11-03-08 To the South!

We took the bus south to a small town of Ley de Formento. The hills are big down there and covered with thick forest. The most beutiful place i have been in mexico. Hard to compare it to the States, but it is up there with the most beutiful places I have ever been.

I got some contacts for guides. Of course the best ruins were on muddy roads. We could take a few days to walk or go by horse (still at least 2 days). I dont ride horses and they say it is a 20min drive in April. One of these ruins is supposed to actually be haunted. The proof for this is cited as they are the only ruins in the area that are not looted, but this is not exactly true. They say the ruins were in fact looted, but after a day of digging, they would return only to find that the holes dug the day before had dissapeared. Also, people who live near the ruins have heard their voices screamed from within the forest. Is it true, I´m inclinded to believe it. Looters here are profesionals, and such vaulable items just left out in the open is hard to believe. Anyways, I´ll get to go in April if all goes well.

A second ruin is close to town. The owner of the land was acting hesitant about taking us. He took to a small shack where a few monuments from the site were stored. They did not seem like too much, but one of them lists 13 Maya cities from the Late Classic. The most any other single monument lists is 4, so the importance of this is consiterable.

The relation the Maya cities had with one another is debated frequently. This stone shows that the Maya were well aware of the prestige of cities from a wide area.

I found out about this ruin from a researcher who over the last 5-10 years reported about 60 new sites here in southern Campeche, many of them being major ruins. He specifically told the land owner not to take anyone there for fear they may be looters, a real consern. I had emailed this researcher and he kindly gave me contacts. It is important tourist begin to see these ruins, so people can make money from them other than looting. I had my email with me, and he finally said we could go. It was a great ride in the back of a pickup. The ruins were entierly overgrown except for a looters trench. The hole was huge.

Sooo nice here!

No archtectureal features could be seen, but there there were many worked stones, and a small section of a wall.