Mayan Ruins

Saturday we decided to do the tourist thing and visit a couple of the lesser known ruins in Southern Belize. I know so many of you are interrested in the ruins so I thought I'd share some of my pictures today. These two ruins were Nim Li Put and Labaantun (I think the spelling is correct etc. but I'm not sure). They were inhabited for about 200 tears starting around 700AD. The first, NLP (for short), was a centre of religious worship and ceremonial activities. The second, L (for short), was an economic and business centre. They are both in the southern mountains of Belize at the top of separate 'mountains' (another time we'll get into the definition of 'mountain' in Belize) We had no guide and the signage was pretty sparse so I don't have a lot of details but I'll share what I know. Now, keep in mind, that these two ruins haven't been set up for tourists really and aren't as well restored as some of the others in Belize.

This picture doesn't really do it justice but this is the view from the first ruins (NPL).

This is a plaza at NPL.

These are tombs. In one of them they discovered 5 members of the royal family were buried along with urns of treasure, of course.

Here is the plaza of the stellae. The stellae are large pieces of stone carved with stories or events or important people of the time. Some of the largest and best preserved are found here.

More of the stellae.

Here is Alfred preparing to use Kori's head for a ball on the ball court. Heads were a preferred form of ball for the ancient Maya.

These are the second ruins we went to. There was more to see in the form of rocks but not as well preserved.

Well, Kori is begging for the computer and the internet is really slow so each picture is taking me forever. I hope your appetite has been whetted and that you will want to see more. Maybe come for a visit.

Be Belizing

Hi all! Well, we've been here two weeks now and I've had time to make a few observations. Number one is that, believe it or not, Belize is different from Canada! So here are some things that I have learned that might be of interest:
1) Driving in Belize is unlike almost all Canadian driving. The roads are worse than the reputation Saskatchewan roads have and even worse than hwy #1 in Ontario! So the number one driving rule is - do whatever you have to do to get where you are going without hitting any dogs, kids, bikes, other cars and potholes. If this means driving on the wrong side of the road, in the ditch, or in reverse, then so be it! Also those pesky speed limit signs (if you happen to be so lucky as to see one. They are very shy and seem to be endangered) are really just suggestions as are the solid and broken yellow lines in the middle of the highway. Mostly those are just there so you know when you are driving in the middle or on the wrong side of the road. Not that's it's a problem - just so you know!
2) Hitchhiking is the primary source of transportation for all Belizeans. If that fails they do resort to taking the bus but only in a pinch. So, if you see someone standing in the middle of the road waving, you have two choices - you can stop and give the person and his/her family and friends a ride to wherever; or you can pretend you think they are just being friendly and wave back. This tends to confuse them and the look on their faces is pretty comical if you need a chuckle.
3) All bizarre ideas you may have about the seating capacity of any given vehicle is wrong. No, don't try to argue, it is wrong! The seating capacity, for example, of your standard half-ton truck is about 10x that of the standard minivan. If you have running boards on the side of your vehicle, your seating capacity goes up by two or four depending on the length of the running boards. Any tractor can take at least five. Bicycles can take two or three usually and the age of rider can be anywhere from newborn to 100. And, if you knock the front of the box off of a basic uhaul type cube truck, the seating capacity is about the same as the population of the village.
4) Contrary to popular belief, it is perfectly acceptable and safe to buy lobster out of a 5 gallon pail in the back of some stranger's truck. That is how we got our freezer full of lobster and the results were very tasty! Also the best pasteries you have ever tried can be bought from small boys wandering around carrying pails full of stuff their mom just made.
I'm sure there are more differences and I'll try and keep you up to date. Have a good one, everybody and thanks for reading!