32 UNESCO Heritage Sites in Mexico

Mexico is a major tourist destination, currently the seventh most-visited country in the world. I was really looking forward to visiting. I'm travelling with friend Pat and we're visiting the Yucatán Peninsula and Mexico City.

The Yucatán Peninsula

The Yucatán Peninsula is a huge chunk of land, in the southeast of Mexico, which also encompasses parts of Guatemala and Belize. So, some would argue that this part of Mexico lies in Central America. As far as the politicians are concerned all of Mexico is staying firmly in North America. There are three Mexican states on the peninsula: the State of Yucatán, Quintana Roo (named after a Mexican liberal politician, lawyer, and author and pronounced Kintana Row, to rhyme with bough) and Campeche.

Cancun

The tour starts in Cancún, in Quintan Roo. It's a horror - an utterly gorgeous beach, with the bluest of Caribbean waters, ruined by strings of high rise hotels and souvenir shops. This was a tourist project, financed by the Mexican government and very successful in terms of income, exceeding expectations (over 20 million visitors a year). In 1970, when they began work, the island/sandbar had three inhabitants running a coconut plantation. It was separated from the mainland by a lagoon system, so they built two causeways, to attach it to the mainland. This became the Cancún Hotel Zone. It stretches a long way.

In addition, whilst most of the Yucatán Peninsula has remained relatively safe, compared to other parts of Mexico, avoiding the violence associated with the trade of illegal drugs, Cancun has developed a drug culture in its many bars and night clubs. It's a centre for money laundering. and the number of homicides is increasing, mostly related to drug trafficking.

Chichén Itzá, Yucatán State

Yucatán, the Mexican state, is famous for its Gulf of Mexico beaches and Mayan ruins and I'm happy to drive here, over the border, to the Mayan site of Chichén Itzá. Famed Chichén Itzá, one of the largest Mayan cities (750- tenth century AD) is huge and includes three main complexes.

The Great North Platform encompasses the monuments of the Temple of Kukulcán, also known as El Castillo (picture uptop), The Temple of Warriors and the Great Ball Court. El Castillo is suggested as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, on some lists.

The Osario Group includes the pyramid of the same name, as well as the Temple of Xtoloc. The Central Group, includes the Caracol (domed observatory, named for its snail like staircase), Las Monjas, and Akab Dzib (The House of Mysterious Writing). The Thousand Columns are a vast quadrangle, linking the Temple of Warriors to the market and are what's left of a group of halls. There are actually only 200, but it's thought that there seem to be more....There's also the sacred cenote (open well).

The Mayan Civilisation

• The Mundo Maya is the Mayan World or civilisation, which included Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as southern Mexico.
• The Mayan civilisation is divided into several periods, but the earliest, the Archaic period, dates back to before 2000 BC, and saw the first developments in agriculture and the earliest villages.
• The first Mayan cities developed around 750 BC; by 500 BC these cities possessed monumental architecture, including large temples with elaborate stucco façades.
• Beginning around 250 AD, the Classic Period saw the Maya civilization develop many city-states, linked by a complex trade network and the two great rivals, the cities of Tikal (in Guatemala) and Calakmul, became powerful.
• The Classic Period also saw the 'intrusive' intervention of Teotihuacan in Maya dynastic politics, followed by the ninth century political collapse of the central Maya region, resulting in civil wars, the abandonment of cities, and a northward shift of population.
• The Terminal Classic (c. AD 800–900) saw the rise of Chichen Itza, in the north.
• The sixteenth century brought the Spanish and the destruction of all the Maya cities.

Uxmal

There are plenty of Mayan sites around this area, but the other main site of significance, the second most popular, is Uxmal. It's known for its vast terraces and plazas, columns, and archways, smooth walls and intricately carved facades. Uxmal is roughly contemporary with Chichén Itzá, built over several centuries, with its greatest period of construction taking place between 700 and 1000 AD. Its name means 'thrice-built' - it was continually being remodelled and embellished.

The buildings which attract the most attention are The Governor's Palace, (the longest façades in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica) and the tallest (and probably steepest) monument - The Adivino. Otherwise known as the Pyramid of the Magician, this is a stepped pyramid structure, with five levels. Legend says that the pyramid was magically built, overnight, during a series of challenges issued to a dwarf by the gobernadora (ruler or king) of Uxmal.

The Governor's Palace is oriented to the main pyramid of Cehtzuc, (a small site located nearby). Observing from there, Venus as evening star, when reaching its maximum northerly extremes, (every eight years) would have set behind the northern edge of the Governor's Palace. This heralded the onset of the rainy season, in late April or early May. The palace's facade contains almost 400 Venus glyphs, placed in the masks of the rain god (called Chac here), demonstrating fascinating knowledge of astronomy.

