AGAIN IN MEXICO CITY - SEPTEMBER 1983

ON THE WAY TO, AND IN XOCHIMILCO!



"UNIVERSITY - The most important Mexican university was founded in 1551. It is the largest university in Latin America and it is ranked the best in Latin America and also the most important university in the Spanish-speaking world. The building with the mural is the Library"


"OLYMPIC STADIUM"








"XOCHIMILCO lies 28 km south of Mexico City and has been included in the UNESCO's World Heritage List. According to the UNESCO site, «with its network of canals and artificial islands, it testifies the efforts of the Aztec people to build a habitat in the midst of an unfavourable environment. Its characteristic urban and rural structures, built since the 16th century and during the colonial period; have been preserved in an exceptional manner»"

CANCUN - SEPTEMBER 1983

BEACH BREAK

After visiting the Aztec and Mayan ruins we made a break and went to the beach in Cancun. The weather was not particularly nice, as some hurricane threats were in the air, but finally everything ran smoothly!




CANCUN, originally a small Mayan settlement situated in the Quintana Roo state of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, was chosen in 1970 to become a tourist resort. The main complex lies on a narrow island separated from the mainland by a tropical blue lagoon, with 14 miles of tropical beach and is surrounded by Mujeres Island, the Caribbean Sea, and the Nichupte and Bojorquez lagoons. The mainland - Cancun City - is connected to the island by two bridges. Further to the tourist resort, the existence of a Convention Centre and the organization of some international conferences also helped to foster the development of the site"





"KRYSTAL HOTEL - In 1983 there were much fewer hotels in Cancun than nowadays. The Krystal, which opened exactly in 1983, was one of the best, and its location was superb. The white powder sand of the beach was fabulous. It seems that after hurricane Wilma destroyed the beach in 2005, the new sand that was brought in during the recovery process is much coarser and somewhat darker than the powdery white original. Shame"


"CAMINO REAL - Another great hotel in those days, and probably still today"




"FERRY TRANSFER to Isla Mujeres. Located opposite Cancun coast, Isla Mujeres is 7.5 km long and an average 500 meters wide"




"ISLA MUJERES - The publicity states that «Isla Mujeres is a privileged place with a unique natural and cultural wealth in Mexico. It combines the beauty of the Caribbean, the dense tropical jungle and the wonderful heritage of the Mayan civilization. It stands out as one of Mexico's natural treasures, a truly delightful paradise on earth» Well, there is no need to exaggerate..."


"BEACH - The beach was good, and empty..."

CHICHEN ITZA - SEPTEMBER 1983

MAYAN ADVENTURE

After Uxmal, we returned to Mérida, just to make a tour to Chichén Itzá, «the city at the mouth of the well of the Itza tribe», one of the most impressive, and the best preserved, of the Mayan sites. Actually, while Europe was still in the Middle Age, the Maya mapped the heavens, created the only writing system native to the American continent, were masters of mathematics and invented the calendar. The Maya also cleared routes through jungles and swamps to foster trade with other peoples. Around 300 B.C., they adopted a system of government ruled by nobles and kings, which started to decline around 900 A.D. when the southern Maya abandoned their cities.


"ON THE WAY from Mérida to Chichén Itzá. Chichén Itzá was included in the UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1988"


"CENOTE is a thirty meter deep and sixty five meter diameter sinkhole formed by water percolating through the soft limestone above. Since the porous soil held little water, these underground bodies were extremely important to the city. It's a bizarre world with red limestone stalactites, a green water pool, and roots of trees hanging around. Once a year, in April, the beam of light touches the tip of the stalactite. The Cenote, however, seems to have been also used for the sacrifice of some young girls, full of jewels and offers, to Tlaloc, the God of Rain"


"BALL COURT - The Mayans were great sportsmen and build huge ball courts to play their games. The Great Ball Court of Chichén Itzá is 166 meter long and 69 meter wide. However, a whisper from one top can be heard clearly at the other and throughout the whole court. This stunning acoustics is a secret still to be explained. The ball game of the Maya was named Pokta-Pok, the name of a famous golf course nowadays in Cancun"



"JAGUARS, SERPENTS..."


