Issue Date: 11 / 2009

Mayan Ruins Await the End of Time

Sculptured head of a snake at Chichen Itza. Harvey Hagman Click image to enlarge.        The Maya say the end of time occurs on. December 21, 2012. These ancient astronomers believed the Age of the Jaguar, that began on Aug. 13, 3114 B.C., will end on the above date. On the following day the sun will be aligned at the winter solstice. The Maya believe this will open a stargate, or portal to a higher world, at the Milky Way’s center.                We marvel at our recent discovery of the “black hole” at the center of our galaxy and call the same discovery by the Maya centuries earlier -- a coincidence. The Maya believed celestial alignments stimulate evolution of all life on earth. And that time is speeding up.                Unbelievable? Did the Maya know something we don’t? For 5,000 years the Mayan calendar was man’s most accurate calendar. As our topsy-turvy world counts down to 2012, pick up one of the many books on this topic and tour the land of this calendar-obsessed culture. Better yet, visit these fascinating ruins and decide for yourself.                Merida, the "White City"                Four hours by bus from Cancun’s turquoise waters, talcum beaches, all-night discos and manicured boulevards stands Merida. This is an architectural gem and a perfect base to explore the nearby Maya ruins. For centuries Merida was the stronghold of Spanish colonialism. Dubbed the “White City” because of its white facades and the white clothes of its residents, this bustling city of one-way streets and clean, narrow sidewalks is home to a million Mexicans. Yet Merida feels like a small town, and prides itself on being crime-free.                One can see the city on foot. Upon arrival, we head for the folding chairs under the granite arches of the pink city hall to enjoy “Merida en Domingo,” a free Sunday night Yucatecan folkloric ballet. The band fires up as a candle-carrying procession of men in white pants, hats and jackets, with hanging red handkerchiefs, dances toward colorfully clad female dancers performing intricate steps.                Come morning, we set off to explore the city’s superb restaurants, markets and unique blend of Spanish, French and Maya architectural styles. We head for elegant 10-block-long Paseo de Montejo, named after the conqueror of the Maya. His three gruesome wars lasting 24 years ended in the 1550s.                One mansion houses the Regional Museum of Anthropology that documents Yucatan’s history from prehistoric times to the rise of the Maya. There is much more to see -- the zoological park, hermitages, municipal markets, art museums, palaces, parks, universities and theaters -- but we’re off to track the ancient Maya to seek out their mysterious gods: Chac, the long-nosed bringer of rain; Kukulcan, the feathered serpent; the four Bacabs, who stand at the world’s four corners, holding up the cosmos.                The Maya kingdoms, with their pyramids, or “lofty houses,” their temples, palaces, royal courts, sacred precincts, art and poetry may have rivaled the Golden Age of Greece. Originally, all their buildings were brightly colored.                Wandering through Mayan cities                The Puuc hills south of Merida have the most archaeological sites per square mile in the hemisphere. We traverse bumpy, little used roads that cut vast lowland tropical forests and then descend amid stalactites and stalagmites into the Lolton Caves, the Yucatan’s largest cave system.                As our guide says, “We’re entering the Mayan underworld where the Maya would descend to commune with their gods.” Vaulted chambers rise to 100 feet, containing wall paintings and artifacts going back to 2,500 B.C.                We follow stone steps cut by the Maya, who made offerings and talked to their ancestors who they believed acted as intermediaries to their gods. During the caste wars (1847-1855) the Maya, tired of enslavement, retreated to this massive cave. Only about 1 ½ miles have been lighted.                Our next stops include three small, independent Maya cities once ruled by majestic Uxmal that continued to flourish well after other Maya centers collapsed. All are little visited, surrounded by silent rain forest and their structures are richly carved and decorated.                Labna is famed for its 25-foot arch, the old entrance to the city. Its ancient “sacbes,” or raised stone causeways, connected it with other Mayan cities.                Sayil means “the place of the ants” and is famed for its classic, 279-foot Mayan palace on three terraces, a magnificent complex of 50 rooms and 90 bedrooms that once housed 350 nobles. Finely chiseled friezes of Maya gods decorate it. From atop the palace, the verdant Puuc Hills spread across the horizon.                Like other Maya cities Sayil was surrounded by a population of administrators, artisans, farmers and merchants. Succeeding Maya rulers built atop earlier constructions. Then, 500 years before the arrival of the Spanish, the Maya mysteriously abandoned these cities.                