We decided to do some Christmas splurging. No crazy purchases for us (if you don’t count the emergency foreign computer purchase in Merida), but it was high-time to experience our first all-inclusive Mexican resort!

We found cheap deals for all-inclusive resorts on Bookit.com. While there were some resorts that let children stay for free, there were no kids clubs, and their resort simply looked like a fancy hotel on a beach with a pool. Not quite what we were after. Instead, we booked with Occidental Grand Xcaret, and we couldn’t have been happier!

We had to pay for the girls, but we got a price for about $50 per person, to total $200 per night with all meals included, a ton of pools to choose from, and most importantly a KID’S CLUB!!

Yes, a big splurge considering the cost of our prior hotels…but we were ready for luxury!

The hotel is very grand, and has a river running throughout it.

The rooms were high-quality, but not the biggest. To be expected, however!

We could choose to eat the buffet for every meal, which had different themes and menus each day. I was quite happy (access to fresh-cut produce is always good news to me!), but Jared quickly got bored.

So, we also went to the on-site Mexican Restaurant for a few nights, as well. They don’t cost extra–but we did leave tips.

The hotel also tried to get you to listen to timeshare pitches, but we just kindly and firmly told them “no”.

Clearly, the BEST part of this place (and there were many great things about it!) was the Kid’s Club. It has to be one of the best kids club at all-inclusive resorts in Mexico!

The kids could go there after breakfast, and stay until 5pm. After the first day I was a bit fearful they wouldn’t like it…but they were begging to stay!  And of course, they begged to return the next day!

The kid’s club is essentially one decent-sized clubhouse with a small, shallow pool outside. They fed the kids lunch, played games with them, did crafts, and kept them happy all day!

They even had little potties…which Ethan was a fan of  However, they only take kids 4 years and older, so Ethan was not invited. Maiya, who had turned 4 on the trip, was now welcome!  Wahoo!

Yes, I took photos of the bathrooms.

Ella also entertained us with a puppet show she had been practicing!

At night they have activities for kids. We got to watch Rango in an open-auditorium (in Spanish), and after the movie they let the kids hit a piñata.

The host went nuts over the girls and their hair! And I’ll tell ‘ya what—our kids are REALLY good piñata hitters. They get more practice than most tourists’ kids!

While the kids were entertained during the day, we explored the property and took naps while Ethan took his nap. We also had to pay the big bucks to get internet in our room (don’t you hate how nice places nickel-and-dime you for things you get for FREE in cheap hotels?!), and we caught up on work. Lots of work. I will never travel during early December again–it’s a pain in the neck trying to respond to customers with lots of questions with a tight deadline. Hold me to that, will ya?!!

We found a patio with tons of hammocks to relax on…

 (not that we relaxed for more than a minute…Ethan is waaaay too busy for that)!

And we walked around the property and down to their small, man-made beach in a small inlet.

The sand was quite nice, and I will admit you have to be thankful that they made this man-made beach. Many beaches in this area of Playa del Carmen are pretty rocky!

A little too busy for our style.

One evening just before dark, we enjoyed a short dip in the ocean. I can’t believe I’m admitting this…but that was the only time we hit that beach. In fact, we only even hit up the pools on the property once, too!  It was pretty overcast and chilly while we stayed at the resort, so we never felt tempted to hang out pool-side (plus, having an active 18 month old puts a damper on poolside relaxation)!

While we could have stayed on the resort and been well-entertained by the activities, pools, and beach…we decided to venture out into Playa Del Carmen to see what it was all about.

We hit the main shopping strip. There were many aggressive vendors…something we’re not used to in Central Mexico.

And in case you want fish to eat the dead skin cells off your feet…there’s an option for that…

Natural exfoliation at its best…

If you’re looking for a kid-friendly all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen, I can’t give anything but rave-review for the Occidental Grand Xcaret. They also have theme parks that are associated with the hotel, and you can buy discounted tickets at the resort. The parks look AWESOME!  However, we decided we had splurged enough, and we were also in a hurry to meet up with some friends…so we passed this time!

