Day 6: Today we docked in the country of Belize. This was by far our favorite place to visit. The country still had the poverty that we experienced in Roatan but it didn't seem quite as bad as Roatan. We have booked an excursion to see the Mayan ruins of XUNANTUNICH which is only a couple miles from the boarder of Guatemala. XUNANTUNICH is estimated to be a Mayan site from 300 AD – 900 AD. There are large temples, buildings and a partially uncovered ball court at this site. It was a 2 hour bus ride to the site but our guide spoke almost the whole time there telling us about history of Belize, customs, ways of life, how most people live etc.
We arrived at our starting place and boarded a small man powered ferry across a small river. At one point you could see ladies at the shore of the river washing their clothing. Our tour guide said that this is the best way that the women keep in touch with each other and with what is going on in their villages and towns. We could see clothing drying on lines under and around houses. Most homes are built up on stilts. We were told this is for protections from animals and for during the rainy season when everything gets flooded. Very few homes had glass windows as most had just curtains, wooden slats or metal grates over them.
After our quick trip across the river we boarded small vans and were taken up the mountain about 2 miles to the base of the Mayan site. Then we started our walk up to the sites. Once there we were amazed by the grander and beauty of these ancient sites. We were told about the rituals and sacrifices the Mayans performed. Then began our climb up the largest temple. Wow...this was fun, exciting and frightening all at the same time. We laughed about how if this was in the USA then there would be railings all over but here you were on your own on small ledges and steep stairs. The carvings that are still on this temple were amazing.
Once we were on top you could see the magnificent area around the site as well as the other buildings. We could understand why they built there as it was possible to see miles in all directions. As you can see we took lots of pictures so that we could try and take home what we experienced. When we got back to the river and the little shops we bought a carved Mayan calendar, carved jaguar (the Mayan sign of royalty), a hand crafted and painted pottery and jewelry. We were excited to see 2 LDS missionaries with a lady at one of the shops and found out they were from Guatemala and Honduras. The lady was baptised a year ago and she said that in the area there were about 80 members that attended their church.
When we were done seeing the site we were taken to a restaurant and served a lunch of rice with beans, chicken and cold slaw. On the way back to the bus I kept looking for the kids of the country as they were in their schools or waiting on the side of the road for a bus. Most of them were dressed in school uniforms. I was able to catch a school with kids outside it through the bus window and was excited to show our kids how the children of Belize attend school.
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