day 2...mayan ruins

We were picked up at our resort just before 8:00 a.m. to begin our day looking at some Myan ruins. We had previously booked with an LDS tour guide named Helaman (yes, that is really his name and he has a son named Nephi) and went with two other couples from nearby hotels. We had heard so many good things about Helaman tours from friends and were so happy we got Helaman himself as our guide. He was so knowlegeable and fun. He kept us on our toes with questions from the Old Testament and Book of Mormon. So much about the history that I never knew.

We traveled for about an hour and a half into the jungle and stopped first at Ek Balem. It was a great place, and not crowded with tourists as some of the other sites. It was hot and dusty but this was my favorite stop of the two we made that day. You could walk and climb on the buildings and temples and the views were amazing.

Throughout the day I was constantly amazed at the intricate carvings made by this people so long ago. I loved learning how intelligent they were in astronomy with their calendars, their numbers and symbolism. It was great to see how the scriptures made so many of these things make sense. I was facinated all day long.




This was our tour group for the day. One couple was from Salt Lake and one was from Calgary. They were a lot of fun to talk with through our travels. It was great to be with some other LDS couples.

This building was known as the palace. It is where the king and his priests lived. We were able to climb it (these Mayan's loved stairs!)

The next building was the temple. I thought the first set of stairs was tough. Good grief. My legs are still wondering what on earth I was thinking yet as I try to convince them it's ok to move today. It was quite steep and as I am afraid of heights I wondered if I could do it. Going up was easier than coming down. I found I did better when I only concentrated on the step below me. Less vertigo that way.

A view from the top

coming down

After leaving Ek Balem, we traveled about forty minutes to Chichen Itza. This site was very commericial and busy. We had a great lunch and began our tour. The thing that amazed me most about this site was how much the Mayan's became interested in idolotry. They were just a blood thirsty people and the human sacrifices that went on were very unsettling.

Years ago you used to be able to climb these ruins, but no so today. To tell you the truth I was very relieved about that by this point.

This is the observatory. Their ability to use calendars was amazing and this building still shows the change of every season.

At Chichen Itza there were lots of vendors selling things, and at times it was difficult to focus on the ruins. The hardest part were how the children came up to you to sing and sell things. They were hard to resist. At one point we stopped to hear these two sing a song in the Mayan language. We tipped them, but then they followed us around for awhile trying to sell us things. They were so sweet, and should have probably been in school, I just wanted to take them home with us.

There were carvings of the face of Caac, the rain god everywhere. When you walk through this hot, dry area with little foilage and no nope of water in sight, I would see how rain would have been a major concern for them.

Despite the twelve hour day, the heat and THE STAIRS, it was an amazing day. I learned so much and loved seeing places I had never seen before. Thanks Helaman, I would recommend anyone who wants to have an incredible day seeing the ruins in this area to look him up. You won't be disappointed.

Shortly before we returned to our resort Helaman said we had to try mexican ice cream. He pulled off the side of the road and got some. Perfect ending to a hot fun day.