In general, I think all-inclusive resorts are kind of awesome. It is nice to not have to worry about where to buy your food, where you will stay the night, and if your kids will be entertained. However…the price is steep!

Sadly, I think most Americans and Canadians who visit Mexico ONLY step foot in all-inclusives and their neighboring tourist towns. This means they have a totally distorted perception of Mexico, and they never fully experience it!  So…while I recommend a resort as an occasional splurge, please DO NOT return to your home country and tell people you’ve been to Mexico, when you’ve only visited a resort.

You haven’t seen Mexico. The beauty. The culture. The vitality.

You missed it!

I guess you could say that we were a bit pyramided-out by then, and we didn’t appreciate them fully. Nevertheless, we took a nice walk through the grounds and took many photos…

We climbed some pyramids with the kids…

And got some great photos of the complex.

Needing a break from walking we watched some workers treking some large stacks of palm leaves up the staircase, and we watched about a dozen workers lay them on a new palapa.

As usual, these palapas were constructed as a safeguard for the carvings that are left in-tact on the ruins.

On the way out, a young man asked to take a photo with the girls for the price of any tip we were willing to give (Maiya was too scared to take him up on it). I don’t know if his costume was at all indicative of what they wore…but it still caught our interest, as did the conch he blew into for the photo. We gave him a small tip, and I later worried that perhaps I should have given more. I appreciated the fact that he let us name our price, but then again, decisions like that make me worry that I give too much, or too little!

Looking back at the photos, I think the Ek’ Balam pyramids look cooler than I remember. That particular morning, they just didn’t do that much for us.

We had quickly become pyramid-snobs

If you’re visiting the Yucatan, and you don’t have time to see spectacular ruins like Uxmal and Kabah, Ek’ Balam is a fair option. No…really…probably better than fair. But watch out…if you see too many, you’ll quickly finding yourselves turning up your noses at even so-called  ”spectacular” pyramids like Chichen Itza. It comes with the territory…

We had worked up an appetite, and first stopped at Hotel El Meson del Marques, for what turned out to be a pretty wonderful meal!

I ordered vegetarian lasagna that came very well decorated! What is that????!!!!

Next, we went walking around town, and our children were an instant hit with the local Maya women. I am not a tall person (okay, that’s an understatement…I’m only 5′), and I found myself towering over some of the women AND men in Valladolid! I loved seeing the traditional Maya dress in this area…a cotton moo-moo (my definition) with bright embroidery and a simple scarf around the neck. I snuck a photo of some women oogling over our kids as we walked by!

We quickly found a beautiful restaurant called La Casona de Valladolid. No, we didn’t eat again…but something caught our eye…

We almost walked right on by…but through their many arches we could see a towering fountain in the back that required further inspection.

Made entirely from broken Mexican pottery, it is quite a sight to behold!

Okay, it isn’t all broken. But it is very creatively put together!

After getting a sufficient amount of photos, we reversed and went back out towards the street.

We went through the main plaza, and I had to snap this quick (blurry) photo of a little snack stand. It is a moving stand…on a 3-wheeled bike!

Like most Mexican plazas, Valladolid’s plaza is sprawling, very well landscaped, and has tons of park benches.

Ella even managed to find some lover’s chairs…designed so that two people can sit facing each other!

I can never get enough of Mexican chapels. They are so photogenic!

Each one is so different from the next!

Overall, we loved Valladolid. Seriously, don’t miss it!

We returned to El Meson del Marques and spent the night in a luxurious hotel room for $68. A bit steep…but it was worth it  

However, many “cenotes” also exist throughout the Peninsula. Cenotes are basically open sinkholes filled with water. Most of them are very deep, and you cannot see the bottom (or even imagine how far down it may go)!

