Monday, December 10, 2018

Part Three: Day two, hiking to El Mirador


Since we had fallen asleep at about nine it was not surprising that we were awake long before Santiago called 'Buenos Días' at 5:30 the next morning. I heard the cooks and guides talking shortly after four, and soon after the smell of smoke drifted over from the cooking fire: Jadide and Vikki were preparing for breakfast. We were going to leave at seven at the latest, earlier if possible, to make use of the cooler conditions of early morning. A generous portion of eggs, beans and the all-important tortillas would easily sustain us till lunch time. The guides picked up our big bags for the mules so that Miguel could start to load them, an elaborate process, as I could observe on several occasions. The mules and horses stood totally still while the two huge packs were balanced to the left and right of the pack saddle and secured with rope, with a third one stacked on top, before the whole load was covered with a heavy tarp. The mules carried not only our luggage but all of the supplies we needed for the five-day tour, including drinking water. We asked Santiago about feed for the mules: Miguel climbs a certain kind of tree and cuts branches for the animals to eat; they find water on the way. 
 

With twenty-three kilometres to go that day we were walking relatively fast. The road was wide and dry, the only thing we had to watch for were rocks and roots. Worst were the stick-like stumps of little trees that had been cut to keep the path clear; since they are difficult to spot I stubbed my toes several times. Heads down, eyes on the feet of the person before us, we walked close to each other; by the end of the trip we all were a bit stiff around the shoulders from walking in that position, including Santiago who had to keep an eye on the trail for obstacles, snakes and spiders.

The mule train passed us half way through the morning, and a little bit later Jadide and Nikki with one of the mules, one walking, one riding. For lunch we stopped at a kind of visitor centre, a relatively new building with information tables about the area, the flora and fauna. Everyone who comes on the trail is hoping for jaguar sightings – well, half hoping – but they are rare, we heard, and tapirs,
javelinas, oacimundi, spider monkeys and howler monkeys, various snakes, poisonous and non poisonous, tarantulas and other spiders and many kinds of birds may be seen. Since there was no way to keep things cool our meals now were vegetarian, and lunch consisted of baked tortilla shells with grated beets and cabbage. Fruits like pineapple, watermelon and cantaloupe were always part of the menu as well.

Santiago pointed out that the road we were walking on was part of the extensive Maya road system connecting different cities. It was visibly elevated, sloping on both sides, and quite straight. 



Early in the afternoon we made a little detour to a place called 'La Muerta' where two smaller temples have been excavated. It was a dark place, only a small area carved out of the dense jungle, the buildings already covered in moss and vines again. Archaeologists had made an opening in the side of one of them, and we crawled in on our hands and knees, arriving in a long, narrow room where we could stand upright only in the centre, under the raised beam. This had been living quarters for the priests, and the site had been a place of burial as well. Moths and a couple of huge spiders were the only inhabitants there now. It was a strange place, a bit eerie even in the mottled sunlight of early afternoon. So few people have seen this after the demise of the Mayas; no vehicle can get here, the helicopters who take people to El Mirador have no way of landing here. How privileged we were to be able to see this! 


A few minutes later we stopped at a large, partly restored petroglyph that had been found right on the Maya road, sculpted in the Early Classic (250 – 550 A.D.). Santiago showed us the glyph of the serpent, thought to represent the Serpent Dynasty (Kan Kingdom) that ruled in El Mirador. 


Our feet hurting, tired and sweaty we arrived at our camp at El Mirador shortly after four. This camp, other than the one at El Tintal, has no solar power. We all were looking forward to a shower, which was interesting here: for ten quetzales (about $1.50) we could buy a five-gallon pail of water from the guards running the place. The water was poured into another five gallon pail fitted with a shower head, which was then heaved up and secured with a rope above our heads in a shack with plastic walls. A small tap regulated the flow – basic, maybe, but working well, and, as it turned out, with more water than one needs for a shower, maybe because we were careful not to use too much. The second shower was more primitive yet: a pail and a smaller bucket for scooping.

The cooks, too, were working under even more difficult conditions than at the other camp: here, they didn't even have solar lights, but were cooking by candlelight. 'Romantico', they said, laughing, when we commented on that.

It felt like midnight after we had supper, but it was only about six- thirty, way too early to go to bed. We decided to play cards again, but before we started Santiago came to our table looking like he had something up his sleeve. He did indeed: he regaled us with ghost stories, and though he might have just wanted to entertain us I had the feeling that he himself believed what he told us. There were stories of a man without a head, a woman with long hair who was beautiful from behind, but when she turned around she had the face of a horse, and the poor souls she lured away were not seen again. People from Carmelita would never go to La Muerta during the night, he said – and that I believed for sure. Since we needed a translation for some if not most of it, the first part of the entertainment for me was already to watch Paloma's eyes grow wide: she played along perfectly with Santiago's stories and later translated for us into German, or Borja or Asha into English, just like they did so generously for much of the information we got during the trek. It was fun to have the guides be part of our group as well, and the cooks who were always ready to laugh and joke.

Candle flames smoking in the evening breeze, we played cards for a little while before we turned in. The next morning Santiago was going to wake us even earlier so that we could see the sunrise from the observatory that is part of the complex, only about ten minutes away.


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