TALES AND TRAVELS
I have been wondering how to share some of my adventures with those of you who aren't on Facebook or Instagram. I decided to create this page to share content not necessarily related to my business. I hope you enjoy it.
I have been wondering how to share some of my adventures with those of you who aren't on Facebook or Instagram. I decided to create this page to share content not necessarily related to my business. I hope you enjoy it.
I have always wanted to see the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan. Recently I went to do just that. Here is that story.
Like all journeys, there was the good, the not so good, and the unexpected. Let's get the not so good unexpected out of the way right off the bat. We got Covid. Yep, after all this time and all the vaccines, Covid finally got me. There was one night, our second at the Occidental resort, where I had the longest night of my life. Absolutely miserable - chills, fever, congestion to where I could barely breathe. But near morning the fever broke and I felt like I was going to make it. If you are going to be super sick, a Mexican all inclusive isn't a bad place to be. Lying in a beach chair less than a hundred yards from the food buffet or in your third floor air conditioned room looking out on jungle foliage with maid service eases the misery.
Our journey began with a flight from Calgary, Alberta to Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. The flight went from Calgary to Dallas, then to Merida. Somebody plugged up the toilets on the plane on the incoming flight and that delayed our departure by about an hour. With only an hour and a half between flights in Dallas I was stressed the whole time, but we made our connection with about ten minutes to spare. We cleared customs in Merida and found a cab that dropped us off at the wrong hotel where the desk clerk spoke no English. Thank goodness for those cell phone apps that translate languages! She called us another cab and we finally ended up at our hotel, the La Nacional in the older section of Merida.
Like all journeys, there was the good, the not so good, and the unexpected. Let's get the not so good unexpected out of the way right off the bat. We got Covid. Yep, after all this time and all the vaccines, Covid finally got me. There was one night, our second at the Occidental resort, where I had the longest night of my life. Absolutely miserable - chills, fever, congestion to where I could barely breathe. But near morning the fever broke and I felt like I was going to make it. If you are going to be super sick, a Mexican all inclusive isn't a bad place to be. Lying in a beach chair less than a hundred yards from the food buffet or in your third floor air conditioned room looking out on jungle foliage with maid service eases the misery.
Our journey began with a flight from Calgary, Alberta to Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. The flight went from Calgary to Dallas, then to Merida. Somebody plugged up the toilets on the plane on the incoming flight and that delayed our departure by about an hour. With only an hour and a half between flights in Dallas I was stressed the whole time, but we made our connection with about ten minutes to spare. We cleared customs in Merida and found a cab that dropped us off at the wrong hotel where the desk clerk spoke no English. Thank goodness for those cell phone apps that translate languages! She called us another cab and we finally ended up at our hotel, the La Nacional in the older section of Merida.
They had given us one of their best rooms, overlooking Hidalgo Park. From our second story window we looked out on the nightlife of Merida. Right below our windows a mariachi band was playing at high volume. There was no way, even with ear plugs, that I was going to be able to sleep next to that! We managed to get transferred to a smaller, quieter interior room where we cranked up the air conditioner and finally got to sleep.
Our first outing was set for nine the next morning.
We had an excellent breakfast at the Havana cafe on the corner before our driver for the day came and picked us up to take us to the ruins at Uxmal, an hour and a half away.
Our first outing was set for nine the next morning.
We had an excellent breakfast at the Havana cafe on the corner before our driver for the day came and picked us up to take us to the ruins at Uxmal, an hour and a half away.
Iguanas up to a couple feet long populated the ancient Mayan city. We worked our way around the massive pyramid. You come in seeing the east facing front of the elliptical based pyramid. Passing the narrower south side you come to a sprawling courtyard on the west side. The west facing side of the pyramid creates one of the four walls of the courtyard. The other sides are each different, raised platforms of varying heights with shallow rooms and ornate decoration. Feathered serpents, masks of gods, and geometric designs cover the upper level of each side.
At the top of the pyramid on this side is a temple, ornately decorated, the opening into it the mouth of the rain god. Uxmal, unlike other Mayan cities, was not built next to a cenote, so rain catchment was critical to survival. The rain god Chac was the principal deity of the city. I alternated between photographing the amazing carved stone work and retreating into the shade. My favourite carving shows the feathered rattlesnake with a pot with water fountaining out of it on his back near the tail.