"TOURIST CROWD - It's true that the magic of the place is better enjoyed with a few people, but if you're on your own and lucky enough, you'll be able to avoid the crowds"



"EL CASTILLO - The Kukulcán pyramid called «the castle» is at the centre of the huge (300 hectares) site. Its construction was planned in such a way that each March and September Equinox the rising and setting sun would cast a shadow of a serpent - Kukulcán or Quetzalcoatl - twisting the side steps of the pyramid. The four stairs of the pyramid have ninety-one steps each, which, together with the top platform, make a total of 365, the same figure as the days of the Gregorian calendar... The acoustics is also amazing: a person standing on the top step can speak normally and be heard by those at ground level"


"WALL - Climbing the pyramid (it seems it's no longer allowed) was quite a challenge but the spectacular view of the city and the surrounding jungle was fabulous"


"THE BALL COURT AND THE JUNGLE"



"THE TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS as seen from the top of the Kukulcán. This Temple - forty meters wide and twelve meters high - is one of the most terror instigating ruins on the site: a huge temple, hundreds of columns that continue on into the jungle and lots of carvings depicting warriors..."



"CHAC MOOL - The Chac Mool depicts a human figure in an awkward position: seated on the ground with its upper back raised, the head turned to a right angle, the legs drawn up to the buttocks, elbows rest on the ground, and its hands holding a tray over the stomach, used for offerings or human sacrifices. The current name derives from the name «Chaacmol» which Augustus Le Plongeon gave to a sculpture he and his wife excavated from the Temple of the Eagles and Jaguars in 1875"


"COLUMNS - At the temple of Warriors"


"TEMPLE OF THE JAGUAR"


"EL CARACOL/THE OBSERVATORY is a round building on a large square platform, nicknamed «the snail» for the stone spiral staircase inside. Several of its windows point towards the equinox sunset and the southernmost and northernmost points on the horizon where Venus rises"



"LAS MONJAS/NUNNERY - The Spanish nicknamed this complex Las Monjas, but it seems to have been actually a governmental palace. It contains some of the best preserved structures at Chichén Itzá, as every square meter of wall has carvings and paintings decorating it"

UXMAL - SEPTEMBER 1983

IN THE LAND OF THE MAYAS!

***

MÉRIDA

After Oaxaca and Villahermosa, we flew Aeromexico to Mérida. Mérida was founded on January 6, 1542, by Francisco de Montejo (a Spanish Conquistador known as «El Adelantado») and is the capital and largest city of the Yucatán state. It was built over the Maya city of T'ho, and is nicknamed «The White City», both for the colour of its buildings and the fact that the residents keep it particularly clean.


"HOLIDAY INN - By that time there was no Hyatt Regency skyscraper yet, so we stayed at the Holiday Inn. The Holiday Inn is located at Paseo de Montejo, one of the most beautiful city's avenues, and has a nice touch of colonial architecture, since it was one of the richest haciendas in 1542, when the city was founded"


"CASA MONTEJO is the building that was originally built for the Adelantado. From such building, only the beautiful front is preserved, but it shows a great example of the civil architecture of Mexico"



"SAN ILDEFONSO CATHEDRAL, built between 1556 and 1599 by Juan Miguel Aguero in the place that once was occupied by the Mayor church, is one of the oldest cathedrals in the American continent. Its foundations were built with the huge stones from the pyramids dismantled by the Spaniards"


"PALACE"

***

UXMAL

The archeological centre of Uxmal is located northwest of the Yucatan peninsula, roughly 50 km south-west from Mérida. Uxmal (the name meant «built three times» in the Mayan language) is one of the most important parts of the late classic period (600-900 AC) of the Mayan culture, and is rated as the finest Mayan archaeological site. It was the greatest metropolitan and religious centre in the Puuc hills.




"THE PYRAMID OF THE MAGICIAN, at 30 m, is the tallest structure in Uxmal. According to an ancient legend, a magician-god named Itzamna was supposed to have constructed the pyramid in one night. From archaeological excavation however, we know that the pyramid was constructed in five phases. The legendary association of the pyramid with a magician may be understood as an indication that the structure had ancient use as a mystery school and ceremonial centre. The entire city is aligned with reference to the position of the planets then known, and the pyramid is oriented so that its stairway on the west faces the setting sun at the time of summer solstice"



"ARCHAEOLOGICAL CAMP"


"GOVERNOUR'S PALACE"


"TOURIST GROUP"


"ANOTHER PYRAMID"



"NUNNERY QUADRANGLE - An incredible decor"


"MISSION INN BREAK between the day visit and the light and sound show"




"LIGHT AND SOUND"