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Published: December 2nd 2006
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After Tulum we went to what I would say was our first non-real tourist Mexican town, Valladolid, about 80 miles from the coast. We both liked it here as it was a very warm and friendly place and what we expected Mexico to be like. We arrived on a week end which was a bonus as they had a mini festival in the local park and it was nice to see all the locals out with the family enjoying themselves and having a great time. It felt like a real nice community and we were made to feel very welcome which was nice. They had lots of food stalls, which were great and beyond cheapness nothing over a pound. I always thought I would never have anything hotter than a curry but Mexican food bring heat to an all new level, you can’t order anything without chillie being offered. Michelle proved this by getting a fresh coconut for something sweet, had some lime added and then were offered the chillie, which surprisingly she refused! I don´t think they enjoy their food unless they finish the meal dripping in sweat!
Valladolid was a stop of point for the Yucatan’s most famous Mayan
ruin, Chichen Itza which was built in the 8th century. The main temple, El Castillo is based on the Mayan astronomical calendar, it has four stairways each with 91 steps and plus the top platform which add up to 365 the number of days in the year. Amazing how all the different cultures from around the world came to the same conclusion by just watching the stars! To top this off, they also built the pyramid so precise that at certain times of the year the shadow from the sun hitting the pyramid mimic the creep of a snake and will coincide with the start of each season. Clever eh! This was in honor of the fertility god, so had to make sure Michelle didn´t get to close!
One of the other things here that impressed me was the ball court. This was the size of a football pitch, but each side had a great wall with a vertical loop about a meter in diameter and about 15 meters from the floor. They are still not sure of the exact rules and believe a few different types of games were played, some with hands some with feet (resemble anything!) The
aim was to get the ball ( a piece of rubber) through the hoop and the losing team would be sacrificed to the gods and there heads left on spears! The modern day footballers with all their millions don´t know how lucky they are. Maybe if their life was in the balance you might see England win the world cup!
After Chichen Itza we went to the largest city up to now on our travels, Merida. It was a nice enough place and for me just a larger version of Valladolid but a bit cheaper which is always nice! The first day didn’t start to well as the bus dropped us off at a bus station not on the map, so took us a while to find our bearings and then even longer to find some accommodation because it fell on a weekend. After about 2 hours of walking around in similar heat you are getting at home but with a heavy back pack! In the end we got lucky and found a lovely place. It was an old colonial house which from the outside looked nothing special, but in the center was a luscious green courtyard with a
fountain and our room looking over this with a nice veranda. The owner was very friendly and shown us around his house which was like a museum, loads of the old telephones, grandfather clocks and family portraits. Had a feeling his family used to do alright! He tested our Spanish to the limit or should I say Michelle’s, as I was just lost! He gave us loads of tips and places to visit. One of these places was once again the Mayan ruins of Uxmal. We bumped into another English couple and arranged a trip with them. They have been traveling for 10 months of their year long trip and been to some of the places we are going to visit so was good to bump into them. Uxmal was different from the other sites as it was less touristy and set in the jungle which made it a bit eerie. The Mayans that built this were more peaceful and didn’t believe in human sacrifices. You could see this difference in the sculptures and masonry, as it was more ornate and skilled. This was all in honor of chac-mool the rain god for this dry region. I could see why,
it was so hot and humid I was hoping for a bit of rain myself!
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