ruins Archives - Page 10 of 10

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

May 5, 2009 By Danny

…there were the ancient Mayan people. They lived on the third moon of Endor where they built a city known to them as Tikal which also served as their secret Jedi base in their battle against the evil Spanish Empire. Thankfully, the real life city never faced a Deathstar even if it did house the rebel base in the original Star Wars.

And so began our trip to Tikal, all day long I kept making Star Wars references (I mean really, who wouldn’t) and I’m quite sure that the girls (Jill and her sister Ponch – err, Rebekah – who had just joined us for the week) were quite happy I left my harmonica behind and could not play the Star Wars theme around every corner. Having arrived via overnight bus in Santa Elena (the nearby modern city) at around 4:45am, we were on our way into Tikal just 45 minutes later and entered the park at 7am; before the sun was strong, while the monkeys were quite active, and with fog surrounding the temples.

Tikal itself has a long and storied history. First occupied about 600BCE it reached its zenith about a millennia later with somewhere between 50k and 100k inhabitants over more than 100 sq km. That prosperity did not last for long as the site was completely abandoned in the 10th century, likely on account of warfare, over population and environmental degradation, and ultimately drought.

For the most popular attraction in Guatemala, the ruins were virtually empty. (We later found out about swine flu, maybe that is why no one was there?) The most amazing thing about Tikal is the shear size. Unlike Palenque or other ruins in Central America, Tikal is HUGE so the lack of crowds, the size and the fact that we actually found monkeys (successfully this time!) made Tikal a great trip.

After six hours at Tikal the sun was out and the mosquitoes began to bite. We headed south for the evening to Poptun, a small city two hours south of Tikal. As if climbing pyramids wasn’t cool enough, we ended our day at Finca Ixobel. Open your Lonely Planet and there is almost a half page description of this hostel/ranch/hang out. Whatever you’ve heard its true, and although I’d been there before, it was on my “must do again” list in Guatemala. The food was delicious and we didn’t mind sleeping under mosquito nets for the first time.

The next day at Finca Ixobel was my idea of a perfect day on the road. I got up at sunrise and set out to go for a jog, up a still buried Mayan pyramid. Straight up and down, I finished my run covered in sweat, mud, and as I later discovered…27 ticks. After breakfast we headed out on the Finca’s headline trip… a cave swim. A two hour walk to the cave (let’s keep in mind I had already run two hours) through jungle and a very “full” cow field, we happily jumped into the cold water at the cave and began our journey in darkness. With headlamps and candles, we first encountered bats (hopefully they weren’t having any bowel movements) and as we got further and further we found little rapids, tons of wild rock formations, and finally the leap of faith. Standing above a subterranean waterfall with a guide (speaking only Spanish) shining his light down 10 meters in darkness, telling you there is a big rock right below you so its really importante to jump as far away from the wall as possible is a little nerve racking…but a ton of fun. We jumped one at a time into the freezing cold yelling all manner of obscenities on the way down. No one hit the rock, our only casualty was someone else’s headlamp.

Swimming back out of the cave, we ate some lunch and headed back to the Finca for my celebratory meal… cake and french fries! What could make the day any better you ask? I’m so glad you asked! Somehow we managed to wrangle a game of ultimate frisbee together for the better part of an hour, the first I’ve played since leaving my daily DC game behind. Aside from missing people, the thing I miss most about home is being able to exercise and get sweaty on a daily basis. Many of the places we’ve traveled to are not friendly to a pedestrian let alone a runner. Additionally, add to that the constant work (yes, I said work) at managing our finances, finding places to sleep, and working out our transportation, and we’ve had our hands quite full. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having the time of my life and doing some incredible things…but suffice it to say, backpacking can be difficult. Our time at Finca Ixobel was the perfect mini vacation from backpacking and the frisbee game was the perfect end to my perfect day.

Palenque… are there monkeys here?

April 16, 2009 By Jillian

After the disappointment of Monte Alban, the ruins at Palenque were a dream come true. They were exactly the type of ruins I was expecting. Jungle, pyramids, monkeys, the whole nine yards.

