10-14-08 Saban to Peto and the Ruins of Ichmul and Calomul

The frequent heavy rain was bothering me because i am heading south, where the rains increases in intesity and the roads turn to a slick, if not deep mud (i will be really getting off the beaten path in the south). The path i choose called for me to pass for about 10km across a very bumpy dirt road (the one i took to the ruins). Because my ride was going to be long tomorrow, and i would leave before light, this presented a problem. It was recommended i pass west to the fedral highway and head south. Looking at new ways on the map i realized i was very close to more (very interesting) ruins and the gears turned. My basic plan was to do a big loop, but if i did a figure 8 intead could see some of the ruins i had planned for later in the trip, a good idea because these ruins are known for their situation in a very dry area of the Yucatan. This allows me to enter the south later when there will be somewhat less rain, and possibly i will be able to speak at least a bit more of spanish, which to date has not been going very well.

My new plan is to head north a bit to the town of Ichmul, a town with a number of churches and a large, but totally decimated group of early classic period (250-550AD) structures. Next i will head west to the nice small city of Peto. A bummer was the 30km road from Ichmul to Peto was entirely ripped up and under construction. Widing the road not only ment some very rough stretches, but also not a single second of shade.

A church at Sacalaca (yes, this is pronounce saka-laka)

A second, ruined church at Sacalaca. Many churches have no roofs. The church as Saban did not have a roof and is still active, and the church, as you remeber, at Tihosuco has a good chunk of it missing.

Hope you like churches, giving you the run down. They really are nice. This one was after Sacalaca, forgot the name of the town but it was weird and started with an X, not on any maps i have. This was at the end of the road.......

......this is after the end of the road. Does not look too bad, but the water was a foot deep in some areas with no shoulder so i had to ride though it. My feet were well under water and so were the bottom of my bags (both my feet and the bags are waterproof thank god). This last dirt road brough me to Ichmul. The reason it is not paved is because Im crossing from the Quintana Roo to the Yucatan state and this is not a controlled boarder. All paved crossing have guards who sometimes stop you , but normally just hang out and look for anything out of the ordinary.

One of the churches at Ichmul, the a second is on the left. These churches are on a very large Maya platform, so big infact that when they recently dug into it it was so deep they ran out of time before they could hit the bottom. What they did find were many many skelitons from the precolumbian period. It is not clear why the Maya choose to bury people in this plaza, but sacrifice is not likely.

The entrance to a bell tower. It is hard to see the writing here, but it is so midevil, it is like a eurpean castle.

Like Yookop, the ruins at Ichmul have a substantial early classic occupation (250-550AD). It is hard to draw much masonry information from here, but some blocks at the ruined chuch looked very much like those used at Yookop that are presumed to be early classic. These to sites are likley very similar, both are very close to each other, and both have an a radial road network leaving the city. The roads at Ichmul date to the termial classic. The roads at Coba and Yookop probably also date to this period. The single standing vault at Ichuml, which did not see, but have seen photos of, is like like vault still standing to the west which date to about 550-650AD. It is therefore likely that this vault to dates to this period, a period where the standing vaults a Coba are very different. The meaning of this is not clear, but suggestive that there is a cultural gap, and possibly two different Maya groups as building technologies have traditionally been associated with different ethnic or culture groups. Not sure about that though.

The Maya ruins at Ichmul. Not much to see, but in the center of the block behind the 2 churches and a covenent, there is a large mass of ruins. These ruins are totally decimated by the spanish and there is very little to see. There is one standing passage, but I had a big ride ahead, and it was not worth walking though peoples back yards or knocking on doors.

A good sized, if not part of a much larger sized group of ruins by the road at Catomul. No cut blocks seen in the tumble. Stones can basically be devided into finished blocks that would be on the outside of a structure, or just cobbles and boulders on the inside of a structure. The cut stones tend to be a diagnostic feature of different styles. This is what i look for at the ruins. These stones still in place on a structure or wall of a pyrimid is what i want. It is clear how these stones are being used, and also may give indications of how many different types of stones get used (the amount of specialization). No cut stones here....but wait! In the tiny town next to the ruin all the walls surrounding the roads have periodic stones nearly identical to those seen at Yookop and in the church at Ichmul, they almost certainly come from the tumble of these structures (called stone looting or mining, pretty typical, Ive read report where people have shown up at ruins just as back hoes and dump trucks were arriving to just scoop up the ruins for new roads). Calomul, just based on the modern village walls in most likley an early classic ruin.

A church along the way, the signs of the town were removed for construction work.

At Peto I am positioning myself close to a very 'mysterious' and 'recently discovered' ruin who's location is 'a secret'. The quotes mean none of this is actually true, but nevertheless it is an incredible, but very obscure ruin that i have never seen on a map. I has been in the news a bit latley, but the location has been kept a secret because it is suseptible to looting, a very real problem. For that reason i will not really talk to much about its location, or why i know exactally where it is.

Peto is a large and vibrant town, looking forward to spending a few days here.

The church at Peto.

Lunch: Tacos, crushed habenero hot sauces (pure habeneros, so even if you like hot food like me it still makes your hairs stand on end) and an orange crush. Mexicans seems almost obsessed with sodas, and I'm happy to not drink water all the time.

Distance rode: 60km

Trip Distance: 497km