Star Trek/X-men comes to the pickled onion

I will be revealing all soon just waiting for some photos to be sent to me then you all will know!!!!

Birthday party and Ticul shoe fair

Sunday I was invited to a birthday party ,the son of one of my employees Samuel better known as El chef.

Daniel is turning 3 years old……… a very bright young lad and if he continues there is a brighter future for him.I know his father spends lots of time with him teaching,reading and learning a few english words.

When I see him in town there is always a cheery VALERIA .The last time I saw him he was on his way to Ticul with his grandparents. I asked him if he was going shopping and if he had some money in his pocket…………He resounded back. Oh Valeria I dont need money I m going with mis abuelas(my grandparents) We all laughed at his quick wit. I must say here though the wit of the local people really reminds me of my birthland England. So quick are we to retort a comment.

When Samuel came last week with the invitation I asked would it be on time or Mexican time.Samuel responded oh mexican time of course….. Well I ALWAYS show up on time or sometimes a little before to find nothing is ready or very well organized.

But on this day I thought I would arrive a little later than normal.

So I did a few things that needed to be done around here thinking I would arrive an hour late……….Well this time I was the one not punctual and would nt you know it! It started on time………but no hard feelings they were just happy I showed up.

Samuel father did the honours of barbecuing . He works at one of the bigger hotels near Uxmal as a chefs helper.I joked with him whilst taking a photo ……….. tocas el carne…. I said to  which he promptly picked up his utensil to poke around the meat and everyone around started to laugh.

I didnt stay too long just long enough to eat a little take a few photos and then head off for the Ticul shoe fair. Ticul is famous not only for its pottery but shoes too………. On every street you will see shoe shops or workshops and people come from all over Mexico to buy.They are not really my style of shoes but at least I thought I maybe able to find some leather sandels.

Its not often I get to go to the fairs but this time I had a chance and not only that I needed some new shoes.Im not sure how many shoe fairs they have in a year but it seems like hundreds…………a bit exaggerated but still its  a lot.

I was surprised how quiet it was in the afternoon not many  people wandering around. Maybe because the clocks were changed the night before and everyone was adjusting to the new time.

I did a quick shuttle around til I found only one place that were selling leather shoes……….. I bought two pairs………..

Then the next booth I really fell in love with some shoes there ,that were made out of jute……….. these will be good for those special outings(guess Ill have these for years to come LOL) and they are actually made in Ticul. I asked for his card so that I can go and by from him direct.The prices are very reasonable each pair costing me equivilant to 10 U S dollars……….MMmmmm cant beat that price.

Hannal Pixan versus Halloween

Its becoming a conflict for the old traditional ways of Hannal Pixan and the Halloween as us northen know it.

traditional altar

It would seem such a shame to loose this tradition for the modern.Soon there will be no distinction between old cultures and the ones that are known all over the world and becomes all the same.I feel like in life we are all the same but individuals which sets one country from another with their customs.

photo google images

Hannal Pixan will just become a thing for the tourists only unless they work hard to keep it going.

Not only that it must be a little confusing for the children as well as the older people but I suppose this is progress but sometimes progress is not always for the best.

traditional Maya ceromany (photo google images)

In Ticul the pottery makers were busy for sometime making ceramics of Pumpkins with less sales of the more traditional pottery .Its good that there is work for them and it may increase their sales for awhile with people wanting the more modern halloween stuff.

You can walk around the stores that are full of Halloween costumes candy and the like.

Maybe next year there will be Halloween dances in the little pueblo of St Elena .The school do try to keep the tradition with exhibitions of altars for one night ,made by the children and older students.But then they used to make an altar in their own homes.

I asked all my staff ….. did you make an altar this year ? and all replied no! Maria the young girl that cleans the rooms did say her aunt and made one in her home. I know her aunt and she is a very tradionalist ,having always an altar set up in her home.

Let me know your thoughts on this too I would love to hear them.

New look casita

The house of Tzab Kan Nah was built firstly as a massage room but because people loved the first house I built and the only one at the time, I thought I would change it to a rental unit.Also with Hermalinda, the lady that used to do massages, having had a slight stroke,she  was no longer available to do massages. This was also another   push to revamp the massage room.

I left the  inside walls as they were. Mud on the inside as well as the outside.Put in the bathroom to which I tiled.It surficed for the time being but then as this place got more popular I had to concentrate on building more Maya casita to rent.

Last week finally came the time to re-do the interior. Hilario my builder,did a great job of cementing the walls . It really does look much better and much easier to keep clean……….no dry mud chipping of the wall.Then I looked at my job in the bathroom and said, you know what; Hilario…. I think we have time to re-do the bathroom before the next guests come along…..  so he chipped away at the tiles on the bathroom floor ready to re-do the tiling.

