Hurricane Rina prep

Sr. Ruinas (aka Steve) is at Casa Colibri'    lucky timing arriving Tues afternnon---  He hadn't really meant to go there to do hurricane prep, but that took precedent over everything else.          
Luckily, he found willing participants and things got done...like boarding up the windows.
I could hear pounding in the background last night when he called around 10pm.
We do need to get hurricane shutters, and this is definitely motivation!

 

His recent email is a little more upbeat:

Hola, electric is still on, obviously, grateful for that.  rina has slowed down and is taking forever to arrive here.  went to the store for more soup, PB and J all gone.  bought some black beans instead.  good thing still have gas stove. saw pics in cancun of "panic" and store shelves all bare; not so here, shelves quite full (except for the pb&j), nobody hurrying (to a fault.)  , plenty of rain, but waves right now nothing special, about as big as with norte.  kind of reminds me of a snow day back home when the forcast blizzard doesn't materialize; kids walking around the street with no school, just waiting for something to happen, as are we all.  attached pic, David wants to wait to move furniture until "wind starts to blow."

note-(David, a local boat captain, is our downstairs renter. I'm sure he has a good 'feel' for weather.)

Ek Balaam

Hope I spelled it right!  From my last post, I noticed the more correct spelling should have been X'Canche, though I could swear I read X Can Che on the guy's t-shirt who 'carted' us to the cenote, 2 muddy km from Ek Balaam.   When we first drove to Ek Balaam it was nearly 5pm and the site was closed, so we poked around in the nearby pueblo of the same name. I was looking for a place called 'Genesis' which does ecological renting. We did find it, closed, after going down several paths and wrong turns, and it was closed for the season. Although their website looks great, the place did not seem to match up, and I had my doubts...maybe a bit more 'rustic' than I'd be able to tolerate.
Anyway, being in the town of Ek Balaam was like going back centuries.

  The bike was a nice touch. Seemed a bit out of place, but not as much as anything motorized. Cute how it was parked outside.

Otherwise, there weren't many differences between dwellings. 

However, I think I may have seen a satellite or two. 

Yet the inhabitants, one of whom poked a head into our window, wanting to offer his services of giving directions (which he was unable to do), and unable to understand even Spanish...seemed rather insulated. 

Our guy got what he wanted & asked for...some pesos...& isn't it ironic that he did know that word....?

The bright hammocks being made at the entrance to the town were a spot of hope and a shot of color in an otherwise drab and dreary settlement.  Still...worth going to see, and definitely in keeping with the  experience  of visiting an authentic Mayan village, whether of this era or perhaps any other....

Ek Balaam, the archaeological site, was very nearby and again, by coming early, we were among very few visitors...a good way to see and appreciate the ruins.
I have enjoyed being out at this site, twice now, and especially appreciate that it is less visited than Chichen Itza. 
To me, space and privacy in viewing is part of the appeal of these wonders and helps one visualize better the earlier Maya civilization without the interruption of modern day distractions (be they other visitors, their noise or assorted baggage...).

There are incredible carvings here, which even now maintain their detail and delicacy.
It's amazing to see how well they are preserved.










And the best part is, one can still actually make the long climb up the staircase of the pyramid.
That alone makes Ek Balaam worth visiting, and even though I am not a ruins fanatic,  I look forward to another visit here and making another climb.

Cenote X Can Che

Last time I went to Ek Balaam 2 yrs ago with my aunt & sister, we took a taxi out from Valladolid--very doable.  But, we felt pressed for time, and didn't take in the surrounding sights; this time, with a car, we were able to take our time & see more sights.
One thing I especially enjoyed was taking swim in the nearby cenote...I had it all to myself...  :)
(Actually, if you search you tube, you can find a video...it's under  X ' Canche.
So, perhaps that's the correct spelling; altho, I'm sure our guide had a t-shirt on with the other spelling.

When you're floating around, it's funny but you can feel the temp of the water change depending on whether it's a sunny spot (warm) or cloudy spot (cool).
The canopy of tree tops viewed from below, and the long, spidery tree roots cascading down into the water makes for an other-wordly swim.

The line strung across the middle is just for anyone who may want a handhold. The guide (a native Mayan) also had lifevests available. I told him I had been a lifeguard, and a swimming teacher in a previous life (my younger days, which now feels like a previous life) so I would be fine.

