Chichen Itza, and Our Adventure EndsSometime in the 1970's my mother visited the Yucatan, and toured some Mayan ruins. I remember that she was particularly impressed by Chichen Itza. She developed a fascination with all things Maya that she cherished all the rest of her life. So when Jane and I were planning to visit the Yucatan I knew I too had to go to Chichen Itza. I also had heard that it had become an obligatory stop for every tour bus out of Cancun. My research on the web for our trip comfirmed this. Nonetheless I felt compelled to see it.
On Tuesday January 29th we breakfasted early and drove 40 minutes from Valladolid to Chichen Itza. We planned to enter the ruins when they opened and be out before the hordes arrived and the temperature bacame oppressive. Just inside the gate we hired the services of one Mario to give us a private tour. Mario turned out to be surprisingly reticent and understatetd for his chosen profession. Even so he quietly shared his extensive knowledge and experience with us over the ensuing three hours. We saw the same pyramids and columns and plazas my mother must have visited. You can look at our pictures or find a better photographic tour or other encyclopedeac descriptionson the web.
The dominant structure at Chichen Itza is a large pyramid temple nicknamed El Castillo. It was built as a temple to Kukulkan, the serpent god. Unlike the other sites we had visited, El Castillo and the adjacent buildings date from what is called the post-classical Mayan period, as late as 1100 AD. After the general dissolution of Mayan culture after around 900 AD there was a rewurgence on the north, probably as a result of the influx of a culture which Mario called Toltecs from the west. Mario showed us a uinique feature about this pyramid. If you stand an intermediate distance (maybe 100 ft.) in front of the reconstructed stairway and clap your hands, the echos of your clap returning from the successive steps combine to create a rapidly rising 'boing' sort of sound. I will try to find a recorded clip somewhere to show you what I am tallking about. Also remarkable is how, at sunrise and sunset on the equinoxes, the shadow made by the sun passing the corners or the pyramid make a plumed serpent (Kukulkan) appear to slither up the side of the steps. I mean really! I can understand a pre-industrial civilization working out solar exlipses and even oscillations of the moon, but how they dreamed up and then executed this one amazes me.
We had planned to visit for two hours, but ended up staying for three. With some prompting Mario spoke openly about the Mayan population of Yucatan, of which he was one. He explained that while Mayan bloodlines predominated in the state, the trappings of the Mayan culture were disappearing. (into prosperity and mass marketing, we think) He opined that over half of the present population (1.8 million) learned the Mayan language at home. Unlike Guatemala, where twenty something different Mayan languages are spoken, there is only one dialect in Yucatan. We had paid extra for the private tour, but decided it was well worth it. Besides the facts, dates, and numbers, we were able to learn more about the sacred site and its people.
By the time we returned to the parking lot there were already three rows of about fifteen busses each, and there were more arriving to disgorge their peasentgers. Once again planning makes all the difference. We drove back to town for lunch at the hotel and a leisurely afternoon. We woke up Wednesday to our last whole day in Yucatan. We walked around Valladolid to see some obligatory cathedrals and some cute neighborhoods, then packed our bags. After lunch we drove down the highway into Cancun. The hotel zone there is a remarkably beautiful beach completely obscurred by a hundred and forty hotels. Their 24,000 roons are visited by four million tourists each year. One's mind boggles. We stayed long enough to sleep, awaken, pack our bags yet again, and drive to the airport before breakfast.
Jane departed first on Mexicana, connecting via Mexico City to Puerto Vallarta. There she would be joined by Hilary, and the two would share a week of yoga at a retreat called Haramara in Sayulita, a town north of PV. I took off a few hours later on a Jet Blue flight nonstop to Boston. This was the end of our Mayan Adventure, but Jane and I will be together again for three weeks of travel in western Mexico and Baja California del Sur!
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