Chichen Itza to CampecheMay 21, 2008
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Our building at Hacienda Chichen Itza - shared with three others.
A view from the top of the pyramid in Izmal.
At the hacienda
At Uzmal
21st March Chichen Itza to Campeche
Another interesting day. Our first stop was at Izmal which is a town where as time has passed the inhabitants have built on top of the Mayan ruins. The result is a pleasing yellow painted town with a number of visible or overgrown pyramids and a convent which is built on top of one. It is not possible to see the latter as it just forms the platform (not very high) on which the convent is built. I expected they used all the stone in the new buildings. We climbed the largest pyramid and it was refreshing as it was free, provided that we didn’t take our guns in there!
The next stop was at a much decayed hacienda. There was a boom period when a plant similar to sisal was farmed and this hacienda was built as a farm. It was left in the 1950’s when the bottom fell out of the market as synthetic substitutes appeared. It looks as if it hasn’t been touched since. The caretaker, in response to some Spanish pleasantries, offered to show us the factory complete with steam engine. Even the outbuildings had cornices and statues.
Then another Mayan site at Utzmal. This one used a different construction method to the others. They are all worth visiting as they are all different. This one allowed us to climb some structures and had particularly good bas relief sculptures of the rain god Chac’s face.
On to Campeche where our room has a sea view. Some car maintenance is going on as I write – the wheels are all being moved round and some greasing is going on. I have done some interior car cleaning. The vacuum cleaner equivalent is Charlotte with a dustpan and brush. Later we will go and explore this once walled Spanish city.
