Taming the Beaded Beast

Lately, I've been packing a 'bag-o-beads' with me whenever I am away for the weekend or on vacation. I find that there is always downtime. Whether that is a lazy morning with a cup of tea or late afternoon waiting for the family to assemble for the evening. That is the perfect time for me to get lost in stitching. Just feeling the beads in my hands and relaxing.

On my recent trip to Mexico I was practicing a Cellini spiral (or as I like to call it a Bernini). There is something freeing about a stitch that has troubled you for so long; when something just clicks and it feels like you've unlocked its secrets. For this one, once I realized it was just a simple peyote stitch it no longer seemed so complicated. After I had the first couple of rows in place, I would just slip a pencil or thin pen into the center of the beadwork and follow the peyote around in a circle. 

There was one other thing that saved me many times from pulling out the beadwork. Because this is a twisted pattern (yes in oh so many ways) you can lose count on what bead size or color comes next. Just remember that the bead you are coming out of is the bead you are adding next. After that, it became a lazy stitch in my hands.

Hiking the Yucatan :: Tulum

Templo del Dios del Viento

Tulum is stunning. It sits on cliffs overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. It is the only Mayan Ruin near the sea, and not a surprise that it is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico. 

The city was one of the last built by the Maya and was in its height between the 13th ad 15th centuries. Tulum survived roughly 70 years after the Spanish arrived, but the diseases the Spanish brought with them appear to have contributed to the city's downfall. The local Maya continued to visit the site to burn incense and pray through the late 20th century until tourism just overwhelmed the site.

While it is called Tulum today (meaning wall or enclosure), the Maya called it Zama meaning 'dawn' as it faced the sunrise. The name was given to the city by explorers Stephens and Catherwood in 1847 when they found the abandoned ruins surrounded by a stone wall. The city served as a major port in the region connecting an extensive trade network between maritime and land routes. 

My favorite picture is of the Wind Temple. and probably the most photographed. The building is called the Templo del Dios del Viento (the temple of the god of the wind). The wind god is known as Ehecatl with his temples built as cylinders to reduce air resistance from the winds that came from all sides. Some called this deity Huracan, which is the origin for the word hurricane.

One thing that surprised me was how many iguanas we saw; they were simply everywhere. Hidden under the thatched roofs, sunning themselves on the ruins and strolling across the main courtyard. You can see the spikes that run down their spine which give them their names 'Mexican Spiny-Tailed' iguana. They seem very unnerved by all the tourists and simply just stare you down as this guy did to me. To locals they can be a bit of a nuisance as they eat plants, flowers and prey on nesting birds, small animals and sea turtle eggs. They can scare locals by lashing their tails and biting if they feel threatened. I kept my distance using a zoom to photograph him. Just in case he got testy!

Hiking the Yucatan :: Ek' Balam

The wild beauty of Ek' Balam is captivating. I had no idea what to expect from this place as it isn't talked about much, and we had a hard time finding it. There are next to no road signs and it was literally 'off the grid.' I had been very diligent about buying the extra GPS maps for Mexico, but it was of no help finding this location. We went by it twice and in circles for another half hour. But it was all worth it once you step through that ancient doorway.

Ek' Balam Sacbe

Somewhere between 700-1,200 BC Ek' Balam was at its height. It always strikes me when I hear how advanced the old world of the Americas was so long ago. And makes me wonder what event caused its downfall. For this site, they believe it was a siege on the city by an enemy based on the how hurried one of the city walls had been constructed and looks to be crushed.

The main pyramid of this site is considered one of the largest ever excavated in the Yucatan. Because of its low profile (and lack of wall-to-wall tourists) you are still able to climb and explore it. In my last post you will see the view from the top down the steps. Somehow I managed to take this picture from the top, but no picture of the full pyramid? Clearly I was distracted by the carvings and secret doorways. It was captivating sitting on top of this pyramid. The Mayan jungle sprawling out across the low lands and the wind cooling us off from the heat. It did have a way of transporting you to another time with only the sound of the wind and nature and no modern architecture anywhere to be seen. Thankfully, both the hubby and my oldest daughter managed to take pictures that I can share. One of the best was of the huge 'monster mouth' mid-way up the main pyramid. This is a portal to the Mayan underworld. It is hard to capture the right angle to represent the size and dominance of this doorway under the thatch roof of the pyramid. 

There is a series of sacbes, or raised 'white way' that connected the ancient Mayan Kingdom from one site to another. At the end of the road you'ld pass through an archway as you entered one of the Mayan sites. You can see the beautifully preserved one of Ek' Balam with the raised stone road that connected this site. We saw these sacbes at all the sites we visited. I could image all the travelers through the ages walking across these stones, traveling between cities, trying to make their way in the world.

Hiking The Yucatan :: Mayan Ruins

Tulum

Chacmool at Chichen Itza

Exploring the many Mayan Ruins has been on my bucket list for a long time. And I finally visited a few over the holiday break. Actually, quite a few places on my bucket list are up on the header of my blog. Each one represents a place I've been that was on the list, or places I have yet to go. You can see the Chacmool front and center above, and I finally got to see it.

These sculptures appear all over Mexico from as early as the 9th century AD. The original, ancient name used by the Mayan and Aztecs is not known. The name Chacmool was given in 1875 by Augustus Le Plongeon who excavated one of the statues at Chichen Itza. The name translates from the Mayan as 'thundering paw' as he found the statue buried beneath the Platform of the Eagles and Jaguars. The Chacmool is thought to be used as an alter to place offerings to the gods. Typically these reclining figures are holding a bowl on their stomach where offerings of tamales, tortillas, tobacco and in some cases human hearts are placed. Some believed the Chacmool depicted slain warriors, others say they represent a defenseless, passive appearance of a Mayan captive. A full frontal view of a face is rare in Mayan art except among representations of captives.

Ek' Balam

As much as I had dreamed of seeing Chichen Itza, Ek' Balam was unexpectedly my favorite. Don't get me wrong. Chichen Itza was awe inspiring. The main pyramid was stunning. The Ball Court jaw dropping. But Ek' Balam was off the beaten track and more rustic. We were able to really explore and get up close to the ruins. Both Chichen Itza and Tulum are so over crowded with tourists that so many of the structures are roped off. The Chacmool I wanted to see at Chichen Itza is inside the main pyramid, which was not accessible to climb and thus I was unable to see what was inside.

I loved the wild beauty of Ek' Balam, and that it still felt somewhat hidden within the Mayan jungle. We climbed the main pyramid straight up the narrow stone steps giving us an endless view across the tree tops. It was breathtaking. Literally. Once I looked down from the top I nearly panicked at the thought of how I was going to get down. In the end my daughter and I decided the safest route down was on our butts one step at a time. There is no shame in safety!