We finally left the courtyard to explore more of the extensive city. Passing a building with eleven massive columns and the traditional Mayan ball court we approached the second most dominant feature, a massive, three tiered terrace, topped by a huge building the Colonials named the “palace of the governors”. We rested under the shade of some trees before huffing and puffing our way up the steep stairs. Fortunately a metal hand rail had been installed at one end of the steps.
We emerged onto a plane that looked out over the ruins below back toward the pyramid. Our immediate goal was a pile of stones under more shade trees to sit and catch our breaths. That took a while. It had probably moved up out of the 90’s by now. From under the trees I could see there were several small features in front of the massive building the dominated the plateau. I suspected, correctly, that one of the raised platforms was the site of the “red jaguar chair” I had read about.
After having a look at the carved stone double headed jaguar chair I approached the steps of the “palace” to photograph the elaborate carvings. The heat was an oppressive presence by now, but we did a quick survey of the other buildings nearby, one with carvings of turtles spaced along the upper border, before descending and making our way to a second massive pyramid. This one was gigantic, but built into the landscape rather than towering above everything in an open plaza. We were too hot and tired to spend much time there.
We found good shade next to a ruin decorated with numerous openings, thus named by Colonials the dovecote. Completely drained of energy and with our water bottle empty we hurried from patch of shade to patch of shade back to the entrance, the air conditioned car, and our other bottles of water.
Because of the heat we were ahead of schedule and our driver asked if we would like to stop at the Chocolate Museum across the road. The thought of being inside an air conditioned museum was appealing, so we said sure. He dropped us at the side of the road and we walked up a long driveway to the museum, paid our admission and entered. To our surprise, it was all outdoors along a long looping path through the jungle. We decided to have a quick look, having no idea how long the path was. There were thatched buildings along the path with exhibits so that you walked in one end and out the other and on down the path. It was actually very interesting and educational, discussing both the history of cacao cultivation and the significance of cacao to the Mayans.
By the time we decided we needed to go back to the car we were at the halfway point on the trail, so decided to quickly finish the rest. It was a good choice because the two most interesting things were still ahead of us. First, there a was a sign and arrow down a side trail that said “Jaguar”. I dislike zoos and especially seeing large animals who are meant to roam in captivity, so it was with mixed feelings that I approached the large cage. At first we saw nothing, but there was a Mexican couple there and they called us over to the far corner. In the back corner a jaguar lay in the shade. It was a beautiful, spectacular animal. I tried to get some pictures through the glass that was across the front of the enclosure. Finally the jaguar stood up and headed straight toward us. I was in complete awe. It was beautiful, powerful, and larger than I expected. It had a massive square jaw. Halfway to us it turned around and headed back toward the corner. It paced back and forth three times, coming just a couple steps closer on the last pass but still about 20 feet away. The sadness of seeing it caged was overwhelmed by the awe I felt seeing this magnificent animal and a sense of gratitude for being able to see it.
I finally pulled myself away and went back to the main trail, ready to get back to the car. The next thatched building was large with tiered seats and there was a young woman there preparing coco. When she found out we were alone she gave us a short talk about the process of roasting, grinding and preparing the bitter cacao beans. We got to sample the freshly brewed cacao, sweetening it with sugar and it was delicious and distinct from any chocolate beverage I’ve ever tasted. We finally made it back to the entrance, bought a couple of chocolate bars in the air-conditioned gift shop, and went back to the car. Had I not been exhausted and wilting in the heat I could easily have spent twice as long at this place. It was extremely well done, informative and interesting. I would certainly recommend it.
We gave ourselves a down day before booking with a local tour company to take us to Chitchen Itza, Xcajum Cenote, the “yellow city” of Izmal, and Valladolid. Back in the fifties an enterprising mayor decided to increase tourism by having all the buildings in Izmal painted a vivid yellow. It worked. We visited the so called yellow city visiting the massive colonial church with the second largest courtyard of any Catholic Church and had time to explore the market. The most interesting thing was a political rally in front of the market with some very good samba drummers. The presidential and mayoral elections are in June and we saw political posters and billboards everywhere we went.
Chitchen Itza is the classic, most well known Mayan ruin and the main pyramid is impressive. Our guide gave us a tour of the main sites, spending the most time in front of the detailed relief carvings in the ball court. These depict Mayan warriors, presumably ball players, in great detail, each figure with distinctive facial features and costume. In the centre there is an image of a decapitated figure with blood in the form of snakes spouting from the neck. Snakes are found throughout the carvings as well as a large skull.
