Guided Ruins Tour

Spent 3 hours touring the site. The Mayas and Toltec eventually shared this settlement so the Rain God and the Toltec's god were honored. This was a serpent to go down to the underworld, the eagle to rise up to paradise and the jaguar for wisdom. This site was originally 25 square Km. so many buildings are still being restored. The Ball Court was the biggest one in the Yucatan and is beautifully preserved. You can see the hoop on the right side where it must go through to win the game. Remember, only shoulders, elbows, hips and here feet are used. It was dated 864 A.D.
The acoustics were amazing. In the central plaza below the tallest, Castle of Kukulcan, 30 meters high, if you clap your hands, you hear the call of a certain bird. On the ball court, when you clap or shout a noise, it comes back to you 5 times. These structures were constructed so that the peasants wood believe the priests were magical or had power. There were many pictures carved on the stones that depicted activities of those days. We walked out the original main road, rough as anything, to the cenote used by these people. It was as big as the one we swam in yesterday.
The Maya descendants are the only people allowed to sell their wares on the site and there are many of them. They have to carry baskets of their goods on their backs about 1/2 mile to where they display them. They are a small people even today. They used to be about 4 1/2 feet and lived until about 38 years.
We go back tonight for the Night Light Show.

Chichen Itza

Drove here today and then went out to a cenote (cee no tay) for a swim. This area of the Yucatan peninsula has no rivers, lagoons or water systems, just underground. the Mayas had to seek out these underground caves or pools and divert the years supply of water there, during the rainy season. Their main god is Chac - the Rain God. Now this was a cenote. Yesterdays was about 12 x 30 feet and 3 feet deep. This one had 2 viewing platforms, then 92 steps down to the pool. It was about 100 ft. round and 150 ft up to the opening in the ground. Vegetation hangs down into the water where you weren't allowed to touch the water roots. It was cool, but pleasant and the sun shone down in one half. There are 5' fish swimming around which eat the algae and are the natural cleaning system. Some of the local people even have little fish in their water systems to keep it purified. We all went in and paddled around on our noodles for about 45 minutes. then back to camp. cool for the first time in days, for Margaritas and a fabulous Louisiana gumbo on rice that one tailgunner, Randy had made for us.

Banos

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On the way into town, we passed the local bullfight ring. Doesn't look that secure to me.
I wish I'd taken a few pictures of the banos (bathrooms) on this trip. they started up north with no toilet seats and no tissue. You always carry your own and place it in the basket, never flush. We've been charged 2 - 5 pesos (pennies) to use facilities at Museums and they provide 8 squares of tissue for you. Then we got seats, even royal blue complete toilets in the old Club Med but to flush, you had to turn a knob on the pipe behind, hoping you get the right amount of water for the job. This is the bano provided for all at a cenote (underground pool) we went to outside of town.
The water is crystal clear and warmer than the ocean and pools have been.

Touring the Hammock Factory

Imagine our surprise when it turned out the the factory was Jose's living room. It is a family tradition going back to his great grandfather and we got to see the whole house and yard. The lot was 50 x 100 feet. The LR floor was shiny green and white tile, the rest concrete. Jose makes 5 strand hammocks and they would support 600 lbs, plus single ones and chairs. The bedroom had a mattress on the floor with no sheets and 1 hammock. There was a fridge and stove with a wooden door inside and cooking fire out. A woman was doing the wash out back, in cold water and the clothes were pushed through a twined rope. They must have incredible soap down here because the clothes are as clean as they can get.

to Merida

Founded in 1542 by the Spanish on the ruins of a large Maya settelment, this is the largest city in the Yucatan Peninsula today. It was patterned after Paris, France and is amazing, wide 8 lane roads with tree lined medians. It is famous for the Panama Hat, which is woven from palm leaves in caves because humid conditions keep the leaves pliable to weave. The economic boom happened because of the sisal (pronouced seesal) grown locally and usual for rope making. By 1976 other materials started taking over. It looks just like the blue agave plant.
We went on a guided city tour in a decorated bus with no windows and holes in the floor. The houses have influences of Spanish, French and even Moorish. We stopped at the Park of the Americas with a huge band stand with incredible acoustics, and lots if sculptures, even all the bushes. We toured the rich and poor areas. Quite a difference.
There was a large cathedral and Mass was going on with music soaring to the ceilings. This lady was begging at the massive door of the church across from the central square.
We had dinner at La Pappilion starting with tortilla soup with a tomato flavour this time. Dinner was grilled chicken,beef and pork with vegetables including cactus which tasted somewhat like green peppers. The finale was Mexican coffees starting with the 2 waiters dipping the glass in licorice liquor, sugar and burned that on, the coffee, ice cream and blue burning coffee liquor poured from 6 gravy boats into one another and into the glasses. Very spectacular.
Returned home in the windowless bus in a light rain, despite no windshield wipers on the bus.

Edzna Ruins

We spent 4 hours today at these ruins with a guide. The Mayan civilization was so advances and skilled it's continuously amazing. They were peaceful people so no warlike symbols. Everything is decorated with serpents, birds, jaguar etc, everything having a meaning. The site was established between 600 -300 BC and there are 17 large buildings here today on display. the Great Acropolis is a 5 storey building with huge steps up overlooking the whole valley. The buildings surround the main plaza and across from the Acropolis is the Nohochna or The Big House probably used for adminisrative tasks with rooms separated by columns. The wide steps go down to the ground and would have served as seats for event in the central plaza. We went to the Night Light Show and the funniest thing happened. We sat on the top of the 2nd storey, surrounded by 3 storey buildings and listened to an explanation of the history with a chant of 'Chac, chac" sounds like chaalk while different buildings were lit. It was a prayer to the Rain God because the crops were dying. Gently a mist started to fall and we thought, what theatrics until we had to run for home in the heaviest downpour. Soaked to our skins.

West Bastion Fort

Had a great pancake breakfast put on by the staff down in one of the 9 palapas on the beach and then off to tour the West Bastion, now a Maya Museum. You go up a winding, serpentine path, then enter across a drawbridge over an unused moat. the museum has many Maya artifacts, masks, jewelry, dishes and weapons , made from shell, bone, rock and pottery. Very interesting.
the upper floor looks over the city and way out to sea. The parquets have old iron cannons lined up and the corners have 3' little structures with gun slits in them. The fort was designed and built in 1779.