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A Tale of Mayan Cities ...

by Meg Hall (Kumuka)

Travelling by local bus staying in private hotels most with air con, all with en-suite, some even with swimming pools. This is definitely adventure during the day, comfort at night.

After a long flight we finally arrived in Cancun, the fun park of tourism in Mexico where travellers from all walks of life congregate to enjoy a quiet or noisy margarita, velocity depending on whether you prefer the salsa bar or the hammock. Cancun encourages both and so do Margaritas. After we checked into the Hotel Caribe we met some of our group as they had flown in on the same flight. It was midnight but most felt a margarita was in order and promptly made their way to the nearest bar. Midnight, after all, is early for the Mexicans. Day one was officially arrival day and we had time to ourselves. Responding to recommendation from our tour leader, we made our way to Isla Mujeres, a little island 20 minutes off the coast of Mexico. "Dear Mum and Dad, today as I was kicking back on a Caribbean Island…" Ok so it was only 7 KMS long and .5 KM wide but it was an island, it was absolutely beautiful and it was in the Caribbean. Tick! The village on Isla Mujeres was splashed with coloured walls, tiny doorways and tiled roofs. Locals wandered in that laid back tropical fashion, not too fast, seemingly without a care in the world. I made my way to the beach with my new found travel companion, Helen, and did as the locals do at midday – nothing - the perfect start to a holiday, get over our jet lag and kick start the tan. Who would have thought, less than 24 hours prior, I was stomping through a torrential down pour on the streets of Sydney. That night at 6 pm we met with the rest of the group at our pre departure meeting, our tour leader went over the ins and outs of what we were to expect, showed us some of her personal photographs and shared with us some historical information about the Zapatistas, the Mexican revolutionaries who rose up for the rights of the indigenous people of Mexico and whose revolutionary methods have been heard and adopted by other activists right around the world, it was an apt to description as we were eventually headed for Chiapas, Zapatista land. We then all went out for some Mexican nosh, fajitas, enchiladas, tortillas, burritos; delicious food wrapped in many different ways, all washed down by the obligatory tequila. This was the first of many for some that night. Fortunately I opted for a quiet one as jet lag was still with me and I didn’t fancy it lingering.
Playa del Carmen was our next Caribbean pit stop and again absolutely beautiful. Hot weather, hot salsa, cool breezes (from the air con in our room), cold margaritas and cold Corona! Our main reason for staying here was to make a journey to the Mayan ruins at Tulum.
Dating back to 1200 AD as a commercial trading port it was built on cliffs overlooking the Caribbean sea. I can’t help thinking that the decree "location, location" was borne from rules of thumb of the Mayan property developers. Absolute waterfront with stunning views.
	Activities planned for our stay after the Tulum ruins varied from snorkeling in caves in the jungle, to sun baking on the white beaches, to diving in the Caribbean, I opted for diving. The water was about 28 degrees, turquoise blue and I’m sure I could see the bottom from the boat even though it was over 30 metres down.
We were fortunate to dive close up with massive sea turtles going about their daily business, completely oblivious to us, the locals don’t disturb the turtles by riding them in Playa, as happens in other locations around the world, so we were able to share our water space with these surreal creatures, who eat like cows as they graze on the coral, yet flap like birds as they swim through the sea.
	Next stop San Cristóbal de las Casas. Welcome to Chiapas. Perched 2110 metres above sea level the humid air of the coast is well and truly left behind. This colonial town is built around a wonderfully preserved central plaza de Armas and boasts a beautiful cathedral, the streets are cobbled, the walls again splashed with colour and the roofs are tiled with terracotta.
The local people have not left to their Indian ways and many pure bred Mayan people can be found in this area, a folk into which our excursion for the next day gave us a great insight. We headed to the village of San Juan Chamula where we had a fantastic local English speaking guide explaining to us the quirks of the Mayan religion. Mayan Indians are the original inhabitants of Mexico and though they have adopted a lot of the western ways in the San Cristobal area they remain a very strong and traditional community, in San Juan Chamula they do not inter-marry or allow outsiders to live in their town. It was their religion that interested me the most. The missionaries have been and conquered, converting most to Catholicism however, the Mayans have adopted Catholicism with twist. Along with praising John the Baptist they also sacrifice chickens, rub eggs over themselves to rid themselves of the evil eye and drink coke! I kid you not. They believe that by drinking coke they release the evil spirits from their bodies by burping. Now that’s creative adaptation of a western invention.
We were lucky to be in San Juan Chamula on Mothers day so witnessed the festivals which included flamenco dancing, sombreros and decorated Indians with their long plaits and colorful clothing covering the square. It really was the heart of Central America.
Next stop Palenque but to get here we had to travel via water falls and lakes in the jungle stopping three times on the way to swim and ooh and aaah over the spectacular scenery. Ho hum, what a way to travel. The water in this area is pure blue, similar to that of New Zealand but not nearly as cold. Considering it was in the high 30s to low 40s these stops were a must.. …and so we bathed under waterfalls in naturally formed baths, walked across hanging bridges in the jungle and sunbaked our way to Palenque.
	The main reason to stop in Palenque is for the mystical ancient Mayan ruins which are nothing short of spectacular. Set amongst towering rainforest you are dwarfed next to the ancient pyramids and temples.
Beginning the cult of personalities Palenque’s most famous King, Pacal’s reign as King remains one of the longest in the world after becoming heir to the throne following his mother Lady Zac Kuk, one of only two women ever to rule in her own tight in Mayan history! He leaves behind a jungle filled with crumbling temples, ancient Mayan Pyramids, friezes and Mayan hieroglyphics, an archeologists dream. Our next destination was Merida, home of the hammock and gate way to the Uxmal ruins famous for the ‘Temple of the Magician’. We took an overnight bus to get to Merida, it took only 9 hours and was suitably comfortable. A little too comfortable for some who complained that the air-conditioning worked too well so jumpers came in handy. We arrived into Merida at 0500 and immediately transferred to our luxurious hotel. Huge rooms with queen sized beds, air-con, en-suite bathrooms and a large swimming pool. Having extracted ourselves from the hot and steamy jungle and more basic accommodation, most knew where they would be spending the next day before preparing ourselves for the majestic Chichen Itzá. Sunburnt from lazing by our pool the previous day, and laden with a few too many hammocks, we left early to make our way to the famed Mayan Chichen Itza ruins. No not Chicken Pizza as our guide explained through a giggle. I’m glad he said that as I don’t think I’ll ever forget the name now. It was a very mild 40 degree day when we descended upon this city of ancient ruins. Dating back to 1200 Chichen Itza was the centre of political and military power. We had yet another fantastic local guide giving us descriptions of the sites our favorite being the main pyramid which houses a pyramid inside it! Standing sublime amongst the ancient city one cant help but wonder just how they built it. And so ends the tale of Mayan cities, after a four hour bus ride back to Cancun we said farewell to our travel companions exchanging email addresses margaritas and promises to meet up again.

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