We went to a very tourist-populated cenote, Ik Kil, near Chichen Itza. For a relatively small fee, we got to change into our swimsuits, take a mandatory cleansing shower. They had lockers available for rent, which were crazily overpriced. We just took our backpack with us, and kept it close. As we walked carefully down the wet stairwell carved into the limestone, down to the bottom of the cenote, window-type openings allowed us to peer down at the cenote.  A large crowd was just finishing up swimming when we arrived:

I loved the atmosphere that the hanging vines created…just by being there

The water was very dark and made Jared a bit uncomfortable. Who knew my husband (who isn’t scare of much) could be weirded out by a black, bottomless swimming pit?

It was a bit tricky to swim with kids here (we forgot to bring in our floaties–which would have helped IMMENSELY). They had life jackets available for rent, but they were also a ridiculous price (perhaps $10 USD? I can’t remember, exactly!).

There are no sides to hold on to…so you are in a free-for-all-doggie-paddle with a kid on your hip or back…trying to stay above water!  Nevertheless, we each got to swim and we enjoyed ourselves!

Next, Jared and I took turns jumping off a tall platform, into the cenote. We didn’t realize how high it was until we each jumped. Thankfully, we both survived

Overall, a swim in a cenote is an ESSENTIAL experience to have on a trip to the Yukatan!  These are the kinds of things you can’t do just anywhere!

But beware of what lurks beneath. You don’t want to get eaten by the giant cenote crocodiles!

Just kidding…

Kind of.

No, seriously…

“What?!” you say, “I thought that’s the whole point?  Blogging to show the world that anyone and any family can manage a life of excitement and travel adventures?”

No, the truth is that the majority of people in the world will never have the opportunity to travel beyond their neighboring city or village, not to mention their neighboring state or country.  There are some situations that may disqualify you from traveling, or at least make it a lot more difficult for you to manage a life of travel:

-You make less than $1 a day

-You don’t know how to read or speak

-You are on life-support

I’m sure there are a few other factors that may make you disqualified for travel…but whenever I was tempted to write something like “you don’t have legs”, I was reminded that there are certainly people out there that are traveling with many physical or financial challenges–and that hasn’t stopped them.

Okay, now it sounds like almost anyone CAN travel.

But the real question is…does the world want YOU as a traveler?

Should you be a representative of the elite travelers of the world?  Maybe not?

First…check to see if any of these apply to you:

-You believe that your way is the right way, and the only way.

-You believe that toilet paper should only be flushed down a toilet. Anything else is “icky!”

-You believe that french fries and chicken nuggets are an absolute dietary necessity.

-You want your children to never see poverty.

-Your hotel needs to come with a toilet seat and hot water.

-You think everyone should speak English.

-You think that an all-inclusive resort is truly “experiencing” a locale.

If any of these apply to you, please do us all a favor and travel only through the Discovery Channel. We don’t need any more privileged travelers out there jeering at the locals throughout the world, undermining their culture and ancient knowledge, and acting holier-than-thou.

Hopefully you can say, “these don’t apply to me!”

I realize it’s still likely you might be thinking, “I don’t have the money or flexibility to travel!”

Stop for a minute, and let’s get realistic. Are you reading this on a computer YOU own (or your credit card owns)?  If so, this immediately makes you more qualified to travel than a HUGE percentage of the world population.

You have been given educational opportunities that others can only dream of, and you’ve lived in a land of abundance that has told you that you can become anything you want. ANYTHING.

Do you realize how freakin’ blessed you are?!!

The problem is…traveling families like ours are constantly bombarded with condescending comments from others, and we get a bit annoyed hearing how “lucky” we are, how others “wish” they could do it, and how they simply “can’t afford” to travel as much as we do.  We look at these people and try to prevent ourselves from rolling our eyes.

FACT: You do not have to be rich or independently wealthy to travel the world.  Many families travel the world for less than $30,000 a year. When’s the last time your family’s expenditures were that low?

FACT: Funding your travels takes creativity. Obviously, going to a 9-5 hour job is not going to allow you to take a paid vacation for 1 year or more. Many traveling families are headed up by entrepreneurs who aren’t afraid to try something new and difficult, and they’re also not afraid to fail before succeeding.

FACT: Traveling is a trade-off. Many travelers give up that”secure” bank-owned home, so they can experience the world, receive life-long lessons, and show their children the various ways people live throughout the world.

