Mexico - Tulum

Tulum, the last stop on our tour. Located on the 'Mayan Riviera' on the Caribean coast, an ideal place for some sun at the end of our trip to put the final touches on the tan and relax afer all the 'hard work' of travelling..... Plus (as you should have expected now, after reading previous entries) a good base to explore some more Mayan sites....

As there is a little Mayan town set at a cliff top, overlooking the aquamarine blue of the Caribean, protected from attacks from the inlands by surrounding walls. Not the biggest of sites, but in terms of location and views (the grey-ish white of the stones against the dark blue of the sky and the bright blue of the sea) probably the most stunning. And, it has a beach at the bottom of the cliffs it is set on.

The other site we briefly visisted was Coba, about 50 kilometers away from Tulum, an very popular destination for tour buses from Cancun and Playa del Carmen. To such an extent that climbing the largest pyramid felt like walking the stairs in a large department store, in one big file.... However, as the site is set in a very large area of muggy jungle, after a while the masses get dispersed (or have left) which means that you have the site to yourself again. With the benefit of an increased probability of seeing some of the abundant wildlife - snakes and butterflies in our case.

Now thoroughly 'templed out', we went back to Tulum and spent the remaining time on the beach, lying in the sun (and shade of palm trees) on a comfy cushion in the white sands, every now and again dipping a toe in the very clear Caribean to cool off. We both agreed that it was the nicest beach we'd ever been on and an appropriate way to finish.

What was left was a 'last supper' (including some of our Mexican favourites: sopa Azteca (a spicy tomato soup with tacos), prawn cocktail, ceviche, enchilladas with salsa and the ubiquitous flan) in the little restaurant that in our short time in Tulum had become our favourite locality. Then packing our bags to commence our 30 hour trip (several plane trips and a bus, plus waiting time) back home. Reality and normality are awaiting.....

Mexico - Merida

Merida is the capital of Yucatan and has 2 million inhabitants. It is known as the White Town, but frankly, don't try to ask us why, since we don't have a clue. Unlike Campeche, the traffic is horrendous, the houses are poorly maintained and it is overrun by tourists. The one benefit this had for us was that it was the perfect place to complete our 'souvenir' shopping, but that was about the only benefit we could find. For the rest it was a slight disappointment after Campeche, even though the travel guide had predicted that we would fall in love with the place. One noteable exception, a small fish restaurant (Blue Marlin) only open for breakfast and lunch, which did the best ever prawn cocktail and ceviche.

However, we didn't only go to Merida for its attractions, but to use it as a basis to visit the two main Mayan sites in Yucatan - Uxmal and Chichen Itza. Both cities were at the height of their power about the same time and had tens of thousands of inhabitants. Chichen Itza is the more famous (also because it is within a daytrip from Cancun (or 'USA on the Sea'), but Uxmal is the more strikingly beautiful. This is due to by Uxmal's architrectural style, which is very geometric and repetitive. Images of the god of the rain (with a massive hooked nose, attractive) are repeated in regular patterns (giving the buildings an almost abstract quality) which is even further accentuated by the occasional iguana that sunbathes on the structures. The buildings themselves are also amongst the more beautiful around, with the most impressive being a large, oval pyramid and a 'governmental' palace that would not be out of place on a square in Paris or Rome.









Chichen Itza, on ther other hand, has a mixture styles for the several buildings, that include the largest ballcourt in the Mayan world, a big, square pyramid that is a physical representation of the Mayan calendar and an observatory. Iguanas were not present, probably because all the available space was taken by tourists (thousands of tourists that had left the beach behind for a day to 'do some culture') and souvenir sellers, who were out in their hundreds (even though it was apparently illegal to sell stuff on the premises of the site). In the evening a 'sound & light spectacle' took place, where the buildings around the main plaza were the main 'actors' in a re-enactment of life in Chichen Itza in Mayan times. Few of the beach tourists were left (the clubs in Cancun beckoned), but for the ones left it was a nice way to spend a warm evening.

Moving on, the last leg of our trip had arrived. Already. Four months had flown by, now Tulum was waiting as the last stop.....

Mexico - Campeche

Campeche is a small colonial town on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. And where other town and city centres in Mexico can get ruined by traffic, they have managed here to keep traffic limited. Combined with the efforts to preserve the colonial buildings (including support for the inhabitants to maintain the colourful paintwork of their houses), this makes it a very pleasant town to spend some time. Which we duly did, wondering through town, having a look at the local museum which houses a beautiful collection of Mayan art, enjoying the fiesta the locals had put on in the elegant main square, in general wandering aimlessly through the picturesque village and taking full benefit from the pool in our hotel.

