10
Jul
2009
Puuc Hills – Uxmal & Kabah Prints
If you’re ever planning a trip into the Yucatan to see ruins, you should really try to get into the Puuc Hills. From Mérida, Uxmal and Kabah are an easy day trip, but there are more Puuc Hill ruins to see to the extent I wish I had more time when I visited to travel a bit further afield. None-the-less, the ruins I did see were excellent. The ruins in this area of the country have the distinction of having a style of Maya architecture named for them. They are also different from their low land counterparts in not being built over Cenotes (sink hole access points to the underground rivers of the Yucatan). Instead, the Maya built large cisterns in these cities to capture rain water for the dry months. If the theory that droughts were largely responsible for the end of the Maya way of life, these people were probably the first to suffer.
Uxmal, the first place I visited is still touristed but not nearly so heavily as Chichen Itza. People were living at Uxmal around 500 AD. It flourished for sometime as the main city in the region, but it’s star dropped after the fall of Chichen Itza. By the time the Spanish arrived, Uxmal was already largely abandoned.
Uxmal - The Nuns Quadrangle
This is part of a large complex of buildings adjacent to the main pyramid at Uxmal. The first Spaniards to study this location thought that it looked like a nuns convent, hence the name. It’s believed that these buildings may have been a school for princes. This was the last building of the quadrangle, note the masks on the corner, these are masks of Chac Mool, the rain god, and are on each corner of this building. Also note the elaborated decorations. This is typical of the Puuc style. The prominence of Chac Mool highlights the importance of rain to the people living here.
Palacio del Gobernador - Uxmal, Mexico
This is another of the buildings at Uxmal, said to be one of the best examples of the Puuc style. Built in the 9th an 10th centuries, it was probably an administration building for the region. As with other Maya buildings, it is aligned with the heavens, the main door lines up with the planet Venus.
Inheritance of the Maya
The site of Kabah is yet less touristed and there’s been far less reconstruction here. There was a city here as early as the 3rd century which reached it’s height around the 8th. By the 11th century, the site was abandoned. This palace appears to have had 30 or more rooms and is remarkably intact considering how long it’s been since it was inhabited.
Uxmal is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Kabah is not listed, but should be on the list of anyone who appreciates the ruins of our past cultures.
More photo prints from both sites are available at my Mexico Prints.
8
Jul
2009
Chichen Itza Prints
It’s been a couple of years since I visited Chichen Itza. At the time, I spent a week in Mérida, the capital of the Yucatan taking day trips out to see the sights, including possibly the most well known of the Maya ruins. Many Americans visiting Cancun will take a tour to see these ruins and learn about the Maya.
The topography and soil of the Yucatan causes the formation of cenotes, typically open pits where underground water is accessible. It’s not surprising that the ancient Maya built their cities around these cenotes, which they considered magical and gateways to the afterlife. Chichen Itza or, Chich’en Itzá in Maya, translates basically as ‘at the mouth of the well of the Itza.’ The Itza were a particiular group of the Maya. This is apparently not the first name of Chichen Itza but there’s a lack of consensus on what the first name was.
These cities, like our cities today, are not built at once, they are built, torn down, and built again, inhabited by successions of people with different tastes and beliefs over the centuries. Chichen Itza was at its peak from roughly 600 AD to 1,000 AD. It was sacked and the focus moved to Mayapan sometime between 1,000 and 1,200, but even by the time the Spanish arrived, there were still people living there and making pilgrimages to the centotes. So, when we look at these ruins, we’re looking at around 1,000 years of human habitation but primarily with the buildings of the last of its prosperous times.
Lost - Pyramids of Chichen Itza
This view is of El Castillo, the main pyramid at Chichen Itza. This temple to Kukulcan was built on top of an earlier temple to Chac Mool, the rain god. The earlier temple has been excavated and was once open to the public but no longer is. The later temple shows Toltec influences. In fact, Kukulcan is the Maya version of the Toltec god, Quetzalcoatl. There are stories of the arrival of a Toltec king around 987 who set up a new court at Chichen Itza. If true, it’s possible this explains the cultural influence. It’s hard to look at these ruins without thinking of the culture that flourished and vanished here so long ago. The craftsmanship is amazing.
