Category: GALLERIES, MUSEUMS AND ARCHAEOLOGY.

All the culture you want and dream of.

SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
Read More

Itzamná. A MAJOR DEITY AND OTHERS.

OR, ANOTHER MAGNIFICENT GOD OF MANY ATTRIBUTES.

Alert: I’m having trouble in finding images so some will be of other gods just to enjoy the art! This will be corrected when I get back to the UK. I think that’s why others aren’t mentioned because they are so difficult to identify!

Maya Censers | Aztec art, Maya art, Ancient mexico

OR, LORD OF HEAVENS NIGHT AND DAY, OR GOD D.

Before deciphering the codices the gods were all given just a letter to name them. Now however we have their glorious and exotic definitions but they usually are referred to by their letters too hence God D (Mayan: “Iguana House”) 

Continue reading Itzamná. A MAJOR DEITY AND OTHERS.
SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
Read More

EK BALAM. PYRAMID OF ANGELS.

OR, FLYING FREE AGAIN JUST FOR THE DAY. MAKING DECISIONS AWAY FROM TULUM.

Been very unsure what to do next. Return to UK where my new house is finally ready, or go to Oaxaca or Veracruz. Both are far and really need to been part flight from either Merida or Chetumal. So I went for the second time yesterday to the french patisserie to work. It was a stroke of luck. Not only is Giles, who works there a like minded (we had a long political chat), but he came up with a site for me to visit that I’d never heard of, Ek Balam. The site of the pyramid of the angels. Thank god, a decent bit of nearby archaeology.

AN ‘ANGEL’
Continue reading EK BALAM. PYRAMID OF ANGELS.
SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
Read More

JADE DEATH MASKS

OR THE GOOD BITS FROME GHASTLY CAMPECHE

MUSEUMS

Exotic elongated head

I even had low expectations that the museums would be open today but bliss! After a very good nights sleep I got up to a bright calm day and the museums I indeed wanted, were open. I went straight to the museum that has the very famous jade mask and oh what a treat. Beautifully curated and with a great atmosphere and lighting, the guards there said I should also go to the Archaeological Museum Fort San Miguel. One quick cab ride and I arrived at a fort with the courtyard rooms converted into a museum. They really have good gear here but again another spoiler was the boss kept saying my nose had to be covered and was jokey but serious. I was sweating and panicking but I wanted to see the fine collection there. I noticed other people with their noses out of the masks but I guess if you’re Mexican it’s ok. I’ve heard other people complain of this and it’s such a shame after the Mayan Riviera where they are just so much cooler.

campeche museo de arquitura maya de nuestra senorade la soledad

Calakmul mask.
Continue reading JADE DEATH MASKS
SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
Read More

PALENQUE MAYAN MEXICO.

OR, THE GREAT PALENQUE RIP OFF

ALERT ALERT ALERT: A WORD OF CAUTION. GOOGLE PHOTOS, mysteriously disappeared swathes of photos from all of my trip thus far. Then a few days later more vanished back to September 2020. This is happening to many angry people apparently. They do not respond with this complaint by a crowd of furious clients who have lost precious memories. The fact mine went in swathes was very odd too. Lucky I am an anorak on trips and download to an external hard drive but I don’t have any pre trip photos and videos from September. Warn everyone as it seems to be a huge problem and they don’t respond. I seem to have permanently lost all Christmas pics and am heartbroken.

OR TOUGH ROAD TRIP FINALLY GETS ME THERE!

Pyramid

Journey to Palenque was long, I’d downloaded a crazy series to binge watch for the six hours which just about kept me sane as they pull the screens most of the way down on the ADO buses and have tinted glass and all sorts so no window gazing just navel and Netflix gazing.

Continue reading PALENQUE MAYAN MEXICO.
SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
Read More

Edzná.

OR ANOTHER GOOD THING CAME OUT OF CAMPECHE.

Although I had had a great time in the museums with the magnificent jade masks the day before, I had also had a drama at the bank after, and a miserable, bad dinner in the evening. I had drank the last of my six pack in my fluorescently lit room and felt glum and anxious about the following day. I was to be pleasantly surprised however.

An hour up the road with the collectivo is Edzna. Without Lariza at my hotel, I wouldn’t have known anything. She was excellent for the proper local information and knew exactly where to get what, and what was open. The other shitheads were full of false info. Despite the hotel being eccentric, she was my rock.

Giant heads on one of Edznas buildings
Continue reading Edzná.
SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
Read More

AN ESPECIALLY GHASTLY TRIP TO GHASTLY CAMPECHE.

OR DON’T EVEN START ME OFF ABOUT THAT SHITHOLE.

Alert: This is pure moaning and I will cover the museums there and Edzna in my next post so as not to sully the good bits! The jade and historical sites are lovely. It’s just travelling at this time is so silly and hysterical and I forget that when I’m in Tulum, indeed I checked the travel for Other countries in my neck of the woods and was shocked at the new hysteria all over South America etc

leaving Tulum for my road trip.

Bye bye to my lovely studio for a week.
Continue reading AN ESPECIALLY GHASTLY TRIP TO GHASTLY CAMPECHE.
SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
Read More

COBA mexico and name that tree!

OR MY FABULOUS JOURNEY TO COBA JUST AN HOUR AND A HALF FROM TULUM.

Ball court with ring clearly still intact.

Well what a surprise. Just an hour an a half up the road is Coba and a site that takes your breath away. As usual I had a total fiasco going there but I’ll get to that later. Coba is a jewel and as always it’s best to get there relatively early. I saw about fifty people around this very stretched out monumental site until I was leaving and then coach loads were coming in.

Continue reading COBA mexico and name that tree!
SOLO TRAVEL FOR WOMEN by oldbirdtravels
Read More

Coming home to Tulum.

OR, I MISSED MY LAID BACK HUMAN TULUM!

Hello Tulum again I’ve missed you

There’s a lot to be said for a quick foray into other parts, and Merida and Uxmal were a good example. The atmosphere over in Yucks (Yucatan) is more aggressive and smacked slightly of London about the masks, apart from that it was lovely. However once leaving I had no qualms. I wanted to be back home in Tulum. I don’t want to be a baby about it but it’s the closest you can get to our old normal lives in this lovely place.

ADO bus at dawn
Continue reading Coming home to Tulum.