norbrad393

Travel in Mesoamerica has changed a great deal in the past 3 or 4 decades. If anyone is interested in hearing from an old codger of some experiences from an earlier time, here are a few notes.

Part 1.

PALENQUE. My first trip to Palenque, maybe ‘68 or thereabouts, I took the overnight train from Merida to Chiapas and got to the small village of Palenque at about 7 A.M. Checked into one of the small hotels on the dirt street. I found where I could get the little bus to the ruins. By that time I had spent about fifteen years focused on Central Mexico. My knowledge of the Maya was not so good. Palenque is a very special site, classic period of the Maya, so artistically done, many have considered it a Mayan art center. The ruins were a beautiful sight, the Palace Complex with its four story tower, the Temple of the Inscriptions, the three small and elegant 7th century temples built by Ruler Chan Bahlum with their world-class masterpiece reliefs of the Cross, the Foliated Cross, and the Sun. The trees are in the center o this scene wit Chan Bahlum on one side and his father Pacal in his funerary clothes handing him symbols of authority. I explored the Palace then moved on the Temple of the Inscriptions. From the temple on top, the staircase was open to descend down into the interior of the pyramid. At the bottom was the corbel arch entry to the tomb of Pacal, The Great. The Huge stone sarcophagus was stunning with its 12 ton lid with its beautiful relief carvings–Pacal at his moment of death falling into the underworld, the great Ceiba tree (Axis Mundi), the celestial bird on top of it, hieroglyphs, etc. The interior of the enormous sarcophagus was in a uterine form painted red. Inside lay Pacal (means Hand Shield) with his jade mask, ornaments, etc. The wall of the corbel vault had large frescos of the nine lords of the night. It was the only time I had been to Palenque when the stairway was open; there was no guard, no guide, a string of bare light bulbs leading down the stair, and no one but me all alone to explore one of the great discoveries of ancient Mesoamerica. I don’t think that could happen today. Each step of the stone stairway has a raised part on one side on both treads and risers with a hole drilled longitudinally in it leading from the tomb all the way up to the top–a spirit vent for the soul of Pacal to leave his tomb and rise to the heavens.

TIKAL–I made my first trip to Tikal around 1970. You fly to Tikal from the national side of the Guatemala City Airport. The flight was a DC-3 with old plywood theater-type seats. We couldn’t have been over a thousand feet high. You could open the windows and look out. I did, but noticed some screws floating about 4 or 5 inches in and out of the cowling of the left engine. I’m thinking, “Aren’t they to hold something?” One of those DC-3's went down right around the time I flew there. Quite an experience, including landing safely. We flew to the gravel airstrip at the base camp. Tikal is the most majestic of the great classic period Mayan sites. I spent most of my time at the Great plaza with some explorations to other parts...the North Acropolis, the Central Acropolis, etc. Here and there you could see original graffiti–from the Maya. Nothing obscene, just little scenes, images of people in boats, etc. Tikal was on the salt route. The Maya got salt in northern Yucatan and took it in large ocean-going canoes in huge ceramic vessels, down the coast and inland to Tikal and points beyond where trade was carried on–probably as far as Central Mexico). Temples I and II were very large and stunningly beautiful.
Some years later my wife and I visited Tikal. This time we went to the cement block ‘terminal’ at the airport, checked in, and waited around. The we got the word to pick up our gear and get on board. They packed up our stuff in the two engine plane–much newer than the old DC-3's. The plane was on a pad facing the building. They told us to each get on a wing or stabilizer and we all pushed the plane out to the runway as the pilot turned it parallel to the runway. There was the pilot and 8 other seats. No co-pilot, so we had to figure out who got to sit in the co-pilot’s seat. A lady from Austria had had flying lessons, so she was picked. Then we got on board and took off. We flew up to San Ignacio on Lake Peten Itza. I was shocked as I looked out the window and compared the Central American rainforest with my first trip. Much of it was gone! Slashed and burned for corn fields by farmers as the population of campesinos expanded northward. We were on a three day package–package because it was just easier to get there that way–we stayed in a hotel on Lake Peten-Itza. A van took us up to the ruins. They were great to see again. I climbed unexcavated Temple IV, so you use roots and vines for hand-holds, etc. Some large wooden ladders had been built into the sides of the platform in a few places. T-IV is the highest in Mesoamerica–around 260 feet. It was great fun. And the view from the temple on top was spectacular. We also saw the Mundo Perdido (Lost World) ruins the restoration of which had not yet been completed by first trip. Here there were several buildings of pure Talud y Tablero style from Teotihuacan in Central Mexico. We took walks through the forest to the howling of howler monkeys and who knows what else high in the forest canopy. Exotic birds could be heard some distance away.

