I won't say that today was the best day of the trip, because I haven't dropped a twosie in a couple of days and have been suffering some painful abdominal cramping. However, my excretion problems aside, today was incredible.
Last night we all decided that we would fork out the $75US each and go to the ATM (Achtun Tenochlin Mechlam) caves. John and Judy (owners of Trek Stop) and Gemma had been talking up the caves as one of the best things to go do in Central America. So, going against my better judgement that was telling me to stay home and find ways to go number two, Haley and I went on the trip (more like journey). It started with a 6:30am wake up time, a two hour busride, and an hour hike through the jungle to reach the entrance to the caves.
We had two guides, Eduardo and Jose (I can't remember Jose's real name). Gemma said they were the best, and they didn't disappoint. They were both descendents of the Maya, as we would learn, and both gave us excellent background on the caves. We learned that National Geographic and the Discovery Channel had both filmed documentaries on this particular cave and numerous archeologists are still studying the cave today.
So at this point, I was trying to figure out what was so cool about these caves. I have been caving before, and while stalactites are cool and all, I wouldn't give them all the hype we had been receiving. No sooner had we reached the entrance to the cave then I realized why it was such a cool place. Before I get into details, I should further explain the trip to get there. We had to cross through two different rivers in our van before we headed out on foot. After parking the car, we had to cross two different rivers a grand total of three times through dense Central American jungle. The water was crystal clear and cool, which provided much needed relief from the relentless heat.
Okay, so we finally reach the entrance to the cave. There is this large hole in the river that we all dive into with all our clothes on and swim around in for a few minutes before devouring our sack lunches that we had drug through the rain forest. Then we were off to enter the cave.
The entrance to the cave was more or less a continuation of the large hole we had just been swimming in, so we literally had to swim a good distance into the cave before we were on solid ground. The solid ground did not last long as we plunged in and out of rapids in complete darkness except for our meager helmet lights. Our guide, Eduardo, did an excellent job of explaining different aspects of the cave and the Mayan culture, of which the caves played an important role. Apparently, the caves were very holy places for the Mayan peoples, who viewed them as a passageway into the underworld. They believe that the living must first pass through the underworld on their way to heaven.
In Mayan times, the only people who were permitted to enter the caves were the holy people, or Shamans, as our guide called them. As an entrance to the underworld, the caves were a place of sacrificial offerings. After hiking for a good hour through the caves, we climbed a steep rocky ledge, took off our shoes, and then set out on foot. As we walked along the path, gradually climbing higher up into the cave, we saw literally hundreds and hundreds of ceramic pottery littering the cave. Many of the pots had been calcified by the gentle trickle of running mineral water throughout the cave. Others had been brilliantly preserved as the cave remains a constant cool temperature and climate at all times. As we walked along the path, we literally had to watch where we stepped because our path was lined with pottery that was put there thousands of years ago by what is a now extinct culture. While it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life, I felt as though I was intruding on something holy, and the risk of ruining an artifact almost seemed not worth the price.
The ceramic pots were carried into the cave full of offerings. Often these was crops from their fields that they offered to the different gods. At other times, they sacrificed humans. This was often done to ask the gods for fertility or to plead with the gods to end a particularly severe draught. Just as many of the pots had been preserved by the calcium and mineral deposits in the cave, so too are many skeletal remains found in the cave. There were two different skulls we saw where the sacrificial victim was bludgeoned to death in the side of the head, and another nearly completely intact skeleton where a young girl was sacrificed by tearing her beating heart out of her chest in offering to the gods. It was so strange to get to close and personal to these people who died so many years ago. Again, it felt almost as though we shouldn't have been there.
It was an awesome and humbling experience at the same time, being able to see such an authentic site. We almost felt as archeologists must feel when they come across such a site.
In other news, I ended up taking some laxative that Nikki had on hand. Combined with way too many prunes and a diet coke, I paid a visit to Dr. BU tonight. Usually, it is not a good thing when you have to visit the good doctor, but tonight my friend, it was a welcomed event.
We also played a wicked game of "What If," which the group seems to be quite addicted to now. Haley and I are glad that we were able to introduce this game to the group. We also played a game called "I've Never," which totally ended up being about sex. It is supposed to be a drinking game where someone mentions something they have never done. If you have done it you have to take a drink. We substituted it with putting your hand on your head. Haley and I know our group much better now, after playing that game.
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