Category: Coba Yukatan

King Pakal of Palenque / Finishing Notes

Quetzalcoatl · Derek Fiechter & Brandon Fiechter

Doubt we’ll  ever get to visit
King Pakal’s magnificent Mayan city of Palenque.
Its deep in the Yucatan jungle.

Rose and I come down to Mexico to be by the Ocean.
And there’s no beaches in Palenque.
Fact is it’s sheer Luck (HA!) that our previous vacations here
were close to Chichen Itza, Ek Balam,
Tulum, and Coba.

So what’s the bid deal with King Pakal and Palenque?
Lots.

Joshua J. Mark writes:
worldhistory.org/Kinich_Janaab_Pacal/#:~:text=Pacal%20assumed%20the%20throne%20of,who%20succeeded%20him%20in%20rule.
“Today the city of Pakal the Great (Palenque) is the most extensively studied of all the Maya sites, even Chichen-Itza, because of the grandeur of the architecture and the precision of the inscriptions, which tell the story of its most venerated king and the splendid city he raised to greatness.”

But there’s more:

Pakal himself was very unique.

Wikipedia says:
” Pakal (603 – 683) ascended the throne at age 12 …”
“During a reign of 68 years—the fifth-longest verified regnal period of any sovereign monarch in history, the longest in world history
for more than a millennium …”

Pakal therefore reached the age of 80 years old.
I would guess the lifespan of the average Mayan of that era would
have been about 50 years old?

It’s also assessed that Pakal was at least 7 feet tall!
That would make him a giant compared to the
average Mayan of that era  who was just over 5 feet tall.

Other interesting – and amazing facts:

Palenque was almost completely untouched by war, nature, or plunder by grave robbers, and revealed literally hundreds of valuable artifacts:

Perhaps the most sensational (and controversial) artifact discovered at Palenque was the incredible (and huge)
sarcophagus lid on Pakal’s coffin:

The controversy?
Those Ancient Astronaut theorists say this looks like a a guy sitting in a cockpit – operating some kind of craft.

And it does.

Presently archaeologists estimate that
only 5% of Palenque has been uncovered.

I could go on and on about this place,
but that’s enough for now.

 

 

Mexico Trip Day 2 … Still exploring …

Yellow Bird / The Brothers Four / 1966

Rose and I took over 2000 pics on our trip here.

                                                       Fuzzy Bananas … just outside our door.

In the days of camera film that would cost a small fortune,
but with todays wonder of digital photography you can just fire away
and you’re bound to hit something occasionally.

                                                         Don’t see this everyday in Calgary …

We end up throwing a ton of pics away – (some were
plainly awful) – and hope to end up with something of interest?

                            “ECO” – plants and animals – was the big thing at the Resort
                                                                 Spider Monkey lounging in a tree
                                                 Peacock Hen … not all the animals here are native
                                                                            Unusual looking ducks
                                Not sure why there were so many statues of Buddha around?
                                                                          Chickens and Doves

There’s a little bit of everything here …

Down at the ocean.

                                                       Japanese Restaurant at the Resort

… and lots more … 

 

Cancun 2022 … Still Looking around …

Peaceful World / The Rascals / 1971

Backtracking a bit … 
…. at last … 15 hour trip … from dawn to dusk before we reached our digs. 

About 9:00 o’clock

Palatial

Excuse the fuzzy pics … but we were feeling a bit fuzzy ourselves
at the time.

All we wanted to see right now was our room.

On the way … 

Buddha outside the Resort Japanese Restaurant …

Flash Buddha.

Buddha in Resort Spa.

At last …

Onward.

Mexico Trip Day 2 … Looking around …

Mayan Ocarina Improvisation

Before I got distracted by those Mayans and Aztecs I was intending to post about our Mexico trip. Those past civs have a deeper pull on me than I knew. And I’m not finished yet.
BUT…
Day 2:
We continue exploring the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort.

This place is big.

It can take a day or two to look around at everything.

Boo Hoo … Life is so Hard

But mostly I was interested in two things:
The beach and the Food.
I was disappointed on both counts.
The beach was rocky with LOT of rocks in that water.
It was treacherous to go in there without some kind of footwear.

This was a major disappointment for me because swimming in the ocean is a huge deal for us landlocked prairie boys –
and definitely a main reason that I come here.

See !? Rocks. Lots of ’em. 

The food also proved not as good as previous Resorts we’d been to.
At first we thought this might be another affect of Covid – that has influenced so many things. But when we later went to
another Resort nearby the food was excellent.
I hate to complain about this because we are SO spoiled in Canada.

Pretty good really.

                                                                              What!? No caviar?

Other people in this world would consider this to be the feast of a lifetime.
It was just not as good as what we had experienced before.

All in all, still a great time. 

I’ve decided that in future I will take a lot more Videos instead of Still pics.
I’m not very good at videos yet, but it still think it gives a better
idea of things than Still images.

