Cancun

This month’s retro photo album is called “Cancun, Jan 11 – Feb 15, 2007.” I used a terrible point-and-shoot camera back then and the pictures are of rather low quality, but I like looking back and seeing what I was trying to capture.

I am fascinated by archaeological ruins. I love imagining what life must have been like to live in long-forgotten places. Moreover, I enjoy putting my musings onto paper. Here is an excerpt about the ruins of Tulum from my book, Time Traveled:

Nowadays, one does not first see the ruins of Tulum from the water but instead sees them from behind. Visitors today approach Tulum from the back of its gates and enter the site through an opening in a wall. “Tulum” was the word for wall in the Yucatec language, and even though the city was encircled by one, that’s not what the native inhabitants called this domain. To them, this city was “Zama,” which was their word for dawn, and that name suited it perfectly, for its temples proudly greeted the sun every morning when it rose over the horizon.

The city sat beautifully atop an elevated limestone cliff, and its strategic position ensured its importance as a trading hub. To say that the site was dramatic back in its day probably doesn’t describe it enough, for it must have been beyond spectacular when it was at its painted apogee. I suspect those Spanish explorers must have felt intimidated when they first encountered Tulum and likely deemed themselves unworthy of stepping upon its soil. I generally don’t imagine an incident where any Spanish explorer would ever feel humbled, but I genuinely imagine them feeling small when they laid their eyes upon Tulum. Indeed, many visitors today can relate to their sentiments, for there are few ruins in the world more romantic than this one.

-Krista Marson, Time Traveled

Today, trees grow out of the walls that once encircled this formally great city.

My travel memoir Time Traveled is available as e-book or paperback! Buy it either at Amazon or at most major retailers