Mexico, and in particular the Yucatan, is peppered with Mayan ruins. Many were discovered surprisingly recently in areas of overgrown jungle where whole towns were hidden in the undergrowth. Chichen Itza is the most famous of these and made it to the most recent version of the seven wonders of the world (as voted for by a load of plebs who watch TV, so not exactly based on knowledge). It is of course impressive, but an old 85-year-old lady ruined part of the fun for everyone when she climbed a pyramid a few years back and fell off and died. So everything is now behind ropes and barriers restricting all access. Skull symbology is particularly prevalent at Chichen Itza as chopping off heads was rife, in particular from the top of pyramids. Painted skulls are available from all good tat stores across the country. The best advice for visiting the site is go early to avoid, a) the unbelievable hordes of tourists, b) the extremely oppressive heat and humidity, and c) the worst of the voracious mosquitoes. They have also controversially allowed anyone to access the site and sell their wares, so there are extremely aggressive touts absolutely everywhere pushing tat on you for 'just $1'. There is a disappointing lack of information around the site, presumably to encourage the use of guides, however we downloaded a free app which fairly successfully did the same thing. However at Uxmal there are no hordes of tourists, but points b) & c) above very much still apply. We arrived at 10am and had the place to ourselves. A big perk is that you can still access all the buildings as no grannies have died yet attempting to do so. The main pyramid is just as impressive but has curved edges and is not stepped (which is presumably the stereotypical feature people enjoy seeing at Chichen Itza). Uxmal is all round more interesting and the majority of the site is in a better state of restoration, however being further from Cancun means that far less people make the journey. It's very much in the middle of the jungle so visiting without a tour bus requires car hire (the closest town is Merida, see following post). The main Governor's Palace is particularly impressive for it's complex carvings and reliefs still in tact. There are the standard ubiquitous temples and a large and impressive Cuadrangulo de las Monjas (Nunnery for non-Spanish speakers), named by the Spanish because they didn't know what is was originally used for and it reminded them of the convents back home (the Mayans obviously didn't have any nuns!). Another pleasant feature of Uxmal is that it is still hidden in the jungle which can be viewed by climbing to the top of the very steep steps of the Great Pyramid. But access to areas off the beaten path are fairly free and available, just look out for the wildlife. It's also worth wandering off to find a few of the hidden treasures, such as the skull and crossbones motifs at the cemetery, and the amusing stone penises, which were probably used for a number of practical reasons such as deflecting water. Just make sure you 'not sit' on them.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
All photos copyright ©
Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |