The Seventh Wheel & Mayan megamonuments!

Hola, Everyone!

It's been a couple of days since my last entry, and a lot has happened.





On Wednesday, we went to the amazing ruins of Chichen Itza. Most people will have heard of this site as the home of the great pyramid where Mayan priests would carry out human sacrifices. Actually, yes, true...but the structure and the site itself are incredibly complex and hold much more significance than that.

We set out early in the morning and drove for quite a while - about three hours, actually. Most everyone slept, but i stayed awake. It was quite a peaceful drive, flanked on either side by jungle most of the way. Around 2 hours in, we stopped in a small village to have lunch at a roadside restaurant. I had chicken tacos, four little shredded chicken with onion and peppers concoctions rolled in tiny soft corn tortillas, with a scoop of white rice on the side. Very tasty! (The tacos tend to be small here, and filled only with meat. Sauce of your choice - usually a green or red chile sauce or pink onion relish - goes on top.)

We got there and it was a madhouse. People everywhere. It's quite the tourist trap, really - but thankfully hasn't been "Disneyfied". It's pretty good, just the site as restored a few decades ago. But with the sticky mid-day heat, no ocean breeze, and herds of tourists everywhere, if I had to do it again, I'd leave much earlier so that I could really take in the atmosphere in a cooler and more quiet context. Despite this, it's one of the most amazing places. The huge pyramid in the middle of the site, El Castillo (see pic above),really is as impressive as it looks in the picture. And HUGE! It's about as tall as the CIBC building in Vic, and about as wide...maybe wider.
Unfortunately, you can't climb it anymore because a tourist fell and was killed a year or two ago. (Luckily, I had already climbed it when I was here last, about 7 years ago. It was unbelievable!) Apparently, the pyramid was built so exactly that in October on a certain day, the shadows thrown by the sun's passage look like a gigantic shadow snake climbing and then slithering down the stairway. Also, the number of steps plus the top platform equal exactly 365 - set to correspond to the number of days in the Mayan calendar (where we also get our calendar system). There's so much I could say about this monument, but it would take up 500 blogs! So, just go to this site for more info on Chichen Itza: http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/mayan/TourEntrance.html

We also explored other spots at the site...the ballcourt, the temple of warriors, the marketplace, the cenote. Unfortunately, the rest of the group was getting tired, so we ended up missing the Nunnery and the Observatory. I was a bit pissed about this, but that's the thing about travelling with a group. You kinda have to go with the flow.

Anyway, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a rich and fascinating experience while here. In fact, I might rate it as equal to the fantastic natural scenery as the sole reasons to come here.

On the way back, we stopped at another cenote for a cooling swim. Cenotes are sinkholes where the ground has fallen in and an underground river flows through the cave itself. Some are accessable, and large enough and deep enough to hold underground "swimming holes" filled with amazing stalagmites, mineral formations, and cool, azure mineral lakes. This particular one is managed by a local village (some are not, are more commercialized), and as we arrived in our family van, we were immediately bombarded by a group of boys all vying to "watch the car" for us while we swam. They were incredibly persistant and spirited, and of course we couldn't say no. The village was small, with lots of locals selling their wares including freshly hacked green coconuts for a portable juice snack, handmade jewellery, and photo cards of the cenote. The cenote itself had obviously been used for a long time, the mineral formations quite worn and the interior with a walkway and lights installed and ropes for getting into the water. It was quite lovely after the hot, sticky day.

On the way back, we stopped for snacks and "cervesas" in another town on the way, and then continued on the long road home. Night fell, and of course everyone took another nap. I loved it. Quiet, peaceful, with the moonlight flooding into the van and the sounds of loud crickets and bugsong from the jungle outside filtering in the open window as we sped along the highway - so loud even the hum of the engine and tires couldn't drown it out! Quite lovely.

There's the gyst of that day.

Yesterday, it was an early morning run (much more wonderful since it was so early it hadn't gotten swelteringly hot yet, and most of the touristas were still asleep, leaving the beach mostly to me and a few other early risers), lounging poolside (the wind was vicious, blowing beachsand everywhere), and exploring the town a bit on my own. Got some lovely souvenirs from this small shop run by a local lady with lots of handcrafts. Also got a bit of a sunburn! (Not bad, though.) Saw out the day with making dinner for the whole crew and settling down to bed early.

Today - another easy day. Caught some great waves via bodyboard with my brother Jon at the beach this morning. MAN, that was fun! I haven't been on a bodyboard in, I dunno, maybe 15 years! Forgot how much I love it. Anyway - the waves wer pretty crazy, bowling me over more than a few times...now I will have the beautiful white sand of the Playa coming out of almost every orifice I have for the next few weeks, I'm sure. ;)

OK. Should probably sign off now. This one is about as long as it should be for now. More "manana...manana!"

Hugs to you all.
Over and out.