Day 21- Dzibilchaltun, Mexico

Dziibilchaltun (22/01/09)

Another Mayan site but less impressive than the others we have been to. The most famous building (above) is thought to have some sort of astronomical significance, the reason being that twice a year on the equinoxes the rising sun shines directly through the central hole and projects a beam of light onto a pillar in front. This spectacular sight attracts hundreds of people but the rest of the time, such as our visit, there are very few other people.


The area in general is incredibly dry ( we have seen several bush fires along the roads), which means that there is a different selection of flora and fauna than what we have been seeing. This bird was not as shy as most.



A very unusual flowering bush.

The rest of the ruins were not that interesting but there was a very pretty natural cenote (sink hole) which is essentially a pool created by the collapse of a cave roof. Apparently the water goes extremely deep and you can dive down through a tunnel into an underwater cave system.

Lots of lily pads on the water help keep it clean and oxidised for the hundreds of tiny fish that live there.

Birds were landing on the lily pads to drink the water, unfortunately we did not manage to get a picture.

We stopped for quite a while to dip our feet in the cool water. The fish swam all around and tickled the back of our legs.

This is the second lot of nuns we have seen, they must be on a tour. It is a disgrace really when there is so much praying to be done.

Having had a little trouble getting the 40km or so from Merida it was even worse getting back. This was our view for about two and a half hours while we waited for a passing bus in the middle of the Mexican countryside. We had no idea what time it was meant to arrive and there was no real shade. However we had two emaciated cows to keep us company, and we did get back in the end.