We had spent the last few nights in San Cristobal (about 5 hours from Palenque by bus) and although there were tons of tours (about 300 pesos each) to Palenque, they were all day trips with about 2 hours at the ruins. 2 hours at my first mayan ruins in the jungle? Clearly not enough time. We left our stuff at the hostel and set out with an overnight bag to Palenque. The trip from San Cristobal to Palenque travels right through Zapatista terrority, the indigenous army that started a revolution in 1994. Still unresolved, the violence has for the most part died down although the political conflict continues with the occasional violent outbreaks. A number of small indigenous autonomous zones exist in Chiapas, ruled exclusively by the Zapatistas without any Mexican government involvement. Since we’d be traveling through these areas we took heed and decided for safety it would be best to travel during the day. There are still infrequent reports of bus robberies, etc… on this route at night. The five hour journey was incredible. Where the north of Mexico was dry and desert, Chiapas is fresh alpine highlands, cloud forests and indigenous villages mixed with lush rain forests comprising ancient Mayan lands. Constantly twisting and turning on the road, we saw signs demarcating the Zapatista autonomous zones. Sorry, we weren’t willing to hop off the bus, so no pictures.

Arriving in Palenque we hopped on a collectivo to the jungle to find out cabana for the night. We stayed at a small group of cabanas nestled in a meadow not more than 3km from the actual ruins. It was my first time in the jungle (one of many firsts on the trip!) and although Danny thought nothing of it, the best part of our stay there was the howler monkey we saw on the way to dinner. (Didn’t get a picture though, besides its huevos were hanging out and who wants to see that anyhow!) My first night in the jungle and my first monkey in the wild. 🙂

We made a beeline for the ruins when they opened the next morning and spent four hours wandering through pyramids, temples, and looking at the glyphs. At the top of one pyramid we heard this awful screeching noise that sounded like a pack of hungry lions on the hunt. Excitedly Danny said, those are howler monkeys and headed for the jungle. Following somewhat skeptically behind him [Editor’s Note from Danny – Jill actually thought the sounds were from speakers to help create atmosphere- is this disney world?] the howling grew louder and louder. Each time I asked again, are you sure those are monkey’s? The screeching was constant and as we made our way up the path following their noises we were joined by other people also looking for the monkeys. It was my favorite part of the ruins. In all different languages people kept yelling “Do you see them?” and as we climbed higher up the mountain. It was thick jungle and the soil was loose so by the time we decided to turn around (monkey’s still unseen) we were covered in dirt, but beaming from ear to ear. No monkey’s this time, but we know they exist in Palenque!

Brushing ourselves off to look presentable enough to join the other tourists, we continued to explore the ruins. Climbing the pyramids one by one was a feat in and of itself. Seriously. We are in good shape and by the time we reached the top of the third one our chests were heaving. Some of the pyramids seem to have hundreds of stairs, so by the time you reach the top you just want to sit and collapse. But you can’t, because its HOT. Really hot. It is a jungle out there. 🙂

Although the major pyramids and groups of ruins are completely excavated and tower several stories above the ground, we enjoyed the small residential buildings the most. Almost completely consumed by the jungle, these ruins are less visited and seem not to be restored or preserved in any way. We were able to crawl through tunnels, visit inner chambers and even see a subterranean burial chamber (did I mention it was pitch black in there?) under a home. It was a pretty cool experience and although the pyramids are impressive, the smaller ruins were by far more of the “ancient jungle ruin” experience I was looking for. I’m sure in a few months I’ll think nothing of ancient mayan ruins towering in the jungle or monkey’s in trees, but it really was a “discovery channel” moment climbing under the homes and through the jungle looking for monkeys.

Grasshoppers? Oaxaca!

April 12, 2009 By Jillian

Molé, Chocolate and Grasshoppers. When our bus pulled in at 5am the station was abuzz with travelers, but once we left the station the roads were dark and quiet. We made our way downtown stopping for our first Oaxacan hot chocolate (it was yummy!) and prayed that the hostel would let us check in at such an early hour. We were in luck and spent the next two hours warm in our bed catching up on much needed sleep. What awaited us when we awoke was not the same sleepy Oaxaca we walked through two hours before but a city very much alive with color, noise and movement.