COPAN–Our first trip to Copan was in ‘75. There were four or five of us in a 4-wheel drive van on the road through the rolling hills of Eastern Guatemala. We stopped briefly at the city of Chiquimula and visited the rather famous Cathedral of the Black Christ–an annual pilgrimage site. The Ride over was not to bad until we got to the border crossing into Honduras, just a spot in the road with a few buildings where we got out papers for entry. There were a lot of pack mules around all loaded up–not sure what excursion was being planned. Anyway, onward we encountered the Twenty Miles of Hell, a very bad road to Copan. It seemed to take forever. We were going about 60 up and down and forward about 20. There were no bridges, we just drove through the streams. But we got there. Copan is a wonderful sight with its famous ball court, acropolis, hieroglyphic stairway with some 1500 hieroglyphs on the steps–the longest inscription in the Mayan area, and the many beautifully carved “tree stones”--stelae about ten feet tall. They depict various Ahau or rulers of the great dynasty of sixteen rulers. Although many of the best represent one of the most famous, 18 Rabbit. Altar ‘Q’ depicts all 16 rulers on its four sides. It was very hot and humid. There were orange trees, so we helped ourselves to a few. Very good. A butterfly landed on my finger and began slurping up the salty sweat. I held still and he happily slurped away. It is said that the pre-Columbian peoples did not use the wheel. That is largely true, but on a pile of carved rocks, we saw a sculptural carved representation of what could only be describes as a wheel–with cogs around it attached to what appeared to be some kind of machine. They knew a lot of astronomy and in the small museum, we saw a small quartz stone in a perfect lense shape. But perhaps it was for starting fires as opposed to looking at the heavens. As we walked around I thought of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, writer and artist respectively, in their great adventure here in the 1830's, in effect discovering the ruins of Copan and ‘buying’ the site for $40 from the planter who owned that area. Each Maya site is unique in layout, style of architecture, etc. The southeast court was like and amphitheater with broad staircases all around it. The Jaguar Stairway to the west had a sculpture representing the planet Venus in the center, and on large vertical panels to each side, were two jaguars sculpted in relief standing there with one paw on the hip, the other arm stretched out pointing to the Venus emblem. The spots were originally discs of green jade. These were a delight to see as they seemed to have come right out of the Disney Studio in southern California. The Reviewing Stand was a large stairway flanked by two mirror image figures of a monkey-like creature holding a torch. There are broad lavish stairways all over Copan. The hieroglyphic Stairway was a thing of unique beauty. Breaking the Maya Code and being able now to read the hieroglyphs has been one of the 20th century’s great achievement in archaeology. Unfortunately, the stones on this stairway were reset before this and they are not in the correct order and cannot be read except for fragments. Nevertheless, there are inscriptions everywhere and we now know a great deal–more every day–about the Maya, how they lived, their rulers, palace intrigues, etc.
In ‘89, we returned to Copan. It was with mixed emotions. Many of the monuments and beautifully carved hieroglyphs of the past, were badly eroded from acid rain, some to the extent that they could not possibly be read now. More damage had been done in the intervening 14 years between our trips than in the past 1100 years. Poles with palapas of thatch had been put up over the Stelae and a huge plastic tarpaulin was stretched over the Hieroglyphic Stairway, fortunately 5 or 6 feet above it so it could still be seen. The beautiful Rosalila temple had been discovered deep inside the acropolis since our last trip. Archaeologists and their workers were working on a large scaffold making a plaster replica of the facade of it. I have seen more recent photos of the new museum there in which there is a full scale model of the Rosalila, a very early and dazzlingly beautiful temple containing, among other things, the burials of the dynasty’s first ruler Yax Kuk Mo (Green Quetzal Macaw) and his wife. Other royal tombs have also been discovered. Investigating a tunnel, we could only see a fragment of the actual Rosalila.
Our trip took us up to the ruins of Quirigua with the tallest Stele in the Mayan world–about 35 feet high–a very large shaft of limestone and other monuments. Few significant buildings remain there. From Quirigua, we went up to Lake Izabal and hired a guy with a motor launch to take us down the Rio Dulce which we did. It was beautiful, like a river through the Garden of Eden. We stopped at one landing at a manatee reserve. We did not see any manatee, but had a nice walk around a jungle path. We kept hearing clacking and soon realized it was a stand of bamboo–very large, the group of some 30 stalks each being something like 8 or 10 inches across and very high–70 0r 80 feet. When the wind blew, they clacked–an interesting sound in the jungle. We continued on to the Bay of Honduras and eventually back to Guatemala City. We made one more stop at Livingston, a town that you can only get to by boat. All the residents are of African descent, many escaped slaves in years past. I would like to go back and spend more time there sometime.

