1000places > PALENQUE, MEXICO - The next morning, with great anticipation, we made our way up a wooded pathway.  The fog was just lifting, and we were approaching our first Maya pyramid.
1000places > UXMAL, MEXICO - The elaborate frieze on the top of the Governor's Palace shows the intricacy of Mayan artwork, including the depiction of the rattlesnake that was revered in the Mayan culture.
1000places > CHICHEN ITZA, MEXICO - Jeanne looks over the steep 200-foot drop into the dark green waters of the Sacred Cenote and wonders about those tales of Mayan sacrifices.
1000places > PALENQUE, MEXICO - In all too short of a time, we had to leave Palenque, descending from the Temple of the Cross and crossing this narrow foot bridge over an aqueduct the Mayans had built 1400 years before.
1000places > PALENQUE, MEXICO - The Palace cluster took on its present form after any number of architectural modifications over more than 400 years. The cluster is dominated by a four-tier watchtower, inside of which is a stairway to the top.
1000places > UXMAL, MEXICO - The Palace of the Governor is an imposing three-level edifice with a 320-ft. long mosaic facade, built in the 9th and 10th centuries.
1000places > UXMAL, MEXICO - A closer view of the Jaguar Throne, carved like a two-headed jaguar, which the Mayas associated with kings.
1000places > CHICHEN ITZA, MEXICO - The Maya name "Chich'en Itza" means "At the mouth of the well of the Itza". A walk along an ancient Mayan road called a sacbe led us to the Sacred Cenote. A cenote is a sinkhole in the limestone bed, accessing an underwater river. They were important to the Mayans as their main source of water and had great religious significance. There are stories of sacrificial victims being thrown into the Cenote, along with offerings of treasure. Jewelry, pottery, figurines and the bones of many humans, many of them children, have been found beneath these waters.
1000places > CHICHEN ITZA, MEXICO - To the southern area of the ruins, one of the most impressive structures is the Caracol, named for its curved inner stairway reminiscent of a snail (the Spanish word for snail is "carocol"). Also known as the Observatory, this tower was used for astronomy; its windows were aligned with the four cardinal directions and the position of the setting sun at the equinoxes.
PALENQUE, MEXICO - The next morning, with great anticipation, we made our way up a wooded pathway. The fog was just lifting, and we were approaching our first Maya pyramid.

1000places > PALENQUE, MEXICO - The next morning, with great anticipation, we made our way up a wooded pathway.  The fog was just lifting, and we were approaching our first Maya pyramid.
PALENQUE, MEXICO - The next morning, with great anticipation, we made our way up a wooded pathway. The fog was just lifting, and we were approaching our first Maya pyramid.

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