I visited Tulum some years ago. I wish I could have had a video like yours to view beforehand. Very interesting and informative. Intelligent and engaging! Please keep exploring.
I do appreciate when you add still images of what you are referring to so the viewer can get a more stabile view of things. I also like you other post visit asides in which you correct errors that you have earlier made in your commentary, and add details or more accurate information.
I spent a day in Tulum years ago. Thank you for this video. It truly is an an amazing and beautiful site. I’m glad to see that more restrictions are in place to limit tourists from accessing and crawling on the ruins.
Great show. Thanks for sharing. I was there last in 1992 (during Spring Break). Most of the buildings were accessible and there were not many improvements back then.
@@pyramidreview8664 Yes, I did. I was bummed out because I also wanted to go to Cobá on that trip, but it was only open to the public on Tuesdays. While everyone else was "partying," I was trying to explore as much as possible I guess not much has changed in 30+ years.
Isn’t it unbelievable how these ancient cultures built these monumental buildings and enclosures. The manual labor amassed to build them is also beyond comprehension. Thanks for the tour. Besides the logistics and intelligence needed to orchestrate it all. That Light house perspective is very interesting. 😊❤️
@@pyramidreview8664 I don't think so, it was a much smaller area to cover than what you walked. However what I didn't see (unless I missed it) was a small stone roof covered building with painted figures on the inside wall. Which were life size within the interior. Very well preserved
Drones are NOT permitted in most area's 1 Privacy 2 Danger to the public 3 the Police utilize their own Drones to monitor the beach's etc you would be in trouble when caught with a Drone.
Just found your channel. Great videos. Im from the US but currently live in Belize and have visited maybe half of the ancient cities in the country. Hope you can visit some of the structures in Belize sometime.
@@pyramidreview8664 Xunantunich is close to the Guatemala border and is very popular. You take a hand cranked ferry to over the Macol river to reach the site. The largest structure there is called El Castillo. From the top you can see Guatemala. You could also visit in the same day a smaller site called Cahal Pech which is a short drive. Caracol is the largest site in Belize with the tallest structure in the country. It's fairly challenging to reach due to the dirt roads so you will need a day reserved for the site. There are many more but these will get you started.
WHAT DO YOU SEE? Time 1:10 > Castle constructed with large stone and mortar corner pillars and solid stone middle pillars . . . supporting a solid stone lintel upon which stone and mortar is used except for the towers corner buttresses and floor supports. Tower appears to have two rows of defaced ancient stucco writing upon it. Flat roofs would require concrete or complete roof support. Given their knowledge of stucco, concrete is a given.
arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/archaeologists-are-unlocking-the-secrets-of-maya-lime-plasters-and-mortars/ There has been a lot of research in the past few years into the composition of Maya building materials, and indeed they are finding that there are some materials with added plants and other substances that gave them similar properties to Roman concrete.
While walking the grounds in Tulum I always imagined vast fish markets under thatch roof huts, and stalls with vendors selling fresh fruits and beverages while traveling traders entered the city from various other villages around the Yucatan. *I have a vivid (and curious) imagination!
I see your wardrobe has become a bit more colorful. Cool shirt! I like the little intro showing the general layout etc. Been there a few times and always enjoyed the breezes. The first time was in 1987 when the Cancun area wasn't quite as developed yet (and it took 4 hrs to drive Cancun - CI. No highway yet.) I was always under the impression that Tulum was a trading post but also a 'seaside resort' for the elites. Proving the Mayans were not stoopit.
There was some settlement along the east coast in the early classic period, but during the classic when all the big cities were flourishing it wasn't settled because the hurricanes were too much of a threat to agriculture. One big storm and all your corn is gone! Tulum took off once there was a lot of trade and movement by sea, and people were less tied to one place. So probably it was a nice holiday destination for someone already back then!
@@pyramidreview8664 We can say just about the same about Cancun/Cozumel today as well.... I know that the Tren Maya project found thousands of structures all over the peninsula. But I was surprised to see a few (minor) temples IN the Xcaret park! INAH stamp and everything! I believe one also served as a 'lighthouse' or at least a beacon. (= baken. buoy = boei. sluice = sluis, wharf = werf. dyke = dijk. als het maar met water te maken en een vreemde spelling heeft)
Swimming and looking back on the ruins is pretty cool experience!. Also the town next door Akumal Has the turtles right off the beach another great experience .