norbrad393

Part 2.

KAMINALJUYU AND THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS--

In Guatemala City, we took a bus to a very large early ruin on the edge of the city. It has been explored, but hardly reconstructed. Few know about it. The entrance was a gap I an old chain link fence into the area which looked somewhat like a park with mounds and depressions covered with sod and grass. This was Kaminaljuyu (pron. Kah-mee-NAL-hoo-yoo). It was a transitional center from the Izapa Civilization to the Maya during the pre-classic period and a link between the Olmecs and the Maya. The mounds were clearly manmade. About two hundred of them. One had a stairway that led down to a wooden door, obviously put there in our time to prevent people from messing around with what lay beyond. An old man there offered to unlock the door for us. And he gave us some candles. We went into the dark chamber and lit out candles. It was the interior of a tomb inside a platform. This was structure E-III-3. The inside was like a stepped pyramid, but in the negative and upside-down. In other words, the space diminished as you stepped down. Not much was left except the remains of a dignitary buried there laid out on one of the bench-like projections. Parts of the skeleton were fairly easy to make out including the scull, shoulder and arm, rib cage, etc. There were a few pieces of pottery around and some obsidian stuck in the debris that had accumulated in two thousand plus years. This was a marvelous experience.
We left the tomb, thanked the old man and gave him some Quetzales. At another part, there was a modern covering of corrugated metal over an excavation. It revealed a series of structures-- platforms (that is what pre-Columbian “pyramids” are) that were mostly plaster and clay, not solid stone. The interesting thing is that the structures were in the style of Teotihuacan way off in Central Mexico, a style of Talud y Tablero terrace profiles. Seeing them, there was no doubt that Teotihuacanos from that great and powerful city were involved in the later stages of Kaminaljuyu. It is known that the Teotihuacan influence upon the early classic period Maya was great. Under one of the stairways was found a 60 pound boulder of jade. Important and beautiful Izapan stone reliefs from this site are in the Museum in Guatemala City, one in particular, a large black granite slab with relief carving, the craftsmanship and iconography of which suggest that Izapa was a fully developed culture with a mature and sophisticated art.
On all of our trips to Guatemala, we went to the town of Antigua for a week or so (Antigua is a favorite of tourists, very picturesque–declared a World Heritage Site by the UN), then to Lake Atitlan to the town of Panajachel. Lake Atitlán is world famous. Some have called it the most beautiful lake in the world. It is a large lake surrounded by volcanos. We took the morning mail boat across the lake to Santiago Atitlán, one of the many Tzutuhil fishing villages around the lake and the best known and the one most often visited. The villages are not part Maya and part Mestizo, they are all Maya, with their own costume, language, etc. The Maya of the highlands wear very colorful costumes-- well, mostly the women. The men have pretty much gone to western dress. At Santiago Atitlán, the women wear a very long red cloth ribbon wound around the head so that it project out and almost resembles a halo. One notable thing about this town is the Cult of Maximon. He is a bit hard to explain. It is a figure carved out of pita wood and dressed curiously in western dress with ten gallon hat, a stoggie, etc. he is kept in his own chapel and taken out once a year for a festival. He is kind of a folk demi-god. People treat him with great reverence and even pray to him. Mayan religion is a mix of ancient ways and Catholicism, and, in this case, with an added twist. It is almost impossible to understand Maximon. You have to be Mayan. Then we took a boat to several of the other villages around the lake. Several are of the Cakchiquel Maya.
We alwasy went Panajachel to the now somewhat famous Ki’Che town of Chichicastenango. Our last time we went we chose an off day, not market day when it is swarming with tourists. A person we became acquainted with took us up a mountain path, about a half an hour walk, until we reached a clearing in the trees. There were several stone circles built there about 6 feet across. Other circles were inscribed on the ground with a sort of whitewash. There was a fire in at least one of the stone circles. In another were two carved stones, one of an ancient deity, the other a Christian cross. This is a sacred place called Paqual Abaj. A Mayan ceremony was going on with about 15 people from the town. A shaman was reading and chanting from an obviously hand-made book in Ki’Che (also spelled Quiche). Ki’Che is one of some 22 languages spoken by the Maya. The reader may have heard of the famous Sacred Book of the Ki’Che Maya, the Popl Vuh, which relates the Mayan creation story in which the legendary Hero Twins play the ball game with the Lords of Death. The ceremony seemed to be a purification rite. We asked if we could stay and watch the ceremony there in the mountains. This was authentic, not a tourists thing. They said we could and we stayed for some time. The people were very intent on what they were doing and paid no attention to us.
On another day back in Panajachel, we got a fellow with a pick up truck to drive us to the ruins of Iximche, a post classic ruin. Even though he was Mayan, or mostly Mayan, he did not know where it was and had to stop several times to ask some passing farmer for directions. The architecture was definitely not of classic Maya standards. The Golden Age had passed. There were a number of buildings and some ball courts. He people of Iximche were more interested in fighting and playing the ball game than creating great architecture. After the conquest of Mexico, Pedro de Alvarado, in his characteristically brutal way attacked Iximche, killed many people and set it up as Guatemala’s first capital.

