RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico — Fascinationwith the mysteries of the Maya is at anall-time high this year, and while nearly 3million Americans flew into Cancun lastyear to vacation along 100 miles of spar-kling beaches extending south fromCancun to Playa del Carmen and on toTulum, only about a third of touristsventured outside the resort districts toexplore the Mayan ruins nearby. Thisyear, however, those numbers are rising.

Increased attendance at Tulum andmany other Mayan ruin sites is due to aconglomeration of prophecies, said tohave come from the ancient wisdom ofthe Maya, written down in their booksand preserved from destruction throughthe centuries since the Spanish conquestin 1521.

They predict that the Earth and Sunwill align with the center of the galaxy,the magnetic poles of the Earth may re-verse, the god Quetzalcoatl will return,

and then on Dec. 21, 2012 — the wintersolstice — the world will end.

While I am skeptical of such dooms-day predictions, I welcomed the oppor-tunity to learn more about the history ofthe Maya, visit the ruins and be on-siteat Tulum for what some say could be thelast summer solstice.

I met others on a similar quest: to ex-plore two of the most significant ruinslocated in the Mayan Riviera, Cobá andTulum, and to solve the mysteries sur-rounding the ending of the Mayan cal-endar in 2012.

On our first evening, our group gath-ered at the Rosewood Mayakoba resortto get acquainted and meet archeologistJulia Miller, a tour guide with Cather-wood Travels and an expert in ancientMayan architecture and culture whowould accompany us to two of the near-by ruins, beginning with Cobá, andshare her wisdom about the Mayan cal-endar.

Tulum, a beachfront walled city on the Caribbean Sea, was built as a fortress and served as a major seaport for the Maya. Getty Images/Thinkstock

Not far from the resort beaches lie ruinsthat hold lessons on the Maya — past, presentand future — and their fascination with timeBy Debbra Dunning BrouilletteSpecial to the Star-Telegram

More on MAYA, 10E

Yucatan Peninsula

Ancient secrets

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The ancient city ofCobáEarly the next morning, weleft behind the beckoningbeaches near our rooms toboard an Alltournativetour bus for transport toCobá, a 90-minute driveinland. Our Mayakobahosts had arranged for usto take a mini version ofAlltournative’s 10-hourCultural Mayan Encoun-ter, one of several full- orhalf-day cultural and ad-venture expeditions intothe Mayan world offered bythe tour company.

During the drive, Millergave us a crash course inthe Mayan calendar. Welearned that the Maya ac-tually used lots of calen-dars, and that they didn’tall begin on the same date.Unless you are a mathema-tician, the explanation ofthe Maya’s intricate andvery accurate system ofcalendars gets a bit te-dious. But one thing is forsure: Time was very im-portant to the Maya, andtheir calendars were usedto place the actions of theirrulers and gods firmly intime.

Cobá dates to the Clas-sic period of the Mayancivilization (the years 200-900). It was home to an es-timated 45,000 to 50,000people at its peak, and cov-ered an area extending over50 miles, much like ourpresent-day cities, withlots of suburbs branchingfrom its center. While mostof the hieroglyphic in-scriptions found through-out the site on flat, uprightstones called stelae date tothe seventh century, Cobáremained an important sitein the Postclassic era(900-1500). One of its ma-ny roads led to Tulum, animportant seaport morethan 25 miles away.

Cobá has been open totourism only since the ear-ly 1980s, and much of ithas yet to be restored.More than 400,000 tour-ists visit Cobá each year,less than half of the 1.1 mil-lion who find their way toTulum, the beachfrontwalled city we will visit thenext morning on the sum-mer solstice.

The must-see sight atCobá is the Nohoch Mulpyramid, the tallest in theYucatan Peninsula at 138feet. While I didn’t climbits 120 steps to the top,others in our group did andwere rewarded with pan-oramic views of the densejungle, the tops of otherpyramids rising throughthe treetops. Many climb-ers held onto a rope on theway down, as the rocks canbe a bit unstable on the de-cline. Conserve your ener-

gy for the climb by rentinga bicycle to get from onearea to another, or do as Idid: Rent a pedicab to thepyramid.

The Mayan world oftodayEven though the Mayancivilization declined afterthe Spanish conquest, itdidn’t disappear. Mayanlanguages are still spoken,and many aspects of theculture continue. Our visitto a simple Mayan home,surrounded by tropicalflower gardens, was liketaking a trip back in time.Inside a small thatchedhut, we found a Mayanwoman forming tortillasfrom a corn masa mixture,thought by her ancient an-cestors to be the stuff ofhuman creation. Minuteslater, we were eagerly ac-cepting her offer of a taste,fresh from the griddle. Itwas like manna from heav-en.

Next, we traveled ashort distance to the Ce-note de la Vida (Life Cave),

one of hundreds of cenotes(see-NOTE-ays), sink-holes that are fed from un-derground streams andrivers found throughoutthe Yucatan Peninsula. Wedescended into the rainforest via a flight of slip-pery stone steps to reachthe deep pools. A source offresh water, they were con-sidered by the Maya to besacred entrances to the un-derworld.

As we emerged, a bitbreathless from the climb,a Mayan shaman waited,ready to bless us in a tradi-tional ceremony. We stoodin a semicircle as he walkedaround us, surrounding uswith smoke from incenseburning in a chalice,chanting ancient wordsmeant to purify us fromany evil we may havepicked up on our journeybelow.

