Mayan 101 and a little Zapatista update too!

On the weekend, we took a little tour. It's not really like us to book tours and use a guide, but we are so thankful that this was the one time we chose to do so. The tour company, Trotamundos, found us another 2 persons to join our tour and the good news was that they were English speaking and very fun. Jenny and her daughter Astrid from Cairns Australia, by way of Jordan and Vietnam respectively added the global travellers perspective that is so welcome when not all is 4* accomodation - or even 1* for that matter.

Saturday, we were picked up prompty at 0600 by our guide Rogelio. Rogelio was initially not pleased with us, as when we were told 0600 - 0630 to be ready, we were not quite "listos". "Roger", who has driven this route more often than most, wanted to be out of San Cristobal by 0630, so in fact, he was outside our window honking loudly and impatiently by 0545. Unfortunately Gene had a somewhat interrupted sleep thanks to some problematic food or drink and was not sure about even going. With a lot of assistance from me, we got out the door and into his spacious tour van.

Our first stop was supposed to be Agua Azul, a glorious cascada (waterfall) with a tropical jungle ambiance. However, when we turned at the sign indicating the route to the falls, we were stopped by masked Zapatistas. Despite the offer of some "dinero' to smooth our path, Roger was told very firmly by the commandante (not Marcos,...but a look-alike) that bullets had been fired, persons had been injured and that the it was a "no can do day" for the falls.

So onward we went...Misol-Ha, which I have since learned, is the site of the movie "Predator", did not disappoint us. The scene is straight out of the best jungle movie ever.

Then onwards to Palenque, the capital of the Mayan empire in Mexico. We decided to not buy into the group tour for "gringos", and were instead guided through the amazing site by a young man named Mateo who had completed his studies as a guide and spoke no less than 5 languages...English was not one of them. Like our main tour guide Rogelio, the need to speak Italian, French and Spanish together with one or two of the indigenous languages of the area from his upbringing had guaranteed his future as a guide for years to come. Satiated with the grandeur of Palenque, with a high level of awe and wonder, we all jumped back into our trusty van for another 2.5 hour ride into the Lancondona Jungle.

Now spending the night in a jungle cabin was a bit worrisome, but after seeing our accomodation, the food and the bathroom set up, I remembered, I had done this before...at Girl Guide camp. Not so tropical, but much the same. The camp was on the property of one of the remaining 600 Lancondona people, original Mayan descendents who because of a very unique language and a very dense jungle home, have remained mostly separated from the rest of the world even to present day. Their numbers are declining and they have suffered serious health problems due to the inbreeding and isolation from modern medical care. They are the subject of many museum tours and documentary films, but for our purposes, they were welcoming and very easily recognized in their characteristic white gowns and long black hair with straight cut bangs.

The next morning, we were off by 0630 to jump into a river boat on the Rio Ucimacinta which is the natural border between Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala. It was cool and windy as we sped downstream with yet another guide to the next Mayan ruin of Yaxchitlan. On arrival, we began to understand why our guide had encouraged us to be up and off early. We were the only people at this site and arrived in time to see the sun break through the tall trees and highlight the wondrous site. It was pure magic and the ambiance was further enhanced by the sound of the "Howler Monkeys" which added an eerie jungle presence to the stunning ruins.

So, back up river we went and onto the final site of Bonampak. This site, which is much smaller and seems to be the farthest from other settlements allowed us to see some of the original temple paintings done in the 6th and 7th centuries before the fall of the Mayan empire.

The route home was long and winding, and we thanked first Roger and then all of the gods of travel necessary in Mexico to have taken us on this journey and to have deposited us safely back to our casa in San Cristobal....tired, but ever so much more aware of the life of the Mayans.

Oh,...and in the local papers the next day we read articles about the bullets exchanged, the persons injured or killed, by 2 separate factions of the Zapatistas at Agua Azul. On the way home we had passed by one of their village strongholds and had seen many men in full Zapatista regalia on one side of the puebla, and on the other saw the Federales, in full armed combat gear. Lets hope that this year, which is the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence doesn't prove to be one where blood is shed to re-live the glory days of the past. The state of Chiapas is one of the places where the inequities of modern life and the plight of the poorest people, the indigenous descendents of the Mayans is very apparent.

...and off we go back to Spanish class, for our last week of being students. We are happy to be given this opportunity to become better residents in our adopted country.