@pyramidreview8664 it is! Kinda of surreal floating and looking at it. Akumal turtles and the lagoon on back side are also great and so is the price! Free!
We live on the island of Cozumel. We've been to all the ruin sites in the Yucatan and beyond. Uxmal is my favorite and a yearly trip for us. Not just the Mayan ruins but also the Hacienda Uxmal ruin which is a bit further East. Very significant as it was the home base for Catherwood and Stephens when they documented the ruins in the 1830s. Not as many tourists which is very appealing.
I am a historian but not an archeologist. I just find it all very fascinating, and I love to learn about and visit these places. And I figured, why not share that with people?
I suspect, when that structure was built, the sea was not there! It sits off the northern edge of the Cayman Trench, where the North American Plate ends.
After long days of traveling rough waters along uninhabited coast of Siyan Ka'an, with Xocob coming up occasionally to see if there might be an easy free lunch above, I can imagine that driving your dug out canoe up onto the powder beige sands in the cove at the base of the Zama citadel must have given one a great feeling of elation bordering on euphoria. The goods would be unloaded and stored. The dugout would be secured against storms for the night. Knowledge of a warm meal of atole and fire cooked kutz, and good laughter with old friends while deals were made, must have seemed like Ka'an itself. One could later take time to pay the priests with goods to make offerings for a continued safe voyage. The smoke of the day's fires would perfume the air with the incense of burning hearth fires with comalob balanced over them on the three stones of creation. As you drifted off to a well earned sleep, to the background noises of the people of Zama settling down for another balmy night, one could also hear the ubiquitous and eternal sound of the surf, and the hush of sea breezes through the leaves. Tomorrow, before dawn, the dugout would be reloaded and you would be off again to the port cities of Zaman Ha, and Cusamil.
It is not another iguana. It is Itzamnah, in his other nauhual entity, gazing out to sea and remembering the old times. "When will my ships come in?" (smile)
I do wish that you had taken closeups of the frieze on the temple with the "Itzamnah head". I guess one can't expect to get everything right.... eh. (smile)
I love this site. I want to go With all due respect, it's Maya not Mayan. "The Maya built...." also your camera didnt show the Cenote you showed the wall next to it. I realize you were in a hurry. Maybe film the area and do a voice over explaining what we're seeing so that you can be thourough. I am liking and subscribing thx
Yes, Maya not Mayans. This is some old video and it bothers me now too, since I have learned the correct way since then. The camerawork could be better too. Ah well, something to learn for next time. 😅
@pyramidreview8664 Thanks for the reply. Love these videos! I feel bad for nit picking. You're awesome! I've only ever visited ruins in Belize. Xunantunich and Lamanai. It is so amazing to see the sites in person!
You might enjoy listening to the podcast ArcheoEd by Dr Ed Barnhart. I find him incredibly enjoyable and informative. The one titled The Milky Way would be a great starter, I think it's the 1st Episode of Season 5. He's probably most famous for mapping Palenque in the early 90's. Thanks for your videos I haven't been able to get to the Yucatan in at least 15 years, it's been great to have you for a tour guide
The history of the indigenous peoples in the Americas is much, much older than a few thousand years. The Hopi people tell that they arrived in the America’s about 30,000 years ago when the continent that they were living on, Lemuria, sank under water. They claim to be the ancestors of the Maya. We judge the Maya, Aztecs, Inca’s and others on the traces that we find. But when we dig our way from the present to the past, we must know that the Earth is suffering from a cycle of seven recurring natural disasters. That is told in the Popol Vuh. These disasters create a cycle of civilizations. There are four primitive civilizations, sometimes mentioned a sun or world era. The next civilization lives in the fifth sun. This becomes eventually a high developed civilization that disappeared 20,000 years ago due to the next recurring, thus predictable but inescapable disaster that is caused by the ninth planet in our solar system. That planet orbits our sun in an eccentric orbit hence it is only a short period close to our sun and its planets s it crosses the ecliptic planet at a very high speed. This high developed civilizations has built sturdy monuments all over the world and they must have buried knowledge about themselves and the world history deep in the ground. High in the mountains they have built shelters or surviving places for a selected number of people. Like Machu Picchu in Peru. The Aztec sun stone is a warning for this event is known as Quetzalcoatl, Tonatiuh, Xiuhcoatl or Nibiru in other regions. Much more details about this cycle of natural disasters and many images can be found in an e-book. "Planet 9 = Nibiru". Search: invisible nibiru 9
You tend to move your camera too quickly past things, and walk to fast through areas of interest. Also, you are not always aware of where your camera is pointing so you often only take images of part of something in a hurry and you rush past. When you are moving so fast that you become out of breath you also have difficulty narrating your content. "Slow down, you move too fast. You have to make the morning last."
