BECAN archeaological site on May 5th


Becan rocked. It's close to the road, the walk isn't too long, and the buildings are impressively quiet. No vendors. Few visitors to compete with. Enough buildings to climb and admire. Under $5 USD to get in. Places like Chichen Itza cost four times as much.
We only had an hour to check things out before the place closed, and we did not climb everything there was to climb. 
Maybe this site has a special place in my heart because it wasn't disastrously hot.
I'm trying to write about these adventures, but then I get home and put my feet up and review the hundreds of pictures. Then by the time I'm ready to write, I'm also making detailed lists of where I want to go next.
For example, right now I still have 3 more blogs to write about my May adventures with 2 road trips. It has been so epic! And May isn't over yet.



See the tiny person up there? That gives you a scale with how tall this building was.




This is my happy face after climbing a pyramid. Truth be told it was also spooky. This place was the ultimate in deserted. Only one other car in the parking lot. Ron was looking at one building and I went to the next one and climbed it by myself. Then I had those creative writing thoughts like what if as of right now I was truly alone at this site, in this country, or even on the planet? I was psyching myself out and climbed back down right after taking the picture to find Ron. It wasn't just emptiness, it was lonely up there. What about the last people who walked away, when the place was in use? Where were they going? Did they know they would never come back? 


Personally I think this tree is guarding the trapped soul of a demi-demon, or maybe just a very bad man. It's more than one tree, it's like a work of art. It's like a maze of wood. It's like the tree has it's own story to tell. I think it's incredible that every time I read about these sites the "experts" say they don't know what happened, why these places were abandoned. Were they all abandoned around the same time? Oh, don't get me started on the questions, they never end. Most of the time I'm not even sure where to begin.




This building was cool to climb because I had to use a rope. And I had to trust whatever was securing the rope up there. It's easy when there are employees around and guides and other people. Then I can believe things are in good working order. I went anyway, because I just feel like there is nothing cooler than scaling a relic in the middle of Mexico with a worn rope. The feeling is so amazing when I get to the top of these places. Like I'm so impressed with myself that it's like the cartoons where my heart is expanding in my chest. Partially because it's not an easy climb. The steps are usually on the tall side. But also because it's so exotic to be in the middle of the jungle in an ancient looking place. Also because of the view, like being the queen of the kingdom. It's also just a sense of saying: "I did it!"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A picture of Day 2 in Sao Paulo

Image
All the layers of buildings and art! I especially like this first picture because it shows the contrast of a cool newer building mural on a very otherwise shabby looking building, and then the not so awesome art at the bottom of the same building. Would you believe that as I look at these pictures I can almost smell the city as we walked and walked and walked? I miss the buildings and art, but not the smells. All of these pictures are within a short walk from our hotel. Seeing a picture is all I can do to share the experience. It isn't enough compared to standing there with my head tilted back trying to take it all in while clutching my purse. In the end we had no safety issues, we just paid attention and we were too worn out by nighttime to venture out, except one magical evening. One day we met a police officer who reminded us to be careful with things in public, like standing out on the street holding out the phone to take a picture. People could ride by on a bike and snatch it....
Read more

The rest of Rio

Image
So many things about Rio that were amazing. At one point we got on the wrong train, or missed a stop, I'm not sure. We turned it into an adventure, walking a new way back to the hotel (although my legs were already aching!) Yet we were rewarded for our troubles. We ended up walking past a park that was currently closed to people. It was surrounded by a wrought iron fence, and I looked in and saw empty benches and the place was full of large rodent things and cats. The two creatures appeared to get along together just fine. Some seemed to be hanging out together. The cats were the same body size as the rat-like things. Except the cats had long tails and the rodents didn'tby have any noticeable butt gear. We got back to the hotel and I lamented that I couldn't even feel my feet at that point. I didn't think we would be walking that much, I didn't wear the right shoes. One night we went to Botafogo for dinner with my friend, and it was dark when we got back on the subw...
Read more

Starting with the best: Adam-ondi-Ahman

Image
  When I write a blog I try to consider who I'm writing it for.  This blog is a deep dive for my friends and family who know what Adam-ondi-Ahman is. The next post will have the details that anyone could appreciate, but this one will only be special to certain people. You know who you are.  I feel deeply blessed that my husband put together a summer trip that started in New York at the Sacred Grove, which is close to Hill Cumorah and other awesome historic sites. It was a terrific launching pad for the lift-off at Adam-ondi-Ahman. It felt like the first part of the trip was a countdown to going to this sacred valley in Missouri.  When is a valley not just a valley? When it's a place I've heard of for decades, and sung about in a Church hymn. We drove for an hour on the Missouri roads surrounded by unending green trees soaking up the July sunshine. We came to a fork in the road, gravel to the right or the left? We went to the right, and we stopped at the first place t...
Read more