Tulum

Chichen Itza is doubtless a more important archeological site, with the carvings and ball court and size and everything, but I really recommend getting to Tulum if you get a chance. It is beautiful.

Tulum is unique in being right on the sea. There is a wooden staircase you can take town to the beach. The view of the coast is great, but also turning around and looking away from the sea gives a gorgeous panorama. The Chichen Itza site is pretty flat, whereas Tulum is a bit hillier. I don't remember doing any really steep climbing, so it was not awful in that way, but it was definitely more picturesque because of that.

It was also significantly less crowded, even though we went fairly late in the day. The area we drove through seemed much less populated than either Chichen Itza or Playa Del Carmen, and it had a more peaceful feeling.

Another way it is different is the moisture. The vegetation is more lush, and the air is cooler. One thing Helaman pointed out is that you have many more representations of the rain god, Chaac, at Chichen Itza than at Tulum, because there was always a need for rain, and a real concern that they might not get it. Tulum was well-watered.

And of course, as I had mentioned earlier, Tulum is where you can still see painting. It is not completely without carving, but nothing like Chichen Itza.

Ultimately, I would hate to choose, so I am really glad we were able to do both, and that worked very well with Helaman Tours.

Chichen Itza

One one level I know I simply can't do justice to the sites, so I am not going to try. Nothing is going to match up to getting led around the site by Helaman (or one of his family members), although the Wikipedia site is pretty good. Still, I can't recreate being there.

So, this is more pictures than I usually post. I have really neglected http://harristravel.shutterfly.com/, but there are pictures of the Mexico trip now. Possibly they could be better organized. Otherwise, I am going to just highlight things.

One issue is the immensity of the site. It is large, with many buildings close together, and because they are so big you perhaps do not initially realize how large the site is. There's a lot of walking and a lot to see.

Do not get so overwhelmed by the mammoth that you do not look for the details. There are amazing carvings everywhere. Some jut out, some are more relief style. There are carved pillars and alters. There are flowers, eagles, jaguars, skulls, and gods. There are snakes everywhere.

Another thing to remember is that this is an active site of restoration and excavation. There are a few interesting things with this. One is that even though you cannot climb on the structures, there are pieces of them scattered everywhere, so you can often still get closer views. Also, they are still finding things. One of the pictures shows new digging, where they are finding out what this ruin was built on, because it is possible that it was built on something even older.

The field of Mayan archeology is still relatively new. As many sites as they have identified now, they are still finding new ones. Chichen Itza is an important site because of its size, and that things are relatively well-preserved, but there are a lot of things that the jungle could still be hiding, and a lot of things that the current sites could reveal. I think that lends things a certain amount of excitement.

Going earlier is valuable. This is a very popular site, and will attract a lot of people. It's worth getting up earlier.

Also, I have mentioned in earlier posts about Playa del Carmen how there is a lot of poverty and people really need to hustle. This is even more true in the area around Chichen Itza. At the hacienda where we ate lunch, there were baskets for tips on the tables, in the bathrooms, and held by the dancers. We drove by some dwellings that were the poorest I have ever seen. When you are entering and leaving the site, there are many souvenir vendors clamoring for you.

I can't resent it, because they need it. I tend to ignore it, which doesn't feel great, but seems necessary. It is certainly not possible to buy something from every one of them. I guess the appropriate response is compassion, and to treat them with dignity in their dealings. I am horrible at bargaining anyway, but here I realized that while getting a better deal may be a time-honored tradition, I don't want it enough.

I do not mean in any way to imply that you shouldn't travel because you will be exposed to other people's hardships, or that this exposure is an inevitable hardship that you have to tolerate for travel. Actually, I think it's an important part of the point of travel.

Helaman Tours

One of my regrets from the cruise was having to choose between Xcaret and Tulum, so Tulum was obviously a priority for this trip. However, realizing that Chichen Itza was in the area made that site an obvious priority as well.

We could have devoted two days to Mayan ruins, and considered that, but some sites indicated that you could do both. The other point of consideration was that we had some friends go and they had an LDS guide who explained how the ruins related to the Book of Mormon, and said that it was really good. Based on that, my searches led me to Helaman Tours. That ended up working out really well.