@@pyramidreview8664 Its not casted is plastered into the wall like any regular stucco, that stucco technique is still used to this day in the area, its a mix of lime, pulverized limestone and tree resin to give it more plasticity
On the Edge of the Sea. Big Time Seafarers. Must have been Massive SHIPS too; not small canoes. Rectangular Architecture. Probably geometry knowledge. Geometry was used for other things too. Central HUB for Land and Sea Trade. still today a HUB.
Great Vids and informative. Thank You! Guyana, hopefully will find Ancient History. Mostly Unexplored Jungle. Well, Amerindians have traversed it Maybe.
The toothless mouth with two eye teeth in the corners of the mouth, and the "Roman" nose indicate that this is probably the face of Itzamah. It also appears to have the indications of "God Eyes"
@@savic408 I believe that's what was written on a little sign about it there. I was surprised, because volcanic rock is pretty rare in the Yucatan peninsula. Almost the entire thing is made of limestone, but the east coast sits on a faultline. I'm not sure how they came up with this date, though.
Well, I found two good papers about the geology of the area, the first short and the other much longer. s736caa7b9cbc9152.jimcontent.com/download/version/1465758670/module/5580166651/name/Idrogeologia%20e%20carsismo%20Yucatan.pdf bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.northwestern.edu/dist/a/576/files/2021/02/EMR_Dissertation_2020a.pdf From what I gather, Tulum does indeed sit on or near the Pleistocene Ridge, in the area where rock was deposited in the past 1.8 million years (or even less) but it is sedimentary carbonate rock just like the rest of the Yucatan peninsula. I’m not sure what I read on that sign, but what I said was definitely incorrect. The east coast is unique geologically because of the Holbox fracture zone and the beach ridge interacting with sea, as well as the fact that it is near the eastern tectonic plate boundary of the Maya Block, but the stone at Tulum is definitely not volcanic!
The main problem is that crowds ruin the vibe. The best experience you can have at an ancient site is when there are few other people there. If you get to Tulum right when it opens as I did, it can be pretty nice, but later on in the day when you’re surrounded by crowds of tourists and obnoxiously loud tour guides, it’s less enjoyable. Also in the places where there are many crowds, they don’t let anyone near the cool stuff, which is a disappointment. I think the place is still nice, but these things make a huge difference in the experience.
I visited Tulum some years ago. I wish I could have had a video like yours to view beforehand. Very interesting and informative. Intelligent and engaging! Please keep exploring.
Thank you. I have a lot more to share yet.
I do appreciate when you add still images of what you are referring to so the viewer can get a more stabile view of things.
I also like you other post visit asides in which you correct errors that you have earlier made in your commentary, and add details or more accurate information.
I love this I have always wanted to see the site ,thank you
I spent a day in Tulum years ago. Thank you for this video. It truly is an an amazing and beautiful site. I’m glad to see that more restrictions are in place to limit tourists from accessing and crawling on the ruins.
Great video, man. You've got a nice casual way of explaining things. Greetings from Cancun!
Love the music at the start of video. Thanks!
Check this one out:archive.org/details/78_solamente-una-vez_the-original-hurtado-bros-and-their-royal-marimba-band-a-lara_gbia0464381b
@@pyramidreview8664 I will . Thanks.
Another great video. I look forward to every new video you post and love learning from you
Great show. Thanks for sharing. I was there last in 1992 (during Spring Break). Most of the buildings were accessible and there were not many improvements back then.
Haha, that’s a great way to spend a spring break! Did you see any murals?
@@pyramidreview8664 Yes, I did. I was bummed out because I also wanted to go to Cobá on that trip, but it was only open to the public on Tuesdays. While everyone else was "partying," I was trying to explore as much as possible I guess not much has changed in 30+ years.
