Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
While we waited for our
tortas
, I asked, "How much for a quick ride to the church and
back?" The driver said, "10 pesos ($1)." I hopped in, and Alberto took my picture, enjoy-
ing the brief pedal powered ride.
We left the Camino Real and drove to Uxmal.
I had visited Uxmal in 1975 with my family.Uxmal was nearly deserted then, and arche-
ologists were working on the site. Today Uxmal is on the tourist circuit. There are good
roads, excellent service, a nearby hotel and restaurants. Much has been restored since
1975, but visitors are no longer allowed to climb the steep steps to the top of the Pyramid
of the Magician. "Too many accidents," I was told.
The Pyramid of the Magician (legend says it was conjured up in three days) is my favorite
Mayan monument. It leaves me with a sense of awe. It is sheer stone with curved-sides.
Its bulk rises dramatically from the flat plain and towers over the jungle canopy as a testa-
ment to a once powerful Mayan city-state.
We drove to Mani and passed through Ticul. Life-sized Mayan heroes and gods, statutes
looking like kings, stood guard on nearly every corner. A plain church stood in the plaza.
The upper façade looked like a brooding, stylized Mayan face glaring from the Catholic
fortress. It was afternoon when we arrived in Mani, and the convent was closed until 4
p.m. This once principal town and seat of power was quiet and nearly deserted.
Under the arches of Mani's City Hall there were two eye-catching displays. The brightest,
with red flames, was a mural showing Bishop Landa putting the torch to the Mayan idols
and codices in 1562. The bishop, interested in saving souls, believed he was destroying
the works of the devil.
Mayans seemingly had converted to Christ and Catholicism, but syncretism was the real-
ity. Mayans accepted Christian saints and the Catholic mass as extensions of pre-Hispanic
rites and beliefs. But Mayan statues were found secreted in altars and even in the cross
itself. Concerned for Mayan souls, Bishop Landa set an immense bonfire. He incinerated
5000 idols, 197 ceremonial vases and twenty-seven deerskin codex scrolls in an effort to
halt Mayan heresy. Mayan history was lost in the conflagration, and today's historians
deeply regret this act.
The second eye-catcher, next to the mural of Landa's bonfire, was a group of five recent
photos. They pictured step-by-step the annual Mayan ritual ceremony, asking Chac-Mool
