Summer 2001
Three Week Mayan Adventure Tour: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize

The pyramid was used as a calendar: four stairways, each with 91 steps and a platform at the top, making a total of 365, equivalent to the number of days in a calendar (solar) year

The climb was quite a scare.  I'm not afraid of heights, but I got a little scared when I was climbing the steep steps  I just had to keep reminding myself to not look down. 

The Maya were accomplished astronomers and it is believed El Caracol was used to observe the moon, stars and the planet Venus.

The highlight of Merida was seeing a SCORPION in my hotel room.  I don't like scary looking critters and I'm so glad we don't have scorpions in Philly. 

We had a free day in Merida and I spent it 
exploring the city - by bus and walking.

Interestingly, the streets of Merida are all numbered.  The streets running north-south have even numbers, while those running east-west have odd numbers. 

I was really impressed by the diverse styles of architecture in Merida - Spanish, French, and Islamic influences.  The bright house colors were impressive as well.  You don't see many bright pink houses in America. 

The site was occupied from 100 BC to the end of the 9th century. 

It's a monument for Pacal, the first great king of Palenque.  Inside the temple are panels of inscriptions and Pacal's tomb. 

It's one of the oldest Spanish towns in Central America.  In 1994, the Zapatista's took over the city to make a stand for indigenous people's rights. 

Each village has a symbol to represent their community and industry in their and Zinacantan's symbol is the flower - one of their main exports.

I was really shocked to see how well off most of the Mayan Indians were compared to Natives here in America.  It wouldn't surprise me if the Mayan Indians (in a developing country) have a better standard of living than Natives here in America (the richest country in the world).  It was nice to see Indigenous people with a strong sense of their traditional culture, even though they are losing it to tourism. 

Pacaya (8,373 feet) is the most famous active volcano in Guatemala.  
At night the boiling magma spews its lava into the cold, dark sky. 
It took 2 hrs to reach the top and pictured above are my mates from the tour (left to right):
Vicky (Australia), Jean (Virginia), Kathy (London), Me, and Bernie (New Zealand)

Tikal was occupied from 900-600 BC.  It has been estimated that, during its peak, Tikal had around 10,000 inhabitants within a radious of 30 minutes walk from the center.

Tikal has a nice tropical forest with interesting looking creatures.  We wander through the forest and spotted Agoutis (rodents), Toucans (Fruit Loops bird), Ocellated Turkies (has been hunted to extniction in many regions of Central America), Ring-Tailed Coatis (similar to Racoon), and Spider Monkies.  

The city has some of the highest temples in Maya territory.  The tallest of Tikal's temples is 230 ft.