Temple of the God of the Wind at Tulum in Mexico

The Templo Dios del Viento, or the Temple of the God of the Wind, stands above the water at the Mayan city of Tulum in Mexico.

It was interesting to visit the Mayan ruins and to learn about the different functions of the different buildings. And if you lived in a polytheistic culture, you would definitely want to treat the god of the winds nicely so that he wouldn’t blow up a hurricane and its strong winds on your village by the sea.

One of our reasons for selecting Tulum as one of our shore excursions on our recent cruise to Mexico was its nearness to the beach. As in it is right on the beach. The Chichen Itza ruins are maybe more popular, but they were also farther away from where the ship would dock, and they didn’t have a beach included in the excursion. For beachy people like us, that was all it took to seal the deal!

And besides, you can get some really good views, such as this temple sitting on the rocks high above the beautiful blue water and the picturesque beach down below. I later found out that the reason there were no people on that particular stretch of beach was that it was closed to protect nesting sea turtles, as if they are more important than beach-going tourists or something. Not to worry, though, because the beach back behind where I was standing for this photo was open to everyone. I didn’t see any turtles at that beach, but there were several iguanas running around.

But I would guess that back in the old days, the Mayans weren’t too concerned about nesting sea turtles, so that this beach was probably their main access to the water, as well as the main access for those visiting them by way of water. Perhaps they hoped that the god of the wind would blow away whoever didn’t need to be there. Or perhaps they used the temple as a bit of a watchtower over who was coming up to visit them, too. Or maybe they just liked to see the sea turtles as they swam in and out. Wouldn’t it have been nice if they had left us more written descriptions of what they did?

And here are our intrepid explorers with the temple back behind them:

If we look like we are about to go explore the beach more than the ruins, that is because we were. After walking all around at the ruins in the 110+ degree heat, the water was looking awfully good to us, so that was where we were headed. But first we stopped for a couple of photos. After one lady saw me take Laura’s photo and then hand Laura the camera to take my photo, she kindly asked if we would like a photo of both of us together, which of course we would. We were quite thankful that she took this one.

And that reminds me something that happened several times during our trip. I would be standing there with my camera in my hand, my camera bag at my side, taking photos of everything in every direction, with Laura standing next to me. Someone would walk up to us and say, “Would you mind taking a picture of us?” And they would hand over their camera. To Laura. It made me laugh every time. Not to their faces of course, but after they had gone their way. Of course, Laura was happy to do that for them, as I would have been if I were asked. I guess they trusted her friendlier face more than my camera hands. No big deal. I would pick her over me, too.

Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

About the Photo

As with the previous photo from Tulum, this one was taken with the normal zoom lens instead of the fisheye lens that I more often use right now. You can read why at that post, so I won’t go through all of it again here.

This was one of those views that you knew immediately that you would have to get a photo of. It was one of those perfect photo opportunities, especially with the blue sky to match the blue water, since the clouds that had dropped a light rain on us earlier had disappeared.

As usual, here is the before and after comparison:

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus M.Zukio 25mm f1.8
Date: July 18, 2016
Location: Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico