The Route of Maya

I joined OAT's trip of "The route of Maya" from Feb 21 - Mar 5.  This is a land tour with 14 members in the group.  We had 4 couples and 6 single travelers. We followed a route from El Salvador to Honduras, Guatemala, and ended in Belize. 

This is our group:

From back row to front row, left to right:
Larry, Gail, Dale, Peter, Elliot,Perry
Donna, Karen, Abel (our tour director), Joyce, Paula, Julie
Peggy, Christina, Kathleen
Couples are Larry and Donna; Peter and Peggy; Karen and Dale; Perry and Kathleen
I appreciate this group of folks, who all are very much world travellers. 

We visited 5 sites of Maya ruins on this trip:  Joya de Ceren in El Salvador; Copan in Honduras; Tikal in Gutemala; Yaxha in Guatemala, and Lamalai in in Belize.  A map of all Maya ruins is shown below:

Before excavation, Joya de Ceren was once totally covered by volcano ashes .  Copan, Tikal, Yaxha, and Lamalai were covered by jungles. While we now know that some 1,500 years ago, Mayan priest-kings built scores of pyramids, carved stone monuments, constructed handball courts, laid out streets of their cities in a grid pattern, we still do not know what exactly happened around 900 AD that made all the Mayan cities gone distinct.

At Joya de Ceren, I learned that Mayan used re-bar technology (bamboo re-bar used to enforce the buildings) and utensils with beautiful paintings :

We also saw this beautiful bird (Mot mot, the national bird of El Salvador) at the ruin:

At Copan, I learned about ancient Mayan king using monument as a political statement to legitimize his God and history given authority. Yet human ambition and arrogance eventually led to the destruction of the kingdom.  Human beings still are driven by similar forces today.  Have we really learned from history or are we even able to learn any wisdom from history?

Tikal, at its peak, was home to an estimate of 100,000 Maya.  The Tikal site comprises roughly 6 square miles and contains about 3,000structurs.  I climbed the Temple of the two headed snake, which was built around 740 AD.

 The view from the top of the Temple of two-headed snake.

 More structure were seen in Yaxha.  We started to get weary by them now:

However, the Lamanai ruin was a different experience.  We had to ride on a boat to reach the site via the New River.  Along the ride, we observed many wild life.

 The is quite a climb to the top.  One has to use a rope when coming down.

 The group climbed to the top:

 The Temple of Mask:

 It's interesting that we found similarity between the face of our Maya tour guide (Ben) in Ambergris Cay and this carved mask:  Notice the round face, big nose , the thick lips, and the two big front teeth.

The unforgetable color of Belize's Amergris Cay

Belize's beautiful waters are home for the second-longest barrier reef on earth, the Belize Barrier Reef.  As an extension to the trip of "Route of Maya", Gail, Julie, and I took a ferry from Belize City to Ambergris Cay.  We stayed 3 nights in San Petro, snorkeled at Hol Chan, and just hanged loose on the Island most of the time. The three of us got to know each other more.  My friendship with Gail deepened a layer since we met last time on the river cruise from Nice to Paris.  Julie is a new friend made on this Maya trip.  She is a retired nurse living with her husband 6 month in Annapolis, and 6 months in Virginia a bit North of Richmond.

Ambergris Cay is located on the north eastern side off the mainland of Belize:

The wonderful color captured from the little airplane that took me back to the Belize City from San Petro:

The three of us:

 Out at Hol Chan for snorkeling:

While sitting quietly looking at the court of our hotel, I can't help feeling that the palm trees not standing still due to the constant breeze, like my wish to bring happiness to my parents.  Yet they are no longer in this world. 

I wish that they would be pleased to know that I am happy, grateful, and remember them from the depth of my soul.

The designer's "Christmas Tree" in Brussels

The Grand Place Plaza in Brussels is a location many exhibits are shown from time to time.  The 2012 Christmas highlight is a designer's 'Christmas Tree".  It's a stainless steel structure with canvas lamps on the "branches".  At day time, it's a plain almost ugly thing which was an eye sore for the locals.  But in the evening it came alive with the lighting changes on the cue of music played in the background.  It gave such a delight to a tourist like me.

Christmas Markets Along the Rhine

From Basal to Amsterdam, I traveled with 120 other passengers on GCT's M/S River Concerto.  I had a cabin all by myself and truly enjoyed the privacy.   The Christmas markets were not too fantastic, but the food on the ship was tremendous! And of course the history, culture, and scenery along the way were delightful.  I guess I can understand why some folks have been on the same tour more than once. 

There was quite a bit of snow when we were in Basal.  It made everything look beautiful.

A little town called Kaysersberg in France was a nice stop for us to look at the unique tall narrow houses.

The highlight in Strasbourg was the sightseeing tour by glass-top boat along the city's canals.   The Christmas markets were quite attractive too:

At Baden-Baden, we saw some Roman remains, which was uncovered when a casino was being built. I bought a Christmas bell at Speyer.  And I concluded that Gluhwein is probably the best part for those folks who visit the markets.  The locals would gather together with friends in the market, sipping Gluhwein and chatting with each other for hours.

Heidelberg optiional tour was very enjoyable.

To see the Gutenberg Bible and the printing press was the highlight in Mainz.  I even got the chance to operate the press!  And they also have a Christmas market.

 

I was able to walk quite a bit in Koblenz, a 2,000-year-old city that stands at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers.  I was quite impressed by this pair of grandma and grand daughter,  Velma, the grandma, is very graceful and charming.  We talked about Martin Luther in a very spontaneous manner.  It was very interesting!

 And this evening, we had roasted pig!

The Christmas in Cologne did not have much decoration on the "roof" of the booths.

National Harbor

The Washington National Harbor only opened in 2008.  My GPS could not even find it! When Jim and Cathy said that they were coming to see the Scottish Festival in Alexandria, I decided to join them.  But they stayed in the National Harbor, while I stayed in Alexandria without knowing that National Harbor is actually across the bridge on the other side of the Potomac River.  Anyway, I found them eventually, and had a good time touring the water front on the National Harbor side, the Gaylord National's Christmas tree lighting, and the Scottish parade.  I enjoyed watching the men in kilts marching along with many, many friendly and fun dogs. 

The sun set, Christmas tree, and the fireworks on the waterfront of National Harbor:

The Christmas tree at Gaylord National:

The Scottish parade in Alexandria: