some arcaheology (at last)!!!

Howdy!

well i decided i should finally do a blog, dont want tess having all the fun!. Also, im currently suffering from montezuma's revenge (more commonly known as the 'trots' the 'runs' or just plain diarrhea, and so writing this helps take my mind off the stomach cramps and what not....)anyhoo that should really be enough about my bodily functions (if you insist on more information email me at toiletdestroyer@merida.com). What i have learnt is that the water in some of the less touristy locations may not be as clean as it appears.
The last few days have been a whirlwind of archaeological fun and frolics (that does make it sound like we did things at some pace, what it should be - a whirlwind of sweat and intolerable heat). We went to the Ruta Puuc, which is a series of less well known mayan sites south of merida, the bus ride took us through jungle (like on tv!) and we arrived at literally small openings next to the road, with small shacks placed under the shade of the canopy that enveloped the surrounding area, after leaving an entry in the guest book we took the small walk through the trees to the sites (each of the 5 sites had a very similar 'visitor center') . The sites rose up out of the jungle after a 5 minute walk, the beautiful blue skys and the bright sun made the white stones almost shine in the morning light, and arriving in the large bright openings from the shade and relative darkness of the canopy made them seem even more imposing and impressive!. The sites we visited were Labna, xlapak sayil and Kabah. Instead of me attempting to describe each site, i have placed the best photos from each on the Flickr page (i also have some panoramas i need to stitch together).


From these smaller sites we traveled onto the more touristy Uxmal, here the site had a real visitor center (with shops and everything!), as you leave the center you must walk up a hill that hides the site from your view, so that as you reach the top and look ahead you are confronted with a massive mayan pyramid, temples, palaces and ball court. We clambered round the site for several hours, taking hundreds of photos, climbing to the top of several building and just sitting on the bottom of the stairs enjoying the landscape. What made this site perfect was what was missing, when you look at the pictures try and guess what it was, think of the big touristy sites in the UK and Europe. It made the experience even better, and as we clambered around overgrown walls looking for mayan 'treasure' we truly felt like little explorers.
after all this trecking round in the heat, yesterday we were well worn down (the 90f heat is taking it toll!) so we headed indoors to the modern art museum. Now i have to admit that i was disappointed, i wanted unmade beds, vomit on canvas, things in jellly and empty rooms with people staring at the walls with a dignified look, what we got was history of artistic styles and more contemporary work (according to tess, i just enjoyed the AirCon)
anyhoo today is a festival/ market day here (as is every sunday) so there are people dancing in the streets and live music, street performers, and cool looking food, anyhoo my belly is feelin better (and in need of a beer!) so i shall be off
adam
ps we also think that a 'happy meal' here is called an 'el chavo' LOL how fitting