We set off from Playa del Carmen to see some Mayan ruins in the area… The most famous of which is Chichen Itza, nearby to where we were staying. We could have day-tripped it, but were reluctant to show up later in the day when it was hot and very crowded. Instead we opted to rent a car and stay overnight, seeing any other sites along the way.
First stop was Tulum: a Mayan city perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. The story goes that Tulum was the first city seen by the Spanish as they explored the Yucatan mainland from Cuba. One explorer on the expedition was so impressed that he likened Tulum to the great Spanish city of Seville. I think that he might have been away at sea for too long…
Next stop Coba: one of the few remaining ruins in Mexico where one can actually climb the buildings. It was actually disappointing to discover that most of the buildings are closed off these days. The reason: An 80 year old woman from San Diego slipped and fell to her death in Chichen Itza in 2006… I have mixed feelings on this one. It’s horrible that someone died falling off the ruins, but it also sucks that one person’s misstep forever prevents others from fully experiencing the sites. Anyway Coba is nice in that it is not a fully cleared site… more like the temples of Ankor Wat in that the jungle still grows in and around buildings. Supposedly this is also the highest Mayan ruin, from which you can see El Castillo in Chichen Itza. I only saw Jungle :)
We got up early to go see Chichen Itza: a great move as we were the only ones there for a while. It’s a big site, quite different from Coba in that all of the jungle is cleared so that the main buildings can be seen clearly. It’s good and bad in that it makes it easy to see the ruins but also makes it easy to support large volumes of tourists. The main building, the one recognizable in all the pictures, is called El Casitillo and it is quite a site to behold. It’s amazing how well the building has been restored… though as Ana says, “who knows what it’s really supposed to look like… they’re just making it all up as they go.” I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re just making it all up, but she does have a point. In any case the thing that I didn’t realize going in is that Chichen Itza is actually a very large site… much more than just El Castillo. One remarkable structure is a great ball court: the largest one in all the Mayan ruins. The goal of the game was to hit a ball through a loop with one’s hip… but the sheer size of the court made it unlikely that only the hip was used. The way that the walls are constructed make the court an excellent sound amplifier as well. It’s easy to hear a conversation more than a 100 yards away. Cool.
Here are some pictures to peruse at your leisure: http://picasaweb.google.com/richmosko/YucatanPeninsula
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Mosko,
ReplyDeleteI hear you about being urked about not being able to climb on the structures. But you gotta admit that it's way more lax than it would be on ruins in the US or Europe. Weren't those people actually swimming around in that crazy cave? I can't believe you were allowed to do that! Only in Mexico...
Seeing Chichen Itza reminded me of something. I remember that we went and saw Tikal and then Caracol and another smaller site that the name escapes me right now. While each ruin is somewhat different, they start to look a lot alike. Some of things in Chichen Itza reminded me of what we saw in Tikal. We did it in the wrong order where we saw the most magnificant one first and then the smaller ones. While you should definitely see Tikal, don't be surprised if you get ruin'd out after that -- we sure did.
I forgot to tell you this before but we actually had a paid guide lead us around Tikal on a private tour and it was so worth it. He knew so much history and the right order to see stuff in. At one point this guy actually start imitating the howler monkeys so that they would start making noise. In like 2 minutes there were like 10 of them that came alive in the trees and started making noises from every direction. The three of us were standing there w/o a soul around and the sounds of the monkeys were bouncing off the ruins and echoing in all sorts of weird crazy patterns. It was cool and erie at the sametime as those things can sound like something you should be afraid of under your bed as a kid. It was one of the highlights of our time in Tikal for sure. If you want I'll see if I can track down his name and see if he's still working there.
The stomach bug I got there was definitely one of the low points so I feel your pain Rich!
-K
I found some videos I took with my little point and shoot camera that I had posted a while ago (not sure if I can post links here). Apparently I even got him doing the immitation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hollemanhaven.com/photo/pictures/Honeymoon/02_Tikal/howlers.wmv
http://www.hollemanhaven.com/photo/pictures/Honeymoon/02_Tikal/howlers_2.wmv
Yea, we actually went swimming there as well... It was great because the temperature underground was 70 deg and the temperature outside was 100 deg! They call these things "cenotes", and they are all over the Yucatan peninsula. Basically they're limestone sinkholes and were the only source of fresh water for the ancient Mayan people. Some of them are connectect to underground rivers and you can go SCUBA diving in them.
ReplyDeleteRich