The next day at the beach was beautiful! It is incredible how the sun can change the whole feel of the place! This was by far my favorite day. We got up early and I somehow tricked Kathy into riding her bike with me to the beach property. What I didn't know is that the beach road (although it went straight there) had so many potholes from rain damage, that we had to wade through many of them! We made pretty good time, and I really enjoyed seeing the scenery by bike (of course!) Kathy did awesome and I am sure we will do it again!
Don't need any gears...its flat! We stopped for limonada at a local restaurant and just enjoyed the view! Then headed on to the beach property again. It was just stunning with the beautiful sky!
While we were there the workers were adding this overhang to the upper level to provide shade. Watched a worker balance on one foot on top of a ladder while hammering...scary!!
We had a bit of a scare when the car keys got wet! Because it had a faab, we couldn't get the door open!!! Kathy and I caught a ride to the house down the way. They were going to go into town and we thought, well, we can get the spare keys and take a cab back! Luckily it took a while, because while we were doing that the faab dried out and we were able to get into the vehicle...quite the scare!
That evening we went to Karlitas. She is a spunky woman with tons of plans and dreams for her little restaurant! The service was not so good, but the food was good! Who would have thought that chili and margaritas were a good pairing? :)
That night we played a completely fun and inappropriate game, Cards Against Humanity. Was quite the laugh!
The next day we went on a tour of Chuacchoben. It is one of the many Mayan ruins on the Yucatan. Josh and I love to soak up history, and the tour was really good! It started at the jade museum and we learned about how Jade was used in ancient times.
Then we rode in a van to the ruins, about 40 minutes away. Josh and I just people watched for a while and realized how awful americans must look. We watched a cruise ship come in and all the obese, old, american tourists unloaded. Made me think about those hard working Mexican workers at the beach house!
During our van ride we learned about Mayan history. Their ability to read the starts is unprecedented...they are known as the best astrologers in the world. Their calendar and the atomic clock only deviate by mere seconds...amazing!
Most of the structures at Chacchoben were arranged to mirror the stars. At certain points during the lunar cycle the moon would perfectly align with the two spires on the top of their temples. We also learned that there are ruins all over the peninsula - even in farmers fields! They were only recently discovered because of a topographical satellite. Mexico is flat, so when scientists saw hills, they knew there had to be ruins underneath! Most of the artifacts are still unearthed...not until the 70s was this area even discovered!
The trees were just immense in the city center!!
We learned that ancestors were buried under each step of their houses. Each step was a different generation that led to cottages made of wood. The Mayans loved color, so she described red temples, white houses and blue stairs.
What a humbling experience, and so fun to learn about the culture of Mexico!
No comments:
Post a Comment