There is a place you should know about. I have just recently renewed my acquaintance with this place. It is called Chacmultun, Mayan for Red Rock
Hill, and it is an archaeological ruin site.
Another ruin? So what....
As a ruin, it really is mostly just that. Fallen in and fallen down rocks; little decoration. So it is not the architecture of the ruin that impresses one in
particular. It is the drive getting there itself, and the amazing view you have from the top when you finally climb way up there. Climb? On this flat
peninsula? Ah, but it is in the heart of the hill region; the end of the Ruta PUUC Route.
But first we have to get there.
We come from the village here, Santa Elena, turning onto the Ruta PUUC Route road just past the ruins of Kabah. The last ruin along this route is
Labna, and it is here that the drive begins. If one goes straight, instead of toward the Loltun Caves, you end up in Co-operativa. You go away from
signs saying Merida. You are winding back through the hills now, surprised that they are there. You come to "Y"'s in the road where you have to
decide which way; villages with seemingly no names, and none of it seems to be on a map. It's not, and that's good. No tour buses and no hype.
Just a wander through the countryside back behind Oxkutzcab and Tekax, through small villages called Xohuayan, Kancab, and Canek. You could
just as easily go from Co-operativa to Xul, and on to Salvador Alvarado to Huntochac and San Felipe - where the road ends just short of the
Campeche-Quintana Roo border.
But we are following the hill ridge to Chacmultun and we will eventually come out in Tekax.
There is a contest going on in one of the villages, the village of Xohuayan (pronounced “Show whah yan”). This contest is to see who can have the
biggest, fanciest, most ornate carved black wood entry doors. It seems everyone is trying to outdo his neighbor. On these modest concrete houses,
you will see the most amazing doors! All are black carved wood, double doors. Many have etched glass panels, and some houses even have
THREE such entry doors leading into the house, some facing each other around a roofed terrace entry, and others just lined up in a row. I noticed
them years ago, in this village built in and on top of the rocky terrain in the hills, but there are many more now. Money coming from the US, workers
over the border, putting in the most amazing black doors in this village back in the middle of nowhere. And I find it delightful, these Mayans with their
very own architectural style.
I have found that you look for the names of the villages on the sides of school buildings and the "Palacios", the main government building in the town
square, no matter how small the village. You will rarely ever find signs giving the name upon entering a village. It just begins. When you get to
Kancab, you look for a sign to Kantemó. The ruins of Chacmultun are just outside the village of Kancab, off a brand new stretch of road leading to
Kantemó, built for heaven knows what reason, but there it is.
The narrow dirt road to the ruins drops off the side of the new road to the left and runs into the jungle for perhaps a kilometer and you have arrived.
What is enchanting about Chacmultun is not immediately obvious, although its setting is quite different from surrounding ruins. It has larger old trees,
and it is built as part of the hills themselves. It is strung out over a lot of ground, with people passing through on foot and bicycle, to reach their
village beyond. Crops have been planted and you hear cow bells constantly. The ruin is sort of part of the community.
You can drive back behind the first parking area to the base of a small section set against the low hills. This area will remind you of Sayil in style.
You begin walking to the left, following a rough road until soon you come to a goat trail leading sharply uphill to the left, leaving the road. It is here
you begin to climb. And climb, up higher and higher, until another structure opens up above you, rooms at the top of the hill, actually forming the top
of the hill.
When you have at last found your way to the top, and begin to breathe again, you look around and see...the hills... going on in every direction for as
far as you can see. Impressive hills for such a flat peninsula, making you feel like King of the Mountain. The swallows that you have disturbed will be
flying a circular formation above your head, wheeling and twittering around, making you dizzy if you watch them, wanting you to go. But not yet.
There is still another part, back behind this building, older yet and falling down. Home of big iguanas and birds, the peak of a sharp hill, some old
ruin higher than the rest, dropping steeply away on three sides. I could have sat there for hours, watching the iguanas and the orioles, waiting to
see the sunset. And perhaps I will do that some day, find my way home in the dark.
But before you leave, enter the buildings that you have been standing atop. What are the low bench-like structures against the wall, and what
purpose did they serve? Why are there rounded structures in some of the corners? A Mayan sauna? (The grounds keeper didn't think too much of
that idea.) Look carefully at the walls and the corners where the roof starts. The old remnants of painted walls are still visible, barely.
As you return, look closely at the buildings behind the ticket booth. Back in the quad, to the right, is a barred door. Inside are more paintings, parts
of figures and scenes, still faintly visible. What would it have been like to see it new? What would it have been like to be the real "King of this
Mountain"?
We can only imagine.
Kristine,
Flycatcher Inn, Santa Elena
10 minutes southeast of Uxmal in Yucatan, Mexico
Hill, and it is an archaeological ruin site.
