We decide to drive out to see Chichen Itza (http://www.chichenitza.com/). As it is a three hour drive into the jungle we had to stop for gas. (Oh, and in Mexico they give you the rental car with as little gas as possible.) Guy at the Pemex said the credit card machine wasn’t working. So Dave paid in cash. But managed to give the guy the wrong bill (hey the money looks funny – it’s easy to do). So after a small go around we gave them the rest of their money and off we went.
As of 2007, Chichen Itza has been named one of the 7th wonders of the world. It is an amazing place, but is not well marked with information about the history, so we hired a guide. Fascinating because according to him, what we learned in school about the human sacrifices on the Mayan pyramids is no longer thought to be true. It is now believed that all the Mayan temples and artifacts were mostly about agriculture – when to plant and when to harvest. The confusion came because the Mayan’s worshiped serpents, and when the Europeans arrived on the continent, they believed that this meant they were devil worshipers since in the Bible the serpent is considered evil. To my way of thinking I can’t see how anyone would ever really know for sure given that the Europeans burned all their books – hence interpretation of the drawings is anybody’s guess. Very fascinating in any case. However, leave it to the Mexicans to turn the 7th wonder of the world into a bazaar. There were booths with cheap tourist stuff lining every pathway through the ruins. Somewhat detracting from the experience.
