Maya ruins, Chocolate and more

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After a quick breakfast of Cheerios we headed out for a day of exploring Mayan ruins. There was quite a bit of fog as we started our drive and I thought it would be neat to see the ruins shrouded in fog. Once we were closer to Uxmal the fog lifted and the sun came out. So no foggy pictures.

Uxmal was founded around 700 and was inhabited until sometime around 1000. The city is made up of pyramids and other buildings used to honor Chac, the god of rain. The one interesting feature to me was the many cisterns they dug and used to collect rain water for the dry season. This area of the Puuc region has no natural source of water so to settle in an area without they had to figure out a way to store water for when it was needed. These enormous wells would have been dug by hand and that, along with building these structures by hand, is amazing. At its height there may have been up to 35,000 Maya inhabiting the city! Ultimately a prolonged drought forced the Maya to leave Uxmal and head to other places with water sources.

There is an entrance fee to go in plus a separate ticket for a government tax. Then you can choose to hire a guide or go on your own. I would recommend a guide. There are signs but it’s helpful to have the initial guided portion and then explore on your own. We saw lots of carvings of Chac in the pyramid as well as the other buildings. One building had some little bats! Uxmal has a ball court for the famous Pok-A-Tok game. Who lost their head at the end of the game, the winner or loser, is still unknown. It is possible no one did! Our guide told us there is no evidence of human sacrifice at Uxmal, only animal. They also were advanced in practicing equality between males and females. Pre-Covid you could climb one of the pyramids, however it remains closed today and possible into the future. The less humans who touch the stones the better preserved the structures will be for future generations. I really enjoyed seeing the architecture here and spotting iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks. It’s peaceful when you stop to look around and marvel at something built thousands of years ago by hand.

Our next stop was Choco-Story, a museum about the history of chocolate. This place was really neat because it told the history but also contains a wildlife rescue and botanic garden. There were lots of really interesting plants, all well labeled with English translation. The wildlife included monkeys, deer and two jaguars. These animals are unable to be released into the wild and are cared for here in a relatively nice setting.

Our lunch stop was the Pickled Onion. This is a small unassuming place kind of in the middle of nowhere. The people were so nice and the food was really good. I had a quesadilla with cheese and probably the best guacamole I have ever had.

Our last stop was at Kabah. This is the second largest Maya ruin of the Puuc region after Uxmal. Only a small portion of the city is accessible to the public. The main building here is the Codz Poop or Palace of the Masks. They are doing some restoration work at this site as well as continuing to excavate and discover other buildings in the complex. The small portion we saw was impressive so I can only imagine what the rest looked like!

After returning to the hotel to swim and cool off we headed out to Parque de Santiago to listen to some live music and watch the dancing. Here we had a thing called a Marquesita. This is a very thin crepe which is rolled up and filled with assorted things. The most popular filling mixture is queso de bola (what we know as Edam cheese) and Nutella. Sounds really odd but it’s very good. Other options are Philadelphia (also huge here), caramel sauce, jam or other cheeses. I also got a strawberry colada which didn’t taste much like strawberry or coconut but was super refreshing! The music started around 8:30 and people immediately got up and started dancing. The older couples were the most fun to watch as they had actual dance moves. Everyone did their own dancing and they all looked like they were having a lot of fun! A great way to end a day full of history.

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Photos

Ball court
The objective was to get a tiny rubber ball through the hole but you couldn't use your hands or feet

Delicious Lunch
The Pickled Onion is a great option for lunch if visiting the ruins on the Ruta Puuc. Good food and a nice atmosphere.