Another ruin? So what....
As a ruin, it really is mostly just that. Fallen in and fallen down rocks; little decoration. So it is not the architecture of the ruin that impresses one in
particular. It is the drive getting there itself, and the amazing view you have from the top when you finally climb way up there. Climb? On this flat
peninsula? Ah, but it is in the heart of the hill region; the end of the Ruta PUUC Route.
But first we have to get there.
We come from the village here, Santa Elena, turning onto the Ruta PUUC Route road just past the ruins of Kabah. The last ruin along this route is
Labna, and it is here that the drive begins. If one goes straight, instead of toward the Loltun Caves, you end up in Co-operativa. You go away from
signs saying Merida. You are winding back through the hills now, surprised that they are there. You come to "Y"'s in the road where you have to
decide which way; villages with seemingly no names, and none of it seems to be on a map. It's not, and that's good. No tour buses and no hype.
Just a wander through the countryside back behind Oxkutzcab and Tekax, through small villages called Xohuayan, Kancab, and Canek. You could
just as easily go from Co-operativa to Xul, and on to Salvador Alvarado to Huntochac and San Felipe - where the road ends just short of the
Campeche-Quintana Roo border.
But we are following the hill ridge to Chacmultun and we will eventually come out in Tekax.
There is a contest going on in one of the villages, the village of Xohuayan (pronounced “Show whah yan”). This contest is to see who can have the
biggest, fanciest, most ornate carved black wood entry doors. It seems everyone is trying to outdo his neighbor. On these modest concrete houses,
you will see the most amazing doors! All are black carved wood, double doors. Many have etched glass panels, and some houses even have
THREE such entry doors leading into the house, some facing each other around a roofed terrace entry, and others just lined up in a row. I noticed
them years ago, in this village built in and on top of the rocky terrain in the hills, but there are many more now. Money coming from the US, workers
over the border, putting in the most amazing black doors in this village back in the middle of nowhere. And I find it delightful, these Mayans with their
very own architectural style.
I have found that you look for the names of the villages on the sides of school buildings and the "Palacios", the main government building in the town
square, no matter how small the village. You will rarely ever find signs giving the name upon entering a village. It just begins. When you get to
Kancab, you look for a sign to Kantemó. The ruins of Chacmultun are just outside the village of Kancab, off a brand new stretch of road leading to
Kantemó, built for heaven knows what reason, but there it is.
The narrow dirt road to the ruins drops off the side of the new road to the left and runs into the jungle for perhaps a kilometer and you have arrived.
What is enchanting about Chacmultun is not immediately obvious, although its setting is quite different from surrounding ruins. It has larger old trees,
and it is built as part of the hills themselves. It is strung out over a lot of ground, with people passing through on foot and bicycle, to reach their
village beyond. Crops have been planted and you hear cow bells constantly. The ruin is sort of part of the community.
You can drive back behind the first parking area to the base of a small section set against the low hills. This area will remind you of Sayil in style.
You begin walking to the left, following a rough road until soon you come to a goat trail leading sharply uphill to the left, leaving the road. It is here
you begin to climb. And climb, up higher and higher, until another structure opens up above you, rooms at the top of the hill, actually forming the top
of the hill.
When you have at last found your way to the top, and begin to breathe again, you look around and see...the hills... going on in every direction for as
far as you can see. Impressive hills for such a flat peninsula, making you feel like King of the Mountain. The swallows that you have disturbed will be
flying a circular formation above your head, wheeling and twittering around, making you dizzy if you watch them, wanting you to go. But not yet.
There is still another part, back behind this building, older yet and falling down. Home of big iguanas and birds, the peak of a sharp hill, some old
ruin higher than the rest, dropping steeply away on three sides. I could have sat there for hours, watching the iguanas and the orioles, waiting to
see the sunset. And perhaps I will do that some day, find my way home in the dark.
But before you leave, enter the buildings that you have been standing atop. What are the low bench-like structures against the wall, and what
purpose did they serve? Why are there rounded structures in some of the corners? A Mayan sauna? (The grounds keeper didn't think too much of
that idea.) Look carefully at the walls and the corners where the roof starts. The old remnants of painted walls are still visible, barely.
As you return, look closely at the buildings behind the ticket booth. Back in the quad, to the right, is a barred door. Inside are more paintings, parts
of figures and scenes, still faintly visible. What would it have been like to see it new? What would it have been like to be the real "King of this
Mountain"?
We can only imagine.
Kristine,
Flycatcher Inn, Santa Elena
10 minutes southeast of Uxmal in Yucatan, Mexico
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| Chacmultun, An Archaeological Site. |
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| A Yucatan Bed & Breakfast Inn |
| The Flycatcher Inn |
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