 

Mexico Trip Day 2 … Pakal the Great

Native American Flute Maya Drone in E
– Daniela Riojas – Quetzalcoatl Flutes

Throughout the the Resort we discovered at least 4 busts of
King Pakal, the Great.
This might not mean much to most people? But I have a direct recall of a past life here as a Mayan. (I was a peasant woman – not a Queen or King).
And I just love Archeological history.
Otherwise I would usually think that a visit here is just good luck.
But it’s not. I’ve simply returned to a place
where I have an important connection from the Past.

The first statue of Pakal (below) was the Resort entrance.

These busts are a rather poor interpretation of the original sculpture of
King Pakal (below) that was found at the famous Mayan City of Palenque.

So we have a pretty good idea of what Pakal looked like.

Four of the statures were accompanied by a plaque
telling us something of ancient Mayan culture.

Click on the photo to see an enlarged image of the plaque.

The Spanish were likely very disappointed with the Mayans
because the Mayans didn’t value Gold – they valued Jade
and thus had very little gold, which is what the Spaniards were after.
That didn’t deter the Spaniards from their brutal behavior however,
part of which they (sadly) burned all the Mayan books they could find.
What a treasure that would be for us now!

Below: Pakal’s jade death mask and jade necklaces found in his tomb.

With the restoration of many the many ancient Mayan Temples,
Cities and artifacts, I’d guess there’s been a strong resurgence
for   the Mayan people and their culture.
And though the brutal Spanish chased the Mayans into the jungle
they were not decimated as were the Aztecs.

Click on the photo to see an enlarged image of the plaque.

Below: An artists vision of Pakal based upon archeological finds.

Next: Pakal the Great discoveries …

Mexico Trip Day 2 … Orientation and Exploration

Mayan Fire Flute / Xavier Quijas Yxayotl

Orientation:
A closer look at where we are:

Map of Central America, Mexico
and the Yucatan Peninsula.

Map of the Yucatan 
showing location of Resort, Tulum and Coba.

Below:
Map of the Sandos Caracol ECO Resort.

The Resort is pretty good size area so we decided to spend our first day just exploring the place.

But my first task was get a better photo
of the first thing you see when you arrive here:
a bust of King Pakal the Great.

This guy was rather amazing
and deserves a bit of a write up. 
That’s next. 

Mexico Trip … Day 1

South of the Border / Patsy Cline / 1961

Travelling.
It’s such fun.
So here’s what you do:
Get up and 6:00 am. (In the dark)
Call Taxi. Load bags.
Go to Airport.
Haul bags in; Check in;
Go through Security; Covid crap; etc. etc.
Then Wait.
At about 11 am. you get on the plane.
Plane gets de-iced.
Takes Off.
Flys South across the US.

Crosses Time Zones.

                                                                Are we there yet? Is that Florida?

Arrive in Mexico at 8:00 pm.
5 and a half hour flight.

Get Taxi. Go to Resort.

Sandos Caracol Eco Resort

Outside I take a blurry pic (or is it just me?)
of Mayan King Pakal.

In the Lobby:
Check In: 10:00 pm. (In the dark)
16 Hours travel time?

Theme of the Resort is posted in Lobby.

“ECO” – Nature is the theme here. Jungle and animals.

Lobby pics.
Pardon my poor photos.
I hope they will still give you an idea of the place:

Looks pretty nice.
But we’re tired and hungry.
Grab a bite. Head to our Room.

The first thing we really wanted to see:

Did I ever dream I would be having such experiences?
Never.

Coba and the Stairway of Time …

Bay of Mexico / The Kingston Trio / 1958

We’re back.
From Mexico.
Took me a couple of days to recover
and re-acquaint myself with snow.
The truth is, I don’t ‘travel well’ anymore.
I’m 73.
So here’s some Free Advice:
Don’t wait till you retire to go Travelling.
Why?
I’ll show you.

This is the big pyramid at Coba/Yukatan/Mexico.
It’s 120 steep and irregular stone steps.
At one time I could run up those steps in less than a minute.
Now it would take me an hour – with periodic rests.
Soon I won’t be able to do it at all.
And I really wanted to.
But God saw me coming – and spared me.

                                                         Net photo of people climbing the Coba pyramid

Because they recently stopped people from climbing the pyramid.
I believe they finally realized that these valuable artifacts are being destroyed by thousands of people clamoring over them every year.
But I think there’s also another reason they stopped it:
It’s dangerous.
A fellow traveler told to me that about 2 people
were being killed here every year.
Not to mention a number of injuries.
I believe it.

                                                         Net Photo / People on the Coba pyramid.

You can see how steep that is –
with a number of people coming down on their rumps.
The safe way.
But I was still disappointed.
Yet also happy.
Because these very valuable artifacts need to be protected.
As they should be.

Onward …

Curiously I noticed 3 vultures at the top of the pyramid.

Possibly waiting for me to sacrifice myself.
But that was another lifetime.
Today I was spared by the Gods.

Famous Blacklight poster from the 70’s