Oaxaca is a big tourist destination, our first since Baja, and we were a little surprised at the number of gringos wandering around. We knew we were in trouble when the restaurants had menus in English, and lets just say when the bill came we found that we had eaten the most expensive eggs and beans on the planet. Nevertheless, Oaxaca was a site to see. We wandered through the city, taking in the markets (if there is ANY DVD you want – in theaters or out on DVD – it’s in Oaxaca), and the energy that is in Oaxaca. No matter what time you were there (except maybe at 6am, but even then there were people out), the main square or Zocalo, had a carnival like atmosphere. Candy sellers, balloon sellers, ice cream vendors, shoe shiners, musicians, clowns, mimes and florists wandered the Zocalo day and night selling their wares or performing for the crowd. To say it was a shock after being in completely non touristy areas is an understatement. We had clearly entered the tourist circuit and were unprepared. After being in quiet cities and towns without gringos, the carnival atmosphere and nightly cultural performances sponsored by the state really made us feel overwhelmed. We spent hours in the Zocalo just trying to take it all in, and just when we thought we’d gotten a grasp of the place a new musician or a new vendor would come by. It was a whirlwind of a place.

Outside the city we took a day trip to ancient Zapotec capital, Monte Alban (white mountain), our first ruins in Mexico. Pretty much deserted on the day we were there, Monte Alaban is perched on a hill overlooking Oaxaca. The “two” lane road leading up the mountain is barely passable by two sedans let alone tour buses so we said a prayer when we made it to the top. I’ve only been to the ruins at Tulum (yes, it was a spring break trip to Playa del Carmen, yes we’ll leave it there) and I’d never even heard of Monte Alaban so I was a meso-american neophyte to say the least. Monte Alban was not at all what I was expecting, it sits atop a hill where the land is clear of almost all vegetation. The ruins are closed for security and preservation purposes, so we weren’t able to climb through any tunnels nor up several of the towers. Needless to say, we were uninspired by the ruins and headed back down the mountain before our allotted time.

Travelers along the way raved about the hot chocolate, the molé and of course mentioned whether they’d tried the insects or not. Yes, insects. Oaxacan cuisine is known for these three things and as adventurous travelers we had to try all three. The hot chocolate was easy, no big surprise there. Different than the swiss miss in the US, hot chocolate in Oaxaca has a spicy cinnamon taste to it and can be made with either water or milk. Either way it was yummy and we bought a block of the cinnamon chocolate just to munch on. 🙂

The molé on the other hand was questionable, made from chocolate and spices, it tasted more like chocolatey barbeque sauce to us than a chocolate molé. Molé is a bit like bbq sauce actually, every town or village has its own molé recipe and secret ingredients. We had molé negro, but there are numerous types of molé available in Oaxaca. The sauce we had would hardly pass the first round at a bbq contest in Texas and though not exactly what we were expecting, it went down easy.

The third specialty was the hardest. We spent our days wandering the markets looking for chapulines (grasshoppers) in tacos or quesedillas or cooked in anything. Turns out that you pretty much have to eat them alone. I know, had I stopped to think about it before we bought them it would have turned my stomach.. Like everything though, I thought about it after the grasshopper was already in my mouth. This being Mexico, and the delicacy being insects, we purchased the smallest amount we could (about 50 grams) and made sure they were the kind covered in chili powder. I’ll let the video speak for itself, but I will say they were salty and tasted mostly like chili. Hopefully some of you have tried chapulines. Please don’t tell me I’m the only one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNPSP1qFQyU

After the adventures of the chipolines, we decided a real adventure was in the cards. We rented mountain bikes through Zona Bici and a guide and headed to the hills surrounding Oaxaca. Although the tour was a complete disappointment in almost every aspect (price, experience, guide, location, etc.) getting out and stretching our legs on the bikes was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the city. Thankfully after banging myself up in Jalapa’s whitewater, Oaxaca was injury free and in that sense uneventful!

Not surprisingly although definitely not on account of the insects, we both fell slightly ill in Oaxaca. It’s bound to happen sometime right? After the bike tour the most we could muster up to do was to sit in a french cafe using the wifi all afternoon. Overall Oaxaca was an assault to our senses. Unlike any other place we’ve been to in Mexico, we wandered through Oaxaca enthralled by the sites, colors and sounds, but ready to go once our time was up. It definitely wasn’t our favorite place in Mexico, but it was well worth the trip.

