Ruins of Yaxchilan

A fifty-minute boat ride delivered us to the ruins of Yaxchilan. For most of us, this was our favorite site. The number and size of the ruins were incredible! We spent a couple of hours trekking through the site, and saw a lot of excavated artifacts. We were able to see some of the limestone carvings that help archaeologists learn about the history of ancient people there. A lot of the students were able to read the Maya calendar glyphs, and translated them to our Gregorian calendar. That was impressive enough!

It’s so hard to wrap my mind around how much time and labor and thought went into these ancient civilizations. I can’t help but wonder what might be found of our civilization a few centuries from now. As we scaled a mountain via a narrow forest pathway, we reached the highest ruins around. From the roof of the tallest building, we could see the mountain ridges and the top of the rainforest all the way around. I was too scared of heights to stay up there for long, but it was well worth the fright for a few seconds’ glance!

I’ve been reflecting more on my role as a videographer on this trip. So far, I’ve felt like I’ve seen a lot of this on TV (through the camcorder lens) instead of in person. It’s a little disappointing to not get the full emotional and spiritual effects of visiting some of the places, but it has definitely been a rewarding journey nonetheless. I’m sure as I begin to unwind from the trip, the profoundness of all of this will start to really sink in.

On our way back, the boat drivers were nice enough to drop us on the Guatemala side of the river for half an hour. Most of us just scavenged for stones as shells as cheap souvenirs. Some of the guys took the opportunity to get some Guatemalan beer. Boys will be boys.