FACT: If “wishers” quit consuming new electronics, eating out weekly, driving fancy cars, and redecorating/remodeling their homes for every season….they would magically FIND that extra money to travel more. MUCH more.

FACT: Traveling families are flexible. They do not require 5-star hotels, American-quality restaurants, and expensive tours to prove that they have truly experienced a locale. They often “live like locals”.

FACT: Traveling is a job, too. Despite all of its beauty, it’s not all fun-and-games day in and day out. It often includes sickness, fights, restlessness, and weariness…just like “normal” life, elsewhere.

In general, traveling is not for sissies.

Chances are, YOU can do it, but you first have to be willing to change your priorities.

So, stop making excuses for yourself, and make it happen!!

And while you’re getting prepared and motivated, check out these other fantastic posts by Traveling Families about almost anyone can travel!

Only the Very Special, Lucky, Rich, and Perfect (Like Me) Can Travel – Nomadic Family

Anyone can travel – Bohemian Travelers

Diet shouldn’t stop you from travelling - Livin’ on the Road

Our Path to Becoming Lucky Enough to Travel – A King’s Life

If Anyone Can Travel Why Don’t You? –  Walkingon Travels

Anyone can do this! – Experiential Family

You Have to Be Special Like Us to Travel - Discover Share Inspire

True Story: Single mother from Bushwick, Brooklyn, funds long-term trip without having to sell a kidney – Break Out of Bushwick

Anyone Can Travel, Just Let Go – Minor Diversion

Don’t Be Jealous of Our Travels! Be Happy for Us and Know That You Can Make it Happen Too! - Grow in Grace Life

Anyone Can Travel…Just Find Your Way - Experiential Family

Pity, Envy, and why anyone can travel - Family Trek

Travel – Possible? - Wandering Photographer

Even Solo Mamas on Government Handouts Can Travel – Solo Mama Travels

A Family Travel Lifestyle – Little Aussie Travelers

For the past year and half we’ve come up with a creative method for packing.  We make packets in individual pillow-case size bags…Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Swimming, etc.

That way we are running into a hotel, we grab whatever Day pack we need, and throw it in a suitcase that is pre-packed with our toiletries and baby necessities. We disliked big suitcases that held all of our changes of clothes, and were too heavy to heave up stairs. We also disliked packing in the dirty clothes to the hotel every night! Our path method conveniently prevents kids from picking their own outfits (protecting themselves from mixing a shirt for one day with pants for the next day…inevitably leaving a terribly mis-matched outfit for the next day)!

Yeah, we’re kind of crazy like that.

At 3pm today we leave for our trip to Guatemala. The girls will come home from school, change clothes, get fed, and we’ll be off…driving towards the beach as fast our van will carry us!

We’ll spend a week driving the southern Pacific Coast of Mexico. We’ll be in Antigua by the 4th of April, ready to experience Semana Santa with friends!  By early May we’ll be headed back up to Central Mexico, and stop in Chiapas, Oaxaca, and catch a lot of the towns in Mexico that have been on our bucket list!  After this trip, we will have visited 23 of 31 Mexican states!

Anyways…I’ve got a lot of things to wrap up…so I’m off to packing! 5 1/2 hours to go!!

Time to see more of this beautiful planet! 

Adios, amigos!!

In the morning we drove out of the tiny town of Chichen Itza and went to find the pyramids. On the way, I couldn’t help but check at the baby blue sign below:

We arrived, and discovered that Chichen Itza entry cost us about $342 pesos, our heftiest pyramid entry fee so far (most totaled about $74 pesos each). They actually charged for kids here, which was kind of unusual. Still, considering the exchange rate, we still thought $28 was a decent deal for our family!

Chichen Itza was purely Maya, and was abandoned in the 9th century for unknown reasons. It was then resettled in the 10th century, and shortly after they believe it was invaded by the Toltecs (a group who had migrated from the highlands north of Mexico City). Therefore, these ruins show an interesting merge of both Maya and Toltec images.