I would recommend that if you ever get a chance to swim in a cenote, don't pass it up.  I now have several others on my list that I'd like to investigate.  Other advice--go early, beat the crowds...

¡ Tequila ! (Mayapan)

And now for something completely different... (a favorite Monty Python quote we live by).
Anyway, although I'm back in WI, and coping with family stuff, farm stuff and enjoying a bit of fall and loving being back with my dogs and chickens, I have tons of Isla & Yucatan photos to get through.

Back to our drive from Merida, leaving Motul and Izamal, and coming across to Temozin (I think?--a very ranchy community), and then south to Ek Balaam. We certainly saw more by car than one would be bus, and we poked around little communities a bit. More about Ek Balaam next time.

In Valladolid, we picked up a brochure about this Tequila factory, 'Mayapan' and they give tours. I had seen it & the sign off the cuota highway, leaving Valladolid, heading to Merida.

So, this time, we made it a point to stop & check it out. It was fun and worthwhile.

The building is set out in the country, easy parking, next to a blue agave field. It feels like you are at an hacienda, although this was obviously all very planned out to give that impression.
Notice the windmill above.  Maybe it had been originally there...who knows?  But we did see windmills all over the Yucatan, especially in farming communities, as obvious power sources, at least in the past. And I think some Chicago company had the patent on them, and made out pretty well supplying them.

The girl here is giving us 'the tour' and 'the talk' about the whole tequila making process. 

Notice how she is using her notes, as she may have been in training, and we were 'guinea pigs' perhaps. The central cores of the blue agave plants, harvested,  are stacked against the building.

This is the 'oven' where the wood or 'leña' is stacked, to provide the intense heat, to roast the piña

You are looking down into the pit, where the wood is stacked at the bottom . 

There are no agave cores, or 'piñas' in there in this photo. The oven is very deep & narrow.

I know it was for show, but it was very cool to see them prepared to recreate the process of grinding or squeezing the juice from the roasted piñas, like a molinero, and using a live horse to power the grinding wheel.  I don't care if it was 'staged,' I liked it!  It at least made one think of how the original process of production may have been conducted ages ago.

The sampling, after the tour, was very fun, and they let us try all three kinds: blanco, reposado, & añejo.  yum.

 We did some shopping afterward and gave them a little business.
They really gave us their undivided attention (but then again, we were the only one there!  Okay, maybe it was low season..

Still I give them high marks for putting this together.
I think it's a nice change from just the towns and the pyramids, for tour groups.
 

Interestingly, they named their product MAYAPAN.
Apparently, no one may use the name 'tequila' except for the very area around Jalisco
(near the town of Tequila) where it was first produced & 'branded.'
So, you will not see the word tequila on any bottle made here.
But they assured us, & we agreed, it tasted like the real McCoy.

¡ SALUD !

Countryside, Izamal to Ek Balam

Around Izamal, the countryside is very calming and easy to navigate. There seems to be an easy, comfortable pace of life, and very community based. One does meet people on these roads, and you sometimes wonder how long they've been walking, & where they originated from....
Riders on horseback too,  or bringing horses to town on their bikes!

Izamal did have a lot of those carriages for hire, like you see in Merida.
So, maybe this boy is taking the horse in for carriage duty.
This other horse was grazing at the foot of the Pyramid Kinich. 
I've always wondered if carriages would go over very big on Isla...
but, I suppose not...
with the traffic already congested with taxis and golf carts, another very different mode of transport might not fit in very well....
but just recently on Isla, I have seen a couple horses tethered on the cross ride through La Gloria...outside the gates of the cemetery...
And one evening, I saw someone galloping, yes galloping!! along the seafront down the path from our house.  That sure looked scary to me... may find a pic later of that...

Also, around Izamal and Motul, there were fields full of blue agave.  I suppose they are destined for tequila.
But, as we learned from touring the tequila factory near Valladolid  (pics, next post) ,  the word 'tequila' is limited to use only in the area of Jalisco, where tequila was originally manufactured ) and named after the pueblo, Tequila, located in that area.
So, here, it can be used for Mezcal, which I once tried in Oaxaca and recently found some bottles on sale at Chedraui in Cancun, but it was very bitter (and maybe not such good quality?).  The tequila we had in the factory near Valladolid was much smoother, altho it is named 'Mayapan' not tequila, but is for all practical purposes, also tequila, made from the blue agave plant.

