Tikal, Semuc Champay, and the Maya beauty pageant
Wow. It has only been a week since my last entry, but the week has been so eventful it feels like it has been much longer. When I left off last I was headed to Tikal, for the culmination of my tour of the Ancient Maya ruins. Tikal is truly spectacular in terms of size and the excavation is still in its initial stages. The morning I went to Tikal I got up at 3am. Well actually, I was staying in a dorm with some loud boys and never really slept. When my alarm went off I got up, got dressed and ready to go, and then realized that it was actually only 2am, and I had forgotten to change the time on my alarm clock when I crossed the border. For some reason I was wide awake, and so I stayed up reading until the bus came to pick me up at 3:30. We arrived at the ruins at a quarter to five and hiked through the jungle to one of the temples to watch the sunrise. It was a cloudy morning, so the sunrise was not spectacular, but that made for a cool morning of exploration, a true godsend. Here's a little excerpt from my journal that I wrote while there.
Tikal is incredible for its expansiveness. One can walk for hours through the jungle paths and never stop coming across pyramids- used for astrology, and temples- used for ritual, worship and monuments built over the tombs of kings. So little excavation has been done on many of the temples, due to lack of monet, the number of temples to excavate, and difficulties related to season and climate. Many of the structures appear as though they had an organic birth, rather than being the creation of human toil and slave labor. The tops of many temples have been uncovered and renovated, while the bottoms remain covered with moss, small plants, and five generations of huge trees. In some places you can see what the first modern discoverers of this place saw: steep wild hills, green furry backs of ruin hunching on the shoulders of the earth. One could unknowingly pass by, oblivious to the ancient human made wonder disguised in a cloak of nature. A reminder that everything is eventually taken back into the warth. The ruins of a great civilization become part of the skeleton of the bountiful and abundant body of nature...
From Tikal and Flores I moved onto a small village in the mountains called Lanquin. This is a place surrounded by natural wonders. Miles of limestone caves, rivers, and natural pools of turqouise water. I arrived on Sunday evening to find the hostel full, the river flooded and everyone around a bit frantic. I was with a small group, a German couple and a couple from the US. We all teamed up, found another place to stay, and ate dinner together. The nice thing about traveling is that small disasters usually result in friendships. And over the next few days I had these people as my companions. Lanquin is usually a place people come and stay for a night or two, just long enough to see the pools and caves, and then leave. People who could were waiting a few days longer to see if the river would come down and the pools clear, so they could see it. The second day the germans, Andre and Svenja, and I moved to the hostel along the river. It is a sanctuary of hammocks and bungalows on the banks of the river, where I happily spent 2 days lazing around reading. In the evening we took a tour of the caves just outside of town. We walked about two kms. into the caves, which were cavernous room with staircases and rocks in the form of melted caldle wax hanging overhead and dripping down the walls. The Maya also used these caves for rituals. At dusk we stood in the mouth of the cave and watched as thousands of bats flew over our heads and out into the night.
Wednesday it was finally clear enough to go to Semuc Champay. I went with the guided tour from the hostel. Our guide was named Elvis, a cute, strong young guy who stays in shape by pushing and pulling tourists up and down waterfalls and steep rock faces. It was the kind of glorious tour that could never take place in the United States, because we actually did quite a few risky things without very many safety precautions. No helmets, no harnesses, just some rope ladders, candles, and Elvis.
Pur first stop was Las Grutas Las Marias, a chain of caves with a river running through. At the entrance we were all given candles to light our way in the cave. I don't know how many of you have ever tried to swim while holding a candle out of the water, but it is a tricky business. We climbed up rock walls, and were taken one by one behind a waterfall, so that we could float back down the river in the current. We jumped off boulders into pools, and tried to keep at least one candle lit at all times so that we could re-light the others. After the cave tour we went tubing down the river. Now if you can imagine, this river was about 2x as large as Boulder Creek ever is, and we were tubing in it. Elvis told us all to stay to the left side so that we could pull out at the right spot. About 5 people missed the pull out, and a group of guys went running downstream to fish them out. It is an interesting phenomenon here, because about half of the travelers that come here, or maybe more, are from Israel. In this particular place there were some tense relations with Israeli travelers. The group of tubers who missed the pull out spot were all Israeli. One of the guys on the shore started cursing loudly in Spanish saying "Stupid Israelis, they are all ex-militaries so you expect them to be strong but they can't do anything." It was pretty shocking actually. And put everyone in a strange mood. After that we were crossing a bridge that was partially submerged under water. I stepped in the one place where a rock was missing and my leg fell through. When I pulled myself out, I was cut on my knee and bleeding. Some Koreans and an Israeli woman helped patch me up so we could continue walking.
At Semuc Champay, most of the group took the path to the Mirador, the spot where you can lookout over the Turquoise pools. Semuc Champay is a huge natural limestone bridge. The river flows underneath it, and on top beautiful blue water forms pools that are perfect for swimming and relaxing. The Mirador is a hike 30 minutes straight uphill. My knee was hurting me on steps, so I decided it might be too much to hike all the way up there. I went straight to the pools and hung out by the water. I jumped in a few times, from about 5 meters above the water. When the whole group was back together we went over the the waterfall, where the blue water from the pools falls into the murkier water of the river. We climbed down the waterfall on a ropeladder secured to a large rock at the top. Elvis stood at the bottom, in the direct stream of water, catching and directing people where to go at the bottom. We were on a little island in the river, with the water rushing by on both sides. The force of it was astounding. A person would probably not survive falling in. But it was exhilerating to be right there. To hear the thundering of the water and feel the spray from the contact of water with rocks. It is a place that I would love to return. Now I am in Coban, a fairly ugly town, where there isn't a lot to do, but this weekend is Rabin Ajau, which is essentially a beauty contest for Maya women from around the country. I am curious so I am going to check it out.