Kukulcan Temple
This is a close up of the top of the pyramid. It has been restored by the Mexican Government in the 1920’s and 30’s and restoration activities continue. Still, we have not restored these temples to their original appearance. The buildings were not bare stone originally but were plastered and were likely painted colorfully. Even in their muted forms, these buildings still speak to us of a talented and creative people.
El Castillo Steps
These are the northern steps to El Castillo. There are 4 stairs, one on each side, each with 91 steps. If you were to add these four sets of stairs, they total 364. The final step, the floor level of the temple at the top makes a total of 365, the number of days in a year. There are many such astronomical connections to these temples. On the north side, there are two plumed serpents (Kukulcan) carved into both sides. On the spring and autumn equinox, the sun casts shadows that make the snakes appear to slither down the pyramid. I’m told the nightly light show recreates this view. Even today, this is an imposing edfice!
Chichen Itza is UNESCO World Heritage site.
There are more prints available from Chichen Itza and Mexico in my Mexico Prints
22
May
2007
One Dollar, One Dollar
Okay, so after yesterday´s post was some laying about. I tried to find the starting point of the bus tour but failed. Either not the right place or I expect things to be on time, which is not per se the way the world works.
I had food I can´t identify. It was good, but all I know is it was the #8. Forgive me, but I saw a Chilli´s and I think I may know where tonight´s meal is. I would just kill for a big burger now. But I´m skipping ahead.
Last night was some sort of big dance festival thing downtown. I wasn´t really sure what to expect, but it could have been straight out of Zorro. Men in white suits, panama hats and some sort of funky sandals with heels, and ladies with white dresses covered in embroidered white flowers, also in high heels and with enough make-up to satisfy any American teenage daughter´s wildest dreams. But lest I detract from the dancing… wow… I mean… wow… The dances got wilder and wilder. Early in the show they danced with bottles on their head. That was just to warm us up for what was to come later, a full tray full of glasses and bottles. I think I got one decent shot of that. You have to see to believe it, but you´ll have to wait for that. There was also a may pole… yes… a may pole, or whatever they call it here, covered in flowers and ribbons. And the dancers weaved in and amongst each other winding their different colored ribbons together. And what could top that? Reversing the dance and un-winding them perfectly…. they did this over and over… Definitely a mind blower and worth the fact it started over half an hour ¨late¨ – which I´m slowly grasping is a state of mind.
After that was bed as I had grand plans, I tell you GRAND plans today of catching the 6:30am bus to Chichen Itza. I hear a few of you snickering out there. I know what you´re thinking, and unfortunately, you´re entirely correct that I was nowhere near the bus station a good mile from my Hostel at 6:30am. Try… oh…. 8am…. that´s close right? See it´s all a state of mind.
Having missed the first class bus I´d hoped for, I settled on a second class bus. Getting a bus here at all.. eek! I mean, the station is the most confusing thing ever, and I previously awarded that title to the train station in Naples, Italy. Nope, not close. Lines all over the place, no clue what they are for, and the place was definitely aimed only (and fairly) at the Spanish speaking public. But having maneuvered through all this, I discovered that I was better off taking the second class bus as it would get me there before the next first class. The second class bus back home we would call a local, meaning it stops anywhere it can to pick up passengers. I´ve had one Grayhound experience back home and this did not compare.