We got an unexpected taste of how it could have been. When we originally booked the tour, we had been open to being combined with another group to save money, but there were none available. Helaman found one the night before, so he called us and asked if that would be all right. That was fine. The only issue is that they were staying in Cancun, and we were in Playa del Carmen. He arranged for a taxi to pick us up (at his expense) and take us to a rendezvous point.

While we were there, there was also a broken down bus of Russian tourists. They were all standing around frowning and smoking, and no one seemed to know what was going on, including the bus driver, though some of that could have been the language barrier. The bus looked pretty worn down, with the replacement that finally came not being much better. We were relieved that this was not our group.

Next our van arrived. It was clean and running well and air conditioned. Our tour guide and driver had smiles for us. They handed us fresh bottles of water at every stop. Everything was clearly and easily communicated. This was already a good start.

Beyond that, there was so much information! We were expecting a combination of scripture and history, and we got that, but there was so much there. He had tide charts and language maps and he could explain things about how some of the traditions carried through with the people today. He not only told us about the history of the buildings, as much as they were known, but he could also explain when the sites were found, and the history of archeological study there, and the concentrations of other sites and how they were run and really, he just knew a lot of stuff.

So that was wonderful. It made the experience informative, but it was also spiritual, and everything was deeper. Obviously, that is of greater interest if you are LDS, but even if not I would recommend him, and he will gear the tour to your interests, and chances are that whatever your interest is he will be able to tell you something about it.

I will write separate posts about Chichen Itza and Tulum, but I will say that seeing them on the same day is good, because it allows you to compare and contrast. They are from different time periods, so Chichen Itza is all about the stone carvings, but Tulum came later, and they had moved more into painting on plaster.

We started at Chichen Itza and we started early. This was good, because it gets very crowded and very hot. You could see it really filling us as we were getting ready to leave. We then went to a lunch buffet at a nearby former hacienda. The food was really good, and we were also entertained by dancers. (Lunch was included in the tour price.)

After lunch, we went to Tulum. This continued to make sense, because although as the day gets later it gets hotter, Tulum has the advantage of being cooled by ocean breezes. Actually, we had some clouds coming in too, though it was still sunny, so that was pretty nice.

Afterwards, he dropped us back at the hotel. We got there around four, after leaving at about seven, so really that was quite a bit covered in the time allotted. I recommend the tour company and the sites. The other site that we did not go see, but which I have heard recommended, is Coba, and Helaman goes there too.

http://www.helamantours.com/
http://helamantours.blogspot.mx/

The night show at Xcaret

Going in to the evening show at Xcaret reminded me a lot of going in for the Hangi in New Zealand. We passed many people in various native costumes, which were fascinating, and gave it atmosphere, and you could take pictures, and none of mine came out. These pictures here are the clearest of the night, and I know they are not great. So, I will try and use my words, and you know, someone who can actually take good pictures has probably posted more.

Many of the performances that you can see at the park during the day are incorporated into the evening show. This doesn't mean that it is not worth seeing them during the day, when you will have better lighting and be closer, but the point is that there is a lot in the evening show, and a lot at Xcaret.

When you enter the arena they give you candles, and later when everyone is seated they take a light at the end of each row, and we light each other's candles. This is a nice sentiment, and it looks good, but my candle fell out of the holder before it was even lit, and then I could not find it. Maria gave me hers, and it got lit, and I lit Julie's. Hers went out almost immediately, so I lit her neighbor's, and then my lit candle fell out of the holder and went out, fortunately not burning or injuring anything on the way down. I'm not sure why we were so incompetent with the candles, but we clearly are.

Birds flew across the arena to start, and then two groups came in from opposite sides dressed as ancient Mayans. They greeted each other in ceremonial fashion and then had a ball game. It started out with just a ball, and later lacrosse sticks were added and they lit the balls on fire.

