Sadly, this post must begin and end with an admission and disclosure. In a day filled with adventuring
and touring, I took 142 pictures of Cahal Pech and Inland Blue Hole. In my enthusiasm to transfer those pictures and
start writing as soon as humanly possible, I forgot that my computer is not
always as fast as my own thought process and I deleted the original photos
before they finished copying to the appropriate drive. The end result is that you, dear reader, will
have to struggle through this writer’s pros rather than perusing my photos. As is so commonly said here in Belize, “Shucks!”
Moving on. On a
cloudy, yet cool Orange Walk morning, I met up with a group to tour the Mayan
ruin of Cahal Pech. Although I typically
do not tour with groups or guides, I had the opportunity to be led through the
site by a knowledgeable guide who is not only native to Belize, but also an
active participant in her own culture and history.
This is Jenny, our guide:
She not only described where the pok-ta-pok court was, but
brought her own ball, as she is an avid fan and sometimes participant in modern
day play of the game. While I no longer
have the picture of the ball with the court in the background, I can offer this
recent news article demonstrating the resurgent popularity of this ancient
game: https://www.ambergristoday.com/news/2017/04/18/belize-team-wins-ancient-maya-ball-game-teotihuacan-mexico
The ruins were in spectacular condition and unlike many of
the other sites that I’ve been to, the passageways and interior spaces are
still intact and explorable. It was a
lot of fun to move through the hallways and stairs from one area to another and - always a water and sanitation buff - fun to see how the water and drainage systems worked. There was something akin to a gravity fed
shower system which elicited a lot of jealously and envious questions about
water temperature from our group. Hot
showers are not an every day occurrence among my travel companions.
From there we moved eastward and visited the Inland Blue Hole. Although we didn’t have time to wander the
caves or hike the area, the site does have sufficient facilities to use the
bathrooms, change clothes and easily hike down the granite steps to a jungle oasis,
swimming into one of the caves in total darkness. Not gonna lie, it was pretty cool.
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| https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/07/2d/34/1a/cave-tubing-belize-inland.jpg |
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| epicmayantours.com |
