Attempted Visit to Loltun Caves.

After I left Uxmal, I traveled south just a few kilometers to what’s known as the Puuc Route, there are several ruins all along the same road and all within a few kilometers of each other. And 11 KM from the last ruin is a large cave; I believe it’s a partial cenote, a cave in causing a large circular depression in the ground that over time fills with water. Many of the Mayan sites in this area are built right next to a cenote. Chichen Itza is situated between two very large cenotes. Many of the ruins were abandoned those times when the rains around here slacked, as the cenotes and wells dried up, then when the rains returned, the centers were repopulated, repairs made and new buildings begun. Finally, when the Spanish arrived and sacked the cities, most were abandoned and not re-inhabited.

Anyway, I wanted to visit the place so I drove Puuc Route to where it was suppose to be, my map showed it very near the road, when I get to where it should be, nothing. There’s a sign pointing to the left but it’s shown differently, showing ‘Lol Tun’ whereas the maps say ‘Loltun’, so it could be the town of similar name, if one exists. I turn left anyway, and watch for signs. Around 3 KM later, I do pass though a small town, then 5 KM later, I give up finding the caves, and look for a spot to turn the RV around without falling off a cliff. The road is barely wide enough for one vehicle and I would have to pull off the road to let opposing traffic pass.

When I get close to the sign that sent me that way, I’m very careful to examine every sign I see…nothing about a cenote, or the Loltun caves or any other Spanish words that might indicate a cave. When I get back to the ‘T’, I turn left and go another 6 KM to a town named Oxkutzcab. Still no Loltun cave or any signs. For what seems to be such a popular attraction you would think they would have lots of signs for tourists. No such luck.

I head back, check for signs all along the route, still no luck, and the road was mostly a farm country road so light traffic and nobody to ask where the caves were, and finally I end up back at Labna’ ruins. I visited for a while, didn’t get any pictures. The caves are supposed to be the best in the Yucatan…maybe I’ll see them next trip, sorry I missed them.

Since it was still early in the day, I headed on to Campeche. A few hours later and I reached the old city. Built in 1542, the streets are very crowded and narrow. I always follow bus signs whenever I get into a large city but it didn’t take long and I was lost, or at least I couldn’t find the campground I was looking for. I found a tight place to turn my bus around and headed back to the bypass that most Mexican cities have circling their cities. After that, it was easy to get my bearings and make it to a nice campground on the outskirts. I stayed there for 5 days and got my shopping and laundry done. I also took the time to figure out that there are many streaming video setups on the major networks so I could watch my favorite TV shows (mostly). It was fun catching up on my favorite comedies and missing the 95F heat of the city. The only blogging I did was to write more stories about my navy days.

When I left Campeche, I headed southwesterly, toward the Palenque Ruins, one of the top five ruins in Mexico. I knew from my guide book where I wanted to stay for the evening, and when I passed the place I stopped in the circle driveway in front of the restaurant at a hotel. One of the waiters came out and I asked if I could spend the night. He says NO, no RV parking there. Well, as you know, I don’t speak Spanish so I drive on up to the Palenque museum parking lot and park there while I scout around and have something to drink. I can’t make out from the signs where the ruins are. They certainly aren’t near by the museum or the little store they had there, so I jump in the RV and head up the hill, expecting to find them just around the next corner. The road gets steeper and steeper and windy as it heads up the mountainside. I keep going, and after a couple miles I get to the site. I get up to the parking lot, but it’s full and I’m waved back. So I back up a few feet with seemingly no where to park except on a steep incline about 100 yards from the gate off to the side of the road. I park there, and scout around for a turn around place. Nothing. Well, I think, I’ll go tour the ruins and worry about it later.

Here’s a shot of the museum parking lot at the bottom of the hill:
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Museum parking lot and my RV sitting over there.

Then after buying a ticket, you climb up a few rock stairs, walk a 50 yard path and arrive at a flat plateau that the Maya made by hand here on the mountainside. The site is very large, with many buildings and was once the major crossroads of the Mayan empire. This place sits in the middle of the kingdom of the Maya. Very impressive. And this was one of the few places where a tomb was found…all those artifacts from the tomb are in Mexico City, but the museum here near the ruins has a few pieces.
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Sorry, I have been distracted for a couple days here at the campground where I’m staying. I’ve been helping the owner upgrade the electrical. That meant that I could, after I rewired my electrical connection with the proper sized wire and breaker, run my air conditioning. It’s much more comfortable here because the humidity is much lower then in the Yucatan, then when you add AC, even better.

I was pleased to have been here when those famous authors the Church’s stopped by for the night. They wrote the preeminent guidebook to Mexico named ‘Traveler’s Guide to Mexican Camping by Mike and Terri Church’. You hardly see any North American down here without a copy. They are good people and we had a few laughs discussing the Mexican travel adventure. I got my copy of the book signed. Pretty cool. They’re heading for Panama in a Class C.

Here are the Church’s enjoying the balmy night at the only RV park in Las Penas…the name of the park escapes me.

Author's of 'Mexican Camping'.

Now back to regular photos of ruins…

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This is the tunnel where they found a genuine casket with a royal body and all the original gifts sent with him to the underworld:

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Outside showing the entrance to the tomb:

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Off in the distance, another pyramid:

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and another:

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This shot is of the original track up to a shrine and temple up those stairs, it’s a burial shrine right along the creek, pretty impressive:

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And here’s the actual shrine or temple or whatever it is. Even the archeologists don’t really know why it’s up the hill from the main city.

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This creek was actually covered at one time, the Maya built a long tunnel out of rock pieces to cover it so as to open the courtyard:

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This building is interesting in that they built it using the contours of the hill to create a semi-natural pyramid with an alter to a diety on the top. This would have been pretty close to what it looked like when it was finished. There are some very interesting and beautiful frescos inside the building:

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Overlooking the city, and the sea of jungle:

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Some of the best preserved fresco’s I’ve ever seen:

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This was the oldest pyramid at the site, predating all the other buildings by a couple hundred years. Note how crude and large the steps are:

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And out in the back yard, another pyramid, these people just never stopped:

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More soon!