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To Begin the Adventure

Chichén Itza Ballcourt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Indroduction:
A short outline of the trip!

     In actual fact, the genesis of this website began sometime in the mid-1940's, when, as a child, I read a book titled "Royal Road to Romance" by a real life adventurer, Richard Halburton.  One chapter told of the author's trip to the ruins of Chichén Itza. And he told of having dived into the famous Well, and surviving! The Well?  A watery pit into which the Mayan Priests ceremonially toss young virgin maidens in order to pacify their blood-thirsty Gods.  From that moment on I really wanted to see this ancient place, to climb the pyramid, walk through the famous site, take in all its stone age wonders. Then to gaze into the Well--though hardly to dive in!

     My way of diving in, many many years later, though, was reading a lot about Mesoamerica, learning about the Toltecs, who were responsible for much of the more recent ruins at Chichén Itza [at least 1000 years old]. The spark that Richard Halburton's book lighted in my mind became, over the years, a raging fire.  I had to go there--someday.  A dream.  One of those fantasy hoped for trips that haunt many of us--and never materialize.  Then it happened in April, 2000.

    My wife had known my interest in Mesoamerican ruins and civilizations.  We'd gone to Alaska on a cruise, then to Maui, both more a bow to her personal dreams.  Now she felt it was my turn to have a dream come true.  I was given my pick of which ruins to see.  And my choice as to how to go about it.

    Well, says I, the only real meaningful cruise is that in the Caribbean--any of them would do!  Add that to a trip to Chichén Itza and we have a double whammo!

    The only item of business left for us was to decide how to get to Chichén Itza.

    Love a cruise!  Always wanted to take one of those Caribbean cruises.  We went to our local travel agent, World One Travel of Thousand Oaks, who’s owner, Bernard Weiser, arranged a cruise that took in Chichén Itza.  The last port stop was Cosumal, an island just off the coast of Mexico.  We had to take a ferry to Playa del Carmen, on the coast of Mexico, Yucatan.  Even more exciting was the fact that from Belize City, Belize, the day before, we’d be able sign onto to a tour to the Mayan ruins at Altun Ha.

    The cruise, of course, was an event all by itself; and worth the price of admission.  But in my mind the main event was the Mayan ruins--and all else merely a wonderful added attraction.  The cruise was simply an ideal way to get there.

    I've, hopefully, designed the website to be easily accessed in bits and pieces.  A recommended option, because of its size.  All comments, other than these, are minimal.

In the beginning....

     We started at the Los Angles Airport, staying over night at the Renaissance Hotel, where we were able to enjoy a nice afternoon snack and morning meal as part of the deal--(the Club room in which they delivered these extra pleasures are shown on the LAX page).  Friday we were able to sleep in a bit longer, before getting the plane to Miami early the next morning.

     In Miami we were taken to a hotel to spend the night. That evening I tried to find some Cuban food to experience the real thing, but that simply didn't happen.  I did find, though, an Internet Cafe, which I made use of the next morning.  Before leaving for the ship we did actually discover a stand, almost across from the hotel,  that sold what they called a Cuban sandwich, which was as close as we got to Cuba! Then we were taken to the ship, around 1:00 PM.

     We had time to get settled in, look around (during which I took quite a few pictures of my first impressions) then have lunch in the Terrace Room, where we'd been assigned our dinner table. After lunch we again looked around before ship until 4:00Pm when it started for the Caribbean. Almost immediately we were forced to run through a life boat drill--with life jackets strapped on--right under the life boats assigned to us.  A dull, time wasting exercise required by law!

     The excitement drives you throughout the ship, wanting to see every nook and corner.  The most you can do is to get quick looks and try to find yourself around and back to your cabin.  Just try to!  You get lost very quickly.  But that's part of the game, of course.  It takes you most of the trip to really get to know your way around the place.

