Ancient Cilivlisation

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Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend

- Laertius Diogenes

I was slightly ahead of the game by having visited Teotihaucan already and spent the first day with the group (eleven new eager souls) visiting the floating gardens of Xochimilco with a few of them. Not quite sure excatly why they are called that as there were no gardens, but just people being punted along in barely water worthy rafts, still, a good relaxing day out. I was teamed up in a room with a Welsh lad called Sion, great guy with a brilliant sense of humour and we shared accomodation pretty much the whole trip. Our first few stops really didn't do a huge amount for me and I was wondering when I was going to get to see some of these ancient ruins and civilisations I had paid for.

The first we saw of any merit was in Oaxaca, thee Monte Alban Ruins. They were good, nothing like Teotihuacan, but still very impressive. Our guide was educational and Sion and I were pretty much snap happy the whole time. The Monte Alban ruins did hit me leter that day, when we went onto the exhibiton in the Santa Domingo catherdral. What they had on display there was some of the things found in the tombs at Monte Alban. The jewellery that had been excavated or discovered was astounding. Poor Sion, I think I bored him to death with jewellery chat!

The thing was though, that over 2,000 years ago, the Mayans (and all the other cultures, ie zapotecs, aztecs...) had the skills, knowledge and ability to make jewellery that most skilled jewllers I know today are lacking. Without the machinery and tools that we take for granted, they were able to create the same processes from what must have been the most basic and simple, yet utterly genious techniques. It boggles me just as to their abilities and it should most other skilled hand workers out there. Truely a magnificaent ablilty to create and build, small scale and large.

As I did with New zealand and the Maories, I will endeavour to go into detail of th origins and cultures here, with a little more depth and detail than I am n this blog about the trip. Just how the Zapotecs took 300 years to level the top of a hill and build a temple for the gods...

Oaxaca was indeed a delightfully colourful place that jmps out at you at every corner. We all ate well and even dned on the odd grasshopper, really salty. Moving on fom here, we had an overnifght bus journey of nine hours, oh the joys...

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1130pm, half battery, half life. Half cut. The ever annoying pop up of “Low disk space” appearing every two minutes. 12 hour over night journey to Santa Cristobel. Was warned not to take the over night bus, false sense of security on it. Premier bus travel , 3rd class environment. Windy roads like home, loch side drive and usual weather of the highlands. Fog, wind and rain.

And we’re meant to get some sleep this thing? Ha! Yeh right. Looking round I see everyone else, still, silent and heads bobbing to every sharp twist, turn jolt and bump the road and driver have to offer. They put on ‘Casino Royal’ to view, a sense of familiarly despite it being in Spanish. Sion and I sit and drink our smuggled on whiskey and coke, trying to knock ourselves out for the journey ahead. HA! And there’s me, preaching about the righteous journey, now trying desperately to avoid this one. But justified none the less, sleep time and dark all around. Only now trying to make something of it by writing in this self propelled dim light.

Despite the constant lurching and windy roads, rain, wind and fog, the bus makes u forget where u are. Only the occasional glance out the window reminds you of the fact your in Mexico. The barricades at the side of the road with soldiers and their machine guns. The little old lady sitting up in her shell of a concrete building, the occasional town with and empty restaurant and all else dark and blank in between. Not a straight 100m of road for hours. Not a soul of noise other than the infinitesimal swish of a passing vehicle, the drone of the engine and my relentless tapping away at these keys. Someone’s farted. We all do it, but even now, carefree and a half bottle whiskey onto me, it pisses me off. What else am I to do right now, sleep? Not going to happen. Too much lurching. I’ve left sleeping pills in main bag, can’t take the tranquilliser to get to sleep so may as well keep going till I drop, or the battery does.

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Half past four in the morning, I can’t get no sleep... Half awake, half sober. Half way there. Sleep a dream right now. Can’t believe the bus driver has put on some shitty crackly radio station as we’re all trying to sleep, well, better he stays awake I suppose, at least he’s finally decided to turn on his window wipers, idiot. Could be worse, could always be worse, could be on a plane, that would really suck. For once I am so much more concerned about the destination, a lie down for a few hours in a bed is what everyone wants. God if you don’t turn that radio off soon I swear you be assaulted by every single half zombie on this bus.

This drivers an idiot. He keeps stopping every 5 minutes. He’s opened his window now too and some kind of warning keeps going off on the front panel. It’ll get light in a few hours and half the window passengers have their curtains open. We’re in some kind of neighbourhood with speed bumps every 100 yards, been that way now for 20 minutes, constant speed up, slowdown, over we go and onto the next.

