Wow! What happened? It's 2016

Well we guess that we are going to skip to the part where we ride off into the sunset for this winter in Cozumel.  Although we have no actual way to account for it, our time here has been full of  doing the things we love.  It is amazing to think that we have only been to the wild side of the island once and done just one trip to the Yucatan.  Yet every night, our heads hit the pillows and there is a satisfied sigh as we sink into our nest.

As with last year we left the loudness of Carnaval in Cozumel for quiet, quaint, and tranquil Bacalar. The only evidence of Carnaval here this year was the filming of a popular novela (soap opera).

BACALAR

Carnaval float left over and used in filming the novela episode.

Lights! Camera! Action! The town turned out to catch a glimpse of the leading actors.  Amazing to watch the actors be so animated for the filming and then so tired looking when it was done. After watching for awhile we went home to enjoy our last quiet night before returning to Cozumel.  At 2:30 AM we were sure there was a full scale attack on Bacalar with huge booms and flashes of light.  It turned out that it was actually the last of the filming complete with fireworks.  They were sure working late!

While staying in Bacalar, we hired our favorite guide, Reggi, and Taxi #36 driver Candelaria for a day to visit 3 ruin sites. This last one was Chicanna. This site apparently was a "resort" for important Mayans.  We discovered a workshop there which made pottery. Thousands of shards all over the ground. In the photo are also several orchids which grew on virtually every tree surrounding the ruins. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands!The site is famous for the serpent's mouth sculpture (where Peggy is standing) which supposedly led to the lower underground world. The pyramids were pretty spectacular. The carvings amazing. The bottom photo shows the noses of the creatures on the corner of one pyramid.

 

Pottery shards and a couple of fallen orchids.

Peggy in the mouth of the serpent. Nice teeth, uh? I mean the Serpent, not Peggy!

Stairway up the building.

Great noses, no?

Part 2 Bacalar 2016

XPUHIL

Xpuhil is a small town near Bacalar and also the name of a Mayan ruin site. Cola de Gato means Tail of the Cat. While visiting the site, we met one of the caretakers, Leon (Lion) who has been volunteering there for 3 years.  What a hoot he was! 

 
Ed, Reggi, and Leon in front of the three towers of these ruins.

Peggy and Reggi in front of the narrow, steep stairway going up a secret passage in one tower.Peggy just hyperventilated a little bit with a little whining thrown in.

 
Reggi, at the top of the stairway, explaining to Peggy that this is probably where the king or queen did their blood-letting sacrifices. With that in mind, we didn't stay long!  

The first building done at Becan was in 550 BC!  It was the capitol of  the province and reached its peak in 600 AD. Becan had a huge moat about 15 feet deep and 48 feet wide around it, It was abandoned in 1200 AD.

 
Some very impressive pyramid building here.

Reggi showing us an Allspice tree that loses it's bark. The fruit (seeds) were used for its numbing qualtities. Maybe before a king had to pierce his tongue or something else!

Unexcavated stairs. The jungle just covers up everything.

From high atop a pyramid, we saw this lady using a wheelbarrow as a stroller.

Peggy comtempating how to scale this building without expending any effort! Or, maybe thinking about her previous life as a Mayan queen.

Huge orchids growing on trees.

More orchids.