While the big Pyramid of Kukulcan (El Castillo) was quite large and impressive in the perfectly flat field, we were disappointed that all of the ruins were roped off to climbers. I can understand perfectly why it is in their best interest to rope off the pyramids in such a high-trafficked area, however! This place was teaming with tour buses, etc.

We were also admittedly turned off by the large number of guides who tried to pressure us into tours. Several just wouldn’t give up!  I would have loved to know more details about the grounds, but the truth is we weren’t willing to spend the high price to have our day dragged out with a 2 hour tour, with 3 kids in tow.

Maiya made it longer than usual before crashing, and refusing to walk more. 4 year olds!

Nevertheless, she was forced to continue. We rushed through the property not looking at many details, and not being nearly as impressed as we were with the previous ruins we had seen. We were getting pyramid-spoiled. I admit it’s difficult…trying to see everything through new eyes…and appreciating each and every new adventure.

Unlike the other pyramids thus far, vendors were frequent and allowed on the property. They were pushier than most Mexican vendors, and very persistent, as well.

We admired the hand-crafted wood masks and carvings. Some vendors were working on their crafts right then and there!

I’m a sucker for bright pottery.

We really loved this craftsmanship, and instead of paying the $100 USD that he asked, we got a photo and have put it on our “virtual wall” to remember our trip by!

Wood was definitely the theme, and you may or may not know that we are a bit wood-obsessed!

Every vendor shared the same pitch…likely the only words of English they knew. “I make good price. Almost free!”

Here are some daggers made of obsidian…

Hammocks sounded like a great place to relax in this heat!

Finally, a decent shot of a Maya house…very similar to what we had seen in the small Maya villages in the area.

Oddly, we arrived at the same time as a group of about 100 women who came and lined up along the side of the large pyramid, and chanted, danced, and played a bit of music for some type of ritual.

It seemed more of a show than an authentic experience.

Here’s a super short video of them doing their thing:

All in all, we felt that Chichen Itza was overrated. Not only was it overcrowded with tourists, guides, and vendors…it lacked the special “magic” of the others we had seen thus far (Comalcalco, Edzna, Kabah,  and Uxmal).

However, if I hadn’t seen the others first, I’m sure we would have been floored!  I can see now the challenge is keeping things fresh, new, and appreciating every little (or big) thing!

You see, just a few days into our trip, we found ourselves with a MAJOR crisis. Both my computer, and Jared’s computer, were DEAD.

“Great! More time to vacation! Good riddance!”, you say?  I wish!! 

The thing is, we fund our travels by running our business remotely, and it means that we absolutely, positively, have to be connected to the web at least every 48 hours (preferably every 24 hours)!

Two dead work computers is BAD news!  And seriously…what are the chances that both laptops would die at once??

Jared had admitted he dropped his laptop (in the protective case) while he was packing the van back at home in Ajijic, Mexico. He didn’t check it at that time, but his computer was now telling him that the hard drive was fried. And mine? It hadn’t been dropped, but it wouldn’t turn on AT ALL. Zilch. Nada. I’ve seen this before…a dead main board…the sad sorry story of my previous Dell laptop that had died 5 years previously. Oh, joy!!

So, we pulled into Merida, found a lovely hotel with a pool, and immediately set off to find a computer repair shop. The first one we found told us the dreaded news that we half-expected (but wished wasn’t true). They said they could possibly order in some parts to save one of them, but it would take 3 days. Three days of our precious vacation time?  No, thank you!

So, we went across the street to a mall, and to make a long story short…we found a lovely new HP laptop at Radio Shack. It’s our first time wandering away from our Dell’s that we have used for 8 years…and I have to admit it felt good to turn our backs on Dell (I think). We asked if they had any laptop sales/specials going on, but they said no. We also confirmed with them that it would be “easy” to change the operating system language to English. “Si! No problema”, they said!

I chose to optimistically trust them (although I knew better).

