Mayans

The countries Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and Mexico are known for being the ‘Maya region’. Establishing their empire from approximately 2000 BC until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16^th century, the Maya civilization was known for having the only written language of the pre-colombian Americans, excellent mathematics and (thanks to the global fear of 2012 being the end of the world and the related terrible movie ‘2012’) the Mayan calendar.

They also left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture in this area. We visited some amazing Mayan sites during the trip. First, we visited Chichen Itza which is just an hour outside Merida in Yucatan, south Mexico. This site has been elected as one of the 7 new world wonders in 2008. The highlight is one large ‘temple’. Although very touristy (there are more salesmen walking around then visitors) the site is beautiful and it’s impressive to see what the Mayans built:

Main temple in Chichen Itza

The original steps, made of stones on the left side vs the refurbished steps on the right.. good luck walking up :)

In Guatemala however, the sites are much more impressive and untouched, and less touristy. On our first day here we visited Tikal, which is a huge area filled with Mayan ruins. There are temples, the tallest structure (temple IV) being 70 meters high – which is on top of a hill overlooking the entire valley.

Temple I  (47 meter)

View over the valley from Temple IV (a scene of the first Star Wars movie was shot here)

It was raining so we hired a Guatemalan to keep us dry.. :)

Without joking, many thanks to Mario for being our tourguide!

Historic Mayan symbol

and it was STEEP !!!

On the next day we visited nearby Yaxhá. Although not as big as Tikal, this site was even more untouched – could have something to do with a kilometers long dirtroad leading to the area (yes we got stuck in the dirt). But it was worth it, the ruins in Yaxhá offer an amazing view over the nearby lake:

 Some temples are completely hidden under the greens

Old sports field

Then, on the way back, the fun began... Luckily Guatemalans are super friendly and helpful, so when a van full of people arrived the guys stepped out and helped us push the car out of the dirt (while the women were watching and taking pictures)

Playas de Mexico

We spent most of last week in some of Mexico's popular beach districts: Playa del Carmen, Cancun and the surrounding islands. Although very touristy, it was a nice way for us to relax before travelling to some more hardcore backpacking areas.

Last Monday (9 dec), day 6 of our 95-day trip, we arrived in Playa del Carmen and relaxed on the beach and in the city. Tuesday was a beautiful (hot) day so we went to Cozumel and went snorkeling at the coral reefs - see the pictures below! On Wednesday we went snorkeling in Cenote "dos ojos" which was a very cool experience. The water was superclear in the cenote, which allows you to see the formation of the rocks under the water. You can swim from one cave to another, although it's so narrow that you may hit your head. After that, we wanted to go snorkeling with turtles in nearby beach Akumal, but due to a very heavy storm we were 'forced' to sit in a beach restaurant for a few hours :)

Last Friday (day 10) we went to Isla Mujeres, a small but gorgeous and less touristy island off the coast of Cancun. The island is only 7 kilometers long and 650 meters wide, but the difference between the rocky coast with heavy waves on the east (ocean side) and the quiet, beach coast on the west and north side is huge. On Isla Mujeres we also visited turtle farm Tortugranja, where turtles and their eggs are protected from predators with help from the government and a visitors fee. This island also offers a nice sunset and delicious food :)

Saturday, we moved to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, a beach town even more popular for Americans (mainly young party crowds). The city is basically a road with a few kilometers of all-inclusive beach resorts. Beaches are nice but the ocean waves were crazy, which is superfun but don't bring any items into the sea.. lost one pair of sunglasses there :(   Our friend Alvaro (jr) flew in from Amsterdam and his family was there to spend the Saturday and Sunday at the beach and pool, before starting a long, long busride via Belize into Guatemala (where we currently are). More about that on the next post!

Our favorite beach was on isla de mujeres: quiet, not too touristy and amazing white sand between the palm trees! 

 Iguanas here are big and there are many

 Isla Mujeres' nice white sand beach.. Paradise! 

 Baby turtles! :)

Cancun !!!

The beauty of Cenotes

As mentioned in the previous blog, the Yucatan area has thousands of Cenotes: sinkholes that created the most beautiful underground cave-like areas and even lakes where you can swim. Many cenotes have underground rivers that connect them to the ocean. We visited the gorgeous Cenote Ik Kil last week which had lots of water fun:

This week we went snorkeling in Cenote Dos Ojos (two eyes) - a unique experience! You are basically swimming from one Cenote to another in a cave (watch your head), between the fish underneath you and bats above you :)

Diving in Cenotes is another popular activity here

Los primeros dias en Mexico!