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OK, so the bus journey wasn't quite my favourite time and it didn't get any better as I got my first dose of Mexican stomach and spent the entire day not venturing too far from the hotel. The joys of travell... were actually shown to me the very next day.

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The world is spoiling me this day. Quite unexpectedly, two phenomenon have taken me aback. Sometimes you’re blessed, sometimes you’re just lucky. Today has filled me inside, it feels like my soul has dined and its eaten oh so well, happy little bloated soul.

The wake up at 6am wasn’t the easiest, both me and Sion moaning expletives as we both in turn suffered the wrath of yet another hotel with no hot water in the morning. Hangover pounding the inside of our heads. Bag just packed without splitting and lugged it down stairs to the hilarious excuse for a mini bus. Bags on roof, the 12 of us piled in and wrestled the non-existent space for the bumpy first two hours of our journey. Yet again, the transport had a cracked windscreen, I don’t think we’ve been in one yet that hasn’t had it badly damaged. The pain of even trying to sleep was unbearable, no where to rest your head yet to tired to be able to keep your eyes open as the old rubber neck swings you in and out of semi awakeness.

I was in the grip of terror the whole way. Not through the state of the minibus, not because of the driver, nor anything to do with our surroundings, but the fear that I was going to get a ten second warning before my Mexican stomach decided to leave me by one of two different ways. We saw so much poverty on the road. This was my first encounter with it. Ramshackle huts that housed entire families, mud pools for their surroundings, all dotted along the roadside. All the way for our two hours. Bus change over and another three hours now to Palenque. I thank some higher mystical power for saving me and allowing me to visit the toilet there with no horribly embarrassing consequences that could so easily have come on the way. Bus no better, somehow and un be known to us, it worked, with a broken windshield. And thankfully stomach looking up.

The scenery was however, fantastic, pretty much all the way. We arrived in Palenque about 1pm. Everyone already liking our surroundings. Dense jungle foliage, noisy crickets, cabins to sleep in hidden in the trees, a completely foreign setup to everywhere else we’d been and grinning faces all around. Bags down and back out, we set off up the road to the Palenque ruins. Once again, mobbed sellers for the tourists, trying to sell you everything, anything “Almost free sir…” I had no idea of what these ruins looked like or what to expect and I certainly didn’t expect what lay in wait round the jungle corner.

As we rounded a tree, this magical site appeared from no where. This huge temple standing glorious in the trees, its presence so overpowering, stopping everyone in their tracks. Further on, another of the same dominance, same intensity and beauty, basking in the sunlight. I was in complete awe as we drifted, mind struck, along the base of the temple, towards the whole site of the ruins. I had to remove myself from company to climb the second temple as I was in shock of what lay around me. My head spinning and as I realised that this place was having a profound emotional affect on me. Sitting down, away from site of eye, I settled myself and tried to take in the enormity of the place and its immediate influence it was having on me. The feeling stayed with me the entire time I was there and I realised that I was witnessing one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen, one of the most incredible places I have ever been to.

Every building, every temple, every step was just as awe-inspiring as the first. Monkeys, Bats and Butterflies throughout the place. What a magnificent and glorious place this must have been in its day, a true paradise. Rarely am I stuck for words but here, Palenque, had such an impact as to silence the mind, body and soul. It really was food for the soul.

Walking back I managed to get a knock down price for two leather Aztec calendars for my nephews and headed for base, thoroughly happy. Dinner was good food but I was so tired and wanted to retire right after so said goodnight and walked through the trees to our hut. Along the way I was aware of flashes but thought it was just cameras. Finally I looked up and realised it was lightening; wicked. I stopped and just got my bearings with it through the branches. What I couldn’t figure out was why there was no thunder, rain, wind or anything else you would associate with lightening. Moving through the tress I went out to the road to try and get a better view of the night sky. I was greeted with such a spectacular sight.

There was a nucleus in the clouds where it was all originating from. A centre point that exploded with such intense light, so bright that it lit up the whole sky. No noise, not even a whisper came from the heavens. Just a random yet consistent flash of pure bright white intensity that radiated all through the night. It was as if there was a brilliant ball that was hidden in the clouds that kept exploding with noiseless light, slowly drifting across the skies. I so wished there was a platform of sorts to get above the trees and watch it move away. Then I realised that I had seen two things this day that I was in awe of, two unexpected intense things that man and nature had created that had filed me inside, and left my soul a little bloated. And so, grinning like a contented little idiot, I went to bed.

