CHAPTER 5
Well, yet again we have come to the realization that what we were taught in history class was wrong. I remember going on a school field trip to the Denver Museum of Natural History (which is what it used to be called before they changed the name) when I was in 4th or 5th grade. The exhibit we saw was on the Aztecs, a fierce tribe of warriors in central Mexico, who were obsessed with cutting out people’s hearts and rolling their bodies down the huge pyramids they built. Turns out there never where any “Aztecs”. The people we were learning about are actually called the Mexica. That is what they called themselves, and that is what the other indigenous peoples of Mexico called them. Even the Spanish conquistadors called them their real name. It’s where the name of the country comes from.
It wasn’t until some pompous European archeologist in the 19th century renamed them on a whim, and forever corrupted the historical understanding of generations of innocent school kids (“Aztec” comes from the word Aztlan, the legendary home and origin of the Mexica peoples). Its the same stupid renaming that we have been dong for hundreds of years. Why do we call Germany “Germany”, when they call it Duetschland? Why do we call football “soccer”? Why do we spell Brazil with a “z”, when they spell it with an “s”? And I feel really sorry for all those immigrants who walked into Ellis Island all smiles and hope, but walked out named “Smith” or “Jones”. (Consequently, just after I wrote the last sentence, I looked it up, and there is actually a pretty good reason why we call it Germany- click here– and the stories from Ellis Island are a big myth –here-, but, regardless, the Aztecs, or the Mexica rather, still got the short end of the naming stick).
Our goal is to try and see a representative sample of ancient ruins from the major cultures throughout Central and South America, so that we can compare and contrast their histories, architecture, and their way of life, without seeing too many sites that we become “ruined” with ruins. Though they are definitely all different, you’d be surprised at how quickly these sites start to run together in terms of function and form and grandeur. Sitting in your office cubicle reading this you might think I’m crazy when I tell you that we only spent about 2 hours walking around the world famous Chichen Itza, after it took us a month to drive there. But with all the hype it receives from the outside world, it really wasn’t any more impressive than many of the other sites, and you could probably attribute most of its fame to its proximity to the overcrowded resorts of Cancun and Cozumel. Now, don’t get me wrong, each and every site was amazing on its own, and we felt privileged to get to see any of them, let alone all of them, but if anyone is planning on doing a trip similar to ours, just be aware that you can get too much of a good thing. All that being said, I think we did a pretty good job…
Starting in central Mexico we saw the sites of Xochicalco, the Templo Mayor in downtown Mexico City, and the enormous ruined city of Teotihuacan with the Temples of the Sun and the Moon (the Temple of the Sun is the 3rd largest pyramid in the world). Once we arrived in El Mundo Maya- the area stretching from the Yucatan of Mexico south to El Salvador and western Honduras- we saw a plethora of fascinating sites including Palenque, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, and Tikal. One of the main differences, at least on a superficial enjoyment level, is that the Mayan ruins are typically located in remote off the beaten track places, surrounded on all sides by dense jungle. Indeed, the ruins have been literally extracted from the belly of the carnivorous jungle through decades of painstaking work by dedicated archeologists, who have, brick by brick, restored the temples to their former majesty. If left to their own sinister nature, you can be sure that the trees and vines would devour the buildings again, within only a few short years. You got the feeling that if you stood in one place too long, you would look down and see tendrils of vines starting to snake their way up your pant leg.
We felt a surreal sense of unseen primordial forces at work as we walked between the towering temples and crumbled façades of the lesser unrestored building. The jungle has its own heart beat, the trees and flowers gave off unusual smells that we weren’t used to, the toucans darting through the canopy added streaks of color to the mottled green backdrop, and the incessant roaring of the howler monkeys made the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Before we knew where the sound was originating, Kacey asked me “Surely there aren’t lions in Guatemala?”. That’s how loud and ferocious they were, it sounded like we were in the Big Cats cage at the zoo right before feeding time. All of these senses added together gave the ruins a vibrant life of their own- at any moment, a troop of Mayan warriors could have walked around the next curve in the trail, brandishing their spears and axes, and it wouldn’t have seemed out of place in the least.
Of all the archaeological sites we have visited thus far, the giant city of Tikal in Guatemala has to be one of our favorites. Though only a small percentage of the buildings have been excavated or even mapped, the site covers an area of over 23 square miles, and had an estimated 200,000 inhabitants at its peak in the middle of the first millennium AD. It is the epitome of ancient Mayan ruins, with steep pyramids pushing their way up through the dense foliage, carved stone stelae depicting rulers and warriors, and hidden passageways and tunnels- the whole park had a decidedly Indiana Jones feeling to it. We spent two days camping at the park entrance, returning to the various temples at different times of day to get the full effect of the morning and evening light. On our first morning there, we entered the gates early and found our way along the jungle trails to Temple V. Climbing a rickety wood staircase, which was steep enough to be considered a latter in some places, we emerged at the top of the temple. Looking out over the Guatemalan jungle, we could see the tops of four other pyramids looming above the canopy, slowly dissolving out of the morning mist. Knowing that in Mayan times, only the high priests and rulers were allowed to witness this transcendental awakening of the jungle only added to our sense of awe.
I’m not sure if it was the low season, or if Tikal is just too remote, but part of the reason we enjoyed it so much was the utter lack of other tourists. At one point we sat in a temple complex writing in our journals and reading our books for over two hours, and we only saw one other person the whole time, a park ranger briefly walked by on his way to lunch. Now, compare that to Chichen Itza: throngs of sunburnt tourists, all wearing various neon colored bracelets depending on what all-inclusive resort they came from, following suave looking guides who have to yell so everyone can hear them, making the predictable progression from pyramid, to ball court, to temple, through the wide dusty gravel paths lined with hundreds of street vendors, all hawking the same “authentic” Mayan trinkets…
All in all, we have come away from the ruins of Mexico and Central America with a feeling of awe and respect. These cultures have produced monumental temples and pyramids, which have miraculously stood the test of time, but this is only part of the story- their achievements in engineering and horticulture, astronomy and religion, are difficult to understand and even harder to appreciate just by seeing these stone buildings in our photos. To truly comprehend the magnitude of these cultures, you need to go and experience these wonders for yourself.
Prev ChapterNext Chapter
