The Mayan Ruins - Chapter Two

This blog entry is a bit lengthy. But since it took such a long time to transform the Mayan dynasty into the Ruins, I figured I could use up a bit more space to try to explain our learning experience. It covers three days of our six days in the Yucatan. Trust you’ll hang in there with me to the end…

Thirty-five years (or so) ago, John went to Cozumel and the Mayan Riviera and visited the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza. He has talked to me many, many times over the years about the Mayans and he regularly watches any TV documentary on the topic on the History Channel or elsewhere. Theirs is a story that has no proven preface, body or post script. There are lots of theories, debates and speculation on how the Mayan people lived, how intelligent they were and what eventually happened to them.

I was eager to go to see the ruins so share John’s respect for their culture and heritage and see the area for myself. As to Chuck and Val, their interest in visiting the Yucatan in the first place was to tour the ruins. So, we were not in the Mayan Riviera for long before we searched out available tours of the Ruins. It was the first visit for Chuck, Val and me and the second time for Johnnie.

What I did not realize was the extent of the Mayan architecture. Somehow, I only thought of one building – you know the one I mean:


I thought that’s all there was! Narrow-minded and naïve, you say?
I agree – particularly when I learned the archaeologists have discovered a similarly-designed building inside this one! Its age is estimated at around 700 AD and the number of steps and the chiselled faces and war-like symbols reflect their cosmic interests. And little did I know (before we started), there were three Mayan historical sites we could visit within 20 miles of our hotel – San Gervasio on the island of Cozumel, and Chichen Itza and Tulum on the Yucatan peninsula.

First, we drove to San Gervasio, the Mayan site on the island of Cozumel. Now, in my lifetime, whenever I heard about people going to Cozumel, I only heard about the big hotels and long, beautiful sandy beaches. In fact, up until we arrived in the Yucatan, I never even knew Cozumel was an island! Sure enough, on arrival at the Cozumel ferry docks, we could see the big hotels and long, beautiful sandy beaches. But at the north end of the island, on the nine mile stretch between San Miguel and Punta Ixpalbarco, was a wee sign that pointed us to the partially excavated Mayan site. San Gervasio was the smallest of the three sites we visited and, without a guide, we had to guess at what some of the ruins were and what part of the Mayan community they served.

While it was small not as well maintained as either Chichen Itza or Tulum, its rustic appearance was interesting nonetheless:

It was about 85 degrees that day and, in the interior of the island without the breeze from the Caribbean Sea, it was also mega-humid and super-muggy (and no surprise this rhymes with buggy)! On our arrival, we saw a family of tourists exiting and they were swatting their arms and legs like crazy. As we entered the site, the park attendants offered to spray our arms and legs with bug spray. Based on what we could see, we agreed. The spray was applied and for a price (of course) – 10 pesos for each of us as I recall.

Once we approached the ruins, we could see most of the buildings were overgrown with vegetation. There were no park attendants beyond the front gate so visitors had full access to the structures. There were no barriers or cords to restrain visitors from climbing on the structures. This was surprising to us considering the wealth of history and expected value to the Mexican government. Alas, we did not climb on anything and simply looked and took pictures:

Our tours of Chichen Itza and Tulum were significantly different. Both were full-day events and each with an experienced guide. And each of these two sites was different from each other. From our hotel, Chichen Itza is inland about 40 miles and is generally in the centre of the Yucatan peninsula. Tulum on the other hand is 60 miles southwest of our hotel and sits right on the coastline of the Caribbean Sea:


What was the same with the two sites was a protective wall on the perimeter of both. No one was sure what the wall was protecting the Mayans from but it was certainly visible and real.

All four of us were amazed. John was amazed because 35 years ago, Chichen Itza was a pile of stones with jungle growing out of the rubble and, now, it is an excavated city! I was amazed because I could not believe the number and size of the structures. I was also amazed at how several of the structures were constructed based on the location of the sun at certain times of the year! The guide encouraged us to clap our hands together and, when we did that as a group, we could hear the echoes - each sounded like a shoe taking a step and climbing the 91 steps (300’) to the platform on the top!

All four of us marvelled at the thoughts of how many people it must have taken to construct these buildings. We were told anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 people may have lived there. How did they possibly find, carve and relocate the stone to those heights? This question is particularly valid for Tulum which is situated on a 40’ cliff! It was also very interesting to see it was built across from the single opening in a barrier reef that stretches back to Cozumel and down to Belize. How would they have known this? Keeping in mind one part of the Tulum site is beach, we had to wonder what type of boat(s) they used to enter and exit this fort/port.

We gazed at length at the observatory – just what exactly would the Mayans be observing in 1000 A.D.? The stars? The planets?

And why is it that their hieroglyphics and paint colours match those found inside the pyramids in Egypt? How would the Mayans ever know to draw a picture of an elephant without ever seeing one?

Just so you know, the archaeologists report evidence of the Mayans trading as far south as Guatemala – a mere 400 miles away! So how did they manage the travel so far way back then? Can you guess the main product that the Mayans traded? FYI, it was honey! Honey? What? I thought it would be gold – both guides told us there is no evidence the Mayans were that interested in gold. Any idea what they traded their honey for? Jade. So this led us to question where did they get the jade – was it The Far East? And, if this is the case, how did the Mayans get it from that part of the world? I mean Guatemala is one thing but, clearly, Egypt and the Far East are another.

Will the world end according to the Mayan solar calendar on December 21/2012? Or will their calendar just start over? And, the final question (and probably the most important of all) is ‘what happened to all those people’? Both of our guides (on different days at different sites) were explained the archaeologists are still searching for answers – until then, there will be plenty of theory, debate and speculation.

Here's Chuck and John at the tail end of our tour to Tulum.


What the four of us knew for sure is that, all this learning made us mighty tired!



As for me? Well, until someone proves it different with believable evidence, I will remain convinced the Mayans (and the Egyptians and those from the Far East) had some extraterrestrial help. Maybe one day we’ll get to visit the ruins at Teotihuacan – to do that, we need to get to Mexico City. Maybe by then, there will be more answers to so many unanswered questions – alternatively, the puzzle may be even more of a challenge by then.

I feel lucky to have felt a small piece of the Mayan experience – a small piece in such a big place in history. In 2007, Chichen Itza was identified as one of the ‘new’ Wonders of the World. The Great Wall of China is also on that ‘new’ list as is the statue of Christ on the mountain in Brazil. Maybe one day, we’ll get to visit those places in history as well.

Earlier tonight, I was sharing our experience with Mike and Johanne, our friends from Nova Scotia and Mike offered the following quote: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” (Saint Augustine). How true that is…

Having said that, it's obvious the Mexican government is challenged in regard to balancing the inherent reverance of the ruins with funding needs for future archeological digs. For example, the government permits the promotion and sale of trinkets (many made in China, I might add) at the entrances and on site at both Chichen Itza and Tulum. As tourists, we were frequently approached by vendors of all ages advising us that their wares were "Almost free"! And please know that some time on April 3rd, 2010, Elton John is scheduled to appear at the Chichen Itza ruins - tickets are posted from $100 USD to $1000 USD. You can Google "Elton John at Chichen Itza" to see what I mean. Just doesn't seem right to me.

Our day trip to Cozumel will follow in a few days and I plan to add some photos of (my new favourite animal) the Iguanas. See y’all then.