Tulum on the solsticeArriving at Tulum the nextday, we entered through anopening in the 20-foot-thick, 13-foot-high walls

that surround the ruins,built as a fortress on cliffshigh above the CaribbeanSea. Tulum was a majorseaport during the Post-classic period of Mayancivilization (900-1500),then was abandoned by theend of the 16th century.

Its rulers and priestsonce inhabited or wor-shipped in the buildingsthat we walked among;commoners lived outsidethe walls. Most impressiveis Tulum’s castle, El Cas-tillo, standing at the high-est point, and once used asa watchtower and a light-house to aid merchantscoming to shore.

What better place toseek answers to a dooms-day prediction, and whatbetter time than this, thelongest day of the year, toreceive enlightenment?Like other date-settingprophecies that have comeand gone, this one, too, ourarcheologist guide assuresus, will pass.

Miller explained thatmany Mayan texts imply

they expected life and thecalendar to continue with-out interruption, far be-yond 2012: “The comple-tion of the Mayan LongCalendar’s 13th bak’tunonly marks the end of a cy-cle, making way for a greatrenewal — much like thearrival of a new year, buton a grander scale.”

The focal point of Tulum is El Castillo, which sits high on a cliff overlooking the sea. It once served as a watchtower and lighthouse. Cesar Russ Photography

MayaContinued from 1E

Visitors climb the 120 steps to the top of Cobá’s Nohoch Mul pyramid, the highest in the YucatanPeninsula. Special to the Star-Telegram/Debbra Dunning Brouillette

In a present-day Mayan home, a woman forms tortillas from acorn masa mixture, believed to be the stuff of human creation bythe ancient Maya. Special to the Star-Telegram/Debbra Dunning Brouillette

A Mayan shaman stands readyto perform a ceremony meantto bless and purify those whoreturn from visits to cenotes.

Special to the Star-Telegram/Debbra Dunning Brouillette

If you goWhat to do:Riviera Maya tourist office:www.rivieramaya.comAlltournative tours: www.all-tournative.comCatherwood Travels (tours and2012 calendar info):www.catherwoodtravels.com

Where to stay: Rosewood Mayakoba: 1-888-767-3966; www.rosewood-hotels.com/en/mayakobaFairmont Mayakoba: www.fair-mont.com/mayakobaBanyan Tree Mayakoba:www.banyantree.com/en/mayakoba

Getting there: AmericanAirlines and Sun CountryAirlines offer direct flights toCancun.

Good to know: The Mexicanstate of Quintana Roo, whichincludes the major tourist areaknown as the Mayan Riviera,from Cancun to Playa delCarmen and on to Tulum, isincluded among the safe zoneslisted by the U.S. Departmentof State.

The Rosewood Mayakobaresort, located 40 minutessouth of the Cancun air-port and just 10 minutesfrom Playa del Carmen,was the luxurious base formy exploration of the Ma-yan world. Upon arrival,guests are transported byboat or golf cart to one ofthe Rosewood’s 128 suitesoverlooking the lagoon orthe beach.

My private butler — onecovers each part of the day— accompanied me to mydeluxe lagoon suite,walked me through its sep-arate seating area, terracewith plunge pool, bath-room with garden shower,and views of the lagoonand mangroves, then lefthis number to call with re-quests, day or night.

The Mayakoba’s three-resort gated complex, builton 1,600 acres, also in-cludes the Fairmont andthe Banyan Tree, connect-ed by 20 acres of crystal-clear lagoons bordered by amangrove jungle. While alloffer beachfront stretchesof white sand overlookingthe Caribbean Sea, eachhas its own ambience.

Golfers will want toschedule a tee time atMayakoba’s 18-holecourse, designed by GregNorman and home to theMayakoba Golf Classic, theonly PGA Tour event inMexico.

Tequila enthusiasts willfind the Rosewood’s AgaveAzul Raw Bar & Tequila Li-brary, displaying morethan 100 tequilas, to be amust-do. Tastings can be

arranged, with accompa-nying seafood ceviches andsmall bites.

Other dining choicesinclude Casa del Lago,open for breakfast, lunchand dinner, and PuntaBonita beachfront grill.

The rich and the famousgravitate to Mayakobafrom all parts of the world.Sir Philip Green, Britishbillionaire and retail mogulof TopShop clothing

stores, chose the Rose-wood Mayakoba for hismultimillion-dollar 60thbirthday bash in March,renting out the entire re-sort for four days for his150 guests.

Leonardo DiCaprio,Kate Hudson and GwynethPaltrow were among the A-listers who danced to mu-sic by Stevie Wonder, theBeach Boys and MichaelBublé.

An open-air palapa,constructed to serve as anightclub for the partiers,was the site of a beachfrontdinner on our last evening.

In 2011, MayakobaRosewood received theSustainable Standard-Set-ter award from the Rain-forest Alliance, recogniz-ing its carefully main-tained ecosystem of dunes,mangroves and freshwaterlagoons, home to myriad

indigenous species of fish,birds and mammals.

Spa-lovers can enjoytreatments based on tradi-tional Mayan healingmethods at Sense, named atop spa in Condé NastTraveler’s 2012 Readers’Poll.

The Mayakoba was vot-ed top resort in Mexico and18th in the world in Travel+ Leisure’s 2009 World’sBest Awards.

Resort near Mayan ruins offers modern amenities By Debbra Dunning BrouilletteSpecial to the Star-Telegram

The Rosewood Mayakoba is part of a 1,600-acre, three-resort gated complex that includes a golfcourse, restaurants and a spa. Rosewood Mayakoba

The Caribbean Sea offers waters as clear and calm as the resort’sinfinity-edge and spa pools. Rosewood Mayakoba