Last week I came back to Puerto Rico from my one week trip to Cancun Mexico. This was mainly a business trip aimed at visiting Rialzo Mosaics company, who will do most of the job concerning the production and installation of the mosaic pieces for the municipal project Im working with in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. But how could my artist friend and business partner Omar Ortiz or I miss the opportunity to visit the Mayan archeological sites nearby. Cancun gave me the impression of being in Orlando, Miami and Central America all at the same time plus the beaches were amazing! It was an interesting blend of tourist culture and real culture. Cancun has two sides: one the place that most people know and go for that is in the hotel beach resort area (packed with Europeans when we got there) and the downtown area where most locals gather and have fun. This of course was my favorite part of Cancun. But perhaps what surprised me most is the fact that Cancun is a very young city, having huge developments and becoming what it is now since 1974.
I am not surprised of finding out neither Omar or I have many pictures taken in Cancun. I guess this picture of the beach would do the best justice of all for no words can describe this image and how it felt to be in front of such beauty
As soon as the business meeting with Rialzo Mosaics was completed, we decided to venture into the nearest archeological sites. After having a look at the map I was astounded to notices how many points of interest you have to choose from. So given the short time being there we had to decide which ones were the most important. Task that is easily said but difficult and quite relative since it all depends on what you consider important. Some ruins are better preserved than others and others are vast in territory. I definitely was not expecting to spend a whole day walking around around temples and shrines and this is the case with most places we went to visit even the not so famous ones like Ek-Balam which we visited almost by accident without planning.
Mayan culture is long, complex and with a lot of contradictory theories behind their demise as civilization. You can make up your own conclusions of what you see or hire a guide and have a totally different view of what another guide is telling a group of tourists right next to you. Everyone seemed to have a different story. Many would be fustrated by this but I find this even more fascinating since it opens up ones imagination on how things were done and how they ended up being.
Ruins in Tulum
To give a brief example, Cancun is said to be Mayan for "snakes den". In Valladolid an old Mayan told me that Cancun meant "four pots of water". One might be wrong and the other right or both may be right since the Maya language has many variation depending on the region where it is spoken. 
Ruins at Coba
I must say the experience of exploring an ancient city on bike was my favorite part. Coba is enormous and to just think that is is still mostly buried under the dense forest gives one a pretty good idea of how splendorous this civilization was. There are so many temples, buildings and "estelas" (monolithic slabs of rock carved with much detail usually depicting a god or king with glyphs inscribed around the character) It is simply mind boggling to think of the of how many people must have inhabited a city like Coba. There are even roads that are off the tourist track that we explored on our own and we kept finding half buried pyramids and temples all the way. On our way out we visited a Cenote which is basically a huge cavern like hole with water in it. I was amazed to find blind fish living in it and people say they are cursed.
round shaped pyramid probably built for Kukulcan the god of wind, hurricanes and Venus
After a long day in Coba we decided to pay a quick visit to Ek-Balam on our way to Valladolid. Next time no doubt about it Ek-Balam deserves a whole day. It was simply overwhelming to get a glimple of the tall palaces of this city built for the Mayan elite. The stucco work so nicely preserved on the top of the main palace was amazing!
ruins at Ek-Balam
The only regret we had was not having enought time to see so much more we left behind but it Yucatan is so close to Puerto Rico Im sure I will visit it again and spend more time travelling. Valladolid is a very nice and economical place to stay over so Im sure it will be repeated next time I go back. We stayed at an hotel called "El Meson del Marques", a place a really really reccomend staying and eating at. I just had to take a picture of my breakfast there. Simply delicious!
Quesadillas, Frijoles, Guacalmoles, Cafe y tostadas
Next thing we had to do and its a must if you are in Yucatan: visit one of the seven wonders of the modern world: Chichen Itza! Spectacular! Here I have posted just some of the pictures. I just went crazy taking pictures and notes of every bit of information I could. On this one we decided to hire a guide that gave us a different version of the past that just made me conclude there are just so many assumption on the function of these buildings that one has to draw your own conclusions. An area of the Chichen itza is called "mil columnas" ( one thousand columns, even though there are just six hundred) is a place thought of being a market place or agora but at the same time it is said to have an unknown purpose??? Draw your own conclusions of it. The bas relief motif of the jaguars and mountain eagles devoring human hearts can be interpreted either as the Toltec and Mayan cultures living together or two military divisions "the Jaguars" and "Eagles" or it may have been a dualistic religious symbol of life and death. Ive heard these theories told by different people and books to reference. In the end who knows? For me it makes the matter even more fascinating to explore.
There is much to learn from Mesoamerican culture and history. Hopefully Ill be able to visit the area a few more times. This trip has left a mark on my soul and imagination that will be reflected on my art. I should research and write more about Mayan art and mythology on my next blog entries. It will help clear the jungle of misinformation and uncover the hidden temples of our past.
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