Your videos are super informative and interesting! Thanks!✌🏻
Isn’t it unbelievable how these ancient cultures built these monumental buildings and enclosures. The manual labor amassed to build them is also beyond comprehension. Thanks for the tour. Besides the logistics and intelligence needed to orchestrate it all. That Light house perspective is very interesting. 😊❤️
Thank you for showing the world the well known but also the lesser well known cities of indigenous America...
Love your videos !
I appreciate that you take the time to look up the name for things in Yukatek and include them in your videos: Ch'uy=Osprey
Nice tour for a beautiful place. Great site I was there in 1985, nice to see again- thanks
Glad you enjoyed it! Were you able to get into the main temple area back then?
@@pyramidreview8664 I don't think so, it was a much smaller area to cover than what you walked. However what I didn't see (unless I missed it) was a small stone roof covered building with painted figures on the inside wall.
Which were life size within the interior. Very well preserved
@@dianecernak7130 These sites keep changing as they keep restoring them, so it’s always interesting to hear what it was like just a few decades ago!
Lovely video as always. Thanks for sharing your research and adventures! ❤
May I suggest a drone so you can get closer to where you can not go walking. This would be epic to see the cliff by the temple and the sea underneath.
Drones are NOT permitted in most area's 1 Privacy 2 Danger to the public 3 the Police utilize their own Drones to monitor the beach's etc you would be in trouble when caught with a Drone.
Just found your channel. Great videos. Im from the US but currently live in Belize and have visited maybe half of the ancient cities in the country. Hope you can visit some of the structures in Belize sometime.
Yes, I would like to! There are quite some impressive sites there. Anything you recommend?
@@pyramidreview8664 Xunantunich is close to the Guatemala border and is very popular. You take a hand cranked ferry to over the Macol river to reach the site. The largest structure there is called El Castillo. From the top you can see Guatemala. You could also visit in the same day a smaller site called Cahal Pech which is a short drive. Caracol is the largest site in Belize with the tallest structure in the country. It's fairly challenging to reach due to the dirt roads so you will need a day reserved for the site. There are many more but these will get you started.
great delivery in my opinion. thank you. Cortez claims there was a bright colored stucco covering all the buildings.
WHAT DO YOU SEE? Time 1:10 > Castle constructed with large stone and mortar corner pillars and solid stone middle pillars . . . supporting a solid stone lintel upon which stone and mortar is used except for the towers corner buttresses and floor supports. Tower appears to have two rows of defaced ancient stucco writing upon it. Flat roofs would require concrete or complete roof support. Given their knowledge of stucco, concrete is a given.
arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/archaeologists-are-unlocking-the-secrets-of-maya-lime-plasters-and-mortars/
There has been a lot of research in the past few years into the composition of Maya building materials, and indeed they are finding that there are some materials with added plants and other substances that gave them similar properties to Roman concrete.
While walking the grounds in Tulum I always imagined vast fish markets under thatch roof huts, and stalls with vendors selling fresh fruits and beverages while traveling traders entered the city from various other villages around the Yucatan. *I have a vivid (and curious) imagination!
I see your wardrobe has become a bit more colorful. Cool shirt! I like the little intro showing the general layout etc. Been there a few times and always enjoyed the breezes. The first time was in 1987 when the Cancun area wasn't quite as developed yet (and it took 4 hrs to drive Cancun - CI. No highway yet.) I was always under the impression that Tulum was a trading post but also a 'seaside resort' for the elites. Proving the Mayans were not stoopit.
There was some settlement along the east coast in the early classic period, but during the classic when all the big cities were flourishing it wasn't settled because the hurricanes were too much of a threat to agriculture. One big storm and all your corn is gone! Tulum took off once there was a lot of trade and movement by sea, and people were less tied to one place. So probably it was a nice holiday destination for someone already back then!
@@pyramidreview8664 We can say just about the same about Cancun/Cozumel today as well.... I know that the Tren Maya project found thousands of structures all over the peninsula. But I was surprised to see a few (minor) temples IN the Xcaret park! INAH stamp and everything! I believe one also served as a 'lighthouse' or at least a beacon. (= baken. buoy = boei. sluice = sluis, wharf = werf. dyke = dijk. als het maar met water te maken en een vreemde spelling heeft)
Swimming and looking back on the ruins is pretty cool experience!.
