Travel

Day One

Tour of Chichйn Itzб

Chichйn Itzб is located within the jungles of Mexico and Guatemala and extending into the Yucatan peninsula lay the mysterious temples and pyramids of the Maya people. The ancient city whose name means "in the mouth at the Itzбe's Well", was, in its time of grandeur (between 800 and 1200 A.D.), the centre of political, religious and military power in Yucatбn, if not all of South-eastern Meso America. While Europe was still in the Dark Ages, the Maya people had evolved the only true writing system native to the Americas and were masters of mathematics. They invented the calendars we use today. Without metal tools or wheels, they were able to construct cities across a huge jungle landscape with an amazing degree of architectural perfection and variety. Their legacy in stone, which has survived in a spectacular fashion at places such as Palenque, Tikal, Tulum, Chichйn Itzб, Copan, and Uxmal, lives on as do the seven million descendants of the classic Maya civilization. The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. They were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain forest and, where groundwater was scarce, building sizable underground reservoirs for the storage of rainwater. The Maya were equally skilled as weavers and potters, and cleared routes through jungles and swamps to foster extensive trade networks with distant peoples.

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This city is divided into two principal areas. Chichйn Viejo (Old Chichйn) and Chichйn Nuevo (New Chichйn). Chichйn Viejo was founded about 400 A.D. by the Maya and governed by priests. Here the architecture is characterized by many representations of the god Chaac, the Maya rain god. Chichйn Nuevo began about 850 A.D. with the arrival of the Itzб from Central Mexico. The city was rebuilt by the Itzб and is characterized by images of the god Kukulcбn, the plumed serpent. Around 1150 A.D. a new wave of Itzб took over the city and ruled for another 150 years until Chichйn Itzб was finally overtaken by the rival city of Mayapan.

Chichйn Itzб was abandoned suddenly around 1400 A.D. perhaps because of internal fighting or for lack of food. There are many theories but nobody knows for certain.

Day Two

Xalapa

Xalapa or Jalapa is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz. In the year 2000 census, it reported a population of 390,058. On the way to the Mexican city of Puebla, outside Xalapa stands one of the most famous archaeological zones after El Tajнn, Cantona, which is regarded as one of the largest cities in Mesoamerica. This pre-Hispanic city is interlinked by a series of raised avenues, staircases and alleys surrounded by pyramids and twenty-four ball courts.

The municipal seat of the municipality of Xalapa is the city of Xalapa de Enrнquez; in everyday usage, however, the city is generally referred to by the shorter name Xalapa.

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Its name comes from the Nahuatl roots "Xalli" (sand) and "Apan" (water place), which in combination approximately mean "spring in the sand. The spelling 'Xalapa' (like the name 'Mйxico' itself) reflects the archaic spelling; the spelling 'Jalapa' (like 'Mйjico') is modernized but is used mostly by foreigners.

The Totonacas were the first people who established themselves around the "Macuiltepetl" 'five-peaked' hill. During the 14th century, four cultures settled in the territory today known as Xalapa. Each of them built a small village: Xalitic (in the sand) was founded by the Totonacas; Techacapan (river of waste) was founded by the Chichimecas; at the northeast Tecuanapan (river of the beasts) was founded by the Toltecas and Tlalnecapan was founded by the Teochichimecas.

Eventually, the four villages grew and joined forming one big village which was given the name Xallapan.

Xalapa is also known as the "Athens of Veracruz" because of the strong cultural influence of its three major universities.

It has been a sister city of Covina, California, since 1964. It is also twinned with Omaha, Nebraska.

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Day Three

Tajin

Tajin is located in Veracruz. Tajin is one of the most outstanding archaeological zones in Mexico; due to it has