One odd thing we started noticing, in Merida and around the area, were these treadle sewing machine bases.  In our hotel room in Izamal, this one was being used as a support for the microwave on top of it.

Very clever.

We surmised that all the surplus treadle bases are leftovers from the glory days of the Hennequin boom, and were used to process things, ropes or whatever, from the fibers of the hennequin plant.
Would love to find out more about this...

No doubt, all those blue agave fields we saw used to be planted with hennequin, or sisal.

On my list is a visit to the town of Sisal on the gulf coast, which I hear has a lot to offer.



An hacienda, just a few miles beyond Izamal, where we considered staying (where 'I' considered, as Sr. would not be liking those prices)...and luckily, for him, it was not an option, as they were closed (acc'd to the help) for the Independence holiday.

The grounds & building looked very nice though.   I like to imagine how it must have been used, back in the day...
(well, good & bad, I'm sure...
it's hard to have a good feeling knowing how they abused their Mayan labor pool...

Again, just more walkers and bikers.

Coming right alongside the pyramid wall.

And here comes another horse to town. 

Steve Jobs and the Evolution of the Apple Logo: "Don't Make it Cute" (via brandchannel)

Steve Jobs and the Evolution of the Apple Logo: "Don't Make it Cute" (via brandchannel)

(a 'guest blog' by my son, Abe Sauer, who wrote this for Brandchannel online magazine.
what a force Steve Jobs was; I'm using his product as I write...what a trailblazer & visionary...) 

Izamal

Had always wanted to go here...and made it, on the last Merida trip with our rent-a-car.
So very easy to drive around--what a pretty city...
I wonder what it's like to grow up here and how it shapes ones views...?
so much yellow...all around...down every alley...
As some literature pointed out--it's almost like a movie set. Everything is painted 'egg-yolk yellow!'
I think it would start to get to me after awhile, but it does make for an unforgettable look...

The church and convent and grounds and arches
and yellow and more yellow and history and architecture
and yellow color
and history
and Spanish and Maya culture
intertwined
overtaken, one built on top of the other
it's almost just too much to take in.

The Pope was here, & gave an address, & there is a statue of him in his honor. I didn't photo that. I'm a lapsed Catholic, and sometimes, it's too much for me.
I think there is a lot to repent for, and the Pope made an address in recognizing the Indigenous culture, and perhaps there was some feeling of apology, tho I'm not sure.  I guess Valladolid was in the running, & they were not happy to not be the chosen site for his address, as they too have a convent...and history.
  Too much baggage there w/the Mayan people, perhaps...from the Caste War days.
Anyway, this had a softer side, and had some good vibes, whatever happened in the past.

At any rate, I still  kind of relate to the church in Latin America...and feel a bit more churchy here.
I lit candles in honor of our 2 fathers.  So odd--in a place like this...you put your pesos in the slot,.
 and...Voila'-- the 'candle' automatically lights up... That took me by surprise.

 The flame didn't last long either....

We had a nice hotel, right off the square and in view of the convent.  It is built right into the back of a pyramid. very cool..
 
  

Here is the
pyramid...tho hard to tell, as you can some some rocks, but mostly overgrown grassy hilly dirt.


That is also the case with the Kinich Pyramid, which I guess, is the largest pyramid in Yucatan
and yet, it seemed like a gigantic sprawling hill. The photo below is only the pyramid on top of the already high hill, also obviously the pyramid base, which is not uncovered, but overgrown.
Steve walked up it...I passed....( I'm kind of 'pyramided out' after being to so many around Mex. City before I ever went to Chichen Itza.

Kinich is so vast, it takes up a city block, and it is not very well marked. We had to really scout it out...

I think it gets poor second sister status after the yellow convent.

But, Señor Ruinas, being a rock person , & ruinas specialist
really got into it.
He spent a long time up there.
I waited in the car.
He even got a picture of himself
and you can see the distance.
















Izamal is definitely worth a visit.
We also did the sound and light show in the evening.
Very nice.  Probably a little more simple than I was expecting and it is low season, so not even a dozen attending.
But, we like it that way!