I finally made it Cahal Pech

A couple of weeks ago I went walking with the purpose of go to Cahal Pech, but did not complete the goal. Instead I just walked around town and got some ice cream. I was in one of those “I don’t care if I get anything done” moods. Well, today I got up and got going. Since it is Sunday there are not as many buses and the temperature was 85 at 8 in the morning. I decided to wait for a bus anyway because the last stretch is a steep incline and I didn’t want to be to worn out to make it.

I was worth the time waiting for the bus and the walk uphill. There were only two small groups and me, going solo. I took my time reading the information in the tourist center and looking at the artifacts they have on display. It fascinates me that they are from thousands of years ago. There is one display of a skeleton and the items he/she was buried with. Only people with money were buried with something for an offering to a god. This person must have been important because there was a couple of bowls and other items in the display.

Cahal Pech literally means the place of ticks, but it was the excavators that gave it the name, not the Maya. When they first started work, they were bothered by the ticks, hence the name. It is not as big as other sites, but a few of the rooms are totally intact. It seemed like it has a more complex maze of walkways than the other sites I have seen. Maybe it is just the fact that it was protected better under the dirt and trees. I would have to ask an archeologist to find out the answer.

I like the feeling that I was walking through the same place that the Maya did thousands of years ago. It brings the history to life and I remember things better that way. It is like the phrase “walk a mile in my shoes”. Of course I was not doing what they did on a daily basis, but I can use the information I read to imagine what it was like. I do avoid thinking about the blood sacrifices; I can’t comprehend that kind of thing being necessary. They were not very tall people because the arches were just a few inches above my head. The other thing I have noticed at different sites is how big the steps are. If they were not very big, they would have had to climb the steps instead of just stepping up. Some of them are a stretch for me and I’m almost 5’5”.

Now that I have seen Xunantunich, Tikal, and Cahal Pech, I can see the traits they all have in common. I can find the ball courts, the head chopping blocks, the main temples, and the living quarters of the upper class. Looking at the Maya civilization just proves that there has always been a division of social classes. The ones with money get the better education and living arrangements, and the unlucky lower class gets to live their lives serving the upper class. Sorry, just a personal observation and opinion. I will keep looking for the civilization that is more equitable. That sounds like a good quest.

I would not have wanted to live in that time; life was less complicated but harder. Now that I have been to Xunantunich (2 times) and Tikal, I can compare the sizes and complexity of each city. Tikal is by far the most complex, spread out, and has the tallest temples. Xunantunich comes in second on height, but is a simple layout. Cahal Pech is the lowest built of all of them and the most complex. I think it helps that some of the rooms are completely intact and the layout lets you imagine people carrying on with life.