Cancun

Warning: lots of pictures and lots and lots of words. I originally planned to just put of pictures, but I can't not explain them! I learned so much and the tour we went on was by a man named Helaman and you guessed it, he's a member. He is so knowledgable about how the Book of Mormon ties into the Mayan ruins. He said there are many archaeologists who have been trying to interpret the hieroglyphics for a very long time, with no luck. We know that the language won't by interpreted until the Lord decides it is time.



First things first! We were in the ocean at about 8 am. Cloudy skies, looks like rain, and we were the only ones out there but it was awesome- actually pretty warm water! Next we were at the pool with a "swim-up" bar where we were the only ones drinking non-alcoholic pina-coladas and other fruity drinks.


Ek' Balam is a place of ruins similar to Chichen Itza, but not nearly as huge. They have found many ruins that have not been restored yet.



Standing on top of one of the buildings where the high priest lived. The group of trees behind my head is another ruin that hasn't been restored. I thought at first that our tour guide meant that it was behind the trees, but it is under the trees. These building were not just found sitting fully put together. They are covered in dirt and have become a hill with trees all over it. It's amazing how much work it must take to restore just one building. They would number each stone, take it off, clean it, and reattach it all like a puzzle!! Crazy and amazing!
The bigger building on the far right of the picture is the temple. We didn't go inside, but even from the carvings on the outside of it, it is obvious that it is a temple.


Quiz in a baptismal font.


Can you see that there are dark skinned people facing a single light skinned person?



View from very high up on the temple. The building right above my head is the one I was standing on a few pictures above.



These next few are at Chichen Itza. I remember in 6th grade learning about Mayan and Incan History. We learned about a game they would play that had stone walls with small hoops on both sides and someone was sacrificed at the end of the game. This picture shows one of the walls and at the end of the field is the large stone place where the high priest would sit. At the end of the game he would decide if the loser or the winner was the one who was sacrificed. It was an honor to be the one sacrificed. Our tour guide brought up that we learn in the scriptures that it was always the best that was sacrificed, so it may have been more frequently the winner of the game who was sacrificed.


It's kind of hard to see, but this picture shows 2 men facing right. The men are wearing padding or armor, which tells us this game was pretty rough. They all also have a stick of some sort stuck through the nose. Interesting. The picture is from the stone at the base of the walls of the game.
Each wall had 3 sets of 2 teams of 7. In other words, the game consisted of 2 teams of 7 people each. 7 symbolically means perfect, so between the 2 walls there are 6 sets of teams, and the 7th was the team who played in the game. Each set of teams on the walls showed one person from one of the teams beheaded. The loser, or the winner whichever it was.


Close up of the place where the high priest sat during the game. One of the few examples where you can see where there was color on the stone. I can't even imagine how elaborately these were all painted at one point.


smooch


The famous Chichen Itza. I'm not sure why this is underlined, but I can't seem to change it at the moment. Each side of the temple is a season: fall, winter, summer, spring. This location is where you can stand on March 21st (spring equinox) and when the sun sets you can see the shadow of a serpent coming down the steps. The base of the steps are serpents heads and with all the levels of the temple, it looks like a squiggly serpent coming down. 16 days before the 21st is when the shadow is first seen, but it only shows 6 squiggles (for lack of a better word). On the 21st is when there are 8 squiggles. But 16 days after the 21st is when the sight is more impressive, which is when the steps show 9 squiggles. What day is that? April 6th. Coincidence...I think not. Also, on April 6th at sunset, the shadow of the building itself points to another building in the plaza area right to where a statue sits called Chac Mol (sorry no picture). Chac Mol is reclining on his back and is holding a plate up kind of on his chest. This is where the heart is placed of someone who was sacrificed. We are asked to give a broken heart and a contrite spirit, but because the Lamanites had become wicked, even giving a broken heart had become perverted from what it originally meant. Chac Mol is thought to be a symbol of Jesus Christ who they were giving the broken heart to. It's sad that so much of the truth had been changed or lost.



At the resort where we stayed, there was live entertainment every night. Fire dancers, Mayan dancers, and this night was a band and a mechanical surfboard. Of course, Lonny couldn't pass that up! Most people need to be drunk to try something like this, or shouldn't be drunk to try it!


Why not- I'll try!



We went to an "Eco-archaeological Park" called Xcaret. I don't have a picture of us floating the underground river, but it was my favorite part!


Lots of animals, including mannatees, jaguars, sting rays, sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, iguanas everywhere, wild boars, flamingos, and lots of other birds and fish.




That isn't us in the water, but I love the shot of the dolphins jumping over them!


So relaxing and beautiful. Even though it was the rainy season, the temperature was never below 90 during the day, and the rain was warm and usually really refreshing. We loved this trip and would love to return someday!