The Mayan archeological site of Tonina is breathtaking. The Moon Handbook on Chiapas says it is one of the best sites that no one seems to know about. In fact, there were only about ten people there when we visited. About midway between San Cristobal de las Casas and Palenque, and a few miles off a side road from Ocosingo, Tonina is in the heart of Zapatista E.Z.L.N. country.
Tonina boasts the highest pyramid in Mesoamerica. May I boast that I managed to climb to the summit? Ojala. The Acropolis has more vertical gain than any other known Mayan structure. It is really steep.
Our taxista Ricardo drove me, Fay, Gayle and Dennis to Tonina from San Cristobal de las Casas on a two-and-a-half hour, winding ride on an S-curve mountain road lined with pine forests and valley vistas. We went through Zapatista country and dropped down into the semi-tropical Ocosingo valley where ripe fruit hang from banana trees and cowboys ride the fence line that corral herds of cattle. They say the best cheese comes from Ocosingo.
By the time we arrived it was almost noon. I could feel the altitude although we had dropped almost 2,000 feet from San Cristobal’s altitude of nearly 7,000 feet. It was a dry, very hot day. Bromeliads hung from the trees and wild begonias grew between the ancient stones where Mayan aqueducts once held water.
Fortunately, we were wise enough to share in the cost of a wonderful local Spanish-speaking guide who lived in the nearby village of Nuevo Jersalen and participated in the archeological excavations. He was both knowledgeable and patient as we carefully made our way higher and higher up the seven levels of the site.
Between the four of us, we were able to help each other out with translations and got most of what he explained to us. While he said the guided visit would be two hours long, in fact we were there with him for three hours. Without his helping hand, it would have been impossible for me to climb to the top!
I climbed the last, very steep part almost hand-over-hand, never looking down, going across the face of the stones from left to right. Slowly. Slowly. And, then suddenly I was at the top where the vistas are extraordinary.
Once, many years ago when I had first visited Chichen Itza and Uxmal, my dream was to go to all the major Mayan sites in Mesoamerica. I’ve almost completed that dream and have added Tikal, Palenque, Bonampak and Yaxchilan to the list. I never imagined that Tonina would be on par with those other more famous sites, but I was surprised to discover that it is a worthy equal.
After getting down from the top we spent some time in the wonderful museum where the original stone carvings, glyphs, funerary masks, stelae, and clay vessels that had been excavated are on display.
Tonina survived for 200 years after the fall of Palenque. As the Mayan world was crumbling around them, the leaders focused more and more on death, sacrifice, and doom. At the museum, I talked with students from Moscow University who speak fluent Spanish and are involved in translating the glyphs from Tonina as part of their thesis.
More archeological digs are happening at Tonina. As recently as four years ago, a new tomb was discovered. This is a site you do not want to miss!
On the way back, we made a stop at Oxchuc where cloth woven on back strap looms are embroidered and worn by indigenous women from the region. It was a great day!
Selva Lacandon Territory: A Chance Meeting
My journey into the Lacandon jungle along the Usumacinta River that is the boundary between Mexico and Guatemala began simply with a top-of-the-list visit to Na Bolom (Jaguar House) in San Cristobal de las Casas. Here I was fascinated by Gertrude (Trudi) Duby-Blom’s descriptive black and white photos shot in the mid-1950’s of Lacondon people. Na Bolom is dedicated to the Lacandones, who retreated deep into the rainforest to preserve their ancient practices in the face of the Spanish conquest.
The Selva Lacandon, a dense jungle rainforest, is where you will find Yaxchilan and Bonampak — two glorious and significant Mayan archeological sites. To get there isn’t easy. It’s three hours southeast of Palenque by van. Palenque is five hours north of San Cristobal de las Casas IF you take a direct bus and don’t sign up for the tourist trip that stops at Agua Azul and Cascada del Misol-Ha along the way (extending the trip to eight hours one-way). But I digress.
The day before I was set to leave for Palenque, Fay and I were on Real Guadalupe pedestrian avenue window-shopping. I noticed an indigenous man and woman in the doorway of one of the shops who looked familiar, as if I had seen them somewhere before. I asked the shopkeeper which indigenous group they belonged to and she said Lacandones. I stepped into the shop and approached them with a “buenos dias.”
Carmela Chan Ak In and Cayhum Yuk Masha introduced themselves and told me that they lived in the jungle and had been friends with Trudi Blom. I asked if I could take their photos and he agreed. They requested and I agreed to send email copies to their nephew who has correo electronico. As I set my lens, I realized that they may be the same people who were the primary subjects of the photos I had seen at Na Bolom and in the published books — taken at least 40 years ago. Our conversation ended with an invitation to me to visit their village.
Just yesterday, as I exited Bonampak, I met Daniel Chank In, a Lacandon native and registered eco-tourism guide who takes visitors through the jungle and arranges overnight stays. Daniel is part of a Lacandona owned/operated eco-tourism cooperative called Jaguar Ojo Anudado certified by the Mexican Tourist Board. He knows Carmela and Cayhum and says they live about 2 km from the ancient ruins and told me that, yes, they had been friends with the Bloms and subjects of her photography.
If you are interested in a guided visit with overnight stays (I highly recommend this, since one day to see both Yaxchilan and Bonampak are not enough), please contact Daniel at jaguarojoanudado2@yahoo.com.mx. His website is www.jaguarojoanodado2.com.mx
Daniel introduced me to his wife, Victoria Chank In Chana Bor, his son Esteban Daniel (males wear white tunics, females wear floral tunics), and their newborn son wrapped and sleeping close to his mother’s heartbeat.
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Photography, Travel & Tourism
Tagged anthropology, archeology, blogsherpa, Bonampak, Chiapas, Gertrude Duby-Blom, Lacandon, Maya, Mexico, Oaxaca, photography, Yaxchilan