However, Campeche was also our point of departure for a two-day trip to Calakmul and the Rio Bec sites, two areas of Mayan sites deep in the Mexican inlands, near the border with Guatemala. This time we chose to go by ourselves, getting a car from the local car rental company. In line with our previous experiences (remember Malaysia's wonder of technology and our little chugger in New Zealand) we were shown to a Nissan Tsuru. Basically a model that either never made it to the European markets or if it did - our combined knowledge of cars does not stretch that far!

But not to worry, it fulfilled its duties without problems, covering around 800 kilometers in two days, even dealing effortlessly with the countless 'nopes' (traffic humps the size of a small hill) we came across. Another prominent feature of driving through Mexico turned out to be police and military control posts. Every entry or exit of a highway (don't be fooled by the name, this is nothing more than a two-way road comparable to a rural road in Europe) was manned by a group of serious looking policemen or soldiers, keen to have a look in the car and the boot. What their exact purpose was we never knew (our Spanish didn't stretch that far, neither did their English), but we decided to be safe and treat them with the utmost respect ('Si senor, claro senor!), so we made it through without any issues.

Our route led from Campeche through Edzna via Balamku (and others) to Calakmul. Edzna is an important Mayan site in the Northwest of the Yucatan. Here we tagged on to a group of Americans that were shown around by a guide (apparently the same guy that Mel Gibson used in his latest movie as director to get a better understanding of Mayan practices - he was able to enlighten us on the forms of human sacrifice: decapitation, tearing the heart out or being shot by a bow and arrow). The Americans were mainly there to do some hunting, so for them it was only a brief excursion into Mayan culture. Edzna was one of the prettier sites we had seen so far with a great pyramid, nice plazas, some massive underground caverns where the Mayans used to collect water (this is one of the driest parts of Mexico and there are no natural rivers) and a few striking cross-eyed masks depicting sunrise and sunset (apparently, deformation (elongation) of the skull and being cross-eyed were signs of beauty for the ancient Mayas). Also, this site was still inhabited, albeit not by Mayans, but tens (maybe hundreds) of iguanas, from little ones to ones measuring close to 1 meter/3 foot head-to-tail, sometimes fiercely fighting for their territory.

From Edzna the route continued along a long road to two smaller sites (Becan and Chincanna), where we spent the night for an early start the next day. For, the route from our hotel to Calakmul, one of the largest known Mayan sites with over 7,000 structures over 70 square kilometers, led for 60 kilometers through a jungle full of wildlife. There was even a possibility we'd see jaguars - unfortunately it remained only just that, a possibility. However, bright yellow-coloured toucans and hundreds of turkeys (not the ones that find their way onto the Christmas table, but the ones that are fodder for the hunting Americans, brightly coloured like a peacock) were out, so we had to slalom over the narrow road to reach our destination Calakmul.

This World Heritage Site has only 'recently' been discovered and opened up, with the vast majority of the 7,000 structures (say 6,975) still to be excavated. In reality this means that there are only a few structures visible and reconstructed, among which the highest pyramid in Mexico. With our keen ambition to climb everything that could be climbed we set off to the top, from where we had a great view over the jungle and into Guatemala (although admittedly it is hard to tell where Mexico stops and Guatemala starts). The way down, though, was less of a pleasant experience, but eventually we made it, JP on hands and knees.

From Calakmul we went back home via Balakmu, a small site where a well-preserved piece of stucco is the main attraction. Depicting jaguars, kings, fish, snakes and many, many more symbolic animals and references, this was one of the most beautiful sculptures we have seen, once more emphasizing the amazing abilities of these people.

Slightly 'templed out' we made our way back. Apart from nopes and soldiers nothing too dangerous crossed our way, so we set down in good time for a meal (JP's birthday meal) and Margarita on a terrace overlooking the Zocalo (main square), where the locals where enjoying a local band. A nice ending to a few great days in and 'around' Campeche....

Mexico - Villahermosa

Before continuing along the Mayan Way, we made a quick excursion to Villahermosa, a short bus-journey to the northwest of Palenque.

Villahermosa is nothing special as a city, it being a provincial centre and at the crossroads of many routes through Mexico. The reason for us to visit though, was to see Parque la Venta, a combined animal and archaeological park. The former houses many of the species indigenous to Mexico, including jaguars. The latter is a development where many of the most important findings of the 'la venta' site (about 100 kilometer to the west of Villahermosa) have been brought to.

La venta was an Olmec place, a truly lost civilisation. Hardly anything of these people is known or understood, who were at the peak of their power around 1000BC. Their sculptures are less detailed than those we had seen before, making them almost abstract in their appearance, but beautiful nonetheless.

