The first site we visited was Dzibanché. Discovery and excavation began about 15 years ago and so far only about 6 of the largest buildings have been uncovered. Before they are uncovered, they look like huge mounds of earth, but when the dirt is removed, the buildings are exposed. Most of Dzibanché has not yet been uncovered, but in all, the city covered 40 square km or 15 square miles. The city was started about 200 BC and became a great city around 200 AD. This website and others have some interesting information: http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/dzibanche.html)
We will have to go back again in the future to see what else has been uncovered. This first picture is Mom in front of Dzibanché 2.
We are climbing Dzibanché 1
In this photo, we are on top of Dzibanché 1 with Dzibanché 2 in the background.
On the top of Dzibanché 1.
John is “out on a ledge” on Dzibanché 1.
Looking in the “window” at Joseph on top of Dzibanché 1
On our hike, back toward the bus, we heard a loud noise in the jungle. Our guide said it was a howler monkey. It sounded very close, but we kept walking toward it and it got louder and louder, but we walked about 2 tenths of a mile before we actually got to the monkey. He was a large male trying to scare us away from his family. This is a photo of the loudmouth monkey. The grey streaks are rain drops going by.
This is a video clip with sound from John’s camera. It was a lot louder than it sounds from this video.Next, we took the bus to Kohunlich. This site was discovered and excavation began about 35 years ago, so it is more developed than Dzibanché. When it was first discovered, the leader of the expedition had a tree put in the ground upside down as a marker to make it easier to find again (no GPS in those days). This is the upside down tree with one of the largest buildings in the background.
One of the most famous buildings at Kohunlich is the Temple of the Masks. This is Mom and john looking at some of the masks.
Mom and John are at the top of the Temple of the Masks. It is pretty obvious that it is raining.
Mom, Mark and Joseph in what is left of another building at Kohunlich
On the road back to the ship, we passed a small LDS church building.
One of the most famous buildings at Kohunlich is the Temple of the Masks. This is Mom and john looking at some of the masks.
Mom and John are at the top of the Temple of the Masks. It is pretty obvious that it is raining.
Mom, Mark and Joseph in what is left of another building at Kohunlich
On the road back to the ship, we passed a small LDS church building.
We really enjoyed seeing these ruins. This was way better than Tulum. Tulum was the Mayan ruins that we saw close to Cosumel several years ago.
Unfortunately, we spent most of our time traveling on the bus. I wish we could have had more time at each site to climb on and explore the ruins. There was a lot of Kohunlich that we only saw for a couple of minutes.
From my reading on the internet about Dzibanché on the internet (http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/dzibanche.html and other sites), it is named for the wooden engraved panels on the top of Dzibanché 6. We passed by Dzibanché 6 but from I read on the internet, people are no longer allowed to climb on Dzibanché 6. The howler monkey was close to Dzibanché 6.
Unfortunately, we spent most of our time traveling on the bus. I wish we could have had more time at each site to climb on and explore the ruins. There was a lot of Kohunlich that we only saw for a couple of minutes.
From my reading on the internet about Dzibanché on the internet (http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/dzibanche.html and other sites), it is named for the wooden engraved panels on the top of Dzibanché 6. We passed by Dzibanché 6 but from I read on the internet, people are no longer allowed to climb on Dzibanché 6. The howler monkey was close to Dzibanché 6.
1 comment:
Those ruins look really cool. I want to go there.
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