Guatemala - Part XVIII

Thursday, July 2nd (part two)

Thursday afternoon we visited a place called Iximche (pronounced Ih-shihm-chay).  We needed a lot more time to visit all the amazing Mayan ruins in Guatemala.  These were the only ones close enough for me to get to visit.  They are impressive even if they aren't the most famous ones.

Welcome to Iximche!

The lay of the land

A replica of one they found here.

Our guide was awesome!  He did the whole thing in Spanish and English.
Here he's telling us about the ball court's function and history.

The Moon Temple

The Sun Temple

A very attentive audience.

This site is huge!  This is such a small part of it.

"part of a ritual deposit"

One of the interesting things about Iximche is that it's still an active Mayan sacred site.  Indigenous people are still doing rituals here.

Places of prayer and ritual sacrifice.

When I took that picture, on the other side of the mound there was a small group burning sacrifices of flowers and other things and praying.

Never thought I'd ever be found hanging out at the corner of a sun temple!

From Iximche we went into town and had dinner at a little family restaurant where some local students were giving a marimba concert.  Then we drove into the evening back through the mountains and back to Guatemala City.  The next day was very important.  I was going to meet my sponsored child!