Sunday 19 June 2011

Mayan Ruins Round-up

My time in Mexico is almost at an end. I will be writing my final Mexican blog in the next few days, describing my adventures during this final week. Beforehand though, a small entry focused on the numerous Mayan ruins I have visited during my short time in this fascinating country.

Exploring these vast ancient sites has been one of my favourite activities over the last month. The sheer scale of these magnificent structures is incredible, especially when you consider that some were first constructed as early as 250BC. The Maya architects, sculptors and builders were true geniuses in their fields (and would still be today): the planning and design is faultlessly in sync with the Mayan belief system and astronomical calendar, the decoration is so intricate and ornate, and, perhaps most impressively, the buildings are still standing today, after all those years.

I managed to visit eight sites in total - Tulum, Coba, Chichen Itza, Ek Balam, Uxmal, Edzna, Calakmul and Palenque - all completely astounding in their own unique way. When you consider that there may be more than 4,000 Mayan ruin locations throughout Central America though, it becomes clear that I have barely scratched the surface (new sites are still being discovered and excavated all the time, so no one really knows the true number). Still, I feel lucky to have been able to see the few I did.

I've already written about most of these places in previous blogs (Tulum, Coba and Chichen Itza here. Uxmal and Calakmul here) and I recently authored a ´Top 5 Mexican Mayan Ruins' article along with a companion piece 'On the Trail of the Maya' for Journey Latin America's online magazine. Please, have a look and let me know what you think.

I don't want to repeat what I've already written so, instead, here's a brief summary of the ruins I visited, in order of personal preference:

Calakmul was phenomenal. Well worth the long, arduous journey and uncomfortable night in the jungle that was required to get there. It was the biggest and the best, and boasts a great location; in the middle of a rainforest biosphere, surrounded by thick jungle as far as the eye can see. Close second, Palenque. Another jungle location, and grand, fully-excavated structures combined with smaller constructions still hidden beneath the trees. Uxmal and Coba finish joint third. The former has a bit of everything - a 74 room, two-storey quadrangle and great views from the top of the Gran Piramide being the highlights. Coba has less to see, but beats Uxmal on the views front - the vista from the top of 42m high Nohoch Mul is outstanding. Edzna is very close to third spot - one of the smaller sites but the main building is stunning and the green surrounds very pleasant to wander around in. The main structure at Ek Balam is also very beautiful, with some of the best decoration and carvings. A lot of the excavation work is ongoing, though, so there's not a huge amount to see right now. In another few years, Ek Balam will move up this list. Chichen Itza should probably occupy a higher spot too - El Castillo is possibly the most lovingly and authentically restored Mayan building on the whole peninsula - but it is a victim of its own popularity and suffers from the number of tourists and hawkers that occupy the site. Unlike many other sites, Chichen Itza can't offer the isolation that is required to mentally transport yourself back to the time of the Maya. Tulum, perhaps surprisingly, comes in last. This is because I am judging these sites based mainly on the quality of their ruins. If this was a list by location, Tulum would be the undisputed number one - perched on a clifftop, with a white-sand beach, overlooking the turquoise oasis of the Caribbean Sea.

So, that's my two cents worth. This list may get reshuffled at a later date - especially as I still have the famed ruins of Tikal (amongst others) to visit in Guatemala.

Adios for now. Watch this space for my final Mexican blog - coming in the next few days - and for any more links to other external articles I get published. Hopefully those two pieces for Journey Latin America will be the first of many!

PS. Just quickly, a note about 'Following' my blog. When I first set it up I mistakenly believed that 'followers' would get an email notification whenever I published a new entry. Annoyingly, it turns out this isn't the case. Still, I've managed to get around this issue by setting up the following Google Group - http://groups.google.com/group/tennetstravels - if you have a Gmail address and want to receive automatic notifications, all you have to do is follow this link, click 'join group' and select the bottom 'Email' option.

Okey doke, now for a small selection of my favourite Mayan ruin pictures:

Tulum

Tulum

Tulum

Coba

Coba

Coba

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

Uxmal

Uxmal

Uxmal

Uxmal

Edzna

Edzna

Edzna

Palenque

Palenque

Palenque

Palenque

Palenque

Calakmul

Calakmul

Calakmul

Calakmul

Calakmul

Calakmul

3 comments:

  1. Your pictures are wonderful!!! You have a lot of talent my dear. It makes me live my trip all over again everytime I read your blog...thank you !!! xxx

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  2. Lovely photo's son (as always) hope you are well and all is going okay. Let us know how the Spanish goes.

    Lots of love, Dad & Fay xxxx

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  3. Good work Jamesy. Brilliant photographs and not a tourist in sight ;-) crowd control?!

    Where's next?

    XX

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