Uxmal and Kabah

I arrived in Merida last night and was met by Tere, my driver and guide while in Mexico, at the airport. I was driven to my hotel for the next three nights, which turned out to not be a hotel at all, but a hacienda. It is an amazing place, with very old rooms and an incredible restaurant that serves local dishes. I was up early this morning at the suggestion of Tere to beat the crowds to Uxmal. It was a great suggestion, as I was one of the first visitors this morning, and for the first half hour or so, we were the only ones in sight. On the way, I was given some facts about the Maya of which I was not aware. For instance, the name "Maya" actually means (paraphrased) "I have no idea what the hell you are talking about." They were given that name by the Spanish because that was the reply the Spaniards got when they first came upon someone and asked them in Spanish what they called themselves. I don't know if that's actually true or not, but it sure makes for a good story.

At any rate, at Uxmal, upon entering the site and climbing up several stairs, you are immediately dwarfed by the Wizard's Pyramid, the largest structure at the site.


Wizard's Pyramid at Uxmal.

We continued walking around the site, and soon the heat became a bit unbearable (it eventually hit 102F/39C). We did make it all the way to the top of the pyramid that you could climb and had this spectacular view of the entire site:



Panoramic view of Uxmal.

After Uxmal, we made the short drive to Kabah, another Mayan ruins. This one was much smaller, but had several similarities to Uxmal, which wasn't surprising because they were only located 11km from one another. What was surprising were all of the differences, including the steps (here they were made out of the rain god's nose and face in certain places) as well as several built in statues of people and warriors in their warrior outfits. Uxmal really didn't have statues at all. They just had tons of rain gods in all sorts of various locations. At any rate, here is a panoramic view of Kabah:



View of Kabah.




Kabah.

To end the day, we made it back to Merida where we drove through the main cemetery in town. All of the crypts were colorfully painted with bright neons and pastels. For a cemetery, it was a surprisingly cheerful place! Then we went to the archeological museum and saw several artifacts from the area ranging in date from the prehistoric to the late Mayan ages. After that I was returned to my hotel where I enjoyed a relaxing massage before dinner! All in all, an amazing first day in Mexico! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!


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