We clearly choose our own paths but if we are insightful enough to interpret the sign posts place along those paths we may find some interesting and perhaps some mystical manifestation placed along the way.
In 1993 I headed down to Mexico and Central America to travel. Other than the phone number of my friend's grandmother in Honduras, I was en route without a destination or agenda and no itinerary whatsoever. I went which every way the wind blew and pretty much did not know where I would be going until the day I would arrive.
After about a month, my wondrous trip was drawing to a close. I was in Honduras and it was the eve of me getting ready to visit the fourth and what would become the final pyramid site, which I would tour. I was sitting in a park wondering if my Central American adventures had any meaning or justification to it or had they been interesting yet, aimless wandering. While reminiscing over the paths I had taken and people I had met, I begun to see a pattern especially in regards to my visitation of pyramid sites. During my adventures in Central America I happened to tour (strictly by chance and at random) the following pyramid sites.
The first site was Chichen Itza, a massive site in the Yucatan region of Mexico. It was a blazing hot day as I recalled. Fittingly, this was the Solar Temple. It was dedicated and constructed to chart the Solar Equinox. On the day of the equinox, the steps of the main temple are aligned so that the shadow from the Sun to falls precisely within the parameters of a gorge channelling its way through the steps. The excavation is less than a foot in width and proceeds directly down the middle of the temple steps.
Travelling further into the Yucatan peninsular I came across a little magical town named Playa Del Carmen. This town is located southwest of Cancun and, unlike its sister city, it is not a vacation snare for tourist. I would best describe the town as the Mexican equivalent of Venice Beach minus the performers. It echoed the same type of bohemian lifestyle and ambience which I treasured in my dear Venice. While walking through the town one day, I came across a sign that announced bus trips to a pyramid site and off I was to site number two. Tullum is made up of sun bleached white walled ruins. They sit precariously bordering a cliff, overlooking the white sand beach and turquoise blue, crystal clear waters of the Caribbean Sea. Here was a site whose former residents derived their rituals as well as their lively hood from the sea.
I bid a fond farewell to Mexico and all its lush images and ventured further south into Belize. This country is for the most part, a dense and tropical jungle paradise. Unfortunately, in its capital, Belize City, there are many signs of urban despair. Many of the places I had already visited had poor areas but few showed the signs of urban despair such as Belize.
However, wherever there is despair you will also find hope. At night the city is alive with the praises of the faithful. Churches, grand structures of a past Victorian age arise seemingly on every block. The attractiveness of the children of Belize especially stood out. Many are a mixture of African, Spanish and Indian blood. Belize has a considerably large Asian population whose genes seemed to have been thrown in the DNA brew also.
Belize can boast of being a country rich in Mayan pyramids but The Spirit which guide did not direct me to any of those sites.
Exiting Belize and entering Guatemala, I had one of the most sought after of adventure's conquests. I got to board the proverbial chicken bus. This bus was so overcrowded that the military actually stopped the vehicle, cited the driver and had passengers ejected. Some were mysteriously led away by the military. Guatemala was in the middle of guerrilla warfare at the time. And yes there were chickens or ducks (Hey, I'm a city boy, but I do know they were big birds!). After a brief argument, the bus driver convinced the passengers to at least put their animals in the luggage area on top of the bus. I think a few passengers may have been up there also.
I met a couple of travelling partners on that bus. One of them was on his way to Tikal, so me and Mika, my other travelling friend, decided to tag along. I must admit Tikal is not the most excavated site for a tourist. There were still archaeological digs taking place there. It is the Temple of the Jaguar. Tikal sits right in the heart of the jungle. As you walk through the jungle trails, wild animals of all sorts scurry past you. Above in the thick canopy of the trees, Howler monkeys roar like lions. Tikal definitely echoed primitive Earth.
My mosquito bitten body bid a welcomed goodbye to the Jungles of Tikal and continued south, travelling along with Mika. Mika was a remarkably small woman with a large appetite for adventure. She was definitely a rebel. Japanese women rarely travel alone, and with her being so petite, only added irony to her demonstrated boldness. Mika and I met a new friend, a pot smoking, slacker, part-time substitute teacher. He was a fun guy who had a good command of the Spanish language and even knew a few phrases in the Mayan dialect. He was very helpful since I am not the type prone to learn new languages. Mika spoke very little Spanish or English. In fact, she was so quiet I wonder how much Japanese she spoke. Anyhow, the trio of us had a few more exciting adventures in Guatemala which I will share another time. But getting back to the business at hand, after a couple of more weeks in Guatemala I wished my new found friends farewell and continued by myself south into Honduras.
