Posts Tagged ‘ruins’
Chicken-Pizza and Dzitnup
Sunday, September 9th, 2007
Nominated as one of the New Seven Wonders of the world, Chichen-Itza (Chicken-Pizza – as some visitors find it so much easier to remember) was a must-see stop in our nonexistent itinerary, but also one that we approached with dread. You see, I’m not a tall person, and though manage to see over heads of most Mexicans, in sites full of European and North American tourists, I am a mouse in a cornfield. For that reason, we approached Chichen-Itza the way you storm a fortress – early, while all the tall ones sleep, or on their four hour bus ride from Cancun. And if you are tired from seeing the ruins, check out the many blankets full of hand crafts spread out along every walkable surface – they are great representations of the local art and culture. Here, for some reason, I concentrated on masks, and though didn’t buy one, notably padded my craft photo gallery.
( The New Wonder )
Tags: ruins
Posted in Places»North America»Mexico | No Comments »
Ek Balam
Saturday, September 8th, 2007
I think we are bent on destruction. How many ruins have we seen already? A dozen? More? And we still haven’t tired of them. I guess it is because they are so different from one another. In Peru, for example, after doing the Inca Trail, I got so sick of ruins Shurik had to practically drag me to Pisac to see the Temple of the Sun. Here though, I have grown to trust every site is holding something new and magnificent. We will not visit them all, I assure you. There are hundreds if not thousands of them in Mexico, and we have chosen carefully which ones to visit (not counting of course the ones that we just stumbled upon,) and even though some of their effect on us is due to the imagination of the restorer, it is our window into a mostly extinct culture, so here is another peek.
Ek Balam would be another site we drove by if only not for the extraordinarily restored temple that featured all sorts of figures, masks and a grand altar as if set in a mouth of a jaguar, all to be seen on the biggest pyramid of the site, from which Shurik here is demonstrating the rest of the buildings.
( The ruins of Ek Balam, its inhabitants, and restoration )
Tags: ruins
Posted in Places»North America»Mexico | No Comments »
Sharks and Ruins – Just don’t get burned.
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
Eh, the chaise-long, the sun, the send…. Snore. The Mangorita in my hand was melting, and so was I together with any desire to move my ass and do something interesting or useful. Yeah, sure, Shelly and mom needed their rest, but enough with this mind numbing sunbathing in the fresh air of a beach resort to the sounds of pool water escaping crashing demise by tourists doing aerobics. Enough! NOt trying to be judgmental, or anything, but this is just not for me. Shelly, you are in Mexico for a week, so go climb a pyramid, swim in a Cenote, or snorkel with a Whale Shark (if your mommy lets you.)
( And so we did! )
Tags: ruins
Posted in Places»North America»Mexico | No Comments »
Palenque
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
Just like our cabaña, Palenque’s ruins were almost all drowned in lush jungle. The main buildings were cleared, but we had the most fun in the ones we had to hike up, or climb to. We were in the mood for ruins, and as soon as the gates opened made our way to the top of the highest pyramid in sight, clambering like monkeys.
Tags: ruins
Posted in Places»North America»Mexico | No Comments »
And then there were two
Monday, August 13th, 2007
No Sergey, no Gombergs, only us dos to face the road and – with it – Mexican traffic. We would have set out of Mexico City a day earlier, right after visiting the ruins of Xachicalco with Nadia, but it turned out to be a hoy no circulo day for our GreenGo. In effort to reduce smog and traffic in the city, each day of the week cars with license plates ending in a particular number cannot drive. And our final number 3 meant no go for GreenGo.
( Four day road trip to the coast )
Tags: food, market, ruins
Posted in Places»North America»Mexico | No Comments »
Teotihuacan Ruins
Sunday, August 5th, 2007
Now this is what I call impressive! Avoiding the crowds and the salespeople was a nightmare, but grand it was indeed.
The young, the old, and the eternal.
For more photos click on these ones.
Tags: ruins
Posted in Places»North America»Mexico | No Comments »
El Tajin
Friday, August 3rd, 2007
“Chinese food!” screamed Shurik from the back and Sergey slammed the breaks. We weren’t even searching for a place to eat. We were looking for the right way to the El Tajin ruins, but the thought of yet another taco, for our next meal, was clearly unbearable to each and one of us.
( the El Tajin ruins )
Tags: ruins
Posted in Places»North America»Mexico | No Comments »
If they build it, we will come
Friday, May 26th, 2006
San Ignacio was just a short stop, not even half a day, on our way to the main and last attraction in Argentina – Iguazu Falls. The Jesuit and Guarani cultures are an important part of this country’s heritage and this is where we chose to have our history lesson.
( more… )
Tags: architecture, ruins
Posted in Places»South America»Argentina | No Comments »
Isla del Sol (на раны)
Thursday, December 29th, 2005
After spending a night in Puno, we headed to the Copacabana on the Bolivian side of the Lake to visit one the most important Inca centers: Isla del Sol or Island of the Sun. According to Inca mythology, the Sacred Rock on this island is the birthplace of the white bearded creator god Viracocha, of the sun and the moon, and of the first Incas Manco Capac and his sister wife Mama Huaca. A short bus ride took us to the border, which we crossed on our two feet, and then got back onto the same bus for another short ride to Copacabana. In Copa, we found Jurgen, the German guy we met on our previous island tour, and Shin, a Japanese guy studying English and chiropractics in the US. Together, we took the boat to Isla del Sol. Despite its famous name, Copa is a tiny little town without the attractions of its famous namesake in Brazil (which was named in honor of the shrine here), so without wasting any time we all headed straight to the Isla del Sol.
( more… )
Tags: health, people, ruins
Posted in Places»South America»Bolivia | No Comments »
Pisac, Peru
Thursday, December 22nd, 2005
Another day of nothing but ruins and bargaining. Pisac is about an hour away from Cuzco where you can see one of greatest ruins aroud: Temple of the Sun.
( more… )
Tags: market, ruins
Posted in Places»South America»Peru | No Comments »