So We Went to Mexico...Part 1

Kolton and I have been wanting to go on a trip for a while so we finally pulled ourselves together and decided to head down to Mexico!

We talked Shannon and Bear into joining us and just had ourselves a grand ole time.

 Sitting in the airport ready to go!

 When we got off the plane the humidity about killed us. There had been a tropical storm pass through the week before we got there so there was 100% humidity and it was REALLY hot and REALLY different from Monteview weather.

 We sat on this shuttle for FOREVER and were ready to just be at our hotel already! When we finally got there, we headed straight for the buffet and ordered up some virgin margaritas (the free drinks were the best part of the trip!) Our hotel was right on the ocean so that night Kolton and I ventured down in the dark so he could see the ocean for the very first time!

That night we crashed and the next morning woke up to the loudest thunder I have ever heard. We had been so nervous about it being rainy the whole time we were there and the thunder, lightning, and pouring rain weren't helping us out at all. It rained for a couple of hours and when it finally stopped we decided to head in to Playa del Carmen to do some shopping.

We ate lunch at Senor Frog's where we had free passes from our hotel. We were cracking up at all the funny signs and especially loved these barstools. 

We spent the day walking around Playa and grabbed a few souvenirs. We loved the town's beautiful ocean view. After the rain from that morning cleared up we had nice weather the whole rest of the trip and were so glad! That night we ate dinner at the buffet in the hotel and spent a little time exploring and again enjoying all of the free drinks and trying to convince the bartenders that we really weren't interested in their tequila.

 The next morning we got up early for a tour we had scheduled to see some of the ruins. My parents went to Mexico last spring and loved the tour they went on so this was kind of a priority and one of the biggest reasons we decided to go to Mexico. I woke up that morning and felt awful. I don't know what was wrong with me but I had a cold for most of the trip and this day was the worst. You can see how good I felt from my fake smile in all the pictures.
Anyway, Lemuel came to pick us up and we went with us and another couple to the ruins of Ek Balam first.

We got to climb up a lot of stairs and walk around on the buildings which was pretty neat. 

We were so amazed at all the carvings and statues, especially on this wall of the temple. We were on an LDS tour so it was really neat to get the gospel perspective on everything. This tour really made the Book of Mormon come to life. 

 Yes, we climbed those stairs and yes, I thought I was going to die. I couldn't believe how steep and scary the stairs were. But we learned that the trick is to walk up the stairs on the diagonal and zig zag your way to the top. That's how we locals do it anyway...

 At the top! The jungle was so thick and it was neat to be so high up to see everything. On the way down the stairs I really started feeling not so good.

 I don't know what this next picture is of because at that point in time I was sitting on a stump with my head between my legs trying not to pass out. Because I'm weak sauce. 

After Ek Balam we drove to a little spot to have lunch and swim in a cenote. There are rivers that run underground in Mexico and cenotes are little sinkholes that go down to the river where you can swim in the fresh water. 

The lunch we ate was delicious, one of the best meals of the trip, and I started feeling much better after eating something. Then it was time to swim!

 Looking down into the cenote. The lines behind us are roots from the trees and plants on the surface that stretch clear down to the water.

 We couldn't believe how beautiful this place was!

 Of course it wouldn't be enough to just chill and swim. We had to do some extreme stunts to make Kolton happy. Here I was counting up so we could take a picture. My fingers stayed on the count of three for a couple minutes before I finally got brave and just did it.

Kolton doing a backflip. 

 Then, we went to walk around Chichen Itza. This was one of the Mayan cities and it was AMAZING! These people were so advanced and when they were righteous and had the Spirit with then they really did some amazing things. The temple behind us is the main temple. All of the buildings here were based off of the stars and constellations. In the Spring Equinox, the shadows fall on the temple just right to make it look like there is a snake slithering down the side of the temple. We also found that when you clapped your hands the echo was just right to make it sound like a bird call. It was crazy and blowing our minds! Here at Chichen Itza there was found a carving of the "Bearded White Mystery Man". This same carving and stories of this same figure have been found in many other places all over the Americas. Legends are told about the man who came and taught the people and visited with them, but many people just can't figure out who it was. If they would open up the Book of Mormon, all the answers are right there in 3 Nephi. This was so amazing to us.

 It was also really sad to learn about what happened to this people and how quickly their advanced civilization declined once they began being prideful and wicked. They still had the truths they had been taught but there were distorted and twisted around until the good things they knew became evil.
The picture above is of the ball court where they would have serious matches and play to the death to get the ball through that little ring. The winners would be sacrificed, and beheaded because the people believed that they were giving the best of them to the Gods.

 This picture above is of a fence thing that had skulls carved into the stones that made up the fence. Inside the fence, archaeologists found the heads of what they believe to be the winners of the ball game. Skeletons were also found of young girls, children, and infants in a cenote found on the premises of Chichen Itza. Again, it is believed that the people thought they had to sacrifice the best and purest of them to the gods.

 This is a road that was built by the people that led to different ancient cities that have been discovered.

We got soaked in a quick thirty minute absolute downpour. It was nice, it downpoured, and then was nice again all in a matter of less than an hour. We are standing in front of the observatory. 

We learned so much on this tour and our guide Lemuel was just the best. It was so interesting to learn about the ancient people and was such a testimony builder to see all of the things we read about in the Book of Mormon come to life.