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Day 3 was a day trip to Uxmal and Kabah. We stopped at this run-down plantation on the way. This is the main house...
...and looking out to the sisal factory. In the center is the engine, which drives belts over to the factory on the right, where the sisal is broken apart and processed. To the left is the theater and housing.
This is the "company store" where the tenants could get even more in debt after getting their supplies. To the left is the "hospital".
A quick selfie with our group.
We stopped at a "Mayaland" company resort that is right outside the gates to enter Uxmal. Here is one of the groundskeepers.
A map of the area.
The back side of the main pyramid. Each side has 91 steps, plus one at the top, to make 365 days in a year.
Wade in his normal long pants, long sleeves and safari hat, trying to stay out of the 92-degree sun.
Around to the front side and the main plaza.
Our local guide pointing out some details of the snake heads on the walls. This guide had been doing this for too long, and was pretty boring.
The Mayans had not developed arches, and used these triangular openings capped with lintel stones.
The main plaza area...
...and to the left, some of the details. The "faces" just left of center are "Cha'ak" the rain god.
Here is a better picture of Cha'ak, with a friendly iguana above.
At least they had some shade available; we were concerned that we would be baking in the sun all day.
Uxmal had a smaller version of the ball court that Chichen Itza is famous for.
Here we are with the goal ring of the ball court.
The Spanish named this the "pigeon loft complex", thinking that the architecture with all the spaces looked like a pigeon coop. This was really just done to keep the wall lighter and allow for ventilation.
A fairly large specimen. They are everywhere.
You can't walk on the steps of the main temples, but you can walk some of the smaller areas.
For scale. By this time, we are both hot enough that we don't feel like hiking to the top.
This main temple is called the "wizard's temple".
Some detail on the decoration.
In the center courtyard is the ceremonial "jaguar throne", and the pillary stone for doing sacrifices.
Some markings by the people still fitting the pieces together. Like in Egypt, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that this was mainly in ruins when discovered, and has had to be pieced back together.
The administrative offices.
Done with Uxmal, we go back to the Mayaland resort for lunch.
On to the smaller site of Kabah.
These were few enough steps, and we had rested at lunch, so Wade could make it to the top.
You can get a lot closer here to see the detail of the stone carvings.
A building toward the back.
Across the road and down a path is an archway on this road. This is the entrance gate to the city.
Not officially part of the tour, we were offered the opportunity to (spend more money and) go to the Chocolate Museum. This was actually the best part of the day.
The entrance. The original chocolate museum was much farther away, and they couldn't get anyone to go there, so they rebuilt it here to get the traffic from Uxmal.
Turns out they have a lot more than just chocolate.
This is the lily pad pool in the foyer.
Some history of chocolate.
These buildings are called palapas, what the natives actually live in on a much less grand scale. Several of them were constructed for displays such as this.
A couple of shots from the monkey house.
If you make that face, it's going to stick that way.
Some live theater: this is a Mayan medicine man, who welcomed us, and then conducted a religious ceremony.
Walking to the temple.
The calling on the conch shells from various places brings the other participants.
They Mayans kept honey bees in these hollowed out logs...
...and here is one now.
This poor jaguar was an abused "pet" that was rescued after biting its owner, and now makes its home here.
In one of the palapas, they show the traditional burial of the elders in the family home.
The kitchen was normally outside for sanitary reasons and fire protection.