Monthly Archives: May 2011

Tulum: Eyewitnesses to the Encounter of Two Worlds

An interpretive text from Tulum, the most heavily trafficked archaeological site that we visited, invites the tourist to imagine the first encounter between the Spanish and the ancient inhabitants of Tulum from two different perspectives.  This encounter, it tells us, … Continue reading

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Who Owns The Maya? (Part 6)

You would be hard pressed to find any history of the Yucatan Peninsula in which the relations between the indigenous Mayan population and the Hispanic conquistadores would be described as anything other than fractious and violent.  Certainly to call it … Continue reading

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Traditional Altar and Tourist Stops outside Uxmal

Leaving Uxmal we discovered a restaurant that surely relied upon the tour buses that visit Uxmal. In fact, two pulled in after (thank goodness!) we had already ordered. Most of the [other] tourists were Russian.  The bus driver (fluent in … Continue reading

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Who Built Uxmal?

How ruinous should a ruin be?  As I visited Uxmal, I noticed the contrast between the ruins that Stephens described (and lived in) and those that I saw. The stones used to be a jumble, but today the monuments are … Continue reading

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Who owns the Maya (Part 5)

Plaque at the entrance to Uxmal informing us that in 1976, the government of the state of Yucatan gave these “installations” to the INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropologia y Historia):

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Who Owns the Maya (Part 4)

Up to this time our course had been before the wind.  Our journey from Merida had again been a sort of triumphal procession.  We had been passed from hacienda to hacienda, till we fell into the hospitable hands of Don … Continue reading

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Romancing the Maya: Uxmal and the American past

As soon as we entered the grounds of Uxmal, we stopped.  This first sight of the Pyramid of the Magician was so much more. . .well, magical than anything we had seen so far.  In fact, the best term to … Continue reading

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The Hacienda, Revolution, and the Drug War

Stephens wrote about the treatment of Indians working on Haciendas like the one where we went to the spa: Early in the morning we were roused by loud bursts of music in the church.  The cura was giving them the … Continue reading

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The Footsteps of Stephens and Catherwood in the Museo Regional de Yucatán

Why travel in the footsteps of Stephens and Catherwood or anyone else, for that matter?  I think footsteps add historical depth to a journey.  They help us think about the space between the past and the present. Others have felt … Continue reading

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Unadvertised Ritual at Hacienda Chichén Itzá

As we ventured into the “Nature Reserve” on the Hacienda’s grounds we crossed an old road leading to a small hill on top of which perched the Hacienda’s ancient 16th century Catholic chapel. Obviously there had been a fiesta recently, … Continue reading

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