The Mayan Ruins of Tenam Puente in Chiapas Mexico

Just a few minutes south of the city of Comitan in southern Chiapas there is a great little Mayan ruins called Tenam Puente. This site isn’t very large, but it is in a beautiful setting and it makes a nice one or two hour side trip in combination with going to Chinkultic or the Lagos Montebello.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our friend Doug from Wanderism.

 

 

The right turn off as you come from Comitan puts you on a road in some disrepair that leads through a small community and to a parking lot on the right. The fee is moderate, about 35 pesos, and there are bathrooms at the small ticket center.

The odds are good that you will have the place to yourself if you go on a weekday. The whole site is essentially a series of terraced plateaus with ruins on each as you climb to the top.

We went with our friend Doug from Wanderism.com, on a day trip from San Cristobal de las Casas.

Tenam Puente seems like a great place to bring a picnic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayan ball court on an upper level of Teman Puente in Chiapas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From one of the upper levels there is a great view out over the Valley of Balun Canan, (Maya for nine hills) where Comitan is located. The site has a commanding view over the valley which was an important trade route from the Highlands of Chiapas down into Guatemala.

View from an upper level of Tenam Puente

View from an upper level of Tenam Puente.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From excavations at the site, archaeologists believe Tenam Puente was occupied from around 300 to 600 CE and the again from 900 to 1200 CE.

The very top level of Tenam Puente

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mother always used to take a lot of pictures of flowers every where we went. She called these her “nature studies.” Here’s some of the flowers that were in bloom that day in September.

Nature study of wild flowers at the Mayan ruins of Tenam Puente.

 

 

 

Posted in Chiapas, Mayan Ruins, Mexico, Photography, Travel | Leave a comment

2012 The Mayan Calendar and the Sun Stone of the Aztecs

2012 has arrived and something is about to happen. Beyond that everyone seems a bit fuzzy on just what significance 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar have. There is one thing I do know, the round thing that everyone keeps calling a Mayan calendar is an Aztec carving done 500 years after the Classic Mayan civilization had collapsed. Here is the wiki on it.

Based on this, any time I see an article, book or website dealing with the Mayan calendar that uses this image,

Photo By Monique Vreeken, D'noz restaurant, San Pedro La Laguna.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel I have gained valuable insight into the credibility of the author.

 

Posted in Guatemala, Mayan Ruins, Mexico | 2 Comments

December in San Cristobal de las Casas

The month of December is my favorite time of year in San Cristobal de las Casas. The weather can be a bit chilly, but we have had a lot of warm sunny days this month which have helped make it extra good.

Folklorico Dancers for the festival of Guadalupe.

 

For me the very best thing about December is the Festival of Guadalupe that goes from the end of November and culminates on December 12th.  There are almost daily parades of various sizes coming from around town venerating the virgin by passing in front of the Church of Guadalupe.

The start of the fiesta is marked with fireworks in the form of a line of explosives being lain down the street and exploding up to the church of Guadalupe.

Along with parades there are groups of runners that come in to town from all over Chiapas, I’ve seen them from as far away as Oaxaca and Mexico City.

The street below the church of is blocked off for a variety of food stands and rides that really get going on the last week of the fiesta.

The final night of the fiesta, on December 12th, the crowd is packed in so tight it is almost impossible to move.

View from the Church of Guadalupe over San Crsitobal de las Casas on December 12th.

 

The fiesta attracts people from all over the countryside who can not afford hotels, so on the last few busy nights of the party they camp out on the sidewalks. All of them very polite.

On the last few nights of the festival, people from the countryside camp on the sidewalks near the church. They cause no trouble and clean up when they go, a very nice bunch of people.

The last few nights of the fiesta they shoot off some very professional looking fireworks randomly starting at about 10pm.

Here is a time condensed video of the fireworks…

By the end of the fiesta Christmas almost seems like an afterthought. Another of my favorite things around here in December is the lack of commercialism surrounding Christmas.
Traditionally families gather on Christmas eve for good food and libations while the kids shoot off a variety of firecrackers and bottle rockets. Christmas is pretty much over at midnight on Christmas eve when everyone in the town shoots off all of their best fireworks simultaneously.

So a belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New years to all of you, I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store.

Posted in Chiapas, Mexico, San Cristobal De Las Casas | Leave a comment