The manager appeared just in time to ring up the sale, and was suddenly throwing in extras like a wireless keyboard and external speakers (great! Our old ones had just bit the dust!). Why is it that when you buy laptops, companies won’t discount the price, but they’ll thrown in an extra $100 of products for you?  (p.s. Dell does the same thing. If you find what you want for your customer computer on their website, call them to make the purchase and they will throw in all sorts of extras!)

We made it back to the hotel, and were excited to charge our laptop overnight, and have a working computer and internet connection, yet again!  The next day we took it easy,

 When leaving town the next morning, we had all but given up hope on our old laptops. We turned out of the hotel, drove just a few blocks, and there I suddenly spotted a hole-in-the-wall computer repair shop. “Computo Tecnologia y Comunicaciones”.

BINGO!!

I told the family to wait, and I walked in with our laptops, and must have looked desperate enough that I finally convinced them to work on them right then (instead of getting to them the next day as they quoted). I hung out in the midst of the small staff, and after 2 1/2 hours in the car, Jared finally brought the kids in. After a very long stay there, they had finally pieced our two computers into one. We kept Jared’s body (yes, he had/has the better body), my brains (my hard drive was saved!), and my keyboard (Jared’s was missing some keys).

At least one hour of that time was just spent trying to restore internet access to the revived laptop, and we were told we still needed to take it home for additional repair–wiping it clean and re-installing everything (um…we still haven’t done that).

 The bill?  $300 pesos.  We gave them $500, and I felt like hugging them (I almost tried–but it was so awkward that I think I abandoned that idea mid-hug), and we went happily on our way to the next town just after nightfall.

So…3 months later…here is an update on what it means to buy a laptop in Mexico:

1. The keyboard is a Latin American keyboard. I assumed it would be an easy switch to an English keyboard, but was shocked to learn that an English keyboard for this laptop model is $100. Ouch. I still set the keyboard through the Control Panel as an “English” keyboard, despite the fact that a Latin American one is installed. This means that the letters/symbols on the keys do not match what I am typing. This makes it a little awkward for learning where new keys are located (such as the END or DELETE key)…because they are different from my last laptop, and again…what I see is not what I type.  I’ve found the best solution is that when sitting at my desk I use an external English keyboard, and therefore the annoyance just comes up when I go mobile. And truthfully, I’m a crazy obsessed typer that rarely looks at a keyboard anyways…so all is good for me (poor Jared, when he tries to use my laptop)!

2. The computer came in Spanish. I managed to get around just fine at first (I’m not terrible at reading Spanish), but still…when the control panel and everything else on the computer is not in English when you’re having trouble…it starts to bug.  Surprise, Surprise…You cannot easily change a language on a Windows operating system! My computer came with Windows Basic, which meant that I had to upgrade to Windows Ultimate ($200) to be able to download a language pack and upgrade it to English. To upgrade to Windows Ultimate to change the language, I had to do a clean install, which meant I had to wipe the ENTIRE computer clean. Assuming that the computer was brand new and I had nothing to lose, I did this clean install without doing any kind of a backup. Silly me…I didn’t take into consideration that it wiped out all of the pre-installed programs and drivers.  Just getting the computer to connect to the internet again was a huge chore!  Ahhh!!!

3. The reasons go a lot deeper than point #1 and #2, but like childbirth I have already forgotten all the pain, and can no longer remember all the problems I had to resolve. I know it included about 5 hours on the phone with US tech support, who couldn’t help me fully, because my computer is a Latin American model. I then called the Mexican HP support number, but somehow instead dialed the equivalent of 911, without even knowing it. Here I was trying to tell the guy about my computer problem, and he’s asking me “Is this an emergency?”  ”Well, no, not really.” “M’am, this number is for emergencies.” “For computer emergencies?”  Umm…we got that straightened out very fast, and I felt a bit sheepish.

So, my advice to you?

Don’t buy a foreign computer unless you absolutely have to.

Or if you buy one, accept that whatever quirks it has are yours to keep…they are probably not worth the pain (and money) to fix!