Also the town next door Akumal
Has the turtles right off the beach another great experience .
Every time I have been on that coast, I was unfortunately in a rush to film something so I never had a chance to swim there but it looks spectacular.
@pyramidreview8664 it is!
Kinda of surreal floating and looking at it.
Akumal turtles and the lagoon on back side are also great and so is the price!
Free!
@@jimmyconway8025 Next time for sure!
Thx from Germany.
We live on the island of Cozumel. We've been to all the ruin sites in the Yucatan and beyond. Uxmal is my favorite and a yearly trip for us. Not just the Mayan ruins but also the Hacienda Uxmal ruin which is a bit further East. Very significant as it was the home base for Catherwood and Stephens when they documented the ruins in the 1830s. Not as many tourists which is very appealing.
I love Uxmal and I will release a video about that too. I would like to visit San Gervasio one day as well.
So is this just a hobby or are you involved with archeology? Have been binge watching your videos. Most enjoyable!!
I am a historian but not an archeologist. I just find it all very fascinating, and I love to learn about and visit these places. And I figured, why not share that with people?
@@pyramidreview8664 Well I for one am glad you shared!
I suspect, when that structure was built, the sea was not there! It sits off the northern edge of the Cayman Trench, where the North American Plate ends.
Amazing experience ⭐️👌
Fascinating. Thank you. Why is this country’s cultural heritage still in the British museum, especially if it is just boxed away?
After long days of traveling rough waters along uninhabited coast of Siyan Ka'an, with Xocob coming up occasionally to see if there might be an easy free lunch above, I can imagine that driving your dug out canoe up onto the powder beige sands in the cove at the base of the Zama citadel must have given one a great feeling of elation bordering on euphoria.
The goods would be unloaded and stored. The dugout would be secured against storms for the night. Knowledge of a warm meal of atole and fire cooked kutz, and good laughter with old friends while deals were made, must have seemed like Ka'an itself. One could later take time to pay the priests with goods to make offerings for a continued safe voyage. The smoke of the day's fires would perfume the air with the incense of burning hearth fires with comalob balanced over them on the three stones of creation.
As you drifted off to a well earned sleep, to the background noises of the people of Zama settling down for another balmy night, one could also hear the ubiquitous and eternal sound of the surf, and the hush of sea breezes through the leaves. Tomorrow, before dawn, the dugout would be reloaded and you would be off again to the port cities of Zaman Ha, and Cusamil.
It is not another iguana. It is Itzamnah, in his other nauhual entity, gazing out to sea and remembering the old times. "When will my ships come in?" (smile)
I do wish that you had taken closeups of the frieze on the temple with the "Itzamnah head". I guess one can't expect to get everything right.... eh. (smile)
I love this site. I want to go
With all due respect, it's Maya not Mayan. "The Maya built...." also your camera didnt show the Cenote you showed the wall next to it. I realize you were in a hurry. Maybe film the area and do a voice over explaining what we're seeing so that you can be thourough.
I am liking and subscribing thx
Yes, Maya not Mayans. This is some old video and it bothers me now too, since I have learned the correct way since then. The camerawork could be better too. Ah well, something to learn for next time. 😅
@pyramidreview8664 Thanks for the reply. Love these videos! I feel bad for nit picking. You're awesome! I've only ever visited ruins in Belize. Xunantunich and Lamanai. It is so amazing to see the sites in person!
Nice! I haven't been there yet but I want to go of course. Any site you recommend?
@pyramidreview8664 I liked the lore behind Xunantonich more, but both locations are extraordinary.
Awesome
You might enjoy listening to the podcast ArcheoEd by Dr Ed Barnhart. I find him incredibly enjoyable and informative. The one titled The Milky Way would be a great starter, I think it's the 1st Episode of Season 5. He's probably most famous for mapping Palenque in the early 90's. Thanks for your videos I haven't been able to get to the Yucatan in at least 15 years, it's been great to have you for a tour guide
@@JanetheScot Thank you! That sounds good, I'll check it out.
0:46 What book is that? I don't see page numbers, but it looks too professional to be hand drawn. The numbers are a type face. Cool prop.
