Bruce Ross

Tulum

Tulum is the only Mayan temple site set on the ocean. The crumbling gray and black stone structures stand on a cliff above the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean. Visiting it again I find an indescribable beauty in these stones highlighted by the intense Yucatan sun and those blue waters. There is always an intense stillness here no matter how many tourists there are. Here again is a huge ancient iguana resting on the stone ruins as gray and black as it is. Once these uneven stones were stuccoed over and covered with red paint. In fact stucco painting was the most prevalent form of decoration at Tulum. When Juan de Grijalva sailed past it in 1518 he recorded that the buildings were all brightly colored like those back home in Seville.

Tulum . . .
the red hand prints faded now
in afternoon light

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