It would have been cheaper to purchase a laptop in the states (those import taxes kill you on electronics), not to mention I wouldn’t have had to pay an extra $200 to upgrade the operating system to get it into English. Also, my keyboard would have already been in English, so I wouldn’t have to consider whether was/is worth it to me to spend an additional $100 to get an English keyboard. If I had been able to wait another month and a half to get a new computer (not too likely, considering the other laptop was literally just limping along-only sometimes able to connect to the internet), I would have ordered one and had family deliver it when they visited in January. The other option would have been purchasing the laptop in the US, and shipping it to Mexico, which would have resulted in a huge important duty/tax. I also learned that I perhaps could have called the HP office in Mexico and had them build the customcomputer for me, and shipped it to me (perhaps even with English?) within Mexico.

Hindsight is always 20/20.

We turned down the guides and instead accepted a map to walk the grounds ourselves.

The first view upon entering Uxmal is of the towering pyramid, “Casa del Adivino” (House of the Magician). 

This pyramid is 39 meters tall–about 128 feet. Apparently the temple has had 5 lives…with new temples built on top of one another until this 5th and last time!

There are no signs prohibiting climbing, but this pyramid was soooo steap and soooo tall, that we honestly didn’t have any interest attacking it with kids!

Uxmal was an important city back in its heyday, but it was abandoned around AD 900. They suspect this was because of drought conditions, as water is scarce around here….but it is just a guess.

Uxmal is located very nearby to the Kabah Pyramids, and therefore also has some similarities. Some of their walls also portrayed Chac, the rain god or sky serpent, and we immediately recognized the similar curled nose masks we had seen at Kabah!

We circled around the giant pyramid and found the Cuadrangulo de las Monjas (Quadrangle of the Nuns), a huge rectangular plaza with large buildings on every side. Comprised of 74-rooms in total, archaeologists believe it was once a military academy, royal school, or a palace complex. I’m not an archaeologist…but it certainly looked like a palace complex to me!

Entering and exiting this plaza required walking through these doorways!

Next, the ball court!  In the photo below you will see a ball court that is very typical of the Maya. It is a rectangular field with platforms on each long side, and no closure on the short ends of the rectangle. Vertical circular hoops are located halfway through the court (on either side), to shoot the balls through. The left stone hoop in this ball court was broken off, but the right one was still intact, if you look closely (look above Jared’s head, straight to the right) you can see it!

It is widely speculated how the Maya played their ball game…with some people suggesting they only used their hips to move the ball. Others say that they may have used forearms or bats. One thing everyone seems to agree on is that feet and hands were not used. Can you imagine playing a ball game without hands or feet?

And no, my daughter doesn’t always walk on her hands….but of course, Ella took the opportunity to do some cartwheels, yet again…

Looking back at the first pyramid, we could see it towering over the treetops in the distance!

We entered another portion of the property which proved to be even larger than the first section! This was the Palacio del Gobernador (Governor’s Palace). It has a facade that is 100 meters (329 feet) long, and has beautiful geometric carvings on it.

We also discovered there are more iguanas on this property than tourists. At one point we stopped and could count nearly 15 in our immediate view!

Maiya tried to chase some within a safe distance!

We climbed to the top of the Governor’s Palace to get some fantastic photos overlooking the whole property. We were so excited to see these on our computer, later. However, I accidentally deleted them while transferring them to my computer. Ahhhh!!  Such is life!  :::sigh:::

So…skip to the Gran Piramide–el Templo Mayor. “The Great Pyramid” It is 32 meters (105 feet) tall, and has only been restored on one side. Archaeologists propose that a destroyed structure on the top is evidence that they were going to construct a second pyramid above it, but the work was never completed.

The very last section we visited was El Palomar (the Dovecote), which is only half restored. It has a wall that is reminiscent of the Moorish pigeon houses built into walls in Spain and northern Africa (so they say).

Behind the wall is wild jungle and more ruins, awaiting their turn (if ever) to be uncovered and restored!

Our travel book says “Uxmal was first excavated in 1929…Altough much has been restored, much has yet to be discovered”!! Isn’t that the truth?

