Chichen Itza, not Chicken Pizza

Every time I head the name of the Mayan city of Chichen Itza my mind kept thinking about Chicken Pizza and I'd get hungry...anyway...

Built earlier than the coastal city of Tulum, Chichen Itza is another prominent Mayan city.  Its central location allowed it to become one of the most significant economic, political, and religious centers within the height of the Mayan civilization/empire.  Artifacts founded within the complex indicate an extensive trade network encompassing most of Central America (not simply eastern Mexico).

map of Chichen Itza from its wikipedia.org page

Castillo

Castillo

Platforma de Venus

top of stairs at Plataforma de Venus

Cenote Segrado (alleged location of human sacrifices)

Templo de los Guerreros

idol at top of stairs in Templo de los Guerreros

Columnata Oeste

blocked tunnel at Columnata Norte

Mercado

side wall of Plataforma Aguilas y Tigres

Juego de Pelota

Chichen Itza (not Chicken Pizza)

Tulum in Full Bloom

Tulum, located just south of Cancun and the Riviera Maya, is a pre-Colombian walled city from the Maya civilization.  It's coastal location made it an ideal location for both land and sea based trade within the larger Yucatan Peninsula, especially for obsidian (volcanic glass or "lava rock").  It is believed, based upon murals and structures at the site, that Tulum was a central location for the worship of the Mayan "Diving" or Descending God.

map of Tulum from its wikipedia.org page

north west gate

 

the surrounding wall

  

Temple of the Frescos

 

the main (west) gate

El Castillo

the Great Platform

turtle egg nests

north east gate

stairs to the beach

view of the Caribbean Sea

A Little "too far" to the North

A visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (aka "DMZ") is considered a once in a lifetime opportunity for most foreign visitors to Korea.  Today was my second time to go...so I better not push my luck too much, huh?

We left our hotel a little before 10:00 and then proceeded to the Lotte Hotel/Shopping complex to pick up our guide for the day.  We had a few minutes to browse through Lotte's duty free shops.  My excuse for not buying a pair of uber sexy Louis Vitton shoes is that 9-1/2 was the largest they had and I needed 10-1/2; this decision was NOT due of the $960 price tag on them <grin>.

Kelly helping heal the no-shoe pain

We then drove the hour or so from Seoul to the outskirts of the DMZ for what would be our final meal together as a full group: a wonderful beef bulgogi lunch cooked in a pot on our tables.

Lyn and Jess

Amber and David

Next we made our way to Imjingak.  This area was developed in hopes that it would provide a location where families from each the North and the South could visit each other, hopes that have never proved true in that the North will not allow it.  This location was selected because it is the southern edge of the "Bridge of Freedom".  It was on this bridge where prisoners of war were exchanged between the two Koreas following their armistice.

Leaving Imjingak, we made our way to Camp Bonifas which is located just south of the actual southern boundary of the DMZ.  We were given a short introduction to the DMZ and Joint Security Area (JSA) and then boarded an official DMZ bus to continue on to Panmunjom.  Crossing into the DMZ and driving toward Panmunjom, we could see the flags flying at each Daeseong-dong (aka "Freedom Village") in the South and Kijong-dong (aka "Propaganda Village") in the North.

Kijong-dong village

Our bus finally stopped just outside of Freedom House.  We were escorted inside and lined up on the stairway in two-single file lines.  Then we began moving outside again through the tented glass doors held open by guards and walked directly into the small blue building which straddles "the line".  It is in this building's single meeting room where all of the historic and high level diplomatic meetings between North and South occur.  The main table is placed directly over "the line" which is indicated by the layout of microphones on the table which provide 24-hour a day monitoring of what is said in the room.  With only two South Korean guards and our U.S. Army escort in the building, we were able to move freely about the room including the crossing of "the line".

This portion of the Panmunjom visit which I made in 2009 did not occur.  So while I have returned to South Korea and Panmunjom, this is my first time to enter North Korea.  It's quite an emotional moment to be there.  You know it's the "other side", the "bad side", and yet there you are without harm coming to you.

Leaving the building on "the line" we went back to the porch of Freedom House and had an opportunity to take pictures of Panmon Hall on the opposite side of "the line" from Freedom House.  It's kind of chilling looking through your camera's zoomed-in lens to see a North Korea guard staring back at you through his binoculars.  While the whole experience is tense due to the physical plot of land on which you are standing and knowing the history of the JSA and DMZ, it is also comforting to know that while we were in this place diplomatic conversations between North and South were occurring nearby to help resolve some of the recent tensions which resulted in the closing of the Kaesong Industrial Complex (located in the North and yet administered by the South--Northern employees and Southern employers).

 

 

In closing, all I can say is "wow" to this day of roaming the roads of lands remote!

Make NEW friends, but keep the OLD

Following a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, we set out for a 50 minute drive to the POSCO steel factory/mill and headquarters in Pohang, South Korea on the coast of the East Sea (aka Sea of Japan).  POSCO began in 1968 and today is the third leading producer of steel in the world; many consider Pohang to be the jewel of Korea's industrial crown.  We were able to walk through a company curated museum so as to gain a historical understanding of the company's history and then we went on a tour/bus drive through the primary production compound.  Due to fears of corporate espionage, we were not allowed to take photographs during the tour; in fact special bags were given to us for us to place our camera phones inside of so that we were not tempted to use them for photographing.  One point along the bus ride we did stop and walked inside one of the buildings.  In this phase the machines were cooling down long (100+ feet) sheets of steel.  As the steel moved along the conveyor belts we could feel the massive heat coming off of the sheets.  I had a moment of remembrance of my maternal grandfather who worked in a (much smaller scale) steel factory in Oklahoma City many years ago.

Following lunch in Pohang, we journeyed back to Geongju for a visit to the Geongju National Museum.  Most of the items in the collection are from the Silla era of the Three Kingdoms, the era of growth and flourishing of Buddhism in Korea prior to the era of the introduction of Confucianism.  One of buildings on the compound dealt with the architectural details of Buddhist temples.  Another building focused on various statues, large and small, of the Buddha which were unearthed during excavations of destroyed/eroded temples.

Our next stop was to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cheonmachong (aka the Flying Horse Tomb).  This tomb mound is in an area of Geongju in which many burial mounds were close together.  Typical Korean practice is to only excavate tombs if there is no knowledge of who is buried there.  There was no general agreement on who might be buried in this tomb so it was excited and one of the items found inside was a a saddle flap on which a flying horse had been painted.  This finding helps to give testimony that horses were significant to early Sills culture.  Of the various tomb mounds we've visited, this was the only one in which would could go inside.

Our final stop before dinner was to a site of two Buddhist temples.  Bunhwangsa is a small temple with an important pagoda in the history of Korean Buddhism.  Most of the more "recent" temple pagodas in Korea are made of stone.  This particular pagoda was envisioned by someone who had made an expedition to China and saw many pagodas made of brick.  Rather than actually making Bunhwangsa's pagoda out of brick, stones were cut to resemble brick.  This temple is immediately adjacent to the ruins of another temple: Hwangnyongsa.  The temple and pagoda previously standing on this site burned in 1238 (originally built in 600s).  This temple and pagoda were made primarily of wood, but the stone braces on which the structures rested as well as the stone reinforcements placed under the portion of the temple which held the heavy stone Buddha statue are still visible today after having been unearthed several decades ago.

It was a great day of remote road roaming that helped me to interact with POSCO, one of Korea's newer friends (historically speaking), and these special historic sites.