The first days in Mexico have been amazing! We arrived in Merida, Yucatan last Wednesday. The first day could not have been more Mexican.. Our friend Alvaro's father, also named Alvaro :) picked us up from the airport and showed us around Merida: a relaxed but big city with a population of about 1 million.

We saw the school project which Alvaro's parents have set up: escuala Yaxunah, a school for children aged 4-12 where they have plenty of opportunities to exploit their creative skills. 50% of the lessons are already in English! The teachers showed as around the school, the playground, the classrooms, the art work of the students, the tortoise garden....etc. We had a chance to talk to the students there and they speak very good English already. We are very impressed by the idea that the students are treated as the center of the school.

After visiting the school, Alvaro sr took us to a local bar for 'a few drinks and snacks'. In Mexico, this means anywhere between 3-10 drinks and a table full of food, enough for a 8 person family's meal in Europe! We were happy that we learned a bit of Spanish back in Amsterdam, which allowed us to communicate a bit with the locals. (of course, Alvaro sr showed Daniel the proper way of using those "P" words). At night we had a short walk in Merida city, and went for some ice cream with special local flavor, still full from the snacks, and met some of Alvaro jr's friends for (more) drinks.

On Thursday we visited Sotuta de Peon, an ancient style village in Yucatan, where they show a traditional way of making rope from plants - which the Mayans used to do. This place also had a Cenote, a beautiful natural underground lake caused by a sinkhole. There are thousands of Cenotes in this region, one more spectacular than the other. The water in the Cenote is so clear and you can swim there. Too bad we didn't bring our swimming suit that day. In the afternoon, we visited Grutas Lol-tun, which is a cave system with old Maya habitation. We were the only ones in the cave, so we got a private tour :)  The most amazing part is to look up from the bottom of the caves and see the source of light. We wonder how amazing the art of nature is.

Then Friday was the big fishing trip! Our friend Alvaro jr has told us lots about the fishing in Yucatan. We went on a speedboat into the sea. Kendy quickly showed of her talent and caught lots of fish! We did both get a bit of seasick. (not sure if this was because of the heavy waves, the fact that we were catching fish in the early morning after breakfast, or a combination of these). We fished for a few hours, then moved on to another 'more relaxed boat' with music to chill and swim a bit in the warm sea (of course, swimming with a cerveza). After that we went to a local restaurant, where they put our fresh fish straight on the grill so we could eat it, with different side dishes like octopus, shrimps, sea snails.... yummy. This is the first time we enjoyed our own catch. The fish is so meaty and fresh; as a crazy seafood fan, Kendy enjoyed it so much. What an amazing day! We were exhausted at night and didn't do much.

On Saturday, we visited the old Mayan pyramid Chichen Itza. Super impressive to see how this massive construction was build. It was a really hot day, and since we'll see more Mayan ruins in Guatemala, we didn't spend too much time walking around. In the area we visited a Cenote where you can swim: Cenote Ik Kil. Beautiful, words cannot describe how special it is in there. There is a jumping stage there which you can jump into the water from 5 metres high. Daniel and Alvaro sr had so much fun with the jumps, but Kendy was too scared to jump. At night we visited Merida's "Noche Blanca" festival with live music on the streets. It's still crazy to hear xmas songs with this weather..

Sunday was our last day in Merida, which we spent the local way: family and friends get together to eat, drink and enjoy the great weather. We also went to watch the semi-final Mexican football league match with them. We ended up in a bar with live rock music at 1am.
On Monday we took a 5 hour bustrip to Playa del Carmen where we'll spend some days relaxing on the beach.

That's it for the first days, thanks for stopping by at our blog :) As you can read the first days have been very busy but we'll try to update the blog more often!
Kendy and Daniel

 Street of Alvaro's casa

 The school project

"just a few snacks"

Merida, Yucatan

A few cerveza's with Alvaro's amigos

Ancient style Yucatan housing

Making rope from plants.. not easy!!

These are the plants that the rope originates from

Beautiful cave

Sinkholes

Fishing master!

Yummie!!!!!

"Let it snow" 

Cenote... Amazing !! 

Sunday funday with family & friends!