Looking back at all of the pyramids in the Yukatan (well beyond just these 4, so far), Uxmal was one of our absolute favorites. It has a reputation as being among the top Maya archeological sites, and besides that, “It just feels good”!

I stood on the gate to take a photo of the Kabah ruins, assuming that we would continue on our way, and not get to revisit them. The groundskeeper quickly saw me, and ordered me off the gate. Gee whiz!

We drove on, but didn’t have luck finding a nearby hotel, so we turned and headed toward Ticul, a small town about an hour off the main road (that we would have to return to the next day).  Although we arrived past dark, we found a lively town bustling with holiday activity (remember that Lady Guadalupe biking ensemble from Day 1? Well…the party lives on!).   We grabbed some bad pizza from a local pizzeria, and watched a parade of people go by, on their way to the chapel. We had fun trying to keep Ethan (1 1/2 years old), from walking into the parade.

We found a pleasant hotel, and rushed the kids into the bathroom for a quick shower.  Much to our dismay, we discovered the hot water didn’t work in our room. Seeing how it wasn’t the cheapest room in the world (and I was specifically assured of the availability of hot water), we reported it, and were told a person would soon come to our room to look at it. That person came, and confirmed that indeed, the hot water didn’t work. Yeah,we knew that. They said they would call a repairman, and he would be there in 30 minutes. Hmmmm…seeing how it was already past bedtime, and I wasn’t keen on the idea of having a repairman working in the bathroom all night, we asked to be moved to a different room. They acted a bit surprised, but obliged. The hotel was nearly empty, after all!

The next room turned out to be more spacious, and a great free upgrade!  The hotel also had a nice dining area, which we enjoyed for breakfast. Actually, the kids and Jared enjoyed it while I sat upstairs trying to return phone calls to customers that we had missed. The Christmas buying season is NOT a good time for us to be on the road, we’ve discovered–since it is a very busy time for online sales and customers asking shipping questions. I finally made it down much later than everyone else, and the waiter warmed up my huevos divorciados in the microwave, since they had become cold.

A drive out of town revealed the main mode of transportation to be tuk tuks and pedicabs. A pedicab, by my definition, is a bike with a seating platform attached.

It also wasn’t uncommon to find classic huts like this, in which people were living (my apologies for the blurry drive-by photo):

This was a fancy palapa on a farming property. Definitely a lot higher quality than most of the palapa roofs we saw over people’s homes.

We made it back to the main highway, and realized we would be foolish if we didn’t return to see Kabah, which was only 15 minutes back down the road. So, we did!

Kabah was in its prime between AD 750-950.

Kabah is another site where the “pyramids” have doorways leading to rooms. Some rooms are still in one piece, others have collapsed roofs. Either way, they let the imagination wonder as to what kind of things took place in these rooms so many years ago.

One of the most extraordinary features of Kabah was on the facade of El Palacio de los Mascarones (Palace of Masks). It is covered in nearly 300 masks of Chac, the rain god or sky serpent.

 You can see the long curling noses of the masks jutting out from the wall (although most are now broken off), which prompted the modern Maya to name it Codz Poop (Rolled Mat). I personally liked the Codz Poop name better.

We had to stop our children from adding little rocks into the masks’ mouths…forever altering people’s perspective of what this wall should look like!

On the other side of this building there are two restored atlantes. The book explains that the plural of atlas is atlantes, and an atlas is a male figure used as a supporting column. One atlas is now headless, and the other wears a jaguar mask on his head.

We managed to get a family photo in front of the statues. I thought it was such a shame that the man who took our photo had cut off the statue’s head, until I realized it was the headless statue that got cut off. Well, whatever.

It was kind of neat to see a crew still at work to reconstruct the ruins. You can see their piles of rocks/carvings on the lawn in front in the photo below…and piles like this were scattered throughout the grounds. I wonder how much of the process of piecing things together is scientific, or just like making a collage!

Of course, we were free to climb the ruins and roam about as we pleased!

Satisfied with our decision to not miss out on Kabah, we jumped in our van to head towards the next destination, the Uxmal Pyramids…you won’t want to miss those!