Looking out of our hotel in Cancun. We stayed on the strip our first
night. Aditya worked at a Sheraton in Minneapolis at the time, and we
got a good discount at the Cancun Sheraton.
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The Yucatan in June is hot, and sleeping was sometimes difficult. At
the time we thought it a badge of honor to travel as cheaply as
possible, so no air conditioning for us!
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The first major site we visited was the Mayan city of Chichen Itza.
This is the main structure at the site—the Temple of Kulkulcan, also
known as El Castillo. The dating of this and other structures at
Chichen Itza seems to be up in the air at present, ranging anywhere
from 600 A.D. to 1000 A.D.
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When we were there in 1995 you could climb to the top, with the help of
a huge rope, on the left side of the picture. Apparently today you can
no longer do that.
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This is the view from the top of the pyramid, looking toward The Temple
of the Warriors. You can see in this picture the extremely flat
topography of the Yucatan, along with the dense jungle.
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Derek, Keith, and Aditya on top of the Temple of Kulkulcan. The sense
of history at these sites is palpable—you can't help but imagine the
ceremonies and other events that took place right there on those spots.
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On the bottom of the left-hand steps is a stone serpent's head. On the
summer and winter solstices, at sunset, the shadow of the corner of the
pyramid makes the shape of a serpent's body all the way up the
steps. The Maya were expert astronomers. They had an incredibly
accurate calendar and followed the movements of the sun, moon, planets,
and starts very closely.
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Another view of the pyramid.
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This is the ball court at Chichen Itza. It's hard to see, but about
twenty feet above where that group of people is standing is a stone
ring. Supposedly the object of the game
was the get a ball through that loop. This is the largest ball court in
Pre-Columbian America. (Click
here for a better picture from Wikipedia.)
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Keith, Aditya, and Derek, standing on the Temple of the Warriors, with
the Temple of Kulkulcan in the background. This is the building we were
looking down on a few pictures above.
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Another view of the Temple of the Warriors.
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Backpacks? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Rolled-up sleeves? Check. Goofy
faces? Check.
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After spending the night near Chichen Itza, we moved on to Merida, one
of the biggest towns in the Yucatan peninsula.
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This is Chetumal, on the border between Mexico and Belize, where we
stayed for the night before moving on to Orange Walk, Belize. That is
the Caribbean Sea behind the guys.
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In Chetumal we had time to relax, which we did by playing a few games
of pool at a place downtown.
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Orange Walk, Belize. Here we hired a guide for $20 per person. For this
price we got the guide, a boat, and lunch. It was a great bargain for a
full day's worth of exploration. The guide took us down a river to a
Maya site out in the jungle.
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Aditya eats some cereal, using the Unni no plate method.
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Our last major stop was Tulum,
on the way back from Belize to Cancun. Tulum is another Maya site. This
one is right on the ocean and is spectacularly beautiful. The ocean was
an amazing azure color. I believe this area, south of Cancun, is
well-known for snorkling and scuba diving.
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