Tulum, 130 km south of Cancún, considered by many as the most beautiful of the Mayan sites, is small but exquisitely poised on the  fifteen-meter-high cliffs above the Caribbean. When the Spanish first set eyes  on the place in 1518, they considered it as large and beautiful a city as  Seville, Spain.

They were, perhaps misled by their dreams of El dorado, by the glory of its position, and by the brightly painted facades of the buildings.  Architecturally, Tulum is no match for these great cities. Nevertheless, thanks to the setting, it sticks in the memory like no other.

Following archaeological areas are to see:

• El Castillo (The Castle) is the largest of the buildings, and it  overlooks the coast on the cliff-edge.
• Templo del Dios Descendente (Temple of the Descending God) depicts a diving figure, (looks like a bee) and  is the same figure you can see depicted at other Mayan sites, including Coba.
• Templo de los Frescos - Temple of Frescoes dates back to the  mid 1400's is a two-storey building with colourful murals on the inner wall. It is thought to have been one of the last structures built by the Maya before  the arrival of Hernan Cortez