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| Phoenix sunrise |
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| Air tower at Cancun airport |
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| view from our room |
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| Coba Pyramid |
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| Deane, half way up |
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| Terri rock jumping into the cenote |
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| Deane on the zip line across the lake |
And of course, the old lady of the group had to jump off the high rock into the cenote with the youngsters! Everyone must have thought I was crazy, they applauded when I surfaced. LOL
The second pyramid we visited was to Chichen Itza http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza . We got lucky the day we visited here. The humidity broke and the day was lovely. Chichen Itza was the capital of the Mayan empire and had more ruin structures to see. The thing we learned was how astute and knowledgeable the Mayans were about astronomy. They created the Mayan calendar, not to predict the end of the of the world, but the end of a cycle of 5200 years.When we were in Europe last year, we walked on the Silk Road which connected countries for trading. The Mayans also had such a road... called the "White Road" which connected the cities of Tulum on the coast, west to Coba, further west to Chichen Itza and onto many other cities for trading. The road they created was stone filled and covered with limestone stucco and was level.... no matter where the road went, they either built it up or dug it down, to maintain a level surface. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacbe
Something else we learned about the Mayans was that historians believe they are descendants from Mongolia. There is evidence the Mongolians started a migration about 30,000 years ago crossing the Bearing Straits when it was a land bridge, possibly following their food sources to warmer climates. The Mayans of today bear a strong resemblance to today's Mongolians, in their eyes and a specific mark on their backs when they are born.
Another day we visited Isla Mejures (Isle of Women), a small island off the coast. Took Deane to see the house where I and 7 others joined friends Jane and Stan for their honeymoon about 4 years ago. Yea, I know, a little weird, but never said my friends were normal! We spent the day in a rented golf cart touring this island that is only 5 miles long and maybe 2 miles across. Visited a turtle sanctuary, a beach club and a temple that was created to honor the Myan Goddess Ixchel, Gods Mother.The wind picked up as were heading back to the mainland and the boat we were on had a challenge with the wake of bigger boats that rudely cut in front of us creating big wakes along with the large swells. The pilot of the boat was quite competent... even if he only looked 12 years old.
While in Cancun we rode the local buses to shop and eat. One trip had us with our heart stopping when the bus we were on headed into a round-about, and a small came up on our right and cut right in front of us. Driver of the bus hit his breaks hard, they squealed, we were thrown forward, but in the end no crash, just a lot of Mexican cuss words. Another trip, we wanted to ride the bus as a loop. When we were the last ones left on the bus, the driver asked where we were going. Tried to tell him we wanted to ride is route. We understood his limited English, he would not let us ride around and made us get off. Deciding to walk a bit, we took a wrong turn, got lost and had to pop into a hotel to ask how to get back to the bus routes.
Had planned one last trip to a water park when Deane got the Mexican Crud. Cancelled it and after 48 hours of his not feeling well, he visited the doctor at the resort. $160 later, a shot of antibiotics and some other pills he felt better. We were impressed!
We had a great time and if we could ever figure out the money conversion, we might go back...