At Kabah we watch a shiny green snake high in a tree devour a large red-feathered bird before walking cautiously to the Temple of the Masks displaying 250 carved stone images of Chac, the long-nosed rain god. The snouts could have held offerings. As there are no lakes or rivers in the Yucatan rain is of the utmost importance.                Symbols -- the jaguar, the sun, the stars, Venus, even the cross, which amazed the conquistadors -- decorate buildings where traces of color remain. False facades once topped many structures dwarfed by the dark tangle of rain forest.                Surrounding farmers lived in thatched homes of palm and wood. Only the upper classes elongated their children’s heads to look like jaguars, snakes and eagles; crossed eyes were a mark of great beauty; teeth were filed and implanted with jewels. These images haunt us as we hike deserted pyramids, the cemetery, the tombs and the quadrangle.                Grandiose Uxmal, founded in 400 B.C., remains the most beautiful Maya city of the classic period (300 to 900 A.D.). The imposing 125-foot rounded Pyramid of the Magician dominates the ruins and eerily returns to life during the Sound and Light show. A full moon painted it an eerie, pale beige when I climbed it for the first time some 20 years ago.                The light show brings to life carvings easily overlooked in the shimmering sun. Maya sagas of wars, loves and rituals to bring rain unfold, backed by rhythmic Maya music.                We spend a day amid the mysterious ruins named by the Spanish -- the House of the Pigeons, the pyramids, the House of the Turtle, the Nunnery, the ball court and the 320-foot palace with three corbelled arches, called the Americas’ most beautiful building.                As the sun sets, we retreat to our air-conditioned room at the Lodge at Uxmal with red-tiled floors and polished wooden doors and furniture. As I rock on the veranda I recall a tall stele at Coba, a Maya site in the central Yucatan that describes evolutionary cycles over 16.4 billion years. Yes, that’s billion.                Rubble, treasures, and enigma                Dawn brings a trip to Dzibilchaltun, the place “where there is writing on the flat stones,” a city of an estimated 8,000 structures that grew wealthy on the salt trade. A path lined with trees takes us to the Temple of the Seven Dolls, where seven tiny, grotesque clay dolls were discovered. Light from the rising sun on the equinoxes shines precisely through the East Door and onto the white stone road, or sacbe.                Established in 350 B.C., it was abandoned when the conquistadors arrived. We wander its enigmatic, un-excavated 25 square miles containing mounds, low platforms, piles of rubble, plazas and stele.                A family swims in the nearby 120-foot-deep Cenote Xlacah, where National Geographic divers recovered 30,000 objects in 1958. As rain was the only source of water in the jungle, cenotes were sacred to the Maya, who saw them as spiritual doorways to the underworld. We wind up our visit at the fine Maya People’s Museum.                Izamal, possibly the Yucatan’s oldest town, is a gem with its timeless atmosphere, cobblestone streets and colonial lampposts. This Spanish colonial town is nicknamed the “yellow city” as all buildings are painted an egg-yolk yellow.                The enormous Monastery of St. Anthony of Padua, perched atop the shattered remains of a pyramid devoted to Itzaman, the Maya god of the heavens, dominates the town. It holds the world’s second largest open-air atrium after St. Peter’s in the Vatican.                Before the monastery stands a statue of Franciscan Friar Diego de Landa, who arrived in the Yucatan at age 25 in 1549. He was ordered to build the monastery as the monks were living in thatched huts. Vandalizing one of Mexico’s oldest pyramids, he built this fortress-cathedral and destroyed 5,000 Mayan idols, many altars and priceless codexes filled with Mayan hieroglyphics on deerskin.                At the restaurant Kinich Kakmo we enjoy lime soup, made of shredded chicken bits, bits of fried tortilla and lime juice and Poc Chuc, tender slices of pork marinated in sour orange juice and served with a tangy sauce and pickled onions. Delicious tortillas are made fresh over a wood fire.                Chichen Itza                It has been 25 years since I climbed “El Castillo,” the steep-sided pyramid at Chichen Itza and marveled as a pearly dawn spread over the dense jungle.Today, 2,000 people daily visit this most important city of the Yucatan from the 12th to the 15th century, and tourists climb pyramids once reserved for godlike kings and priests.                For more than 1,000 years, the Maya entrusted their welfare to their god-kings, who displayed their wealth and majesty in lavish pageants, art and architecture and inscribed records of their triumphs on stele and in painted murals. Theories concerning Chichen Itza's origins and buildings change as excavations continue. It is instructive to buy one of the many guidebooks offered for sale and ponder this ancient city's astronomical significance and mysteries.                