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The very next day we were again spoiled to see the great sight of Yaxchilan. A bit further off the beaten track and several bus and boat rides later, we arrived in another spectacular place. Not as well maintained but no less beautiful, Yaxchilan stands pround on the river bend accross from Guatemala. It didnt have the same affect as Palenque the day before but I really dont want to take anything away from this magnificent place. There were colonies of bats in the buildings and you could still walk amongst the ruins. some steep hills to climb to get to the temples left you struggling for breath in the heat but it was going to take more than that to stop you seing as much as you could of the place.

Moving onto Merida we had a relaxing time taking the afternoon to the cenotes (natural water holes) with fantastic sun there and torrential rain back. We did have thought the best form of transport i have ever been on, horses pulling us along small carts on a railway line! Just brilliant,

(I will try and get the videos up online, internet is being rather difficult here)

Our last temple to see was at Chichen itza. We had an interesting trip there...

I got an email a few weeks ago from a friend Tom Redaway asking if I had had any near death experiences since had been away, as he nearly got stabbed on a beach the past week. I could say thankfully no, until now. Ok, so I find plane fights scary at times and do fear sometimes as you have n choice to fight or flight when u feel the fear of death from an airplane. One could argue that you take ur life into ur hands every time u cross the street too but I can now say with some confidence that I have just passed through my first near miss (you can take the boy away from his health and safety….) On the last leg of our tour, heading to Playa del Carmen via Chichen Itza to see the last of our ancient ruins, we got stopped on the road with what could have been a number of things. Not really paying attention to why for the first 20 mins, as stopping is a regular occurrence for all sorts of reasons, I began to wonder why we were actually being held up. Our tour leader Nancy said there was an accident and that we would be here a while so we could go for a walk. Ever the curiosity I stepped out of the bus and walked along the road to see what had happened.



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Chichen Itza was no less impressive as Palenque and Yaxchilan (well, the main temple was no less impressive. Still in tact and standing proud). What was a shame was the amount of tourists there, it appeared to be the Disney world of the Meso-Americans’ ancient ruins. People with their bellies out, over tanned or over burnt, a proud representation of the Britts, Europeans and every other culture that should hang its head in shame at themselves on tour. It wasn’t that Chichen Itza is better than Palenque, Yaxchilan or even Teotihuacan, because it’s not (despite becoming one of the world’s new wonders, It’s become that and is so popular due to its location). The others are off the beaten track, you have to deliberately make an effort to get t them. Here however, it’s a short day out from all the travellers and tourists on their vacation from a number of Mexico’s sea-side resorts. Even the local Mexican sellers were a lot to take in. All you needed to do was glance in their direction and they would leap at you. “Almost free!“ or “special price for you today!“ or my favourite “only one dollar for this!“ Yeh, sure, and I’m an ancient Mayan descendant from the planet Krypton…This site was mobbed.

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The verge was torn up for about a hundred meters and there appeared to be a truck, right way up, off the road and in the trees. On closer inspection it had some damage to the side of it and I could make out it was a gas truck, not so good. Getting about fifty meters from it, it became apparent that the vehicle directly behind it was also a gas truck, a little more unnerving. The tow truck was insufficient to pull it out so they had the other gas truck roped up to it too and were starting to pull, not the greatest of ideas either. Looking to my left I was standing beside a double gas tanker too, ok, beginning to get quite worrying now. Other vehicles were beginning to back up behind us so we were locked in, not able to move forward, not able to move backwards, one heavily damaged gas tanker beside another under stress and a double tanker the vehicle in front of us, not more than about 50 meters away from the damaged one. And to add to the whole effect, the heat from the sun was unbearable.



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The main temple at Chichen Itza was huge and amazing, sticking out proud in the very centre of the large plateaux. It really was a magnificent site. Dominating the land around it and an incredible sight that again, was hard to not take your breath away. Walking around it for the first 20 mins just snapping as many photos as possible, It was hard to not be put off by the amount of tourists here, obviously self included, as all I wanted was the shot of the structure without all the Mickey Mouse crowd standing in front and in the shot. It did unfortunately take away from the wonder of the place and you really would need to be there first thing in the morning or last thing at night to avoid this. The rest of the site was still impressive also, but unlike the other three superstar ruins, we weren’t allowed to walk in them or through them or on them. Which, to be fair, is quite right. Especially with the amount of people trundling through the site with little care for much more than their sun tan and thinking they got a good deal from on of the local sellers. I was actually very surprised that we were allowed on any of the structures of the other three main ruins.

