish decoration.
       The second section takes over at 600 to 850 A.D. and includes a small statue of a Kelha noblewoman that looks surprisingly Chinese.  (Remember:  the most common name in Yucatán is... Chan!)  There’s also a large stone stela from the island of Cozumel, and more jewelry from the Dzibanché near the Belize border.  The artifacts are accompanied by two videos, one on Tulum, and a photo exhibit about the War of Castes when the Maya rose up against their subjugation by Mexicans descended from Europeans.
        One amazing display was the skeleton of  La Mujer de las Palmas (The Woman of the Palms), still wearing her jade and malachite jewelry.  She is thought to have lived in Yucatán 10,000-12,000 years ago and was found in the Las Palmas cenote near Tulum, probably offered up to assuage the gods.

Around the museum winds the San Miguelito archaeological site with small pyramids and several buildings, one for Chaac, the rain god.  And a huge tree whose roots stretch out like fingers only half underground.  It’s a world apart - in many ways - from the strip of hotels on either side.

It’s time for me to catch a taxi back to the hotel.  Tomorrow I’m off to the next site:  Chichén Itzá.
       After a swim in the ocean, and a shower now that the water’s back on, I change and go back down to the oceanside bar for a mojito from the bartender, Jorge.  Cuba comes up in the conversation and I tell him about the bartender René in Cienfuegos who taught me that a Cuba Libre without rum is called a Habana Libre (that's Spanish for free Havana, the capital).  He likes the story so much that he says “Let me do something for you” and gives me a mojito refill... the best mojito of the entire trip!
       After a conversation with an Air Canada crew from Calgary, where it’s far below freezing, I have a quick bite on the terrace while the sky slowly clouds over for a second night.  Then it’s off to bed.