Pomuch and Uxmal

 Thursday, October 30, 2025

Woohoo!  I'm all caught up!  Of course I haven't done yoga for days but, oh well, I'll think about that later! Breakfast is at seven with our bags packed and out in the hall so we can leave at eight for Uxmal. Breakfast is the buffet downstairs and since we've brought our bags with us, we're all set!  

Fairwell!

It's quite a ride to Uxmal but Juan fills the time with tons of information, like the word Uxmal's definition. It's actually a Maya word that means Three Times! The site was discovered because the Spanish heard the stories about an abandoned city that was built in just one night!  When they found the enormous pyramid they named it the Pyramid of the Magician!  We also learn other assorted factoids, like Merida has a population of 1,500,000!

Along our route there is a town, Pomuch, with a population of only ten thousand, but they have a Dia de los Muertos tradition that isn't carried out anywhere else.  Every year they take out the bones of their ancestors and brush them clean!  Would we like to see that?  You bet!!  The cemetery would be a treat at any time but especially now when the ancestors are on display! 

There is a meat market across the street from where we park the van.

The main street of Pomuch

In my warped brain I think she looks like Edgar Allen Poe.

They clean out the niches as well as cleaning the bones.

Some displays are quite elaborate!

There's a well in the center of the cemetery.

Here's my selfie!

This was the only carved marker I saw.

Beautiful fresh flowers that echo the embroidered ones

Sixty percent of the country is Catholic.

Perhaps the family hasn't arrived yet.  It is still only the 30th, so there's time.

Not every box is as well maintained;  but they have beautiful burial cloths.

Such tenderness

And across the street they are making tortillas

They are even sweeping the street outside the cemetery.

Just outside of town we stop for gas ad a potty break, but they don't have water so it's a good thing I don't have to go!  But there is a panaderia (bread store) just down the road and we stop in to see their wares!  Juan and Karen both made purchases so they let Jan and me have a delicious sample!

These are sweet and just for the children for the celebration.

And these are for everyone but are special for Dia de Muertos.

We head back to the van.  This is for anyone who wants to do the math on gas prices.

Ginger is evaluating what Karen bought.

And gives her approval!

Finally we are close to Uxmal and we stop off at our new hotel to drop off the luggage since it is too early to check in.  We had thought we would take their little Disney-like transport but it turns out to be easier and faster to just stay in our comfy, air-conditioned van.  While we're there, though, we get to meet our, I don't know, maybe concierge? who is as cute and charming as you could ever want.  Much later we learn that he is actually an accountant by training!  Really goes against type!  

They're really easy to read when they're brand new!

What can I say?

Such a charmer!  He's just cut his long hair and is relieved that we approve!

Anyway, we follow the new road from our new, in both senses, hotel and arrive at the best preserved site in all of Mexico. I have really fond memories of being here with Ginger after I graduated from my master's program and it's as fascinating as I remember!  Of course we didn't have the full Juan treatment then so there is a ton to learn!!  And what a treat!  Juan's brother is there with a group! (Fasten your seatbelts;  here comes a ton of photos!)

One of the many cisterns to supply water to the city.

First view upon entering the site - the Pyramid of the Magician, aka the Pyramid of the Dwarf.
The theory holds that the magician who build this overnight was a dwarf.

The structures in the foreground were actually build much, much later using stones that had fallen
from the original structures.  They were residences for people who returned after the drought had forced
the original inhabitants to abandon the area.

House of the Birds

Each of the birds is an actual species!

The backside of the Pyramid of the Magician

The staircase is lined with rain gods

Back in the day you could actually touch them and climb the stairs.

Mayan arch

Family reunion

Beautifully preserved noses

See the face imbedded in the top several stairs? And the doorway is a mouth, the entrance
to the upper world.  We are standing in the middle world and the building behind us is the lower world.

The headdress shows that the figure is royalty.

The head and tail of a snake that runs the length of the building

And inside his mouth is a human face.

He's an owl.

Rain gods everywhere!

Our fearless leaders taking a break while the children explore!  This quad is actually a trapezoid with the building on the side pointing everyone's attention to the temple.  The architect used a blend of symmetry and asymmetry which makes the whole so much more interesting.

Gotta have a ball court!

The undulating roof comb provided a snake-like shadow during the solstices.

Hello!!

Proof that I got up here!

There is so much more to this site!!!

                                                                       Now you tell me!

                    The double-headed jaguar - above him you can see the king seated on this throne.

We have lunch there at the site before going back to our hotel to check in.  

                                                        Empanadas with Negro Modelo

They ask for our passports and it's the first time that has happened on this trip! I hadn't even thought about how strange that is. The Hotel Nuevo Uxmal is less than a year old so everything is shiny and new! 

Poor Alex got stuck holding the sign with the internet QR code for everyone!

Karen grabbed my arm and pulled me here so I wouldn't miss this grand entrance!
Later on the gentleman won first prize! He even has spurs!

And Mr. Personality turned out to be our server!!

Jan enjoying our balcony!

And here's our balcony view!

I've never seen an albino monkey lamp before! Yes, he's hanging from the ceiling!

                                                                Opulent bathroom!

There is a contest of the Katrinas at four!  We don't even stop to change or fix our windblown hair so that we don't miss anything!  I forgot that it's four o'clock Mexican time and that it won't really get underway until five!!  Several of our group got downstairs before us and have been drafted into acting as judges!  There's a bit of shuffling of people because no one really wants to do it without knowing enough to be fair;  but a panel is finally seated and the contest begins.

                                                         The judges are empaneled.

The winner of the ladies' competition!

There is lots of music and the five couples each make an appearance before the judges and the audience, which is packed with partisans carrying signs and a horn!  We are pretty far from civilization so I don't know where these people came from!  Turns out that a lot of them are hotel staff and friends.

While the organizers are tabulating the scores, two of the staff, one of whom was also a contestant, entertain us!  Then the five couples come back and each one receives a certificate before the best male and female contestants are announced.  We pretty much agree with the judges' selections although the female group had two or three that were outstanding! 

Dinner will be at seven so Ginger heads to the pool while Jan and I use the time to shower and set up our electronics and such.  When we come back there is a question about where the restaurant is but it seems pretty obvious to me that it will be the place with the tables set up with plates and silverware! They move tables around so we have our traditional set-up for twelve and there is some discussion about what might be available from the chef.  As near as we can tell we have more than doubled the occupancy of the place. I hope they can stay in business!

Can you see his eyes?  He's taking Ginger's order but looking at the camera!

Turns out that the young man who sang for us in his full regalia will be our server!! OMG he has more personality than should fit in that body!!  We laugh and giggle our way through every interaction with him!!  Drinks are ordered and then two large platters of relleno negro appear and the one at our end is completely devoured.  So good!!  Juan helps the people at the other end who are a little slow on the uptake!

When it's time to order entrees I pass completely as do a couple of others and Valerie opts to order dessert instead, which makes sense to me! Ginger and I have black Russians instead of an entree.  Well, I do.  Somehow Ginger wound up ordering tacos of which she manages to eat two of the three!!  I'm impressed.

After dinner some people drift off and I winds up with Ginger, Jan, Karen, Alex and me sitting in a corner of the lobby laughing until we can't breathe.  It's a continuation of dinner's hilarity! By the time we head upstairs I'm pretty non-functional, so there was no blogging done!

Glorious pool by night