There's also The Nunnery Quadrangle (thought to resemble a convent, but actually four palaces placed on different levels which surround a courtyard). And, of course, a large ballcourt.

The Mayan Ball Game

• Nearly all the Mesoamerican archaeological sites feature a ball court. As with most of the archaeology of this era, there is still much to find out about the game known as pitz, but it's fascinating stuff.
• The game was a ceremonial ritual, rather than a sport, possibly representing the symbolic recreation of the mythical combat between night and day.
• It was played on an L shaped court with steep sides. There may have been spectators.
• The ball was made from liquid latex, extracted from rubber trees, but seems to vary in size and weight. Some are larger than a football. The ball could only be touched with the hips, knees, upper arms and thighs (no hands or feet) and had to be propelled through a high stone hoop.
• After that, hypotheses and accounts vary. Teams had 2-5 players. The game may have been used to decide conflicts, maybe even wars. Sometimes, a head was used instead of a ball. Maybe, either the winning team captain (or all of them) or the losing team were sacrificed. (The PR must have been very good.) The game could last up to two weeks.

Mérida

The roads between Mayan site viewings are long. The tedium of the jungle, monotonously uniform here, is relieved by a stop at Yucatán capital Mérida. Mérida is the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, the largest city in southern Mexico and the cultural capital of the Yucatán Peninsula. This is where the Maya and Spanish cultures met, during the colonial era. Although the phrase is a trifle ironic. The Cathedral of Mérida was built, in the late sixteenth century, with stones from dismantled Mayan pyramids. San Ildefonso Cathedral, built between 1561 and 1598, was the first cathedral to be completed in the mainland Americas.

Mérida has colonial charm, narrow streets, and romantic horse-drawn carriages. Colourful shops crammed full of hammocks. (Many Mexicans don’t use beds.) Mérida is also is among the safest cities of Mexico.

Sotuta de Peón

Sotuta de Peón is surrounded by expansive henequen (Agave fourcroydes) plantations, a legacy of the powerful barons, of the nineteenth century, when the Yucatán became a global centre for henequen fibre production (it was sometimes called 'green gold'). Henequen is similar to sisal: both fibres are derived from agave plants. Both are well suited to making ropes, mats, and sacks, but sisal fibres are generally coarser and stiffer than henequen. And, henequen thrives particularly well in the semi-arid conditions of the Yucatán.

There's a a tour of the plantations, the processing plant (where the leaves are boiled and beaten and the fibres extracted), and the magnificent colonial-era mansion. Eek, a tarantula...

Coba and Tulum

The tour finishes with a return to Quintana Roo, for Coba and the Mayan rock fortress of Tulum, located directly on the Caribbean Sea. The coastal area round here is now promoted as The Mayan Riviera.

Coba is located around two lagoons, Lake Coba and Lake Macanxoc. It boasts a Mayan ball game pitch with a stone hoop. But the highlight of the tour is definitely Tulum - an indescribably beautiful setting on the cliffs above an azure sea. This was one of the last Mayan cities to be constructed (actually a port), on 12 metre high cliffs. It survived Spanish rule for some time and is one of the best preserved Mayan sites. Its a walled city, with the most lauded buildings being (another) El Castillo, the Temple of the Frescoes, and the Temple of the Descending God. The Temple of the Frescoes was used as an observatory for tracking the movements of the sun and has more Venus type figurines. The Temple of the Descending God is just a single room with a door to the west and a narrow staircase, that was built on top of another temple.

The Castillo is a central pyramid, also constructed on a previous building, which was colonnaded and had a beam and mortar roof. There's even a small shrine, which appears to have been used as a beacon for incoming canoes, as it marks a break in the barrier reef, opposite the site.

A peaceful last few days on the island of Cozumel. Plastic bracelets to be endured in the all-inclusive resort, but more powdery white sand and great snorkelling, surrounded by scores of inquisitive barracuda, drifting on the second longest barrier reef in the world.

What Do You Think of it So Far?

Frankly, I am underwhelmed. The Aztec and Mayan sites are interesting, although the guides at the Mayan sites seem very unsure of their facts and, at times, seem to make up explanations of some of the archaeological features we saw. Heads of sacrificed victims used to play with in the ball court? Maybe, but a little evidence please.…

The food was also disappointing. Nothing like the ‘Mexican’ offerings in the restaurants at home – on the whole bland and poorly prepared. Maybe we just ate in the wrong places.

Endless traffic and the scenery in the Yucatan is relentlessly dull - mile upon mile of low uninspiring rainforest, all the same hue. Perhaps we just went to the wrong bit?

Mexico City

Next stop, Mexico City.