norbrad393

Part 3. EL SALVADOR

I neglected to mention that on our trip down the Rio Dulce after stopping at the Manatee Reserve, we stopped one more time, at the town of Livingston, Guatemala. The people there are almost all of African descent and I think their ancestors were refugees from an uprising and aftermath in Jamaica a couple of centuries ago. They have more cultural affinity with the peoples of lower Belize than Guatemala. The story on this town is that you can only get there by boat. Actually there is a small airstrip now for light planes from Puerto Barrios. I would like to spend more time there. I have heard the streets are quite festive at night with music, dancing, etc. Maybe even the odd touch of rum.

Back In Guatemala City, We took in the Popl Vuh Museum–excellent collection of pre-Columbian art and also the Museo Ix Chel (goddess of weaving). Guatemala is famous for its native weaving. This is a superb little museum devoted to the textile art--weaver’s paradise.

On our ‘75-‘76 trip, we went to the Tica Bus Station and took a bus south for El Salvador. This was hours of riding through interesting country we had never seen before toward the Pacific coast. We arrived in the Capital San Salvador on New Years Eve. The custom in this region (Northern Central America) to set off firecrackers on Christmas and New years. We arrive about 8 PM. It was dark. There was a never ending din of firecrackers going off. It was too dark to go wandering around a strange city on New Year’s Eve looking for a place to stay. Besides every body we encountered was drunk. But we noticed rooms at the back of the Tica bus station. We asked to see one. It was Spartan, bare light bulb hanging down, cheap, but looked clean, and, let’s face it, we had no choice but to tell the clerk, "we’ll take it.” Actually it turned out to be both comfortable and convenient. Having our digs worked out and being famished, we remembered a McDonald’s sign on the road in. We walked back down the street and found it, munched our burger and other Gringo delights, toasted the New year with a late vintage refresco in a Styrofoam cup, and retired to Chez Tica for the night. The next day, we found a great little posada (Posada Clark) where we spent the next few days.
El Salvador is tiny country. Eleven of them would fit into Illinois. The telephone book, for the whole country, was about a quarter of an inch thick. This was before the terrible times of the ‘80's and there were soldiers in fatigues and automatic rifles everywhere. We wanted to go to the ruins of San Andres. So we asked a taxi driver if he knew the way, he said yes, we bargained for the price, and set off. Pretty soon out in the countryside, he stopped–at an enormous lava field and said. “This is it.” I said no, it isn’t, but go on--I was pretty sure we would spot it down the road. We did. We climbed down a ditch and back up, through a farmer’s corn field, and there was San Andres. It is a small site, several small structures, inset stairways, rounded corners, a lot of plaster covering less than ideal Mayan architecture. etc. The farmer and his family were watching us from some distance wondering who we were and what we were doing. We were, needless to say, the only ones there. We explored the buildings for an hour or so. I wish we had known that we were only a short distance from Joya del Ceren, The Mayan Pompeii, a community that had fled in horror in ancient times as a nearby volcano erupted. Much of the pueblo is still there under the lava, some of it excavated. More work in time might reveal a great treasure.