On the way out, we ran into a local political event. Apparently the council elections were due and two contenders were wowing the crowds for their votes. Mexico still being a fairly (or very) macho society, this didn't involve any policy statements, but the candidates strutting their stuff to the sounds of a band they had each recruited to accompany them. With the younger of the two inviting his adoring female-supporters to join him, under the ongoing shrieks of excitement from the audience. Encouraging to see that they select their representatives for the right reasons.....

Mexico - Palenque

In our previous entry, some time ago now, we said we were on our way to Palenque, home to some of the main Mayan sites. In fact, we were about to start the 'Mayan Way', an unofficial route mainly through the Yucatan Peninsula and Campeche Province that would lead us along the most important historic sites of this amazing pre-hispanic culture.

We had already been introduced to some 'modern-day' Mayan experiences in the villages around San Cristobal, but now it was time to delve deeper into the history of this civilisation.

The Mayans had their '20 centuries of fame' between 500BC and 1500BC, after which the arrival of the Spanish brought an abrupt end to their power. For those who remember from a previous entry, this is contemporary with the subsequent civilisations that developed in the central part of Mexico (Teotihuacan, Toltecs and aztecs), with whom an ongoing exchange of goods and ideas took place.

During this period, several cities in an area that now spans part of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and part of El Salvador rose to and fell from power. As such, it was not one empire, but a constellation of several 'city-doms' that each ruled over several vassal towns and their surroundings. Comprehensive trade took place between these cities, as did regular warfare.

Mayan religion, architecture, science and art have similarities with the activities in the centre of Mexico - they also built pyramids, worshipped the sun and moon, had extensive calendars to predict earthly events and drive agricultural activities, played the ballgame and used human sacrifice to placate the gods often. Still, for all their similarities it is distinctively different and the sites that are evidence of this were waiting for us.

However, first a bus-ride to Palenque. Our guidebook had promised us an amazing journey, with a road winding itself through the mountains, every now and again raising itself out of the clouds that continuously cover the jungle (which is appropriately called cloud forest). Admittedly, this promise came through, but sometimes you can have too much winding. After 5 hours of shaking, it felt like the whale-watching experience all over again. Needless to say that the remainder of the day was spent recovering, relaxing and sorting out our next few days.....

The first day in Palenque, the Mayan ruins were on the list. The site is in the midst of the jungle, at the bottom of the foothills of the range we had crossed the previous day. An amazing setting.... The first impressions, however, were defined by the howl of spider monkeys. These apes, roughly 60 centimeters/20 inches long make a noise that one wouldn't expect given their size. It is sort of a harrowing howl, like a ghost from a bad B-movie. Unfortunately no sighting though. But there was enough else to see, with temples, main plazas and government buildings partly restored. Incredible to see what these people were capable of doing, with man power only and without the wheel to lighten transport.

The site also contained some extensive waterworks in the form of partly-canalised rivers that would have provided the inhabitants with needed water. The part which wasn't canalised ran through the jungle, forming beautiful pools that were used for swimming and bathing. Along one of these, we were surprised by a hummingbird, that was hovering in the air, stocking up on nectar from the flowering trees. Amazing!









The second day in Palenque we did not spend in Palenque, but about 150 kilometers 'down the road'. Here there are two remote sites, Bonampak and Yakxilan, that have only been properly opened up for tourism in recent years. And still the journey there is quite an adventure, involving a long car journey through small villages and for Yakxilan an hour-long boat trip through the jungle. Because of its location, Yakxilan has perhaps only 100 visitors a day. It has the ruins of a main central plaza, an observatory and a so-called Acropolis. Wandering through the site, wondering about the architectural achievements and marvelling at the wildlife (more spider monkeys, and this time not only howls, but also sightings) was great. We did feel like proper explorers (although the group of a noisy French family challenged that illusion).

Bonampak is only 'down the road'- say 50 kilometers. Here the Mayans used a natural hill to build a three-tiered temple against it, with steps going all the way up. What is unique though, are the murals that were discovered here. A small temple consists of three rooms and here the original wall paintings have been preserved. The vibrancy of the colours and the drama (or is it cruelty?) of the pictures - one can easily see PoW's being tortured by having their nails pulled off (with a fountain of blood springing from them - nice touch) - make a great impression. Worth the trip!

From here it was back home, through the same villages and over the same speedbumps (they love them in Mexico, the more and the higher the better, must be a secret agreement between their government and the manufacturers of suspensions). Our first taste of the Mayan way made us want more.....