December Vacation, part 2

We survived our first evening and day at sea, thanks to "Sea-Calm" which settled our tummies and cleared our heads. And put us to sleep. Jessi and slept several hours on Tuesday, but except for the sunburn, we felt lots better.

Wednesday was our day at port at Progreso. We went from the ship straight to the bus to go to Uxmal, the only Mayan ruins where the public is still allowed to climb a pyramid, located in the Yucatan in Mexico. I have dozens of photos of the architecture, but don't worry, I'm not going to post them here.

This excursion was the highlight of our trip, I think. It was what Nick wanted most to do, and we all were all interested in the history and culture this site came from. This is the back of a pyramid. The hole at the upper part was made to allow light so archaeologists could explore the inside. The lighter bricks are original, but had to be removed a year ago when there was so much rain, water damage was happening inside. The holes they made allowed the wind to dry it out, then the bricks were put back on the pyramid in numbered order.

The young man in the white shirt is Gabriel, our tour guide. I chatted with him after our tour, and he said he'd never in his life seen snow. He said in the Yucatan, they have two seasons, "hot" and "hotter". They were having "hot" while we were there. Actually, it was warm-ish, about 80, and humid, but the nice breeze kept it from being uncomfortable.

This panoramic photo below is actually five different photos I took in sequence, then my Photoshop Elements arranged for me into one. These were taken while we were standing at the top of about 30 steps, looking to the South, inside the Nunnery Quadrangle. Down on the lawn in the center is a remnant of a phallic symbol, and on the right, the remains of a table where they performed human sacrifice.

There were many iguanas lazing in the sun, all around the ruins. At one point we came around a corner, and about 10 feet below us, there were 7 or 8 BIG ones scurrying around. Kinda creepy, but kinda cool. This big guy tucked himself down into the hole in the rocks right after we snapped his photo.

On our way back to our bus, we saw this Mexican police truck. Jess wanted a photo to show her friends because it had a cage enclosing the bed of the truck. She didn't realize there was an officer not far from us as she was laughing about it and we were telling her to be quiet. She said, "Who's afraid of the Mexican police?" And the people who were walking with us scurried away. Then I told her to SHUT UP and get on the bus. Oops.

Jess had my camera for awhile and I found this when I downloaded the photos. Lots of nice scenery at Uxmal, huh? :o)

Back to the bus for lunch and a little siesta during the drive back to the ship. Soon after we got back, we sailed for Cozumel and my first margarita in Mexico. Ole!