They then showed the Conquistadors coming, and fighting between the two sides. This was followed by the coming of the friars. Previously they had set up some blocks into pillars, representing the Mayan temples. The Catholic priests knocked these down and put up crosses in their place. Their transition into a sort of peace was that a Spaniard was playing a small stringed instrument, maybe a mandolin, and a Mayan was drawn to it and started to accompany him on the flute. 

Honestly, this was better than the Spaniards deserved, but that whole history would be hard to convey, and it wouldn't be a very feel-good moment. So, bad things happened that we will gloss over and come together with music, which is overly generous, but it leads us into the rest of the show, which will be very musical. 

At this point they started bringing out dancers in different costumes, doing different traditional dancers for the different regions. They brought out horses and riders, and ropers doing rope tricks, and then they showed the Papantla. 

For this, you have a tall pole with a platform on top. Five men are on the platform. One is playing an instrument, and they spin and then the other four cast off and they descend upside down as the rope gets longer. Just before they reach the ground they flip over. (I had initially thought the rope was around their feet, but it is actually around their waist.) When they were all on the ground, they held their ropes to steady the pole, and the last man came down on one of the ropes, but by hand.

Then it went kind of Brazilian Carnivale almost, with floats and dancers with sort of an island influence. I don't know if this represented part of Mexican history or not, but it ended with everyone from all of the numbers and flags from multiple nations, and at one point they released doves. It covered a lot. 

I am not sure if they had native dresses and dances from every Mexican state, but it covered a broad ground, and then thinking about how many people were involved and the jobs it provides made me feel a little better about things, because it is preserving the culture, and Xcaret is not just about preserving nature but also culture, so that was good. (It just might have felt different if I didn't read so much.)

Regardless, Xcaret is strongly recommended, and see as much of it as you can, of which the night show is huge.

Xcaret by day

http://www.xcaret.com/

Wednesday we went to Xcaret, an ecological park with animals, cultural displays, and lots of water activities. That was where Tara and I had gone on the cruise ship stop, mainly because I wanted to do the underground river swim, which we did. Julie and Maria had serious doubts about doing it. We took swimsuits along, but they decided against it. 

The problem with Xcaret is that you cannot do it all in one day. It is 40 acres, and they have a lot of stuff. That was one reason I wanted to come back after the first time--after all we had seen, there was still a lot left. I had originally thought that it would take two days, and then I was thinking that if you do stay the entire day, including for the night show, then it probably would be enough, but it turns out that you really cannot see it all in one day. 

It covers several acres, and there is a lot of everything. Actually, it kind of works as a microcosm of the Yucatan. You have archeological zones, which are basically different Mayan ruins. There are the big well known sites with multiple buildings, which took up our Thursday, but even when we got lost on the way to the Aviary we found the remains of an old building. They are so common, it appears that a lot of them do not get studied. Many of them are not easily accessible due to the surrounding jungle. You can see a few here in the park, and you can climb them, which you are not allowed to do at Chichen Itza.

There is also much of the flora and fauna of the area. There are bromeliads (orchids) and butteflies and bats, as well as much bigger animals. Some of the animals are just on regular display, but many are part of conservation and breeding programs. This is especially noticeable with the sea turtles, where they have turtles at different life stages in different pools, and they have release programs. We love turtles, so being able to see so many was big for us, and also knowing that those eggs and hatchlings aren't just going to get eaten, but that they have a chance of surviving and reproducing.

Navigation is a bit tricky. They gave us maps, and we thought we were following them, and there are signs that we thought we were following, and still, we would not end up where we thought we were going. One time we were just trying to get out of one area, and we suddenly found ourselves in an aquarium that we didn't even know was there. This may be part of why we could not see the whole thing, but I still think the biggest part of that is the vastness.

We saw the sea turtles, the coral reef aquarium, jaguars, flamingos, some of the archeological zones, the orchids, spider monkeys, tapir, deer, manatees, sting rays, and the bird breeding area. I think we passed by the mushroom farm without realizing it, as the scent of the fertilizer was quite strong and so we hurried faster. We definitely saw the fish and shrimp breeding area. 