     That night we had dinner at our assigned table and met the couple who were going to be our companions for the trip.  A nervous moment, meeting the strangers who will invade your privacy for the next 7 days. Luckily we'd survived this kind of experience before in the previous cruises we'd taken over the years (two transatlantic to Germany and back, to along the western side of Mexico, one to Alaska).  The "embarrassment" and awkwardness last only a short time.  This couple turned out to be amazingly interesting.  He was a retired teacher, who had, for some 20+ years taught of all things German!  My wife being German born and all that, this made it really a grand extra experience. They had a lot to talk abound not in German, really.  He'd been to Germany quite a few times, many with students on class teaching tours. His wife was Japanese, and a delightfully charming lady.  They helped to make our evening meals especially lovely.  Quite a nice addition to our experience.  [Plus, of all things, he was the first person I met who knew the name Richard Halburton--another was a man we had breakfast with a couple of days into the trip, who was anxiously going to take in Chichén Itza, too.]

     The next day was on the open sea, (the best part of a cruise, as far as I'm concerned!) moving down around Cuba.  What happened that day was more exploration and enjoyment of the ship.  You get up in the morning and have breakfast, (we took the morning buffet in the Four Seasons dining room, pictures of which are shown in the website) and soon are eating lunch, and after a bit of relaxation it is dinner time, then you have the big show to see at night, and a short time after that the Midnight buffet or snack.  Food food food is what a lot of this is all about, of course.  And the entertainment.  There's the piano in the Coffee Cafe (where I spent a lot of time enjoying the cocktail lounge were lovely standards were played with a jazzy touch).  The ship had other places where one could dance to what would be called modern music.  And then, of course, the small Big Band and Theater and the nightly shows.  We saw most of the Big Shows.  From comedy to "broadway" productions.  Some were, actually, quite entertaining.  Though they aren't of top flight Las Vegas level, like the liners would like you to believe, but they offer pretty darn good entertainers.  Well worth the price of admission, too--part of the package.  All one had to pay for was the drinks and gambling. Oh, yes, there was the grand Casino!  Where you could dump your money. I actually managed to win something like $17 bucks at one point and walked out. I think I  was kinda ahead of the game. I didn't play the tables or slots after that.  Actually don't like the gambling all that much--they wanna take your money!  No fair!  I wanna take theirs.  It was a dead lock--so I simply kept away from that scene.  Too much to do, anyway.

     These cruises are set up to take your time and cram it with so much activity it is like riding a rolly-coaster at double time for 7 days without stop.  You have one total day to get some idea of what the ship is all about, and deciding what tours to take (another item you have to pay for).

     Yes.  You have very limited time.  And I heard that the Chichén Itza tour was very very popular with limited "tickets"!  That drove me up the wall!  I'd taken this cruise for ONE thing only (well, that's why we'd taken this one).  And to miss out on the ruins of Chichén Itza would be a tragedy beyond insanity.  I went to the ticket window very very early and stood for about an hour, first in line, taking no chances.  Its enough to say that we went on that tour, plus the one from Belize City, Belize, Yucatan, to Altun-Ha--a minor, but impressive Mayan ruins.

     The next day, our second full day, on the Cruiselines, was a port stop at St. George, in the Cayman Islands. It was Monday morning, and even I was interested in getting out and seeing what was in the offering.  As it turned out, a lotta banks in the British island.

     The next day was Roetan island, just off the coast of Honduras.  Brigitte took a tour, while I kept a promise to myself to make the most of the boat.  Plus I was on the tail end of the famous 2000 flu attack, which had started a week before we left.  So I was determined to conserve my energy for what I considered the Main Event: Chichén Itza.  So, along with other things, I rested a bit, too.

     The next morning we arrived at Belize City--and the beginning of the Mayaland adventure!

     A minor comment about the weather!  It was hot!  Thick and hot!  That's what we expected to experience. And it was advised to smother your body with sunscreen--which we'd done.  Still the thick heat was enough to drain you--and I never liked anything much more than around 80 at top!  Plus a cool breeze.  Well, not even on the water was there any real cool breeze cool enough to off set the heat.

     Right on the docks of Belize, we boarded a small boat that took us down the Belize River through the hot tropic jungles of Yucatan and finally to a lunch at a river front eating place.  This is where a bus picked us up for an hour drive to the ruins of Altun-Ha.  What a thrilling moment when I first stepped out of the bus and faced the nearby pyramid within walking distance. A breath-taking moment. This was my introduction to the Mayan world! This site was quite an impressive place.  Some walking to do, and the one "pyramid" that we went up the side of, to the top! This was an exhaustingly blunt warning as to how difficult it might be to get up the 91 steps of the real pyramid at Chichén Itza, the next day.