Study the 13 ball courts and the Mayas’ controversial game, hike its jungle trails, visit the sacred cenote, where precious jewels, silverware, and human remains have been discovered by divers. Marvel at the columned Temple of the Warriors and its jaguar, plumed serpent, and warrior bas-reliefs that projected its power. Visit the main pyramid’s inner chamber and enjoy the evening’s sound and light show.                The following day a guide, Carlos Sosa, takes us deep into the nature reserve of Kaxil Kuiic, where we meet his Maya friend and follow twisting paths deep into the rain forest to remote, partially excavated Maya ruins half hidden by roots and fallen trees. Pesky mosquitoes and noseeums (midges) join us as we enter dark buildings that may date from 400 B.C.                On our return to Merida we stop at the little-visited ruin of Chacmultun. There we gaze upon the old city walls, the remains of friezes of ancient warriors and climb over the ruins of this once-flourishing town. Fatherland monument at Chichen Itza depicts episodes in Mayan history and lore. Harvey Hagman Click image to enlarge.                Our excursions ended here, but for those wishing to push on to the ruins of Palenque near the Guatemalan border there is an overnight bus. This is recommended. Renting a car and driving may prove problematic, particularly in light of recent incidents.                The tourist experience                Would be travelers to the Yucatan might like to take one or two of these along: “Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan” -- the 1843 classic -- by John Stephens; “The Lost Realms” by Zecharia Sitchin; “Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids” by Peter Tompkins; “A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya” by Linda Schele and David Freidel; Fodor’s “Cancun, Cozumel, Yucatan Peninsula” and the Lonely Planet’s “Mexico.”                There are also two excellent new books that examine the prophecies of the Maya, “2012: Mayan Year of Destiny” by Adrian Gilbert and “Maya Cosmogenis 2012” by John Major Jenkins.                Average temperatures range from 72 to 79 degrees. The rainy season runs from June to September. During July and August heavy rains fall in the afternoon in Merida. Carnival festivities take place the week before Lent with parades, floats, dancing, music and fireworks. Birders will enjoy the Fourth Annual Yucatecan Bird Festival in November.                Merida is serviced by three major airlines, Aeromexico, Mexican, and Continental, and general travel information can be found at mayayucatan.com and yucatan.gob.mx. We stayed in two wonderful hotels in Merida. The first, La Mision de Fray Diego, is a 17th century colonial home converted into an exquisite small hotel in Merida’s historic center. The hotel is a member of Petits Hotels, a Mexican group that offers charming, exclusive small hotels of historic or cultural significance. La Mision lies a block from the main square and within easy walking distance of dancing, theaters, museums and shopping.                Bargain hunters will enjoy the Hostal del Peregrino, a clean, home-like small hotel with rooftop terrace bar above a courtyard. Off it are a finely decorated kitchen, where guests enjoy breakfast, and private rooms. The hotel was renovated from a ruined colonial house near the town’s historic center by two young, vibrant escapees from overcrowded Mexico City, Monica Tapia and Rosalva Cano. They and their friendly, helpful staff enliven any stay.                Fans of good food and the film “Frieda” will love La Casa de Frieda, a restaurant and gallery in Merida’s historic area. The owner and chief cook is the vivacious Gabriela Praget. Ms. Praget visited New York City as a teenager, where she ate at restaurants from all over the world. “I never thought that I could study [cooking]," she says. "When I did, people loved my cooking. I’m a born cook.”                We enjoyed delicious stuffed pastry appetizers with ratatouille, zucchini, green and red peppers and eggplant served with a green salad. Our delectable entrees were the duck in poblano mole, a Canadian duck in thick sauce of several dried chiles, chocolate, almonds and tomato, and spicy Tampiquena, grilled beef and pork served with enchilada, guacamole, fried beans and poblano strips.                As we dined in the patio under the stars Ms. Praget recalled her career, working in Mexico City restaurants, then beginning a successful Italian restaurant in Monclova, north of Monterrey. While there, she decided to move to Merida as “foreigners have always interested me,” she says in fluent English. Her menu offers attractive Mexican dishes over local fare.                When she saw the film “Frieda,” she took it as a contemporary theme. As her family lives in Mexico City, it was easy to purchase items connected with Frieda, catalogs from her exhibitions, copies of her paintings and other memorabilia. Finally, we savored a special drink of cassis and white wine. But we were too full for dessert. Our journey was complete.         Harvey Hagman is a freelance photojournalist, travel writer and international correspondent. He was a contributing writer on Mayan beliefs regarding the end of time for the script of the forthcoming Hollywood movie '2012.'