Ruínas de Utatlán

Juego de Pelota. I only lack a ball...
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3 hours of bouncing around in a camioneta (old american school buses) takes us to the chaotic plaza of Santa Cruz del Quichè, the regional capitol. The area of Quichè makes a big part of my title "Blood and smile", sadly, very much blood. During the Civil War the villages and the poor people living in these highlands were stuck between the guerilla and the government troops, both sides beeing brutal to the indigènos. Mass graves, executions and disappearances are still beeing investigated. In addition to the Nobel Peace Price winner of 1992, Rigoberta Menchu, Quichè can claim the origin of another historic personality; Tecún Umán. This Quichè leader stood up against the Spanish conquistadors and suffered badly near the old Maya city of Utatlàn. The Spanish destroyed the city, and the site of the ruins is the target of our visit here.

Ritual today, done as yesterday
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The short walk from the Plaza to the next bus stop is dominated by vendors, and despite what the guide books tells us, there´s a ordinary bus service just next to the ruins every 15 minutes. On saturday. Hey, that´s more frequent than the bus to my street in Bergen! Go Norway(!). When we registrer in the guestbook  there are only a few locals there on a picnic and a norwegian girl. The world is small. And so are the ruins. Well, my excitment delevels a little bit, after all this is the first visit to Maya ruins after all. But there is a quite and harmonic peace here. And suddenly, on the main court, there´s a Maya ritual taking place. Hussssh...! Rituals are NOT to be disturbed by stupid tourists (like us...), so I sit down on what was once the wall of the Ball Court (Juego de Pelota) and watch carefully. A man, dressed in a his traditional clothes, tipica, has lit a fire, the same way as hundreds of years ago, chanting, spilling rum into the flames and on his wife standing next to the circled fire place. The arising smoke rises like a physical tribute to the Gods. Just like the Main Tower erected behins the scene does. Cool. Smells like Maya Spirit.  And then, silence. The couple leaves the area. Me too as I fall into sleep under the shadows of the pine trees, on the soft ground which reminds me of the forest were I grew up. Tranquil, just like the old Utatlan and its former inhabitants. But some of them, are obviously still going strong.

Smells like Maya Spirit.