Path is Sometimes Steep

In researching our weekend away in the Istmo, I had read about a ruin that was supposed to be quite spectacular, in that it had been abandoned in 1300 AD and although known, was never restored. Arriving there was supposed to be magical, feeling like you were only just discovering this wonder after a sometimes steep walk through the hills. The guidebook said to pick up a guide at the little palapa hut at the entrance of the town, and drive up, park and walk 3 kilometers to the site.

It suggested we go early, but by the time we found breakfast (seems Tehuantepec is an 8:30 a.m. start kind of town), brought George’s glasses in to an Optica, decided on new frames as he had broken the others, asked the salesperson if on her way out she could drop them off at the hotel (Si!) and hit the road, we were not getting a guide and heading up the hill until close to 10:30.

After a slightly insane drive on a road loaded with boulders, each scrape causing our guide to flinch, we park at the foot of a path and start our ascent. The walk will take us slightly over an hour to accomplish, with breaks as required, and George grilling me the entire way about what arrangement his wife, Mary, and I have regarding his life insurance policy. The guide, on our breaks, comments that we should have gotten started earlier. Ralph is, as usual, his gazelle-like self, hoping over rocks, sprinting and jumping and not sweating. I, as always, plod along. For once, though, my gazelle husband gets eaten by bugs, check out the result of the days hike! (Also note the sexy muscle definition!)

Our guide leads us onward and upward, his machete making a distinctive “ping” as he clears branches from overhead and from the path to ease our passing. There is something exotic about being led up a side of a hill, surrounded by cactus and forest and huge black boulders, by a skinny man who speaks no English, skillfully wielding a very, very sharp machete.

Arriving at the ruin is preceded by the passing through a huge fortification wall, at least 6 feet high and 4 feet wide, still mostly intact. We are getting close. As the path straightens out, there is an obvious flat patio, like a gathering place, and you can see where the walls are still covered in stucco. Over a small mound and into a grand plaza, where Ralph clambers into the ball court and up the two pyramids. There is no one to tell you here that you cannot climb these walls or these ruined stairs, to see what men saw 700 years ago. A valley. A river. A place where people would be safe, surrounded by lush forest and enclosed by a wall made of slate.