Uaymitun 2019-Blog Post #9 “Road Trip-Uxmal!”

This our first Road Trip of the season! We’ll be staying at “The Pickled Onion” in Santa Elena and visiting Uxmal and other local sights!

While it is about a 2 hour drive to Santa Elena and The Pickled Onion, apart from the last 15 minutes it’s all on upgraded highways.

We arrived around 1PM, got settled in our casitas, enjoyed a late lunch and then hit the pool!

I’m going to save all the Pickled Onion and other stuff until the next blog post. This blog post will highlight our visit to Uxmal!

For any who are not aware of the significance of this site, I’ve included a description from our friends at Wikipedia!

Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: Óoxmáal [óˑʃmáˑl]) is an ancient Maya city of the classical period in present-day Mexico. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichén, and Calakmul in Mexico, Caracol and Xunantunich in Belize, and Tikal in Guatemala. It is located in the Puuc region of the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, and is considered one of the Maya cities most representative of the region’s dominant architectural style. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its significance.

It is located 62 km south of Mérida, capital of Yucatán state in Mexico. Its buildings are noted for their size and decoration. Ancient roads called sacbes connect the buildings, and also were built to other cities in the area such as Chichén Itzá in modern-day Mexico, Caracol and Xunantunich in modern-day Belize, and Tikal in modern-day Guatemala.

Its buildings are typical of the Puuc style, with smooth low walls that open on ornate friezes based on representations of typical Maya huts. These are represented by columns (representing the reeds used for the walls of the huts) and trapezoidal shapes (representing the thatched roofs). Entwined snakes and, in many cases two-headed snakes are used for masks of the rain god, Chaac; its big noses represent the rays of the storms. Feathered serpents with open fangs are shown leaving from the same human beings. Also seen in some cities are the influences of the Nahua, who followed the cult of Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc. These were integrated with the original elements of the Puuc tradition.

In our morning chat with Valerie, our host at the Pickled Onion, we found out that entry fees to Uxmal, Chichen Itza and a few other sights had doubled on February 1st! She was able to arrange for us to have a personal tour guide along with two couples that we met at the Onion! It was a quick breakfast to make the short drive to Uxmal by 8:30… before the heat of the day and the arrival of the many, many tour buses!

Once we’d entered the site and enjoyed our view of the large pyramid, we walked across grounds over to the Governor’s House.

After climbing back down from the Governor’s House, we walked behind it past the Great Pyramid to the Dovecote.

Our path now takes us to the Ball Court and on to the main Quadrangle.

Our final part of the tour is of the main Quadrangle or commonly called the Nun’s Quadrangle as it reminded the Spaniards of a convent in Spain.

Our tour guide, Jorge Mex, was very knowledgeable of the history and culture of the Maya at Uxmal… although at times his comments wandered into new age, or perhaps very old age, philosophy! All in all, a great tour!

While Dave and Deb continued to walk about taking additional pictures for a little while, Elaine and I wandered over to the Lodge at Uxmal next door to the site for a rest and a beverage!

On our way back to the Pickled Onion, we stopped for a walk about in the village of Santa Elena. Pictures of that and of the Pickled Onion itself will be featured in our next post!

Cheers from Uaymitun!

-doug and elaine