Thankfully I was organised and although I couldnt have breakfast, I was able to ready bright and early to catch the little bus that arrived to collect me a little after 7 and take me to the meeting point for an 8am departure proper.
I shared the little bus with a family from Colombia who were very chatty and currently living in the USA which explains the two girls great understanding of English. Arriving at the meeting point I had to follow a group to collect my ticket at the main desk and then board a big air conditioned coach that would take us the 2 1/2 hours to our destination.
Throught the drive I was chatting to the group of Mexicans that I was sitting along side as well as listening to the fascinating stories and anecdotes from our two guides, Edgar and Hector.
I learned that there still existed a group of Mayan descendents who still speak the original language, which was based on a phonetic alphabet. I also heard that the Spanish conquistadors burned the entire library of Mayan books except 3 volumes, and the man responsible was declared a traitor to Spain and imprisoned for a decade for his impudence and arogance.
I leared that there was actually a secondary "High Mayan" language that the elders knew and refused to teach the peasants as way of controlling and frightening the general populatoin.
I learned that on Christmas the tradional pinata is a 7 pointed star, created by the christian bishops to be full of sweets and food as treats and a reward for the peasants who converted to Christianity.
The guides were very clear to mention that most of their conclusions are based on the translation of the 3 remaining books and of the many carvings and stone scultpures that have been lovingly restored and repaired as best as the archaeologists could do, adding that they are only around 30% positive of their facts and the remaining 70% is conjecture and their best educated guesses.
I also heard about the Mexican president who sold Chichen Itza to his friend for 75 dollars about 80 years ago, and since then the entrance, the land and the sites have been a constant battle between the new owners and the govermment, and after heading that the owner has allowed vendors to sell on the premises and also use many of the pyramids stone blocks for the lobby of his 5 star hotels that are barely in the shadow of the main pyramid I am 100% behind the government who are trying to get it back again.
In the last 30 years much restoration has been done to the site, and an elderly American who had visited the site almost 35 years ago later said that the entire place was almost unrecognisable from what it once was.
Finally I heard that the Mayans had no gold to speak of, but what they did have was golden amethyst, a polished black stone that in the morning sun looked like gold but was no more than a precious stone. When the Spanish came across Tulum they saw much of the walls covered in such stones and from a distance it looked like gold, but as the coast was pretected by a deadly coral reed the Spanish could not beach there, so came via the south and when they finally found Tulum almost 50 years later they were very dissapointed and were positive that they two places could not be one and the same place.
The entrance to Chichen Itza is only 48 pesos, which is cheap when you consider that it is a wonder of the modern world, but then as it hosts almost 8000 guests per day, you can see that even at such a small price the owner is making an absolute fortune.
Before we reached the entrance we had to pause at a market / restaurant about half an hour away and here you could get a custom made necklass pendant with your name spelled in Mayan Heiroglyphics made from either silver, gold or a mixture and as I am on a budget I got my name done in just silver for US $39, being US $29 for the backing and first letter and then another 2 US$ after that.
As we left here for the ruins out guide mentioned that it was on the edge of a rain forest and thus we should all have adequate protection from both and moqquitos, which was news to most of us, but luckily there werent enough to worry us and I didn't see more than one or two the whole time I was there.
The site was magnificent in all its glory and almost fully restored was an avenue of almost 500 pillars, the main pyramid, the observatory and the ball court with overlooking seating for the masses. The thing that impresses you first if you are aware of it, is the almost perfect acoustics of the place, being able to hear an echo of a clap up to 7 times in the ball court and have it transformed into a snakes rattle or the a bird call at specific axis away from the main pyramid.
They went into a bit of detail about the ritual occasional sacrifice, which was first starved and then drugged with a alcohol and mushrooms mix before being thrust onto a rock seat which was intended to paralyse them and ensure they could not scream before finally being stabbed with a obsidian blade, all very public and done to both wow the crowd and ensure their loyalty and obedience.
The next thing, again if you are informed, is that they were great scientists and mathmaticians, able to predict eclipses, epochs, lunar cycles and their 365 day calendar is alledged to be accurate to 17 seconds every 5012 years or there abouts, which is very amazing for a civilization built a few thousand years ago. Their knowledge of binar and a bidecimal code is also impressive and you cannot help but wonder if there is any truth in the myth that they are descendents from aliens or from another dimension.
Finally before we were free to split up and have an hour to ourselves we were explained the rules of the super hard ball game. Two teams of seven players competed in a bizarre game of a sort of cross between basketball, lacross and american football, each player with padding and a pair of non identical raquettes all trying to get a rock hard rubber ball through a hoop 4 meters above their heads without using their hands.
The winner captain was beheaded, but in a ritual that was meant to bring good luck and revitality to the land, with huge rewards for their family and also the promise of being reincarnated into a better position in the future life.
With my coach load of tourists I wandered around for a couple of hours, listening to claps and chatting to various people before it was time to split up and take a few photos of things if you missed then the first time around.
On the way back we passed onto a place that was a huge sink hole with a pool at the bottom where you could swim in, and although I did not have my bathing suit with me, I took a gamble and after renting a towel for US $10, less $7.50 as a refundable deposit, I decided to jump in and wow oh wow.
The water was fresh, clear, had fish at the bottom ( how they got there I dont know ) but was also extremely deep and cool. There were a few overlooking ledges and places to jump from but I forgot to breath in first so my lungs were not full of air and I took a second to rise to the top, not what I had planned and without being able to get my bearings or touch the bottom I decided to not waste any more time and headed for the wooden rungs to climb out.
The American / Mexican couple that were sitting next to me on the bus had brought flippers and face masks and happily flaoted around for a half hour while the rest of us took turns diving in and then climbing out, or taking photos.
After the sink whole we were taken to a the place where we first arrived, where we were offered food from a huge all you can eat buffet, all included except the drinks and as I finished quickly I then gave myself a chance to relax by the pool that I had spotted just behind the restaurant. I then collected my neck pendant and then it was back on the bus to go back to the dock and then back to the downtown where I got off.
As the bus was driving back the sun set which brough almost total darkness except for the illuminated cats eyes on the road for most of the journey until we reached the harbour and 5 star hotel zone once more and then the scene outside was breathtaking for a whole new reason.
Most of the hotels have very stylishly designed exteriors that are lit up, and with it being Christmas as well there was hardly a meter square that wasn't lit up somehow or other and I hate to think what their power bill is like. We passed three glorios old style ships that were also lit up like Christmas trees and if I had time I would love to come back here and just take it all in, snap a few photos and stay awhile, but my time here is limited.
I asked a few others how much they had paid for the trip and they said about US $33, so my $55 was not exactly cheap but then they were staying in a 5 star hotel under a sort of vacation club prepayment scheme with discounted excursions so if you taken into account both our accomodations and the fact that I had booked my over the internet I dont think I got a bad deal in the end.
Back in downtown I found a tour agency to sell me a discounted trip to Tulum and Xoi He all inclusive for US $105, which was a lot less than the US $125 for Xoi He alone and then a 60% off a second trip the following day as an all inclusive boat ride with dancing and so I will be sure to take my swimmig stuff with me this time.
Finally I helped myself to a lime soup and steak meal that was not exactly cheap at 249 pesos, but acceptable and then headed on back to the hostal to check out my photos and update my blog.
Outside in the square they were holding a sort of live rock concert that went on til around 1am and was so close that I could hear every sound, regretfully as they murdered classics like "Child of Mine" by Guns And Roses amoung others, and reminded me that the best things are often the originals.
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