The Maya
were a very interesting and technologically advance population. In some way,
they reminds me of the Greek, for their knowledge of math and astronomy, but
also for their religion (kind of the same Gods everywhere in the world) and
their general attitude to life. Politically organized in independent state-city,
based on trading, religion and science. Architecturally they were as impressive
as the Egyptians (and the Greeks, and the Romans..). 
For
example, one of the funniest thing of Chichen Itza (and the pyramid of Uxmal as
well) is that when you clap your hands, the echo gives you back exactly the
sound of the Quetzcoal bird. Exactly it. It is amazing and fascinating. An
impressing place is the game field for the pelota game. As in the cartoon
"The Road to El Dorado" the game field is exactly as it is in the
movie: two rings and a huge field in between. The ball was touched only by
elbows, arms, hips, thigh and leg: no feet or hands or head were allowed to
touch the ball, which was supposed to enter in one of the two rings hung up in
a quite high position. According to one historian it was the captain of the
losing team to be sacrificed to the Gods; another historian believes it was the
winner. In any case it was an honour to be sacrificed, and the violent death
was the only way to reach straightly the heaven, otherwise there were 9 levels
of "hell" (which was not really an hell.. at least no flames). Funny
how similar is the idea of hell - underground - with levels, and heaven, in the
sky. The style in Chichen Itza is not purely Mayan: there is a Toltec
influence. Infact the pyramid is different than the one in Uxmal, and there are
many references to human sacrifices and violent rituals, which are not present
in Uxmal.
El juego de la pelota in Chichen Itza, the biggest in the world!
Chichen Itza Majestic Pyramid (and me in my standard position copy-pasted from the previous pic..!)
Uxmal: the Pyramid of the Sourcerer
Uxmal: the Observatory
Uxmal: a fancy building, probably a temple.
Uxmal was a probably quite calm and devoted to religion, science and possibly
trading. It is interesting, even in this part of the world, the close relationship
between drugs and alcohol and ancient religious rituals (even if also modern
religion has some echoes of this relationship): drug and alcohol were a mean to
get in touch with the spirit, to learn and gain knowledge through hallucinatory
experiences (Peyote, Mescaline), or simply to purify your body (through
ingesting substances inducing vomit). Uxmal is the only city without a Cenote
(the natural water supply that was used for religious but also practical uses),
and therefore the main decoration -pretty much everywhere- is the face of the
God Chaak, the God of the rain. The survival of the city depended on the rain,
gathered in huge tanks hidden here and there. The presence of people trying to
sell everything on the one side annoys me, since it kills a bit the magic
effect of the ruins, on the other side it makes the city looked a bit alived
again, gaining colors and other noise than the voice of the guides. With a bit
of creativity you can picture them as ancient Mayan citizen living their
trading life in the city, while the rich visitor goes from one temple to the
next one...
Way less
the presence of sellers and locals in Palenque: there is the Indiana Jones
land, letting you climbing and losing yourself among the ruins! Palenque is
quite amazing: you can freely climb around and explore almost everywhere
(unfortunately the famous tomb of the Maya astronaut is not open to the public
anymore: this tomb represents a man painted in a position as if he was driving
a spaceship.. how easy is to imagine fascinating theories about aliens,
pyramids and reptilians?). On the other side, the tomb of the red queen was
open, and it was possible to slink inside: it's a famous queen whose name is
due to the fact that the tomb is completely red inside, due to the presence of
the cinnabar. But.. why do they put cinnabar? 
the tomb of the red Queen
Palenque: climbing in the ruins!
Palenque: where everyone can feel like Indiana Jones!
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