But enough of that, time to reorder things and put priorities first. Namely locking down Mexico details and accomodations, and then moving onto more planning. So far so good though, ive done a ton of reading and research, so much so that Craig over at Ink recons im over prepared to travel the Bus network HA!
Anyways, back to the topic ....
I'm searching through flickr, looking for images of Tulum, deciding whether to trek round that way after Tikal, and suddenly (as always with internet researching) you stumble onto something which just leads to so much more. So i spot this image of a bloke reading a National Geographic magazine, and suddenly see that there was a whole feature on the Maya in the August issue 2007.
So off i go in search of this issue and its contents :)
i'll link up some pages below for anyone interesting in a bit of quick reading and great GREAT images regarding the Mayas of Central America. be sure to take the quiz and learn some quirky facts. some include .....
* The Maya put a board on the front and back of a baby’s head and tied them together to flatten the baby’s forehead. The boards were left on for several days or weeks. The ideal was for the forehead and nose to run along the same line in profile.
* The Maya believed the human race had been made out of ground corn and penitential blood. According to the sacred book Popol Vuh, the gods decided to make the human race after attempting to make humans out of mud, wood, and rushes.
* The water-filled underworld, Xibalba, was entered through caves. Caves were the primary sites of rituals performed to honor underworld gods and played a key role in creation. Xibalba was regarded as a place of fright.
Fascinating ancient culture, i guess im just trying to put forward an idea of why im eager to visit this region, its ancient relics, and the surviving culture and natural surrounds. like i've always said, i kinda have a bee in my bonnet where i just feel that time is really shorter than we all feel it to be. I see my opportunity to do these things now, and i'll be damned if anyone is gonna put me in a 2.5 kids, 1/4 acre block lifestyle. Viva Mexico .....
National Geo Site
Palenque, deep in the Chiapas Forests. Famous for its Pyramids and King Pakal.
King Pakal's Death Mask made from jade
Reflect on a civilisation that was destroying its environment, ruled by war and religion. Sound familar? maybe one day someone will be looking upon the empire state building from a Manhatten jungle.
4 comments:
Great stuff to read about Shaun. Would love to pick up the edition of the National Geographic that you are talking about!! Sounds very exciting, would love to do the tour with you but figure I would hold you up (being the age thing and all) he he
But seriously, do not let anyone dictate to you what you should be doing. You do what you feel you want and need to do.It is your life!
Hey buddy!
that sounds like its going to be one hell of a trip
thats always a place/culture ive been incredibly interested in since i was about 7 or 8
i would love to get there one day!
i remember making a replica of that death mask in year 6 out of papier mache (spelling?) hehe
on another note! went to the Karnivool gig in freo last night and it was awesome. truly a great band. i dunno if youve ever seen them live shaun but its definitely worth it. Ians (vocals) voice has improved so much aswell. and they played probably 4 or 5 new songs off the new album. such great songs too. you can tell they have matured as musicians and as a band. the music was much more atmospheric and artistic too. not as heavy but im sure there'll be a few heavy ones on there by the time theyre done with it.
http://www.myspace.com/karnivool
and!@
they have this bloke touring with them who ive heard a lot about just randomly referred to as "that 1 guy" who played this pipe. As far as i knew it was some guy touring with them doing some sort of arrangement with some of the songs with some sort of wierd instrument. But i was wrong, this guy was the most amazing piece of musician you have ever seen. this guy plays a 7 foot tall pipe.. literally. theres 2 pipes and they must have some sort of pick up or mic in them to pick up the sounds / vibrations.
here is a link to his website -> http://www.that1guy.com
check it out on youtube here -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56aD6Xjn5PA
very clever
Alec,
good to hear from ya mate. yeh things are looking great for this trip and i cant wait to travel again.
Karnivool, you know i've only ever seen em live at Rockit. small world, i guess i should be keeping more of an eye on em.
on another note, wondering if your still listening to COG these days? their new album is once again amazing, check it out if you can. just went to the JJJ gig in Collie over the weekend and saw them blow the locals away :)
chat soon mate.
hope all is well with the little one.
S.
"i kinda have a bee in my bonnet where i just feel that time is really shorter than we all feel it to be."
Synchronicity or what?!
And I’m not even being cynical. But around my late twenties that same “bee” visited and has never left. No reason, no rhyme just that “bee”. Do all humans get this “bee” or is it isolated to a few?
I remember a guy standing on the side walk in down town Bulawayo about 1969 with banners and shouting at the top of his voice “The end is nigh”, what a wanker I thought. But was he right? Am I the wanker? Is this premonition just imagination?
The feeling is deep in my gut, the same feeling I get when I’m playing poker and I know I’m going to win and I do. Or I stop at a green traffic light for no reason and some blithering idiot crosses in front of me, quite unaware he’s gone through a red light. It used to be called a sixth sense, all I know is some times I am so stunned by this intuition that I dare not mention it because I might be called the same name as the guy in downtown Bulawayo.
Please refresh my aging memory when do you leave for Mexico?
What is it about Mayan, history/ Culture civilisation that attracts you? I'm really interested to know.
miguel.
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