The next day, we caught a bus for the pacific coast and the little town of La Libertad. There is a long pier there, much fishing, fish being dried in the sun on it. The beach is black (volcanic) sand. There were some buildings along the shore, hotels I think. We wondered around one that seemed to be abandoned. It seemed to us that someone had the idea of making this town some kind of resort several decades before, and then no one showed up. I have to say that the Salvadorians were some of the friendliest people I have encountered. We were obviously not natives, but were greeted with warm smiles everywhere we went. And they have the best coffee I have ever tasted. This is coffee country. It is very black, looks like it would knock your socks off, but it was smooth and tasty. And never kept me awake at night. There is a small area west of San Salvador with a group of Indians called Pipil who speak a dialect of Nahuatl, the language of Central Mexico. It may have started as some kind of Aztec garrison outpost. But, of course, most are Maya. El Salvador is a poor country with much tragedy in its recent and past history.

We took the bus back to Guatemala City. I have sadly neglected one of Guatemala’s treasures. I mentioned it, but only briefly. That is Antigua. We spent Christmas day there in 1975 and have been there a number of times since. This means old (as in the old capital). It was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1773, thus the move to the present capital. The real name was The Most Noble and Loyal City of Saint James of the Caballeros of New Spain. The Spaniards seemed to like long titles. It was here in his 80's long after the fact that Bernal Diaz wrote his famous “True History of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico”. It is interesting to read. He remembered daily what had happened–from the Spanish point of view, of course. Antigua, as it was later called, was a major city of the Americas. You can still see the ruins of the roughly 40 monasteries and the cathedral there, as well as the Palace of the Captains General. They are beautiful to see. It is a treasure of colonial architecture. There are no modern buildings there. None are allowed. If the word ‘picturesque’ ever fit a place, it is here. There is a story that all forty of the monasteries were connected by tunnels. Most are very large structures, some with faded murals that can still be seen, elegant cloisters, sculpted and ornamented facades, etc. The streets retain that colonial flavor as do the buildings, private homes in days past, but many are hotels and posadas now. We always stay at the Posada Don Rodrigo, a couple of 250 year old adjoined houses. Sitting on the breakfast deck, you look out over a beautiful garden patio with humming birds and butterflies and past to the volcano, Volcan de Agua. The main interior patio beyond the entrance is large and there is a marimba band there every afternoon. It is Guatemala’s national instrument. A scarlet macaw on a perch greats patrons as they enter. Passageways lead to other patios surrounded by rooms, and a grand stairway leads to the second floor. It is called the land of eternal spring, and most of the time it is. Antigua is about 5,000 feet up, mild climate, and pleasant. Many tourists go to Antigua and there are several very good Spanish language schools there now.

Coming soon, Belize.

summergoes

These are wonderful, you should post some more!

brookend

Belize, please! Thank you for sharing these memories with us..........

Suzie2

Having finally found my way to Guatemala this year it was really interesting to read about your travels there so long ago. We are thinking about a rafting trip on the north part of Guatemala which will bring us near the Palenque area where we hope to visit as well. Certainly will put it higher on our list after reading about how special it is.

We did get to Belize a few years ago and are looking forward to reading about that.

You sound like you are experiencing some of the things my husband did after visiting Argentina 2 years ago. He lived there in the 60's and couldn't believe how it has changed (not for the better).