     And the next day was Chichén Itza! An all day tour starting in the morning.  Those going on this tour were the first off the ship and last back on, long after dinner  It was an 11 hour trip.  First some 45 minutes by ferry to the Mexican coast, and the city of Playa del Carmen.  From there we were driven to Chichén Itza in a neatly air conditioned modern bus--believe it or not!--for a 3 and one half hour trip one way.  The box lunch that the cruiseship had given us was the only downer of the whole week; a disgusting mix of stuff hardly worth mentioning, let alone eating!  But the bus gave free beer and sodas, all you could consume, plus free water which you certainly needed to take with you.

     My long time dream was to go to the top of the pyramid, something I'd resigned myself to be, perhaps. impossible.  91 steps to the top.  I managed to keep with the guide through much of the first hour--and we had only 2 and a half hours there.

     Once we had returned to the Toltec part of the site, which was near the ballcourt, I simply decided to go on my own.  One elderly woman had come to the guild and said: "If I don't try it now, I'll never be able to get up the Pyramid!  Do you mind?"  He assured her is was all right to go on her own--and that was my clue.  I decided to make a rush through the Ballcourt, taking as many pictures as necessary, then I'd, perhaps, take in the Temple of Warriors, then the Pyramid. Well, I left the Ballcourt and faced the real issues in front of me.  The Pyramid stood there bold and brazen, and beyond that was the Warriors' Temple.  From the top of the Pyramid it would be possible to see the whole Mayan site.  If I could make it, of course.  There was a limited amount of time. The Well was considered the least important item to see--so I had already, mentally, set it aside as a goal.

     But the Pyramid--now that was the gold of a life-time.  I decided to give everything up on the chance of making it at least part way up. There was the rope along the middle of the stairs, from top to bottom.  I'd been fighting the flu bug for almost two weeks--on the tail end, merely weak and easily exhausted.  Plus I'm blind in one eye, so depth perception was out of the question. The heat was. to be polite, hellishly thick.  I went to the monument of 91 Stairs and started the climb to Maya heaven.  The normal, male, instinctive, thing was to walk up every bloody step, no matter what the cost.  I had to decide if male ego-pride was going to be a serious issue or something to crush.  Was I determined to reach the top at all cost?  I decided the latter, of course.  Thusly I chose, after a short bit, to adapt the pyramid-crawl, or the on-all-fours up the steps you go.  Even then it was necessary to rest around six times to let my heart stop throbbing and catch my breath.  One thing I learned from this experience: you decide what is important and then go for it--but reasonably.  I didn't know if I'd make it to the top or not!  I only knew I was going to try as hard as I could, any way possible!

     Well, when I got to the top I gave out a yell of delight.  A short time later, another fella, who had managed to get to the top, said: "The easy part was getting up here!"  And he was right, of course.  If they hadn't had the rope, it would have been impossible for me to even consider going for the top.  Without depth perception such a downward trek is somewhat dangerous; seriously so.  After walking around the top and taking pictures, I finally started my downward trek by sitting on the top step, taking hold of the rope and letting my fanny slide to the next step.  Thusly, one step at a time it was possible to work my way down the 91 steps.

      To my limited embarrassment, a man and his young son were making their way down behind me, and I kept hearing the father saying: "Now don't look down and don't hold the rope. There won't be one where we're going tomorrow."

     Finally I said over my head: "Maybe you better go ahead of me. I'm not able to go any faster!"

     Towards the end I was able to stand and walk down the last steps as if I knew what I was doing.  Though still holding to the rope, which lifted up with me.

     The high at having successfully conquered the Pyramid made it possible to go for the Temple of Warriors--and later the Well.

     The next day was out to sea, the ideal way to enjoy a cruise.  Then the party was over and Miami gobbled us up and ejected us back to LAX and home.

For those who would like to know more concerning our Cruiseliner's tour and some historical facts concerning the Ancient Mayas click on:

The Cruise Tour & Mayans
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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