We had a shore excursion booked to visit the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben, aka the "Place of the Red Corn". An interesting bus ride down some very straight and vacant highways led us to the partially-excavated village, consisting of several large Mayan buildings in the jungle.
Chacchoben was only unearthed in 1973, and has been open to the public for about a decade. As far as Mayan ruins go, it is relatively new and only a small portion of the overall settlement has actually been excavated. All the same, the ruins were quite spectacular, and we had a fabulous guide of Mayan descent (gracias, Lisbeth!) who shared the history and culture of her people.
She also explained the whole recent "2012 is the end of the world" kerfuffle, from the Mayan perspective. Our calendar is reasonably accurate, we're only off by six hours a year, requiring the inclusion of a leap year every four years to catch up. By contrast, the Mayan calendar is so ridiculously accurate that it is only off by 16 seconds a year. This means they only need a leap year every 5,125 years. It just so happened that 2012 was a Mayan leap year...in fact the FIRST Mayan leap year in history. Enter mass chaos.
Not an end, but a beginning. As Lisbeth put it, it is a chance for us all to be better for the next 5,125 years.
Following the tour, we returned to the small retail village at the Port. I bartered in my lame Spanish, at least an opportunity to practice. Pleased with my self for talking the vendor down considerably (the starting prices are known to be high with room to move), I quickly learned a Valuable Lesson #1 - KNOW THY CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE.
The nice older gentleman Elladio was so painfully agreed to the lower his prices just turned around and charged me the original rate once he converted to pesos for the Visa transaction. Only a difference of about $20, but still.
The corollary would be Valuable Lesson #1(b) - bring enough cash so that you don't need to use plastic and convert to pesos, then you know exactly how much you are spending.
Bienvenido a Mexico!
Costa Maya - The Mayan Coast
Pineapple season
Highway to Mayans
Chacchoben ruins
Mayan-aise temple
Mayan ruins or Elvish terrace?
Spider Monkey,Spider Monkey....
It's the End of the World As We Know It....and I feel fine!
....does whatever a Spider Monkey can....
"Lugar del maiz colorado" = "The Place of the Red Corn" in Spanish = "Chacchoben" in Mayan
Is that your house, or Mayan???
Wet Bar (no dolphins allowed)
Dueling dolphins at (Norwegian) Dawn
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1 comment:
I really have to get down to see the Mayan ruins. There really is so much to see and not enough time.
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