Whitewater Kayaking in Mexico: Rio Micos Waterfalls & Xilitla

April 1, 2009 By Jillian

The gulf coast region of Huestaca is known for all sorts of adventure activities: from the hub for whitewater kayaking in Mexico, to spelunking, caving, and rappelling. Needless to say we were drawn to the area and took an overnight bus Friday night to Ciudad Valles. We even took two unsupecting victims with us on our adventure, Phil and Severine. Although its not the season for whitewater, the guys at Kayak Huasteca told us that heavy rains (read: flooding of 30 year proportions) earlier in the year left enough volume to run the waterfalls at Rio Micos. Yes! Since the volume is down the waterfalls are mostly class II so taking our friends who’ve never whitewater kayaked before would be ok. Or just that they probably would not die on the adventure. 🙂

Aaron, Marjie, and Tomato outfitted us with gear and we headed off to do some whitewater kayaking in Mexico! Hola, Rio Micos. After a substantial climb down to the river, including a few slips, we suited up, gave our friends a mini lesson in how not to die (ie. how to get out of the boat safely), and headed down our first waterfall. A series of 8 with large deep pools in between, I will admit that I was definitely scared on the first and maybe the second. By the third I was having a great time and wanted to do each one again and again.

One, called the serpent, was particularly fun and Phil, Danny and I ran it backwards. Eventually the waterfalls got bigger and bigger and when the boat hit the bottom we would completely submerge before coming back up for air. I think the largest one we did was a 15 foot (5m) free fall! It was scarey going over the edge of the waterfall, but the water cushions your fall if you land correctly. Fortunately all of us did and we came up smiling again and again, even those of us that came up outside our boats. (I think it only happened once though!)

It was an awesome day on the river, the water was warm and the sun was hot so we got out at some of the falls for a swim and even a jump or two off the falls. Although scrambling up the rocks with boats was a bit of a challenge, especially for our newbies, it was a lot of fun and definitely a good first place to kayak waterfalls. The take out was at a picnic area full of local families enjoying a lazy Saturday at the river and the smell of roasting chicken was overwhelming. We packed up the gear, headed back into town, grabbed some food and bid our new friends farewell and hit the bus station.

Got to Xilitla (first person to pronounce that right, no seriously, gets a postcard!) after dark and attempted to find our accommodations, Cabanas Las Pozas. Cabanas in the jungle right at the landmark we were going to in the morning, Las Pozas, incredible right? According to lonely planet they were in the park, we jumped in a cab, got to the park and…..not so much. No cabanas. After an hour in the jungle around Laz Pozas, driving back and forth a number of times without finding the right cabanas we settled on other privately operated cabanas outside the park. A tad more expensive, they at least had hot water and a place to lay our heads. Many discussions with the cab driver and locals determined that the Mexican government wanted more money for the cabanas, the park refused and closed down the cabanas either a month ago or a year ago (seriously, thats what we were told, what a time difference!). Lesson learned – the coolest and cheapest option might not exist. Create a plan B.

Las Pozas, the main attraction in Xilitla, is a surreal garden park in the middle of the Xilitla jungle. This was of course not of Mexican design, but that of a strange British man, Sir Edward James. In love with the area around Xilitla, he spent several decades and almost $5million USD to build a surreal jungle park with lots of strange sculptures and different open air buildings. Huge concrete flowers and concrete stairs to nowhere gave us something to climb on and great views of the area, but I could not really connect with James vision of the place. It almost felt like we should be in SE Asia, but we were definitely in Mexico. It was unusual to say the least. Never completed and not taken care of in his will, Las Pozas is quickly becoming another Mexican ruin… a very surreal feeling ruin. Overgrown and being consumed by the jungle, the concrete sculptures and unfinished buildings add a sense of despair to the garden.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Palenque… are there monkeys here?

Grasshoppers? Oaxaca!

Whitewater Kayaking in Mexico: Rio Micos Waterfalls & Xilitla

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