Akumal Ruins

We checked out of the Bungalow in Uxmal today and boarded the bus for a 4 hour ride to Akumal to see more ruins. Well, most of us did. Kathy and the three little boys drove back to the Hilton in Cancun. She texted me when she arrived and said "We're home!" :)

My parents, Danny & Brennah, all the kids from the school, and I drove to an Hacienda in Uxmal to see the ruins there.


We stopped for lunch on the way. It's difficult to see in this picture...but each window and door had a plastic bag with water hanging in it. It was very peculiar. I asked the waiter what it was for. He said that ancient Mayan tradition says that it keeps out the mosquitos. He said it's an old wive's tail like hanging cloves of garlic over the door or that a horse shoe brings good luck. I don't know if this one works but I do know that there were no mosquitos and we've fed a lot of mosquitos this trip...so maybe it's worth a try!


The chicken was so good! I thought that when we got out of Cancun, we would find some more reasonable prices but I was wrong. This dish cost $22. Maybe we got the special "Gringo" price!


These ruins were massive and much more elaborate than the last ones that we saw. They were more recent too.


We got to climb on these ones.


The stairs were very steep!


When we finally got to the top, we all sat down to rest. The view from the top was amazing!


We learned something very interesting when we got to the top. They excavated a hole in the top and about 6 feet in, they found...


...there was another ruin under the first. Apparently, it was the tradition of the Mayans, every 52 years, to build over the top of the first one. The guide said that they found some that were 7 layers deep!


This is the ruins of their arena where they played a ball game. The goal was to get the ball through that ring but you couldn't use your arms.


As I wondered what they could have possibly been thinking, I came up with a theory. I figured that if I were them, I would build these monuments with a vault in the center to store records. I told several people about my theory and then one of the guys in our group told me about a special he saw on the Discovery Channel regarding the ruins.


He said they used advanced Sonar technology to scan these ruins and they discovered a hidden cavern in the center. He said they also discovered a tunnel system underneath. They followed it and discovered a hidden entrance far away. The entrance was blocked with rocks and tons of ancient artifacts. They've been excavating the entrance of the tunnel for three years now! I am so fascinated by this. I'm going to do more research when I get back. I't so intriguing!


The Hacienda was amazing. We all had a fun time cooling off and swimming in the pool.


The food we ate for dinner was probably our least favorite of the whole trip. I got a seafood gumbo-type soup that tasted like beef stew but with seafood instead of beef. The spaghetti shrimp dish was fried in butter and just wasn't that good. My stomach was a little upset after eating it. I didn't even take a picture of it.

However, the ambiance was great! I still have trouble wrapping my brain around these open air structures with no walls or windows. My mind keeps asking "What do they do in winter?" I keep forgetting that they don't have winter here like we do in Utah!