Mayan Ruins of Tu'lum

The ruins here were only about 1200 years old, where other ones are around 2500 years old.

This was my FAVORITE part of the Mayan Ruins of Tulum. The picture below is their "weather station". On top of this building on the far right, you can see a little bit of rock sticking up (close up below). It has a triangular hole in it, perpendicular to the ocean (on the other side, down the cliff). It also had a small bump in front of it. When a hurricane would come (the wind circling) it the rock with the hole would whistle (the bump interrupting the air flow). So, that would be their warning siren to take cover behind the walls. When the whistling would stop, they knew it was safe to come back to their small village.

These ruins where a religious ceremonial site.

This picture is of one of the temples there. The figure above the door is a man upside down. The guide told us when he was upside down, it meant it was a "good" temple. In other words, no human sacrifices there.

This is an overview from the top of the cliff. The building with the grass thatched roof (it's actually palm leaves...) was the "mayor's" palace. The building in front of that was a fertility temple.
This is a close up of one of the carvings on the fertility temple. If you look closely, it's of a baby being held upside down by the umbilical cord. AWESOME!

The view from the top of the cliff. We could have walked down the stairs to the beach, but I knew if I got down there, I'd want in the water, and we didn't have much time before our bus left again. :(