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I visited Belize briefly in November, 2002. As the locals say, most people ask
"where the hell is Belize?" Well, it is located in Central America east of
Guatemala and south of Mexico. Although it is a very beautiful country, Belize
is underdeveloped and poverty stricken. The people are extremely friendly and
anxious to further develop their tourism industry. I started in Belize City and took
a bus west to San Ignacio. A bit further west are the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich.
I had lunch at the Windy Hill Resort. English is the official language
in Belize so communicating was very easy. I plan to return to Belize when I can
spend more time exploring the countryside.
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The Mayan ruins of Xunantunich, or Maiden of the Rock, is located in
northwestern Belize, in the Cayo District near the border with Guatemala, across the river
from the village of San Jose Succotz. This major ceremonial center was built upon a
natural limestone ridge, providing a panoramic view of the Cayo District. The largest
pyramid, El Castillo, rises to a height of 130 feet above the main plaza and a total of
250 feet above the river valley below. The main temple is visible from all parts of the
valley. "This ceremonial centre is an outlying member of, and on the eastern
fringe of, a dense concentration of Maya sites in the eastern part of the Peten district
of Guatemala which includes such well-known major sites as Tikal, Uaxactun and Naranjo.
After examining the Maya remains in the whole of the Belize river valley, G.R.Willey and
others suggested that Xunantunich may in fact have been a fairly important provincial
centre, perhaps a regional capital. Whether this capital of the "Belize valley
community" itself owed allegiance to the much larger sites further west is a matter
for conjecture. Certainly the fine astronomical carved frieze on the main palace building
at Xunantunich should indicate that the priests there were in the main stream of Maya
intellectual culture."E. Mackie, New Light on the End of Classic
Maya Culture
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View of Guatemala from the top of the Temple Ruin. It was misty
raining the day of my visit. |
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| View of Temple from courtyard. |
View of courtyard from top of Temple. |
To get to the ruins, I had to cross the river on this ferry and walk
about a mile. |
The ferry was an old fashioned hand cranked model. |
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| A local woman sells souvenirs near San Ignacio. |
An Amish family in the Belizean countryside. |
A view of downtown Belize City. |
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I enjoyed a delicious Belizean lunch in an open air restaurant at the
Windy Hill Resort near San Ignacio. The men in the center were entertaining the
diners with local music. http://www.windyhillresort.com |
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