Did you know?

That we have a Parent (extended) family food blog? I bet most of you didn't. Katie just posted one of the best cookie recipes in the world there. You should check it out. Do it now!

This is it. I promise.

 Katie thought I should post some pictures as well, so I've added a few. If you're sick of Mexico, feel free to completely ignore this post.

El Castillo at Chichen Itza seen behind a large altar where human sacrifice took place (notice the skulls)

Mural on the side of an altar at Chichen Itza. Notice the eagle eatinga  human heart. On the top is the depiction of the winged serpent god.

El Castillo at Chichen Itza with my beautiful wife standing in front of it.  It's really really big.

El Caracol at Chichen Itza. Katie is standing on the other side of the Mayan arch. Mayans didn't know how to build true arches, which severely limited the size of internal rooms which they could build.

El Conejo: the rabbit. This is in Izamal outside one of the multiple Mayan pyramids upon which the city is essentially built.

Merida Cathedral at night.  In my opinion the most impressive cathedral we saw.  Not ornate inside, but has very nice simple arching stonework.

Knocker on the above cathedral.

Market at Merida.

Mexican sweets in the market at Merida.

Above the front door of the Casa de Montejo in Merida.  The Montejos were the family which led the Spanish conquest of the Yucatan peninsula. Notice the soldiers standing on the heads of what can only be natives. Seems rather severe, doesn't it. Of course, you can't really say it's much different than the human sacrifice practiced by the Mayans themselves.

Uxmal. View from the nunnery to the governor's palace. Uxmal was amazing.

The corner of some building in Uxmal. It was hot that day.

The dovecote at Uxmal.

Another view of Katie in Mayan arch, also at Uxmal.

Reverse handprints in Loltun Caverns. Our guide said these predated the Mayans, so that would put them well over 2000 years old.

Loltun Caverns.

White bougainvillea at Yaxcopoil

Looking at a graduated cylinder at the Yaxcopoil Hacienda. This is the, "Alex is a chemist" picture.

Looking out from one of the Bastions at Campeche. Campeche is one of the oldest cities in the Yucatan. It was heavily fortified in order to fend off pirate attacks. When we were there is was miserably hot. :)

The sun god. I think Katie thought we looked alike...

From Fuerte San Miguel in Campeche, overlooking the sea.

Chocolate Frappe.

Yummy quesadilla in some random town on the coast where we stopped for lunch.

Orchid at Rio Bec Dreams. We missed most of the flowers since we missed the rain.

This is a staircase at Balamku. You can imagine how much damage trees can do to a ruin over the course of 1000 years.

Pottery shard our guide found at Balamku.

Hawk at Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.

This is a ruin under restoration at Calakmul. notice how it melts into the side of the hill. Really, the ruin is the hill.

A fox at Calakmul.

A different species of toucan (than Katie posted previously) in Calakmul.

Jungle in Calakmul. Flat, isn't it.

Katie in Calakmul.

Tower #? in Calakmul.

Ocellated Turkey.

Another ocellated turkey

Some sort of night heron.

Termite nest in Calakmul Reserve.

Some sort of epiphyte in Calakmul

Ocean at Tulum

Little crab friend.

Fishing is fun, even at 5:30 am in Mexico.

Tulum

Sunrise...almost.

Pretty, isn't it.

Mexico IV

I believe this is the last of the Mexico pictures. If that makes you sad, don't worry: we have about 1500 more. The next time you have 5 hours free, just ask and we will show them to you. 

A beach at Mahahual. The beach seemed to be the perfect place to use the dramatic art setting on our Olympus.

Tulum, the ruins on the beach. As far as ruins go, these were kind of sloppy. You could tell the people building them either didn't have the expertise or the time to build up to the standards of some of the other ruins we visited. However, this ruin has one major thing going for it: it is on the beach. Also, to my knowledge it is pretty much the only Mayan site that was still functioning when the Spaniards came (as a port) and continued to do so for a number of years.

I love this picture.

These are some of the beautiful tile floors we found at Yaxcopoil, the henequen hacienda. I fell in love with the floors.

And finally, some comparisons.

Noses:

Chac the rain god

And creatures eating juicy things (a jaguar eating a juicy human heart and a fair maiden eating a juicy mango). Who looks more ferocious?

from a temple at Chichen

Alex said I reminded him of all the friezes of jaguars and eagles eating human hearts. I am not sure how to take that...

One final thing I feel like I should point out for your cultural sensitivity

Remember this picture?

You get how strange this skull is right? The elongated and flat forehead? Apparently the Mayab (not a typo - plural for Maya) thought it was attractive to have these flattened, lengthened foreheads and went to great lengths to attach devices to their babies to cause the skull to grow in such a way, or at least the upper class did. The women also chiseled their teeth to points. Can you imagine meeting these people for the first time as a Spanish explorer?

Key points I learned from my trip, some of which I have not yet mentioned but are worth saying for the somewhat completeness of my blogging summary:

1. Driving in Mexico lends flexibility to your trip but KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING INTO. There. I have said enough about driving.
2. Mayan culture and ruins are fascinating.
3. Mexico is really, really hot.
4. Mexican food is good, and 10 days at a time are enough for me.
5. If you go on a trip, having a decent camera makes it nice for blogging. Oh and learn how to use it before you go.
6. Don't ask your relatives to watch your dogs while you go on a long trip unless they really love you, and even then once in a lifetime is probably enough.
7. A lot of people in the world work very hard and lead a very meager life style.