viva mexico :: part 2

hacienda • outdoor bathrooms on the grounds • sunset through the palms
When we arrived in Chichen Itza, we pulled up to a beautiful hacienda surrounded by some of the most lush gardens and grounds I've ever seen. Originally built in 1523, and purchased in 1900 by an American for $75, this 60 hectare piece of property was used as a cattle ranch and now houses guests in the original colonial bungalows and serves food grown all onsite. Because this property also includes access to a back entrance of the famous ruins, we got up early the next morning to beat the crowds and almost had the entire expanse of Chichen Itza pyramid to ourselves for the first hour. Named as one of the new 7 Wonders of the World, this Mayan/Toltec pyramid outdid the previous 2 sites we'd seen until now.

still uncovering dozens of layers • pyramid at Chichen Itza • view from the platform of Venus
ball hoop in the game court • skulls • intricate designs
There's no way else to explain this ancient culture than to say something like, "uhgggh! really?!", as sacrificial images are everywhere. Jaguars eating hearts of human sacrifices. Eagles tearing out hearts of human sacrifices. Skulls of decapitated human sacrifices. Bones found at the bottom of a deep cenote from human sacrifices thrown in. Chac Mool statues which held the heart and other organs from human sacrifices. Ball courts (where a game between soccer and quidditch was played) in which the loosing team - you guessed it! get's sacrificed.

light show as dusk settled in
Later that night we returned to the site to watch a narrated light show about the Pyramids and the Mayan culture. It talked about the mathematics that went into building a structure like that and how perfectly calculated it is to the calendar, including a shadow that slithers down the side of the steps each solstice, showing the body of the snake, who's head is carved at the bottom of the structure.

colorful scenes of Merida
row of colors • standing outside our hotel • pigeons in the park
The next day we headed to Merida, the last stop in our Yucatan week. This little bustling city was so colorful and lively, I wish we would have had more than one night there. After being shown around the "urban retreat" of Luz en Yucatan by the lovely hosts, including our super artistic and beautiful abode which was a series of rooms, screened porches, open balconies, a swinging hammock, and another room overlooking the garden pool, we headed out to wander the town. Finding a few nice places to escape the intense heat while we ate and drank, the afternoon passed by and for the evening we attended a show of Mexican Folkloric Dance put on by the University.


small video excerpt from the dance program
On to a pretty late dinner, then to bed...next day was the flight to Mexico City.

viva mexico :: part 1

scenes from Mexico
I'm finally beginning to write as our almost 2 week stay in Mexico is coming to an end. There's a lot to recap, but I'll start with a few interesting things that have happened as soon as we arrived at our last stop, Ciudad de Mexico:
• of the 22+ million people in Mexico City, amazingly we ran into one of the two that we know
• I crawled through an Aztec drainage pipe
• kicked Montezuma in the face
• found out that there is a language in the Mexico mountains consisting of tonal whistles

...more on all those later.

vacating
ornate Mayan building • Tulum ruins • view of ruins from the sea
I'll start at the beginning. The first several days we stayed on the Caribbean Coast of the Yucatan peninsula in the city of Tulum. Doing something very unlike our usual travel habits, we decided to actually relax and do a lot of nothing before starting the major exploring part of the trip. So, booked at a boutique "foodie" eco-chic hotel we began vacate-ing. It took some getting used to but I quickly settled into the groove of waking up whenever, swimming whenever, eating whenever, reading, napping, sunning, getting spa treatments, hanging over the infinity pool, listening to the straw cabanas rustle and waves crash...you know, stuff that isn't too hard to get used to :). Even breaking away from a mojito long enough to explore the amazing Mayan seaside ruins of Tulum, which were quite impressive.

cenotes sneak peek
...don't even get me started on the wonders that are cenotes. Seriously...because I won't start. Not in this post at least. They deserve a post of their own.

Pyramid at Coba' • "crabbing" my way down • skull sculpture
By the last day of doing a lot of nothing, I was through being vacated, and ready to get out of the bubble and on to more of this huge country. Next stop was Coba' on our way inland to Chichen Itza. The ruins at Coba' are hailed as another one of the great Mayan sites and was completely worth the small detour. To say it was hot is an understatement, and the super humid air that lingers in the jungle is a 5-star resort for mosquitos so my bottle of water and my bottle of OFF ended up being my best friend...these, and the driver of a pedicab that we hitched back to the entrance from the main pyramid. There's a lake just outside the entrance and one of the few restaurants around...our Lonely Planet said not to eat near the lake because of aggressive crocodiles. The restaurant was right beside the water, but we figured it was safe and ordered a proper Mexican road-side lunch, (although we did see a handful of those crocs in the clear agua) .

Another hour or so down the road we arrived at a lovely hacienda...

to be continued... along with stories about Chichen Itza, Merida, dances, toilets, a song about a frog...and a highlight of the trip (working with the amazing Armonia project in Mexico City) which has filled my head and heart with so much to tell.