I think it’s called Maya Ruins in Full Color
The history of the indigenous peoples in the Americas is much, much older than a few thousand years. The Hopi people tell that they arrived in the America’s about 30,000 years ago when the continent that they were living on, Lemuria, sank under water. They claim to be the ancestors of the Maya. We judge the Maya, Aztecs, Inca’s and others on the traces that we find. But when we dig our way from the present to the past, we must know that the Earth is suffering from a cycle of seven recurring natural disasters. That is told in the Popol Vuh. These disasters create a cycle of civilizations. There are four primitive civilizations, sometimes mentioned a sun or world era. The next civilization lives in the fifth sun. This becomes eventually a high developed civilization that disappeared 20,000 years ago due to the next recurring, thus predictable but inescapable disaster that is caused by the ninth planet in our solar system. That planet orbits our sun in an eccentric orbit hence it is only a short period close to our sun and its planets s it crosses the ecliptic planet at a very high speed. This high developed civilizations has built sturdy monuments all over the world and they must have buried knowledge about themselves and the world history deep in the ground. High in the mountains they have built shelters or surviving places for a selected number of people. Like Machu Picchu in Peru. The Aztec sun stone is a warning for this event is known as Quetzalcoatl, Tonatiuh, Xiuhcoatl or Nibiru in other regions. Much more details about this cycle of natural disasters and many images can be found in an e-book. "Planet 9 = Nibiru". Search: invisible nibiru 9
You tend to move your camera too quickly past things, and walk to fast through areas of interest. Also, you are not always aware of where your camera is pointing so you often only take images of part of something in a hurry and you rush past. When you are moving so fast that you become out of breath you also have difficulty narrating your content. "Slow down, you move too fast. You have to make the morning last."
Stucco is cast, not carved!
Is it still cast if there is no mold involved? I think in this case it might be best to say it was sculpted
@@pyramidreview8664 Its not casted is plastered into the wall like any regular stucco, that stucco technique is still used to this day in the area, its a mix of lime, pulverized limestone and tree resin to give it more plasticity
On the Edge of the Sea. Big Time Seafarers. Must have been Massive SHIPS too; not small canoes. Rectangular Architecture. Probably geometry knowledge. Geometry was used for other things too. Central HUB for Land and Sea Trade. still today a HUB.
Great Vids and informative. Thank You!
Guyana, hopefully will find Ancient History. Mostly Unexplored Jungle. Well, Amerindians have traversed it Maybe.
The toothless mouth with two eye teeth in the corners of the mouth, and the "Roman" nose indicate that this is probably the face of Itzamah. It also appears to have the indications of "God Eyes"
2 million years ago? You sure about that?
@@savic408 I believe that's what was written on a little sign about it there. I was surprised, because volcanic rock is pretty rare in the Yucatan peninsula. Almost the entire thing is made of limestone, but the east coast sits on a faultline. I'm not sure how they came up with this date, though.
@@pyramidreview8664 yes, I am curious about how they got that number. Great show. keep up the good work.
Well, I found two good papers about the geology of the area, the first short and the other much longer.
s736caa7b9cbc9152.jimcontent.com/download/version/1465758670/module/5580166651/name/Idrogeologia%20e%20carsismo%20Yucatan.pdf
bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.northwestern.edu/dist/a/576/files/2021/02/EMR_Dissertation_2020a.pdf
From what I gather, Tulum does indeed sit on or near the Pleistocene Ridge, in the area where rock was deposited in the past 1.8 million years (or even less) but it is sedimentary carbonate rock just like the rest of the Yucatan peninsula. I’m not sure what I read on that sign, but what I said was definitely incorrect. The east coast is unique geologically because of the Holbox fracture zone and the beach ridge interacting with sea, as well as the fact that it is near the eastern tectonic plate boundary of the Maya Block, but the stone at Tulum is definitely not volcanic!
Just found your channel. I subscribed. Hope it helps
It does! Thank you!
melted structure....
This place is highly overrated. Not as good as it looks.
The main problem is that crowds ruin the vibe. The best experience you can have at an ancient site is when there are few other people there. If you get to Tulum right when it opens as I did, it can be pretty nice, but later on in the day when you’re surrounded by crowds of tourists and obnoxiously loud tour guides, it’s less enjoyable. Also in the places where there are many crowds, they don’t let anyone near the cool stuff, which is a disappointment. I think the place is still nice, but these things make a huge difference in the experience.