Like always seem to happen one never  seems to get just the exact tiles one in looking for in the nearby Ticul… well I thought I do need to buy things for the restauarant so I will combine tile shopping and grocery shopping at the same time. I didnt really need much tiling but I knew just what I wanted.

Hilario re-set the river stones as requested and all seemed to come together really well.

ahhh ahhh! not only does Hilario know construction he also knows how to do paint jobs………and clean!!!!….Great! that lets me off from doing it and I can concentrate on other things.

All this done then came the last touches . New homemade  cover for the top spread(again another buy in Merida just not possible around here) then the mosquito netting around the bed  .We put runners on the bottom of the door to help keep out pesky things (not that I have many but it makes the guesties feel more comfortable)and nestleed mosquito netting between the walls and the palapa roof. Added a coffee/tea machine for those early rises and now all looks clean, fresh and lovely..

I am only missing one thing at the moment and that is a painting on the wall.As soon as I have finished and its framed it will be there!

Calakmul

Finally I find time to write about the trip to Calakmul…. Mmm let me see, well I left off gassing up ready for my next days trip to Calamul.Its a long way!!!! From Xpuhil I travelled west( a good hour) on highway 184 and followed the signs to Calakmul .From the main highway take the road south and you find yourself meandering through lush tropical jungle.

The road in places is not the best so one cannot drive with speed and it does tend to meander.

jungle path with howler monkey in background

I saw a few wild turkeys but they ran so fast I couldnt get a photo of them. I came to what I thought was the main entrance to Calakmul straight ahead of me.It looked quite new did the building so I parked and entered thinking it was the ticket both.

Well no, in fact it was a new museum that had been created but right in the middle of the road? I did see a road veering off to the right but thought it was just a pathway and it wasnt well signed… Umm I thought this is a good catch to get people into the museum and leave donations. The staff were friendly enough and I was greeted by a guide all too willing to take me around and spout out his knowledge of flora,fauna and animals etc………. It just seemed strange to me the location of the place.

I tried a few times to make my aplogies but said I don t really have time for this I am on the way to Calakmul and it seems there is still quite a distance to go.

stella with carvings

Finally after one and half hours on a meandering road I arrived at the entrance.There wasnt much in the way of maps or anything of how to get around the site. I felt it was needed as the site is so big.

I relied on some material that I had brought along ……….. good thinking on my part I thought.

If you do go make sure you have good walking shoes and lots of mosquito repellent and also a snack and water(there is no where to buy water of refrescos) again to which I did!

There is lots to see and the walk in the jungle is very nice . I did manage to see one howler monkey,some spider monkeys and a tapir. In this respect I thought I was very lucky….. Not many birds though as the jungle is quite dense.

I finally made it to the highest pyrimid in the whole of Yucatan but by the time I had found it I was a little tired . I looked up and thought to heck with it Im not in the mood to climb. So I sat on the steps opened my can of Tuna ,packet of crackers and ate.! But it was relaxing listening to the sounds of the jungle and no one to interupt AHHH!I watched as the spider monkeys where doing their thing flying from tree to tree.

I cant say that this site gave me the wow feeling as I had hoped. I think after the site of Uxmal and along the Ruta Puuc sort of spoils one with all the ornate work. I am sure in its time Calakmul was a splended sight to behold and it could have possibly had lots of ornamental stucco but now what one sees are ruins and plane stones . Quite a few stellas which reminded me very much of Tikal in Guatamala.

hIghest Pyrimid in the Yucatan penninsula

So all in all I am glad I went,  now I can talk about it with clients who drop by and are interested in seeing Calakmul . I would not really recommend it for children, most, I am sure, would get bored and there is nothing worse than trying to hold childrens attencion against their will. I know cause I did it when my children were small too!LOL

Oh! I did something unusual (or maybe not)looking as if they were on a mission.Not really taking any notice of the path in front   but walking pretty fast. Well further along I could see why!

Ahah ! you thought I was going to tell you of some rare animal or something

No it was Google map people come out to map Calakmul.So maybe there will be a map soon of Calakmul!

My favourite of the three ruins I saw, well it has to be Xpuhil but maybe the next time I am in this area I will check out the other sites and my favourite may change

Onto Xpuhil

Leaving Kohunlich I decided to head back to Xpuhil and back to the hotel .I had time before dusk to visit the ruins of Xpuhil just on the outskirts of the same small town.Im glad I did!

I was spellbound of what I saw . Built in the typical Rio Bec style with towers joined by a lower range of rooms.The unusual feature of this building is that there are three towers rather than the normal two. The Rio Bec ruins sadly I didnt get a chance to see to compare but another day!