We missed the butterfly pavilion, chapel, and cemetery, but I saw those last time. Because we stayed for the night show, we saw all of the various cultural demonstrations that you can see at other times during the day, like the costume demonstrations, dancing, riding, ball game, and Papantla flying men. However, we completely missed the Mayan Village, the underground river and snorkeling, the Paradise River ride (15-minute boat ride), the rotating scenic tower, the bats, the stained glass plaza, the house of whispers, and the museum of folk art, as well as the river swim. And those are all just what's included in general admission. You can purchase special activities separately, like encounters with dolphins, sharks, or sting rays, snuba or other underwater treks, a sweat lodge purification, or spa packages.

In addition to the sea turtles, the manatee was a big highlight for us. It was the first time I had seen one live. It's like a minibus floating there in the water. I know that sounds weird, but it's so massive to see, and yet so cute, and obviously gentle.

Also, there were iguana everywhere. I remembered this from last time too, but it is still pretty amazing. Out of the corner of your eye you keep seeing things scurrying across the ground and up trees, like squirrels, except they will also chill out and sun themselves on logs or benches, whereas our squirrels aren't as much into the sitting still.

So, Xcaret is strongly recommended, but realize there is a lot to do there, and you will need to decide that some things aren't important, or give yourself a lot of time. It is associated with two other parks, Xel-Ha, a large natural aquarium primarily for snorkeling, and Xplor, which is more of an adventure park. 

I am not not ruling out going back for all of them. 

Xaman-Ha Aviario

I will talk about the aviary, and I do recommend it, but the story about getting there is also valuable, because it teaches us some lessons about navigation in Playa del Carmen. I don't know how much this applies to the rest of Quintana Roo or Mexico, because any time we got out of town we had someone driving us.

One thing to know is that there are often not street signs. The streets to have names, because we had a map with street names on it, but when you don't know what the street is, it is hard to make it correlate to the map. We knew which street we started out on, because the hotel was on it, and there was one street leading off to the left, and then the aviary was up there. We assumed that was the one street that led into the gated community, except that it was a gated community. We kept going.

The other thing to know is that a lot of the names repeat. We came to the next street. There was a gate here too, but there was a lot more traffic, and it was not just housing. Just to be sure, we asked the men at the gate for directions, and they said to go up and curve around to the left.

The other thing that is important to know is that names repeat a lot. So, the aviary was Xaman-Ha, but also the school, neighborhood, street, and I think the section of beach, and maybe some other stuff. This is why, after we went up the street and curved around to the left and saw a stone marker that said Xaman-Ha, leading down a path, we went that way. It seemed reasonable. However, then it led us through some trees and to the beach, where we were now back on the other side of the gate where we asked directions.

Our next move was partly due to embarrassment, because walking by those people we asked for directions would clearly show failure on our part, but also, we were not sure we would not just get lost again, so we hailed a taxi and he took us right there.

It turns out that the street going through that gated community would have curved around by the school and tennis courts and connected with the main road, which, after curving around to the left, would have gotten us to the aviary. I don't know how GPS would fare down there, but that was our experience.

Once at the Aviary, it was fine. As I mentioned earlier, they get visitors from all over Europe and Asia. The admission did seem a little high, and I think either they only took cash, or they did not take US Currency (most do), so there was some issue with the payment, but it was relatively minor.

Really, it is not a big thing. There is just a little hut for admissions, another with bathrooms, and the paths are fairly rough, where it might not be particularly wheelchair accessible. The reason to go is for the birds. They have a lot, and you can get close. There were parrots, flamingos, spoonbills, vultures, egrets, pelicans, and many others. Also, though this is not a bird, there were some peccaries there, which are quite common for the area. The most important thing for me is that there was a toucan.

I don't know what it is about toucans for me, but I love them. I would like to feed one grapes. I don't know if they eat grapes, I know we were not supposed to feed them, but still, I got to see one up close. Initially he was far away, but I could still see him and take some pictures. Suddenly he flew and perched on a branch right in front of me, and just stayed there posing while I took pictures and told him how beautiful he was.

