Sometimes it's the Journey not the Destination

 

 

 

 

 

 

I get really excited riding on the backroads of Mexico! Always have and always will. Fun to see how various groups live. In this case we passed through a Mayan village on our way to Celestun. Our step-on guide for the whole trip is a Mayan. He talked about traditions now and then - about how things have changed in the last twenty years to allow Mayans to enter public buildings which they couldn't do prior to that time. And many other interesting little known facts - things you wouldn't even think about. He pointed out in this village the difference in the "tuc tucs". Those vehicles of transportation. To much chuckling he told us about first class, second class and third class tuc tucs. I only got photos of first and second class. Don't you just love the photo of the dog riding in the first class tuc tuc? Third class tuc tucs have fringe and in some cases lights that are hooked up somehow to something........

The original houses were wood tree trunks with thatched roofs. Now they use concrete block, thinking that will make it better. BUT when I talked to Mayans in Chiapas they said they are going back to adobe mud because the concrete block is hot in the summer and cold in the winter.....guess these guys in the Yucatan haven't talked to the Mayans in Chiapas. It sure is a lot less costly to use mud then concrete block.

Don't you just enjoy seeing all the painted white rocks. Those rocks are not that color originally, but painted. I thought about the amount of time that would take and why they would do that. I asked our guide and he said "Pride" in their homes. Most of their front doors are that aqua blue color and I asked, "Why?" He said it is to honor the sky and the sea.

If you notice there are many crosses along the route. They are crosses, not crucifixes. They are the Mayan sign for honoring the earth, wind, fire. I saw these everywhere in Chiapas. Usually they too are painted a deep turquoise or green color. They used these crosses long before the Spaniards came. The Spaniards made them change them to crucifixes. But, I saw them in many remote areas in Chiapas and now in the Yucatan.

A ride to a "destination" turned into noticing little things on the "journey", thanks to our Mayan guide.