We wake up 3 minutes before the alarm would go off. There was a heavy rain last night, and it’s 10 degrees cooler now. The morning routine goes efficient and at 6:30 we’re heading towards Uxmal, 1,5 hour drive south. we will also visit Kabah, Labná, Sayil, and Xlapak, four more Maya towns. It will be a busy day.
Uxmal dates back to the 8th century, and became a center of power for ca 200 years.We arrive 20 minutes early, luckily we can already use the toilets. At 8 sharp, we enter the site, we are totally alone. The first thing we see is the 32 meter high pyramide, in good shape, with steep stairs in the middle, and unique round edges. A tiny door is located at 2/3 height. The backside is much more decorated.
The children are not in their best shape this morning, they want ice cream, they want both to be carried, they want food…. We take it slowly and make the best out of it, pointing at the dozens of leguanas we see sunbathing, counting them for some distraction for the kids.
Behind the pyramide, there is a patio with four palaces around. It was here, where the final chief of Uxmal gave his last orders.
Uxmal is laid out in relation to atronomical phenomena. It is built according to Puuc architecture: the lower levels are plain, and the higher levels are decorated, for example with Chaac the rain god.
There is no cenote or water source close to the building. The Maya’s would collect the water from the rain season in cicterns. However, the drought is one of the reasons that people left Uxmal.
It’s very quiet at the site. There are many other temples, and another ball court. One temple is nearly as high as the first pyramide. The sculptures and panels are well preserved, clearly showing serpents and different gods.
We leave at 10, and prepare ourselve for four more sites. Luckily they are smaller than Uxmal. The first one is Kabah. Cleo doesn’t want to walk and sits under a tree with her tamagotchi while we tour the site. We can continously see her as it’s not a big site. Also here we see palaces with stunning sculptures.
On the way to Sayil, Zeno falls asleep. As Cleo also does not fancy another pyramide, Tim goes on his own. It’s 42 degrees again, and it was a good call to stay in the car. It’s extremely hot, and there are signs about the dangerous wild life. While Tim strolls through the leaves, afraid of snakes. The first palace is beautiful. He also sees a big furtility statute with a big penis. He walks to the watch tower, and a hiéroglyphes temple, but he leaves the final palace for what it is to join his family in the (also hot) car.
It is a short drive to Xlapak. Zeno is awake again, so we can all go together. The site is not advertised in most guides, so we are curious what we will see. It’s not much. Some stone hills in a forest. We’re happy when we’re back at our car and we don’t recommend anyone to go here.
We spend our final pesos at Labna. Here, we again see some palaces, a high watch tower and a nicely decorated gate. Cleo swings in a low branch of a huge tree before we get back to our car.
It’s 12:45 and after the intense programme, we’re really hungry, but there is no food nearby. So we decide to just drive back and buy lunch at the supermarket. We make great headway until torrential rain makes driving fast perilous and we slow down to a crawl. When we clear the rain our gas light turns on so we head to a petrol station. This takes us into the city and into traffic.
At 14.30 we are finally near our apartment and get lunch and two ice creams for the children. It’s 25 degrees and cloudy, but that doesn’t stop Cleo and Zeno from having fun in the pool. Tim joins Cleo for some child throwing and we end the day with some homemade tortillas.