11-08-08 The Ruins of La Muneca

If the trail was clear we could make it to the ruins by 10:30, and be home today. The first 3km or so was pretty good, but then what was until now 'a trail' was just forest, and we had to cut our way though, very time consuming. After an an hour or so, our guide climbed a tree to try and locate ourselves and the ruins.

The forest is full of this. It looks like melting snow in the spring, but it is melting limestone. I kept thinking how terrable it would be to fall onto it. While not super sharp, it was a lot like rusty metal and would cut you open very bad. Many stones from the ruins look like this. One of the reasons the ruins of this area are so poorly known, is because of the stone. Unlike in other regions, the stone here melts far more quickly with water and rain, so both buildings and carvings decay very quickly. Stellas, the large carved stones with writing are abundent here. At Calakmul they have found more then 120, more than any other site, but nearly all the texts have melted off.

Can you see the snake here? It is coiled and ready to jump. I have no idea how I saw it, I swear it was a 6th sense. Had I not seen it I would probably have to have been carried back some 15+km and have been very sick for weeks.

The same snake after a few wacks with a stick.

Our guide in a tree. Had to see him and he is only about half way up. I have never seen anyone climb a tree so well, and an adult at that!

In the end 10:30 passed and we did not get to the ruins until about 5pm, nearly dark. Our guide in the end climbed 6 trees, and was cutting though the forest the whole time. He is definatally the strongest person I have ever known, although by the end of the day he looked about 5 years older.

We were nearly out of water, and we had to leave first think in the morning. So after all the work, we would only be able to see a few buildings. Sucks, but the buildings were increadible, and very much worth the effort. The masonry is very much unlike other masonry in the area, it is huge, and only similar to Late Preclassic masorny from northern Guatamala.

The building with the true arch. Classic period buildings have walls made from concrete and rubble, faced with blocks. One of the few known Late Preclassic buildings dated to around 50BC has walls without concrete fill, and is make from very large slabs like this building here. The exeptional quality of construction is almost certainly why it is still standing. Above the walls of the room (that are well lit) is the true arch roof now collapsed. Above the arch is anothern wall that looks like the wall of the room, the remains of a roof comb. An execptional building, and unlike any other building in the Maya world.

Looking out from the massive trench/tunnel under the buliding with the true arch.

The view from the second tallest temple at the site. This temple is very tall, but the whole site is built on a very tall hill surounded by flat plains. When cleared of forest, these ruins will be very impressive.

We set up camp at the ruins and made a fire. It gets dark here before 6, and the sun does not rise until 6. With no lights, it is a long night to sleep.