I believe I have exhausted the touristic potential of Campeche, but decided to stay an extra day because I am so comfortable in my Casa del Colibrí. I am going to learn how to relax and just stay home and read … No, I cannot do it … I will settle for a short visit to the archaeologic site of Edzná, about 50 km west of Campeche. I even went as far as booking transport and a guided tour, and by 8 am met my group in the Plaza Principal. The guide explained the travel and visit plan, and strongly recommended that we carry mosquito repellent with us. Our driver took a shortcut through the city, which gave me the chance of seeing some of the newer parts of Campeche. It cannot compare with Mérida, but it is a fairly gracious city with its share of parks and good neighborhoods.
Once out of the city we went over a small range of hills and down into a fertile flat land where there are all sorts of crops, including vast plantings of sábila. What is that? you might ask, and when I posed that particular question I was informed that it is widely used in shampoos for it volumizing properties. No wonder my hair has been standing on end throughout my stay in Campeche!
Once we arrived in Edzná we started our visit to the small onsite museum, where our guide described to us what we were looking in a stella (twin hunchback dwarfs, which is like triple score in terms of being beloved of the gods), and gave us a very short introduction to the intricacies of Mayan writing. I like this young man, who has done formal studies to be a Mayan guide, and who was remarkably knowledgeable about less know sites such as Cantona in Puebla (more about this site in a couple of weeks) or Cahokia in Illinois.
We were all relaxed coming into the site when … wham … we get attacked by hungry hordes of mosquitos. I promptly broke a small branch and used it to keep the angry cloud off my face, and the mosquito repellent must have given us some protection, but for two hours we spent on site they kept revolving around our heads, like a war squadron. Welcome to Mosquitoland!
The site is very pretty and, not being on the main tourist circuit, was mercifully empty. It is maybe as large as Mayapán, and includes a nine-stories pyramid/royal palace, a huge esplanade bordered by a long “Grand Stands” where as many as 4,000 people might have sat to attend college graduation ceremonies, and a circular astronomical observatory. Among the few tourists was a young woman who was obviously big into selfies and posing for Facebook posterity, showing with her radiant smile just to show how happy she could be. Mondo Bizarro.
Reflecting on how grouchy and old man can be, I came upon a mask of an old man, on the right side of a temple, with wrinkles all over, but also with the tattoos and deep scarifications that were a sign of the privileged classes. On the left side there was a similar mask, but this time of a young man, with smooth face and a tidy hair bun. I can almost hear the old man muttering: “No tattoos. No scars. Tidy hair. What is this world coming to? There is no future for this young generation.” I will try to remember these two characters in the future.
Back in Campeche I had a nice lunch, washed some clothes,
and am finally going to loaf the afternoon away reading my book.
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