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Away from the ball court large carved serpent heads protruded from many of the buildings. There was a raised platform with the entire outside decorated with carved skulls. Other stepped platforms had relief carvings of eagles holding egg shaped objects in their talons, more snakes, and other figures.
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The "Temple of the Warriors" features 200 square columns with a unique relief carving of a warrior on each face.
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There was a raised platform with the sides covered with carved skulls.
Back on the van we headed to Cenote Xcajum. This is a privately owned cenote, with a Mexican buffet, gift shops, swimming pools, change rooms and lockers. There is a long steep tunnel through the limestone down to the water level of the cenote with a couple of lookout points along the way. At the bottom there is a cement landing with old slimy wooden ladders to descend the last six feet into the water. We enjoyed swimming in the cool blue water before taking the challenging ladder back out of the pool and climbing the lengthy steps back to the top.
Valladolid was actually a very nice stop. There were costumed dancers in the main plaza, doing a traditional dance in which they balanced full bottles of beer on their heads while doing a very vigorous dance. It was pretty neat and no beer was spilled.
Ek Balam is about halfway between Merida and the Occidental in Xcaret where we would be staying for the rest of our trip. It was 11:00 when we arrived at Ek Balam and the heat was already a factor. We were on our own to explore the site, which had few visitors on the vast grounds.
The main pyramid is 32 meters high, with narrow uneven steep stairs and you are allowed to climb to the top. They say you can see the pyramids of Chitchen Itza and Coba from the top on a clear day. I made it half way up, using both my hands and feet on the steep steps. There are no rails nor anything to hang onto except the steps themselves and I came down the same way I went up, backing down step by step . I could hardly walk for the next two days and going up or down any steps sent waves of pain shooting through my thighs. If I were thirty years younger I would have gone to the top.
Halfway up, where I stopped, is the tomb of Ukil-Kan-Lek-Tok, a ninth century Mayan ruler. There is a massive stuccoed jaguar jaw in front of the tomb which is faced with ornate carvings. The restoration work looks very new and artificial, making one wonder how accurate it is and taking away from the feeling of an ancient place for me. It is protected by a large thatched structure.
After seeing many smaller platforms, pyramids, and structures we made our way back to the entrance where we sat in the shade and downed cold drinks before continuing our journey to Xcaret.
The Occidental is opulent. The buildings are built three stories high with soaring open areas which give an openness and scale that is inspiring.
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A colonnade of square stone pillars with an arched blue ceiling leads to the main buffet, again with someone to seat you, an attentive waiter, white tablecloths and abundant food and drinks. There is a second buffet near the beach under a three story thatched roof with tables indoors and out overlooking a turquoise blue swimming lagoon. Beyond this a point of land pushes into the ocean and a salt water pool, fed by the ocean, offers a tranquil adults only setting to relax under palm trees and swim. Squadrons of pelicans pass overhead, flying in formation. Frigate birds ride the high air currents and a large Mexican osprey would circle by occasionally. Gulls speed past while a large iguana suns on the rocks. The sound of waves provides a constant background. This became our preferred hangout.
On the other side of the beach buffet was a lagoon fed by the sea with a white sandy bottom and broad white sand beach lined with lounge chairs. The beach bar nestled under a thatched roof on one side. Coconut palms provided dappled shade and an upper terrace had a series of shade gazebos. This was our other favourite place to be.
On the other side of the beach buffet was a lagoon fed by the sea with a white sandy bottom and broad white sand beach lined with lounge chairs. The beach bar nestled under a thatched roof on one side. Coconut palms provided dappled shade and an upper terrace had a series of shade gazebos. This was our other favourite place to be.
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One of the big thrills for us was the monkeys. Twice a family of spider monkeys swung by (literally) our third floor room. The trees outside happened to be loaded with a fruit that they obviously enjoyed and we got to watch them for a good twenty minutes.
There were also sleek looking deer that roamed the grounds, elusive capybara and coatimundis. I spotted a coatimundi on the ground outside our room early one morning and hurried downstairs to try to get a picture. I had seen him cross a bridge over the swimming pool in front of our building the day before and thought he might have gone that way. As I was visually searching the jungle across the bridge, a motion in the trees above caught my eye. I expected to see one of the monkeys, but it was the coatimundi! I didn’t realize they climbed trees. I watched while he maneuvered around high above, trying to catch a picture through the leaves. Eventually he settled into a fork in the branches, curled himself in a tight ball, and went to sleep.
Because we didn’t feel well we didn’t make it to Coba, a ruin that everyone says is a must see, so I guess we’ll have to go back!