Mexico

With Colombia behind me, I headed to Cancun, Mexico to meet up with Amanda (she was in Chicago visiting family while I was in Bogota visiting friends). We stayed at a typical holiday resort - this one called the Royal Mayan. It was the usual mix of beach, swimming pools, and hotel suites.





Actually, the week was surprisingly fun and really busy. We took advantage of all the activities and amenities. We were body surfing at the beach, swimming in the pool, played beach volleyball, tennis,



and took some sailing lessons with their fun little boats. In fact, on Friday we joined the weekly "regatta" and came in first place! That was pretty fun.



For something with a little more substance we headed out for a day trip to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. The place was amazing! Not only a huge site, but the artifacts were really great. The main event of Chichen Itza is the central pyramid, built as a testimony to the Mayan's prowess of astronomy. For example, the pyramid has four sides, each with 91 steps (so 4 x 91), and then there is the top level where they all meet (+ 1), so that's 4 x 91 + 1 = 365, and there were other astrological significant elements built into the pyramid.



This was also one of the sites where the Mayans would do human sacrifices. See that reclining stone figure at the bottom of this next picture? You may need to click on the image to bring it up a little larger. Anyway, that's the exact spot where the high priest would hastily cut into his victim's chest and pull out the heart while it's still beating and place it on the altar.



And it wasn't just human sacrifice by having your heart cut out while you were still conscience to see it happen, but they also bound virgins by the wrists and ankles and cast them into a deep natural well while adorned with lots of heavy stone jewelery. Those who were sacrificed were held in the highest esteem. To give your life in a bid to appease the gods was considered the pinnacle of altruism.

We finished the week in Cancun with our days filled with sun and fun. Then all too quickly it came to an end and here I am at the airport in Mexico City waiting between flights wishing I'd taken the time an even LONGER adventure. Well, maybe next time.