November 26-December 3, 1994

November 26-December 3, 1994

Aimee and I flew to Cancun, Mexico for a week of sunshine. We stayed at the Westin hotel just north of the Club Med resort I stayed at many years ago. Most nights we took the local bus up the strip towards town to have dinner and also to shop.

As a break from the beach, we signed up for a tour to the World Heritage site of Chichen Itza, a one-time capital of the original sun worshippers of the area, the ancient Mayans. This city in the middle of the Yucatan jungle is an historical wonder. The ruins look like they were recently discovered and hacked out of the surrounding jungle. The centerpiece of the complex is the main pyramid of Kukulkan. The stairs are very steep, so steep we have to crawl up them. Aimee gets part way up and has a change of heart. In the small temple at the apex is the red Jaguar Throne, a chair in the shape of this predator.

The bottom of the steps has a large dragon-like head on each side. On the Equinox a shadow appears down the side of the steps giving this head a long tail making it look like a long snake.

There are other notable attractions surrounding the main pyramid. To the east is the Temple of Warriors, a smaller pyramid with two colonnades of columns. It is more reminiscent of Rome and Greece versus Maya.

To the northwest is the Ball Court with stands on both sides that looks somewhat like a high school football stadium. It is the largest and best-preserved ball court in Mesoamerica.

To the south is the Sacred Well. This is a large Cenote or steep-sided sinkhole that exposes the water table almost 100 feet below. This source of water was apparently a place of pilgrimage for the Maya. They made sacrifices here during times of drought. Divers have discovered lots of precious artifacts and a few skeletons from the depths.

Farther south is El Caracol, a round-topped pyramid with an internal staircase that is theorized to be an early version of an Observatory.

The best part of visiting Mayan ruins is the elaborate decoration of carved relief figures and hieroglyphic script on the walls. They are mostly stylized depictions of kings, warriors and jaguars. All were originally painted with colorful pigments. It must have once been a stunningly impressive site.

Unfortunately the Mayan culture must have been a violent one as some of the relief carvings depict human sacrifice. One platform (obviously used for sacrifice) is decorated entirely with human skulls.

Later in the week, I signed up for a day of deep-sea fishing. The boat left Cancun and first stopped at an offshore reef so the Mexican crew could fish. They caught a bunch of small reef fish. I soon learned that this was to be my bait for larger fish. Once in the deep sea, I caught a 40-pound Amberjack. I didn’t realize how hard it is to pull in a large fish. My arms were noodles by the time I got him on board.