Wednesday 20 November 2013
Chicen
Itza is reputed to be the busiest archaeological site in Mexico. It has the pyramid that is touted in all the
tourist books as ‘the’ Mayan pyramid; so we decided to get there as early as
possible and avoid the hoards. Ended up
there at 8:30 and it was definitely worth it!
The pyramid really is spectacular (“oh no” I hear you say “another
spectacular ruin? Please!” – but really it was). I took about 20 photos of the pyramid, it was
so beautiful.
They
also had some of the best preserved carvings on the buildings we’ve seen. They had a wall of carved skulls. They say they put real skulls on the wall to
show their strength to foreigners and keep rebellious citizens in line. This was our twenty-fourth ruin so by now
we’re able to talk like experts about the ‘Puuc’ style of architecture and “oh
that’s Chaac, the rain god”. Yay!
Then
off to Cuba. Took a long time to get our
bags. Trevor said “I’ve never
experienced anything like it!” I said, “well, we wanted to see Cuba before it
changed and this is Cuba.” Touché!
By the
time we get our bags and change some money it’s after dark. We go to our hotel which is a lovely little
B&B in what was a really beautiful
suburb. Wow! There was really some wealth in this
city. So many beautiful multi-story mansions,
now derelict. In fact, the whole city is
derelict. Wanted to come before it
changes – it’s going to take a long time to get Cuba back to the modern world.
Changing attitudes is one thing; that’s already underway – rebuilding this city
is something else.
Our
host recommended a restaurant for dinner and ordered a taxi for us. So we get into town. The city is so dark. There’s hardly any street lighting. Which is a weird thing in itself. So used to all our heavily lit cities, just
take that for granted. Seeing a dark
city is, well weird. But even though
it’s so dark there’s people out and about all over the place.
Then
we stop before a derelict building, with a beautiful old marble staircase with
statues on the balustrade. There is
someone there to welcome the car, he says “go upstairs”, I think “really??” So up we go.
Four stories. The place is
derelict and people are living in it.
But at the top – a restaurant.
Ok,
Cuba has officially tripped me out. I’m
feeling a bit culture shocked.
I
think “wow!, where the ‘f’ am I?” Food was excellent. I ordered wine and it came in an old (I
think) fifties type wine glass, all etched – a bit like my mother’s wine
glasses. The building was art deco and
must have really been something in it’s time.
