San Ignacio and the Mayan Ruins

On monday we moved to the hotel Cahal Pech ("mountain of ticks" in Mayan) and stayed there for 4 days to train. The Cahal Pech Hotel is very nice with great food. Our cabanas are made out of brick and cement and have thatched roofs... which presents a problem. Apparently the "kissing bug" lives in warm climates and uses the traditional thatched roofs for their homes. The "kissing bug" bites you and delivers a parasite that lives inside of your bloodstream, affects your internal organs and makes you ill throughout your life. It is called Chagas disease and as of now, there is no cure. Andre has killed 4 of them on this trip alone. 

The threat of vampire bugs aside, San Ignacio is beautiful. The people are genuine and exude Aloha. Right next to our hotel is a mayan ruin called Cahal Pech. After one of our training runs Andre and I walk over to Cahal Pech and are immediately in front of an Ancient Mayan Ruin. It is unbelievable! Apparently ruins are a dime a dozen in Belize because this is a "smaller" ruin and does not attract as much attention as others in the region. A $5 US entry fee allows you to walk the grounds at will. Amazingly you can walk all over the temple and ruins without a second thought. This is a bit shocking as it seems akin to walking on heiaus.  Cahal Pech is one of a about 2 handfuls of uncovered temples in Belize. There is an estimated 700 still uncovered. Everywhere we walk we can see unnatural mounds that seem to indicate buried mayan ruins. We later visit another much larger ruin called Xunantunich which is just up the road and even more intriguing. From the top of the temple you can see Guatemala, all of San Ignacio and what we can only imagine are more temples. But as intriguing as this is I cannot forget why I am in Belize as my thoughts turn to the river and the unbelievable distance we will travel down the Cayo valley below. I cannot even see the finish line in the horizon. 

aloha, 

Marleny