Xpuhil towers

What it would have looked like

I took a photo of what it would have looked like in its time. Quite impressive I would say!

I wandered aroung the back of the building to get a better look at the towers . The back was just impressive to me as the front with its height and rounded corners.

Viiew of the back of the main tower

I didnt stay too long as it was close on dusk and the mosquitos are pretty bad in this area.I left, got gassed up, ready for my trip to Calakmul the next day.

 

On the way to Calakmul

Calakmul is situated south from here driving to Hopelchen then onto Xpuhil, about 3 hours drive.The  road is not that great in places with lots of holes(baches). But my V W beetle did a great job !

I knew it was a long way and I am not used to driving such distances anymore, so by the time I arrived in Xpuhil I was ready for a rest.

I have someone I know that has a hotel with cabanas so I headed to her place another 8 kil .

I didnt give them notice as this is the slow season and thought that it would be O K just to arrive… and it was. Then I crashed for a couple of hours reading and just coming down from the hectic life in my hotel.

Many of my guests make the trip down after leaving here heading back towards the coast and they were always asking how is Calakmul. I was also intrigued to see this place too and felt it was time to investigate so then I could verify the worthiness of this trip.

I stayed three nights and could have stayed more as there are so many ruins to see in this area.I just found that the driving distances were very long and a little tiring.

The first day I took off to see Kohunlich were they had the pyramid of the Masks. Kohunlich is located east of Xpuhil close to Chetumal with  driving time around one and half hours.

The site differred much from the photos that Joyce Kelly took for her book An Archaelological guide to Mexico,s Yucatan Peninsula some years ago.

I entered this very pristine site with  well manicured lawns and started my wonderings.Its still possible to climb on and in through these ruins and as I was the only person there no one bothered me! In fact they were too busy cutting the lawn!

The setting is really lovely though being in the tropical jungle a little different than the jungle at Uxmal.

I headed over to were the pyrimid of Masks are located.To think that after all these masks have preserved so well! They were quite incredible to view.Climbing up the steps of the pyrimid it was just amazing to see the masks on either side . In total there must have been 6 with slightly different faces of Maya gods.

I spent some time on the steps just sitting and pondering on the extensive buildings and art.Trees with their own art growing out from the roots or the brances intrigues just as much.

The Masks

very well trimmed tree

I left around midafternoon hoping to see Becan before returning to the hotel but I was too tired so I thought that I could drop in to see the ruins of Xpuhil which I will write about in my next post.

The massage room!

Its taken awhile to complete but now its up and running the new massage palapa ………………… So if you are ever in this area or you want to stay a night or two  to relax and become one with the universe its all here in the Pickled Onion in sleepy St Elena.

I give Reiki treatments and relaxation massages using essential oils.Along with pierdres del rio

river stones to calm and relax.

What a more favourable place than to relax here in the countryside of Yucatan close to the Mayan ruins of Uxmal.Kabah,Sayil Labnah and the newly opened Chocolate museum.

I had an unexpected pleasure yesterday one of my guests was also a Reiki teacher so who was the lucky one that got a treatment? Oh it was sssooooo good; its been a few years since I had a treatment and oh boy was I in need.

I felt so relaxed afterwards that it was hard to pick up and get back to work! But I did return and felt renewed ready to face the day on a brighter note!

So if you want to feel the same way then come and pay me a visit.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

The answer to the thing!

Well most of you were correct in one way or another .The answer is a fruit picker. Not just one particular fruit but for all.So I have to award the first response for lunch!!  You can see who it is on the comments for the last post.So when are you coming’?

When I bought The Thing and came home with it I excitedly showed it off to Zacaria who began to chuckle and with a smile responded Otra cosas nuevo Doña Valeria!

Now Zacaria we need a long pole to attach to it , I said. I racked my brain as what to use then I realized I had an old extension that was used for the pool before I bought a new one! Oh this will work fine ! He hurried off to find an abrazo to attach The thing.OH great Zacaria this will work just fine.

Of course we had to try it out so off we went to the sour orange tree

He carefully found the ripest orange to pick and very gently with the greatest of ease yanked the orange from its spot.Landing gently into the basket.

How great is that Zacaria? I said. Doña Valeria its sooooo easy.

The caught fruit

 

Oh and did you know that you can make a wonderful fruit juice by squeezing the sour orange and add a little sugar ? Its very refreshing!

The Thing!!

Im going to give you something to think about for a day or two.Do you have any idea what this could be???? I thought it was so ingenious that I bought one after seeing someone in the same store purchasing the same.

I asked what is it for? And when he told me my eyes lit up Oh I want one too cause this will save me making one!

So here is the picture and if you can guess then lets see……….. a free lunch /or dinner for the right answer and the first one to get it.

The "thing"