Page 39 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – September 2019

Escape to the Tropics
of
CANCUN
Photo: iStock/ LUNAMARINA
With moderate temperatures and constant trade winds, Wthis Mexican city provides an oasis. By John T. Garcia
hether it’s exploring history or nature, closest is down the coast in Tulum. Since it was one of extreme or casual sports, or just relaxing, the last cities built and inhabited by the Mayans, it also you can find it in Cancun, Mexico. has become the best preserved. It also doesn’t hurt that
Situated near the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, it sits along the Caribbean Sea, which allows for some
Cancun benefits from the breezes off the Caribbean Sea which laps at its beaches. But it also receives the occasional crosswinds from the Gulf of Mexico which sits a few miles to its north, allowing its average temperature to hover around 81 degrees.
And while it is in the tropics and does rain reasonably often, sometimes that rain is just a passing thunderstorm. Then it is sunny and warm again and you can resume your activity.
So what are you going to do first?
Considering that the earliest settlers of Cancun were the Mayans, it is no surprise that the area has one of the largest collections of Mayan ruins in Mexico. One of the
great vacation photos.
Tulum served as a critical route of trade because of its
location on the coast, so it also needed to be protected. Fortunately, a steep sea cliff protected one side, but the Mayans built a massive wall to protect the rest of the city, portions of which were 16-feet high or 8-feet thick. Other ruins at Tulum include El Castillo, the pyramid that sits on the eastern edge of the city and served as the path to the sea.
A couple of hours inland is Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the most visited archaeological site in Mexico. The ruins have more than a hundred structures, including the most significant and best-preserved ball court, and are spread out over six-square miles.
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