Day 3 we were in Costa Maya and went to see some Mayan ruins, called Chacchoben. When talking to friends prior to the trip, we were told that the ruins are all basically all the same, so do the easiest. We picked the one that was an hour from the port and not the one that was 3 hours from the port plus a ferry ride.
Our tour guide was great. These guys live in the city, which is about 2 hours, so they commute every day (that a cruise ship is in). How they discovered these ruins was they were looking for more chicle trees. The Mayans would cut the trees and chicle would come out---this isn't the gum that we know, we have added flavor and sugar, but the Mayans would use this to clean their teeth. Once you have got all the chicle out, then you have to wait for 10 years until it will produce again. They also cut another tree to get some ingredient which they used for their plaster. It is fascinating to hear how people use the plants and what the land provides them. While we know the Mayans did some great things, they were also pretty terrible people...sacrificing their children for the hope of having it rain.
They were very into symbolism and purposeful in everything.
Here is a mound that has some dwelling underneath. This is how they look when they discovered them. When the Mayans left an area, they would bury the dwellings.
These were incredibly steep stairs and tall stairs. They either had extremely long legs (not likely) or lazy and didn't want to make more steps.
Spider monkeys like to hang out here.
Some of the plaster is still on the pyramids and it was red too.
They would put estelas in front of the pyramids, which tell their story of their king.
The Spanish conquered the Mayans and took all the estelas, which they put into 5,000 books. The Spaniards then decided they didn't the Mayans to remember their history and traditions, so they burned the books. There are 4 books left in the world. Spain owns one, Germany owns another, and I can't remember who owns the other 2.
On our way back to the port, we stopped and the guides got us some of the most delicious pineapple ever and some dragonfruit--it was like kiwi.
We got back to our ship and then ate some dinner.
Gramps and Grandma got the guys Hawaiian shirts for the cruise.
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