Ultimately, walking along rustic paths and looking at animals is totally my thing, and when you can get closer looks, it is even better. In this case, the bird was cooperative without being caged. He came to me. So it was awesome and I loved it, and it was worth it, even though we did get lost.

Return to Playa del Carmen

I have written recently in the other blog about learning that I need to plan far ahead for birthdays and holidays, because I just get too busy, especially for Halloween through my birthday. I remember one year in particular where I was working in online retail, but there was a manufacturing issue that caused huge delays in shipments, and for all of December the phone did not stop ringing. We did not get caught up on email until well into February.

As you can imagine, I was exhausted all the time, and an American Express Travel insert for Mexico came with the papers and I so wanted to go there. Many of the spots looked good, but it was the underground river at Xcaret that really tugged at me, as well as Mayan ruins. Still, it seemed impossible to go.

The DC trip was sort of a life-changing thing in that I realized, hey, I can go to places. I'm an adult with a job. Since that was Tara's idea, it made since to suggest a cruise to her, and part of that cruise did involve swimming the underground river and a Mayan pyramid (Dzibilchaltun).

As great as that trip was, I wanted to see much more of Xcaret than we did, and I wanted to go to Tulum, and there was just a lot more to see. Also, at our landing spot in Playa del Carmen, it was so beautiful. It was quiet, white sand beach, with every type of small boat imaginable in the harbor, and enchanting cabanas, and I wanted to go back.

It took a while, but trying to decide how to commemorate my 40th birthday, suddenly I realized that was what I wanted to do. I was working again, we were starting to travel again, and I could finally go back. Much to my surprise, Julie and Maria were on board. That meant I was going to put it off a week, because depriving my mother of three of her children on the day when one of them turned 40 seemed too much, but then I did not have to find someone else to take, so it all worked out.

The trip had its ups and downs. I thought Julie and Maria would not like it that much because they don't like hot weather. (I'm not that big on hot weather either, but I can handle it better.) There was definite heat, and lots of humidity, but we survived. We got to see more of Xcaret, and went to both Tulum and Chichen Itza, and there was other cool stuff, which I shall cover over the next few Saturdays. There was also a downside.

Playa del Carmen is no longer that sleepy, peaceful little town. It's kind of easy to see how it happened. The tourism got stronger, and it boomed. There has been a lot of new construction, and clearly they tried to expand so that there were other types of industry. That went bust. There were so many empty office buildings, available for purchase or rental.

The downside is that everyone has to hustle. From the airport to the hotels to the attractions, everyone is trying to book you on other things, and there are always timeshare-type presentations, because most of the resorts are all-inclusive resorts. We want you to consider us, so come and we will feed you and give you a discount on your excursion, and you will listen to our pitch.

It is worse on the streets. There are people constantly calling to you. They will give you a massage, braid your hair, give you a once in a lifetime deal on jewelry, and I believe there are more corrupt experiences available as well. It's exhausting. It gives you some great service - we had the best taxi driver ever - but it wears you down to constantly be saying no, and constantly be asked, and also the realization of the desperation underneath it.

And you know, we are not rich, but to them, we are. We're vacationing in a foreign country, and honestly, they don't get that many people from the United States. Most people guessed we were Canadian, but most of the other tourists we were seeing were from Europe and Asia. The guest book at the Aviary had people from Belgium and Luxembourg and there was a huge tour group from Russia that we encountered on our way to Chichen Itza.

And they value the tourists. Quintana Roo was like the only Mexican state without a travel advisory on it while we were there. There is a strong (paramilitary) police presence, and we knew we were very safe the entire time. It was just also a little sad.

Some of the resorts around Tulum had kind of the old feel, like there might still be peace and quiet there, and Playa del Carmen is still quieter and safer from Cancun, as far as I can tell, but it was eye-opening, I guess.

Anyway, none of this is to say it was a bad trip, and it should be obvious after the next few posts that it was not, and that I am still willing to go back. (I still haven't seen all of Xcaret; there is just a lot to it.) I guess I just wish for a kinder and more prosperous world, for wherever I go. That part of me does not take vacations.