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Whilst filming the attempted removal of the gas tanker, I decided the best place was back on our bus in the hope that they either clear the road in front to pass, or back us up behind to clear us to a safe distance. At this point, all the spectators started, all at once, to move very quickly back to their vehicles and away from the accident site. Some started running and waving their arms in the air, ok, time to get on board, our bus-driver was tooting his horn and shouting at his passengers, hurriedly, we complied, worrying faces and glances between all the passengers as what was realised to be dangerous was becoming sudden scary reality. It was one of two possibilities; Either they were moving the traffic, or there was serious danger of imminent explosion.


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Walking through the grounds of the whole site at Chichen Itza, you did get a good feel again for the once felt majesty of the place. The throne rooms, palaces, temples, games fields, markets, all now just a ghost in time and echo of the past. An unfortunate tease and shadow of its former self but yet still enough to let the imagination kick in and marvel and wonder at its former glory. The familiar question of “what must it have been like” and if only I had invented the ‘Memory Time Screen’ so I could hold up in front of me my fold up pocket device to look through, programming in the date and time and seeing all the things that went on there where ever I chose to look.

After two hours of being hustled by sellers, being annoyed by the slap back to reality of the tourist Mecca, the stifling sun, trying to get the ‘people free’ photos and also thinking I had got a good deal on a stall’s large rug (which I am still convinced I did!) it was time to move on to playa del Carmen. Back onto the bus.

Unfortunately, despite the long distance buses being quite comfortable, they have a rather poor selection of almost recent Spanish dubbed movies. They are tolerable and until now we had not suffered the same one twice, so it should have come at no real surprise that when we were told the bus was taking a detour of and extra 3 hours, they decided to play a film already seen. T make matters worse, it was the pick of the bunch, Ghost rider. Travel gods, u have a warped sense of humour, but thank you for letting us past the taker, unscathed.

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Thankfully, the police had decided to clear one side of the road and move the traffic on. What a mess the driver must have been in, no idea as to his situation. The front axel of the truck was 50 meters further on down the road and no sign of the actual drivers section. One can only hope for their well being.

Eventually arriving in Playa del Carmen we got to our hotel, only they had no idea we were coming. Leaving our bags there and going for food, we left Nancy to deal with it. By this stage everyone was getting pretty tired, hungry and rather cross. Not beaten, I tried to lift spirits and show folks that really things could be so much worse and there was little to complain about. Getting back to the hotel, we had to go to their sister place as they couldn’t fit us in. it ended up that we were all split up and had to drag our bags across town, ok, getting grumpy myself now.

The apartment was fine, to start. No towels, no big deal. Man at reception said there was no internet access despite them advertising that there was, annoying. Being told by the same man to go to the Oxxo to get bear and finding them closed, really quite frustrating. Same man now telling me that despite them having posters up advertising a ‘24hr mini bar service and ask at reception’ that they don’t offer that service, beginning to curse inside and wonder what it would be like to inflict pain on him. And the straw that broke the camels’ back, once again, reception guy, now telling me that they don’t even have bottled water (as we can’t drink the tap water) so I’d have to wait until I went out for breakfast, unless I wanted to walk back to the shop that I had just told him was closed…. Breath deeply.…going red…going green now….steam out of the ears as I walk away, cursing out loud in English and imagining myself jumping over the desk and re-enacting that very gut wrenching and rather disturbing pavement biting scene from ‘American history X.’ Cold shower to calm down and relax. Sleep.


Playa del Carmen is a far cry from everything we have been lucky enough to see so far. It’s a holiday resort, and while it’s good to get my bare feet in the sand and sea again, its painfully clear that I cannot stand this type of place. Tourist Mecca. You all know what I’m talking about and I was being kind when I spoke about the people at The ruins. Call me a snob if you will, but give me an empty beach, an open view, no crowds, lots of space, the actual culture of the place and its people to learn about and integrate with. If I want a British crowd, I’ll not pay to go on holiday to find it. And this isn’t even Cancun. I’ve got that to look forward to tomorrow.

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Photos

Xochimilco
Floating gardens?

Daddys boy
kid who was on the boat being punted by his dad.

Monte Alban jewellery
Unique skill 2,000 years old

MOnte Alban
ruins

Monte Alban
bangle

Palenque
temple

flower
at palenque

bats
at palenque

howler monkey
at palenque

Cenotes
Natural water hole

cenotes
group shot underwater

Chichen Itza
Main temple

Lizard
Chichen Itza

Double trouble
really dont know why i was smiling...