Sunday, February 21, 2016 - Yaxha

More Mayan ruins!!  There is another location where they are uncovering more Mayan ruins that is not as well known as Tikal. It is named Yaxha. The name comes from the Mayan for 'blue-green water'. 

But first a little story...on Saturday Leah Stinquest came and sat at the back of the bus. We all shifted seats throughout the trip and at this point Claude and I were sitting on the very back row. Leah sat on the single seat by the window in front of Claude. Leah is 86 years old and had been on all the hikes and climbs that everyone else did. She piped up and got everyone's attention. She thanked us all for all the help she had received on the trip from collecting her luggage to directing her and all the little things that people on the tour had done. She was just feeling grateful and wanted to be sure everyone on the bus heard and knew of her gratitude. When she finished those of us on the back few rows got to talking. Now, Claude and I knew she was from Washington State. The lady she was traveling with was her daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law was Claude and my age. She was also from Washington State. In the course of the conversation, Leah said something about being originally from Tremonton, Utah. I looked at Claude and he looked at me. Claude is from outside of Tremonton in a little bend in the road called Thatcher. He always tells people he is from Tremonton because more people know where that is and the mailing address for Thatcher is Tremonton. Hmmmmm... I mentioned that Claude was from Tremonton and grew up in Thatcher. Leah then stated that she was related to Ruby and Earlo Christensen and had spent many happy visit with them in Thatcher. I looked at Claude and he looked at me. I told Leah, "Ruby and Earl Christensen are Claude's grandparents!"  It seems that Leah's mother and Ruby were sisters. Leah was indeed a relative of Claude. They probably saw each other at family reunions many, many years ago. I told Leah I wanted to get a picture of her with Claude before we left the hotel Sunday morning so I could eMail it to Bonnie, Claude's mom. It is indeed a mighty tiny world. 

Our first stop Sunday morning was the meetinghouse for the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We would attend Sacrament Meeting only (like a worship service in a Protestant congregation). This was a real treat. Everything was said in Spanish so we only caught a word or two here or there. We sang the hymns in English though. It was wonderful to visit this congregation. 

We left for Yaxha and had another surprise along the way. We were driving through the region in which our guide was born and raised. He was saying things like, "That is the house I was born it." "There is my uncle." Then he had the bus driver stop as he looked between buildings. He got out of the bus and walked to the opening between buildings. There was his grandfather coming to meet him. They embraced and you could tell is was mutual love and respect. Our guide brought his grandfather to the bus and we all said hi and talked just a bit. Then his grandfather went back to the yard to wave goodbye as we drove away. Our guide was telling us that he grandfather was the one who originally settled there and then got the government to construct the homes out of concrete for the residents. He was an amazing man who had done so much for this little community.

As we drove further we passed many other places I found interesting. Here are three of them. The first is just another example of the housing in which the people live. The second is an example of people putting up a shed and making a grill. Then the lady can cook up things to sell to the passers bye. The third one I took for Katelyn, our first-born grandmonster and the mother of our first-born great grandmonster. This church was a lime green and that is Katelyn's favorite color.

Pretty soon we were at Yaxha. As we walked through the jungle again, I took this picture of a hill. While it is not as thickly covered in vegetation as others, it is a good example of how dirt and growth cover a building and you can look at the hill and know there is something under that dirt.

We arrived at the temple. There were wooden stairs up the side so we didn't have to climb their stone steps. The view from the top was amazing.

The sound of howler monkeys filled the air. Those little critters are loud. Our guide said they are the loudest animal in all the jungles. I can believe it. 

These are the wooden stairs to get down from the top. 

And this is Claude and me in front of the temple.

When we left we passed several other parts of the ruins of Yaxha.

And I focused a little more on the vegetation.

We had to leave to make our flight on time. The bus took us back to Flores and we caught the little plane back to Guatemala City. We stayed in a very nice hotel our last night in Guatemala. 

One thing I like to get a picture of when traveling is the license place of a country. I really liked this on in Guatemala. It has Temple I from Tikal on it.