Honduras, I don't know what that means in Spanish, but for me, I shall call it the land of many people. San Pedro Sula, Honduras, must be one of the most densely populated places on earth. In every direction there rivers of people appeared. Just imagine a most crowded fair, amusement park or downtown area and extend it the circumference of an entire city and there you have San Pedro Sula.
So there I was on the eve of the visit to my last and finale site, contemplating my experience. The images started to flow into a wonderful and purposeful mythical adventure. There was Chichen Itza, the Solar Temple, Tullum on the cliffs of the Caribbean Sea and Tikal in the deepest heart of the jungle.
Immediately after the pieces of this magical puzzle had come together in my mind, I detected an unwelcome interruption heading in my direction. A traveller such as myself was marching in a direction with that look of "Hey, let's communicate on his face." Being a people person, I braced myself to receive him and sadly placed on the back burner, thoughts about the exciting discovery I had just stumbled across.
With not so much as an introduction, this European traveller, in excellent English, asked me if I had viewed the statue in the middle of the park square. "No", I told him. He was so excited by it that I was encouraged to walk over and view it. The artistic rendering in the park square could best be described as an obelisk, about three feet tall. Each face of the four sided obelisk had a Mayan image, Deity or animal. I was astonished to find that at the base of the statuette was an engraving of symbols each representing a direction - north, south, east and west with a corresponding icon which was easily identifiable as representing the four Earth Elements (fire, water, air and earth).
My European friend told me he was interested in the Earth Elements and was surprise to see it represented in Mayan Mythology. He was just as excited by his find as was I, by my sudden revelation of events thus far. I invited him over to the bench. I shared with him what I myself had just discovered. We speculated as to how his how discovery and quest had fallen into to place with that of my own.
If I am truly, a mythical puzzle player, then perhaps I missed an important clue here. I neglected to chart which specific element corresponded to which direction. If some of you out there in story land happen to go down to visit the Copan site in Honduras. The park square I mentioned is in the village just outside of the archaeological site. It's a small quaint, village, you can't miss it. Maybe the next stage of the adventure belongs to you.
The European and I talked and exchanged more mental notes. There was one problem in conjoining our two distinct adventures into one. The site which we were both set to see the next day was dedicated to some Rain God, and isn't rain just another form of water? Well, this inconsistency had us stumped. We wrapped up our discussion and decided to settle with the three elements and just forget about the air thing! Heck, like what type of element is air anyway? You can't really touch it, we would just toss it from our theory. We then made off to do the town.
Doing the town, in this village, just outside of the Copan pyramid site is a small affair. The main plaza outside of the park only has a few shops and surprisingly, for Central America, no outside vendors. Maybe the heat was keeping vendors inside. I, however, was prepared. With my big, non-descript straw hat, horned rimmed glasses and umbrella, I looked ever so much the part of relic and knick knack hunting tourist. We went into one of the souvenir shops.
The clerk took one look at me and burst out laughing, "Tlaloc," he said pointing at me. I assumed this was some sort of greeting. He shared another laugh with one of his kids. He came from around the counter and nudged me over to the section of the store where the postcards were kept. There he pulled out a card with a photograph of a statue of an ancient Mayan Deity. Now I was able to share in on the humour which had brought the clerk to laughter. "Tlaloc," was featured in a wide brimmed hat, raised circular, spectacle looking articles around his eyes and holding a hooked walking cane. It was a good thing I was at the time utilizing my hooked umbrella as a cane or a may have toppled to the floor with laughter.
The other side of the card had an English inscription. It reported "Tlaloc" was the patron Deity of Copan. He is more than the simplistic Rain God that I and the European had erroneous ascribed him to be. He is The God of storms, tormenta, The God of the winds, hence air. Now it seemed at least for then, that the puzzle was complete. I went to visit the pyramid site the next day. I parted company with the group of European friends I had become acquainted with and embarked on the journey out of Central America. The spirit that guided had completed orchestrating my movements for that trip. Remember, I started my adventure saying that I didn't have an agenda and that I went which ever the way the wind blew.
But there are other adventures in other lands.
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