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El Castillo at Chitchen Itza
That black dot in the corner is my travel companion (bit of dust in the camera lens)... that bitch is in every photo I'm not even exagerating about this either.
But first - the ruins, waterfalls and heavy drinking...
After joining my second Intrepid tour in Cancun last weekend (very different demographics from the Costa Rica trip - this one's all aussies and kiwis, with one Brit in there too, and more than half 30yo or under), we wasted no time in leaving that "Little America" and heading to Chichen Itza - our first of three major Mayan ruins on the tour.
Founded in 432 and aligned with the Toltecs in the 10th century, Chichen Izta lies in the middle of the Yucatan peninsula, which, as I mentioned in my last post sits atop a giant limestone slab, and therefore flat as a pancake. This topography makes the Chichen Izta ruins - and particularly El Castillo, the pyramid shaped temple in all the photos - stand out like a sore thumb, and the lack of topsoil (there's only about 10cm of topsoil on top of the limestone bed) means there are very few trees to provide shelter for the brutal Mexican sun. I managed to keep my (relative) cool with the unashamed use of an umbrella, right up until we got
to the exit, when something tripped some internal-heating switch and I almost immediately got drenched in sweat, it was really weird.
ANYway... The ruins were fantastic. In addition to El Castillo, there was a large cenote where they've found human remains - assumed to be from sacrifices back in the day, and the massive ballcourt where two teams would try to score goals with a ball using only their elbows, wrists and hips. On the walls of the ballcourt were reliefs depicting teams of seven players, with the captain of one team holding the head of the opposing captain, but there's some argument as to whether it was the winning or losing team's captain that lost their heads (if it's a sacrifice to the gods, is it an honour and therefore bestowed on the winning captain?).
There's many such question marks still hanging over all these ruins due to the spaniards coming in and burning all the Mayan books in the 15th(ish) century. Another thing that remains unknown is how they managed to get such great acoustics in the whole place - if you stand at the base of the steps of El Castillo and clap, the echo
Jaguar and Eagle
both eating human hearts. Chichen Itza that comes back to you from the top sounds exactly like a Quetzal bird (very rare and sacrid bird in Central America).
After melting at the ruins, we headed to Ik-kil cenote, which i hate to say it, but puts the cenotes in Tulum to shame... The ones in tulum had the limestone rock overhead still intact, whereas this one's roof had collapsed some time ago, giving a 20 metre wide hole for sunlight to stream down. It was gorgeous and exactly what we needed to get our body temperatures down to safe levels again.
From there we headed to the lovely colonial town of Merida, then on to Palenque. Being higher up in the mountains to the west of the Yucatan peninsula, and therefore with better soil, Palenque ruins were more enveloped in the jungle than Chichen Itza, giving them a much more eery feel (akin to Angor Wat in Cambodia, though I always feel like a chump when I compare things like that). They were slightly more fun than Chichen Itza cos we could climb over some of the temples and grand palace (when we asked out guide at Chichen if we weren't allowed to climb
the temples cos tourists had do so and died in the past, his reply was "No, there's an endless supply of tourists, it's just it was ruining the temples themselves").
While we hadn't completely expired at Palenque ruins (unlike Chichen Itza), heading to more waterfalls was still very welcome. Agua Azul are the falls in all the tourist brochures of Mexico and are a gorgeous aquamarine colour (and smelled slightly of sulfur) and being able to clamber round the lower falls (my Vibram five-fingers paying dividends once more) was a fantastic way to spend the afternoon.
The following day, we headed even further into the Chiapas (state in Mexico) highlands to San Cristobal de las Casas, which compared to the previous few weeks was refreshingly un-hot (not cold... just not swelteringly hot). This day (must have been Wednesday) also happened to be Ben's - an aussie on our tour - birthday. So some of us girls spent the afternoon scouting the town for cake, candles, balloons and anything else we could find, and of course a birthday sombrero. After botching it a few times, we managed to surprise Ben and then proceeded to sit on the roof terrace
Palenque ruins
That mountain in the back there - an unexcavated temple apparently. I found it hard to believe, but if it is, that's awesome. of our hotel downing tequila shots while this massive atmospheric storm light up the sky at random intervals. A really good memory. We then headed out to a bar where our guide ordered as all "Mayan Sacrifices" - a cocktail of Kahlua and tequila, which is then lit, then cinnamon sprinkled on it so the flames almost reach the roof, then (while still flaming) poured into another glass of sparkling water. Not the greatest cocktail I've tasted (though by no means the worst) but the production was totally worth it.
Needless to say I wasn't feeling on top form the next day, but managed to pull myself together for a visit to San Juan Chamula - a traditional Mayan village on the outskirts of San Cristobal. The focal point of this village is the church where Mayan traditions have mixed with the modern world to form an amazingly strange sight. Unfortunately photos of people, or the inside of the church, are forbidden because they belief the photographs steal the spirits. This is a crying shame because it was honestly one of the most amazing places I've ever been. From the outside it looks like your standard colonial-era church, but
as soon as you step inside, you hit a wall of incense smoke. If the smoke doesn't bowl you over, you've got to be careful not to slip on the pineneedles that blanket the floor, and fall straight into the rows of candles burning everywhere you turn (including on the floor... wouldn't want to be weary anything particularly flammable). There are men beating drums which symbolise (quite effectively) the beating of the earth's heart and people chanting everywhere. Our guide also explained to us that while worshipping, the villagers drink fizzy drinks as it's believed that the bubbles are energy from the gods (or for the gods, I couldn't quite understand). It was incredible. Then as we were heading out, I stepped aside to let this guy enter and say under his arm he was carrying a plastic bag with two live chickens in it... I don't think the chickens were coming out of there in one piece...
After that spectacle, I headed to the markets out the front of the church for my own worship (not too dissimilar really). As I sat drinking my coke these two little girls came up and decided to keep me company (they
Agua Azul
Me and my waterfalls really just wanted my chips and coke, which they got eventually). I knew my spanish was getting better when, after I left, I realised we had not spoken a word of english and we had managed to ascertain that these girls were 8 and 9, were sisters, their mother was at home and their father was at work, and that they wanted me to buy them a pen from the shop i was sitting outside. Not too shabby.
And that was the last of Mexico for now... next stop Guatemala!
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