For thousands of years, the Maya civilisation ruled Mexico. Their cities, temples as well as fortifications dot the landscape, leaving us to wonder at an advanced ancient society whose secret as well as legend are the very bones of a nation.

In the far eastern spur of Mexico, almost touching the arm of Cuba, the Yucatan Peninsula hugs the southern Gulf as well as reaches into the Caribbean Sea.

This jungle-filled province is house to many thousands of relics the Maya built for their reign over Mexico as well as many of central America.

Here are two significant archaeological sites of the Yucatan we went to while in Mexico. when thriving cities of the Maya, now simply the white bones picked clean by time.

Zamá – the City of Dawn, Tulum

With the bright blue of the Caribbean sparkling next to us as well as the white gravel path crunching beneath our feet, we emerge from a low stone doorway.

It’s a doorway that, thousands of years before us, would have brought the Maya to their location of residence, their location of trade, their location of worship.

We are walking through history.

Beyond the doorway built into a three metre deep stone wall are the ruins of Tulum’s ancient Maya town as well as its clifftop citadel.

In fact, this wall as well as the imposing ‘El Castillo’ are where Tulum gets its name.

Tulum implies ‘palisade’ or ‘wall’ in Maya.

Roaming the archaeological avenues woven between stones as well as pillars of this ancient walled city, we totally fail to remember about the view across the sea that has captivated our interest up until now.

It’s not until we’re looking back across the cliffs to see the glimmering white sand of the Playa Ruinas that we when once again remember that this Mayan destroy is the only one if its kind to sit on the coast.

All other Maya ruins are tucked away in the dark confines of jungles.

Here, the squat yet stylish fort sits in the most striking of contrasts to the swirls of soft sand sifting through the gentle eddies of the Caribbean shores.

Built with nothing however the strength of Mayan hands so long ago, it’s an fascinating paradox that this age-old view has captivated so many on Instagram.

Cobá – the City of damaged Water

As we step aboard our rickshaw, I can only feel apologetic as well as grateful to the guy at the pedals. We’ve taken too long to get right here from Tulum as well as now we have to hurry our way through this incredible location of ancient culture.

Not that arriving early would assist that much though.

This city of Coba was – as well as still is – vast.

It would take a whole week to check out all the grey ruins of this mighty place. however in the warm of the ailing afternoon sun, we roll along the many white-pebbled sacbé – the pathways throughout the city – admiring as well as trying to comprehend the magnitude of this place.

There’s an unpolished beauty to Coba. It feels as it must have felt soon after the early explorers discovered these ruins. As the jungle parts, you’re welcomed as well as at the same time admonished by the scale of this spectacle.

No truer is this than when you very first see Ixmoja – Nohoch Mul as people call it.

What when would have been the grandest of all of the Maya temples in Mexico is now half shrouded to its shoulders by dense foliage. when side has crumbled, while the other, still with its renowned stepped pyramid shape, faces the afternoon sun.

This is the highest pyramid in Mexico and, incredibly, you’re allowed to climb to the top.

It’s a strenuous, frightening effort, with each tall yet shallow step threatening to pitch you backwards to the bottom. however at the top, you’re rewarded with drone-like views across the jungles.

Lumps sprout right here as well as there, as well as although they look like little mountains, we’re assured these are yet undiscovered monuments much like the one on which we now stand.

Directly west of Cobá, hidden by the horizon as well as the dense jungles, is Chichén Itzá – one of the seven Wonders of the contemporary World. as well as these two sites are joined by a direct path – an ancient sacbé.

You can still comply with the sacbé – if you have the time as well as skill. It’s said to be a pilgrimage like no other.

As we clamber carefully down the side of this manmade mountain, we see the tree line come down to satisfy us. It’s like sinking below the eco-friendly waves. as well as we get a sense of the loss of a civilisation – the departure of the way of kings.

Cobá gets its name from the five lakes that the city was built around. Cobá implies ‘Broken Water’ or ‘Chopped Water’.

Travel doesn’t end with a flight home

One thing we’ve learnt as we’ve been travelling is just since you’ve been to a destination doesn’t mean you ought to stop discovering about it.

And if anything, discovering out new things about a location you’ve went to takes you back there as well as elevates your memories ofyour time travelling.

Your new understanding combines with your memories to produce a fuller photo – to make sense of things you experienced.

Here are a 10 things we’ve learnt about the Maya of Mexico because we’ve been back:

1. Coba was one of the most significant Mayan cities. In its prime it would have had a population of around 50,000 people as well as covered an area of 27 square miles. For context, Manhattan is only 22 mile².

2. The largest pyramid at Coba – Ixmoja – is not only the tallest in the Yucatan however the whole of Mexico as well as the third tallest in the world. Ixmoja is likewise known as Nohoch Mul, which implies ‘great mound’ in Maya.

3. The ruins at Tulum are the only known existing Mayan buildings that are on the coast.

4. Over 4,000 archaeological sites have been discovered in the Yucatan Peninsula, however there are still potentially thousands more hidden in the heavy jungles of the region.

5. The Maya have been around for at least 5,000 years – roughly the same amount of time as the ancient Egyptians.

6. other ancient civilisations with similarly grand structures had the assist of animals to bring as well as move stone. The Maya had no beasts of burden – only the strength of their own hands.

7. The east coastline of the Yucatan Peninsula – the state of Quintana Roo – was one of the last strongholds of the Maya, who were only really totally controlled in the early 20th Century.

8. Quintana Roo was named after a prominent legislation guy Andres Quintana Roo, who was key to forming Mexico’s self-reliance from Spain in the early 1800s.

9. Cancun, the most significant town in the Yucatan Peninsula, is the easiest gateway to the Yucatan as well as Quintana Roo.

It’s likewise a celebration hotspot as well as little remains of the land’s history or heritage. Cancun implies ‘pit of vipers’ in the Mayan language. If you’re not into in the hedonism of spring break or the apparent ‘luxury’ of resort travel, this is not a location for you. I think the name is very fitting.

10. In the 19th Century, the Maya rose up against their Spanish oppressors as well as were, for a while, successful. It was the biggest as well as many recent victories of indigenous Americans as well as Mesoamericans to have been recorded.

One of the Maya we met, who was in his late 90s, talked about his father as well as grandfather fighting in battles with the Spanish. The Caste war went from 1847-1853, so longevity must run strong in his family!

I remember the stories he told us of tricking the Spanish soldiers by hiding in the trees as well as calling to their gods, which frightened the Spanish sufficient for the Maya to fight them to victory.

The Yucatan Peninsula as well as Quintana Roo were the last places of the Maya to capitulate to Mexican domination, which happened in the early 20th Century.