On one hand, this was one of the nicest buses ever. If I had to kill two hours, the air con splendor of this bus and the reclining seats were where I´d have chosen. As I waited for my bus in the second class lounge with no AC, I seriously began to fear what the next two hours had in store, but the bus was just lovely. But in the course of the ride, I definitely saw how the other three quarters of the earth live…. I don´t entirely have words for what I saw… Dilapidated homes, shacks that were more screen than concrete block, I lost count of the number of old huts that had their straw roofs replaced with rusty tin. It was humbling to say the least. Among the buses passengers, we stopped once for a man with piles of shiney new tin roofing which went into the luggage hold and a little old lady with flowers. I never saw the man get off (and the bus didn´t finish it´s run in Chichen Itza) so no clue where his home might have been, but I did see the little old lady exit. This was at a stop outside of a cemetery, where one supposes she had family. It was an interesting sight to say the least, like Miami and New Orleans had merged, the most decript mauseoleums all painted in bright, hot pastels. Despite the intense middle class guilt, it was something I wouldn´t trade. The bus would stop in little towns I´ll never see again and little old men would jump on the bus loaded with baskets of food I feared to trust.
And finally, we arrived at Chichen Itza. Aside from the guides I´d seen get on the bus along the way, everyone else off there were gringos. So, I paid my $9 entrance and decided to do Chichen Itza solo, no guide. I figured I was going to be enjoying some time with those ruins and my camera and I could make do reading the lovely English plaques and my lonely planet guide. Considering what a death march it must have been for people with guides, I have to say I´m glad for my choice. Chichen Itza was a little jarring, too. First, I was finally getting used to pesos and the exchange rate and darned fi they kept referring to everything as dollars, but MOST of the time, they really meant pesos…. so confusing… And all throughout the site, you were pummeled by locals selling things. Incredible little masks, carvings, trinkets, etc. And they would all yell “one dollar, one dollar!” I had already made my couple of purchases in the gift shop, so I was afraid to ask if they really meant one dollar (10 pesos) or if the meant one peso… which is well, like a dime, I guess… I haven´t bothered with any of the currency that translates into less than a dollar.. just too confusing… But boy were they everywhere, men, women, children, all out trying to sell to the tourists. Having seen so much of the living conditions along the way, one could imagine too well, why. I even had one guy offer me a lovely carving for my watch… my two year old nothing special wal-mart watch that I only wear on trips (anyone who knows me knows I hate watches, this one hangs from belt loops). I digress… that was Chichen Itza… The spectacle is more than just the ancient and incredible pyramids, the giant ball courts where the losers really lost (their lives) and wonder after wonder of the ancient Americas.
Near the end, I stopped for my umpteenth bottle of water at this little gift shop. I happened to end up sitting with a couple from Canada. We exchanged itineraries, etc. They had come from Cancun (Chichen Itza is somewhere between Merida and Cancun). They considered Georgia exotic and longed to go to Savannah some day. True to most people traveling, they want to see somewhere I live near and have never been (well, the interstate through there at night once, which I don´t really count).
I never made it to the largest Cenote at Chichen Itza. The cenotes are common on the peninsula and are giant natural sinkholes from which the Maya got water and ascribed a spiritual meaning. The only good thing about a guide would have been seeing that. As it was, I got confused and lost track of which direction it was. By that time, it was mid afternoon and my body had quite enough. I had seen all the structures and the second biggest cenote, I didn´t need a hole in the ground to make my day complete.
I stumbled back to the main entrance and got my ticket back. True to form for the day, I just missed the first class bus and took a second class bus back. Wandered back through mostly the same path I came in. Now exhausted tho, and I kept nodding off. for those who don´t know, my dad was a high school coach for years and I spent my early years on buses. As it is, they make me sleepy, but that extra exhaustion was it. I only woke up because they kept coming to check on tickets… sheesh! I had my ticket checked once on the way to Chichen and at least 4 times on the way back.
On my way back, I stopped by a travel agency recommended by Lonely Planet and Thursday am booked on a bus tour with guide and all for Uxmal and Kabul, more maya sites. I figured I´d take it easy on myself at least one day. The bus will even pick me up from Nomadas where I´m staying. $35 well spent…
Tomorrow, the plan is to get up to Celestsun and take in the ocean views and the Flamingos. No clue what else is on tonight, but we´ll see. Maybe exhaustion style sleep after dinner…