Tikal is incredible for its expansiveness. One can walk for hours through the jungle paths and never stop coming across pyramids- used for astrology, and temples- used for ritual, worship and monuments built over the tombs of kings. So little excavation has been done on many of the temples, due to lack of monet, the number of temples to excavate, and difficulties related to season and climate. Many of the structures appear as though they had an organic birth, rather than being the creation of human toil and slave labor. The tops of many temples have been uncovered and renovated, while the bottoms remain covered with moss, small plants, and five generations of huge trees. In some places you can see what the first modern discoverers of this place saw: steep wild hills, green furry backs of ruin hunching on the shoulders of the earth. One could unknowingly pass by, oblivious to the ancient human made wonder disguised in a cloak of nature. A reminder that everything is eventually taken back into the warth. The ruins of a great civilization become part of the skeleton of the bountiful and abundant body of nature...
From Tikal and Flores I moved onto a small village in the mountains called Lanquin. This is a place surrounded by natural wonders. Miles of limestone caves, rivers, and natural pools of turqouise water. I arrived on Sunday evening to find the hostel full, the river flooded and everyone around a bit frantic. I was with a small group, a German couple and a couple from the US. We all teamed up, found another place to stay, and ate dinner together. The nice thing about traveling is that small disasters usually result in friendships. And over the next few days I had these people as my companions. Lanquin is usually a place people come and stay for a night or two, just long enough to see the pools and caves, and then leave. People who could were waiting a few days longer to see if the river would come down and the pools clear, so they could see it. The second day the germans, Andre and Svenja, and I moved to the hostel along the river. It is a sanctuary of hammocks and bungalows on the banks of the river, where I happily spent 2 days lazing around reading. In the evening we took a tour of the caves just outside of town. We walked about two kms. into the caves, which were cavernous room with staircases and rocks in the form of melted caldle wax hanging overhead and dripping down the walls. The Maya also used these caves for rituals. At dusk we stood in the mouth of the cave and watched as thousands of bats flew over our heads and out into the night.
Wednesday it was finally clear enough to go to Semuc Champay. I went with the guided tour from the hostel. Our guide was named Elvis, a cute, strong young guy who stays in shape by pushing and pulling tourists up and down waterfalls and steep rock faces. It was the kind of glorious tour that could never take place in the United States, because we actually did quite a few risky things without very many safety precautions. No helmets, no harnesses, just some rope ladders, candles, and Elvis.
Pur first stop was Las Grutas Las Marias, a chain of caves with a river running through. At the entrance we were all given candles to light our way in the cave. I don't know how many of you have ever tried to swim while holding a candle out of the water, but it is a tricky business. We climbed up rock walls, and were taken one by one behind a waterfall, so that we could float back down the river in the current. We jumped off boulders into pools, and tried to keep at least one candle lit at all times so that we could re-light the others. After the cave tour we went tubing down the river. Now if you can imagine, this river was about 2x as large as Boulder Creek ever is, and we were tubing in it. Elvis told us all to stay to the left side so that we could pull out at the right spot. About 5 people missed the pull out, and a group of guys went running downstream to fish them out. It is an interesting phenomenon here, because about half of the travelers that come here, or maybe more, are from Israel. In this particular place there were some tense relations with Israeli travelers. The group of tubers who missed the pull out spot were all Israeli. One of the guys on the shore started cursing loudly in Spanish saying "Stupid Israelis, they are all ex-militaries so you expect them to be strong but they can't do anything." It was pretty shocking actually. And put everyone in a strange mood. After that we were crossing a bridge that was partially submerged under water. I stepped in the one place where a rock was missing and my leg fell through. When I pulled myself out, I was cut on my knee and bleeding. Some Koreans and an Israeli woman helped patch me up so we could continue walking.
At Semuc Champay, most of the group took the path to the Mirador, the spot where you can lookout over the Turquoise pools. Semuc Champay is a huge natural limestone bridge. The river flows underneath it, and on top beautiful blue water forms pools that are perfect for swimming and relaxing. The Mirador is a hike 30 minutes straight uphill. My knee was hurting me on steps, so I decided it might be too much to hike all the way up there. I went straight to the pools and hung out by the water. I jumped in a few times, from about 5 meters above the water. When the whole group was back together we went over the the waterfall, where the blue water from the pools falls into the murkier water of the river. We climbed down the waterfall on a ropeladder secured to a large rock at the top. Elvis stood at the bottom, in the direct stream of water, catching and directing people where to go at the bottom. We were on a little island in the river, with the water rushing by on both sides. The force of it was astounding. A person would probably not survive falling in. But it was exhilerating to be right there. To hear the thundering of the water and feel the spray from the contact of water with rocks. It is a place that I would love to return. Now I am in Coban, a fairly ugly town, where there isn't a lot to do, but this weekend is Rabin Ajau, which is essentially a beauty contest for Maya women from around the country. I am curious so I am going to check it out.
posted by Eva Hathaway at 10:42 AM
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