Fri 21 Oct - Uxmal ruins and our 1st cenote

Finally we made it to Uxmal on Friday.  We hired a local mayan guide, nicknamed Gama.  He was full of stories about the mayan way of life.  He said he had been brought up attending mayan ceremonies and that now he is called upon to help create them by other local mayans. 


Gama taught us to count to three in mayan:   un pe, ca pe, osh pe;  and how to say thank you:  yum boh teek.  


He also showed us how clapping our hands in front of the main pyramid, the magicians temple, caused a strange echo that sounded apparently like a ketsel bird, the same as donates its tailfeathers for the ceremonial headdresses.   According to Gama it is the minerals in the limestone that cause this echo.


We learned that in the active days of Uxmal, the priest or leader had to climb the steps up the pyramid in a diagonal manner, as climbing straight up would offend the sun gods.  Crikes, even climbing straight up would have been a perilous venture as the steps are so narrow and steep!


The Magicians Pyramid is also called the thrice built pyramid.  This is because it has been added to twice.. for the mayans, every 52 years they need to finish buildign on one temple and start a new one.  So Magicians Pyramid consists of 3 stages, with the bottom temple, middle temple and top temple.


A lot of thought was put into the design of the temples and shadow alignment.  There is evidence of this in the side ‘rails’ of the steps up the pyramid.  On the days of the equinox (March/Sept 21st) , at sundown, shadows are created alongside the steps of the magicians pyramid that curve like a snake, culminating at the base in stone shaped as a serpents head.  Similarly, the Paloma (dove/pigeon) temple, has snake shadows at noon on Dec 21st.


When we were told we would see the SayBah (sp?) tree, depicting the mayan universe, I thought we would see a scuplture. The Mayan name for this tree is Ya Ax Che – with the usual sh sound for the ‘x’.   I was surprised to see that there was an actual tree, quite large, but normal nonetheless.  The SayBah tree does sound strangely hollow when you knock on it, unusual for a live tree.  Gama showed us artistic depictions of the tree, with 9 roots growing down as the gods of the underworld, a trunk symbolising Earth, and 13 branches reaching towards the heavens.  This fascinated Andy and Ben and they spent a while with Gama understanding the different names and stories of these gods.


The rain god Chaac is the most special god in the mayan ruins on the Puuc route.  This is because this area is higher elevation and receives less rainfall than other mayan regions.  The images of the rain god Chaac are everywhere, characterised by a hooked nose that either faces downwards (producing a cup shape) when the image is praying or asking for something … or faces upwards (producing an upside down cup shape) when thanking the heavens. 


Driving past the edge of a small pueblo on the Ruta Puuc (mayan ruins route), we came across signs for a cenote, something high on our list of things to see.  We pulled up into what appeared to be a long driveway, nothing but a grass and dirt track offering respite to a few nibbling goats.  An old woman watched us with curiosity as she reclined against a wall in the local mayan attire of white cotton dress with colorful emboidery at the tops and bottom edges.


For a moment we figured we’d made a wrong turn, but when asked, the old lady smiled and nodded down the grass and dirt path saying it would curve to the right and lead to the cenote.  A couple kilometers down the path, as we feared we might be destroying the poor car’s undercarriage, a sign appeared to mark our destination.


When we arrived at the cenote, we were the only people there.  We saw a steel rail and wooden platform erected at the mouth of the cenote.  As we stood at its edge and looked down, we saw what must have been about a 30 ft descent to the lower platform inside the cave.   I wondered for a second if I must be insane to let me 5 year old descend the narrow and slippery spiral steps into the cave – just slightly protected by the wide-set rails from a nasty demise. 


Before there was more time to think, 2 splashes filled the air as Justin and Andy wasted no time in diving into the pitch black water.  On further inspection, the water proved to be crystal clear – in fact we could see every detail of Justin and Andy’s bodies as clearly as if they were standing next to us in the sunlight.  But the cenote was quite deep and therefore appeared black beyond their bodies.  Sam was next to fling himself in.  Ben and I were a little more anxious about swimming in pitch black water, not knowing what creatures may lie within.  We each took our turns diving in, nobody wanted to be left out of the experience, but Ben and I spent most of our time watching.  The water was pleasantly refreshing, cool, clear and even soft, if that can be said of swimming water.  Tree roots hung down to the water from the ‘ceiling above us and through the open skylight great green trees peered down over us.  The walls of the cave dimpled and shimmered, creating artwork with shadows and stalactites.





Soon Andy and Sam started climbing further up the spiral stairs and cannon-balling into the water below.  Justin had determined that the water was at least 20 meters deep all round us.  We watched as he swam downwards into the inky darkness to try to touch the bottom – he never did, but we could see him clearly from head to toe as far as he could swim. 





The day grew longer and the loss of sunlight made a great impact, sending more and more of the cave into the shadows.  It was time to go.  If we didn’t leave soon, Andy and Sam might have been jumping from the height of the cave entrance in a few more minutes.





On the way home, it was very dark.  We were nervous about getting back to Merida on the windy roads dotted with construction.  In the end it took us a couple of hours, we were pretty tired and hungry.  We got back to the hostel and the children told all of our fellow travelers about their experiences.


Later that evening,  a large orchestra began to play in the Grand Plaza across from our hostel.  We watched and listened from our little balcony above, like royalty in an opera box.